Hats In The Car/A Newbie Question

[J.T.Marcus]

I drive a 2003 Nissan Frontier, and wear a hat all the time. No problem.
My wife has a 1994 Chevy Camaro. Surprisingly, I can wear a hat while driving it, but I do have to remember to "duck" when getting in and out. In both cases I usually have to recline the seatback another notch or so, when wearing a hat.

The shortage of headroom reached its extreme in the mid 70's when Pontiac produced a Firebird model in which my hair touched the headliner. (I,m only 5'10"!) Today, there is a lot of variance among cars. Trucks generally have more headroom. The good news is that people are getting TALLER. Manufacturers are having to therefore put more headroom into passenger cars.

 

[MrFusion]

PS I got the rack from Sheplers. It doesn't show it but it actually comes with two racks. The other one is for baseball caps. I've not used it yet. lol

Thanks for the link!

 

[duggap]

I have a Buick SUV and a Jeep Wrangler and I have no problem with them as a rule. In the Buick, if I turn my head to look out the window I will hit my hat on the roof but not enough to cause me to have to readjust it. I am 6' even.

 

[Fatdutchman]

genphideaux, I drive a '91 Dodge Dakota. (the newest vehicle I have ever owned!). I had to buy it earlier this year as some wonderful person pulled right out in front of me and totalled my '89 Dakota...

I can get in and out of my dad's 90-something Buick with a hat on, but it ain't easy.

Years ago, I had a '55 Dodge. There's headroom! Wasn't wearing a hat then, though...

 

[DblCoronaMS]

I can duck in and out of my '74 Datsun Z without hitting my hat. Then again, I'm 5'7".

The one year only 260-Z. I had one of those back in the day. Have you had carbureter problems? They were famous for it.

Back on subjuct... I'm 5'6" and about as wide as I am tall. I have an '06 Chrysler 300 that, once inside, isn't a problem except for the headrest. My '05 Dodge HEMI Ram has tons of headroom but again, the headrest is in the way, and it's not removable. My '68 Cutlass knocks even a ballcap off of my head. I can't tell you how many times I've bumped my head getting in that thing. My '73 Trans Am was better. I'm looking for a '67 or '68 Firebird convertable. That should solve that poroblem.

 

[pgoat]

WAY more room in older cars.

Actually if you look at, say, a 1930s Ford Model A they have pretty narrow (width) seating compartments. But decent headroom (height). No way I wear any hat, even a baseball cap or ski cap in our 1995 Nissan. I'm only 5'8" and I barely fit; I feel sorry for tall drivers, let alone passengers.

My first car was a '54 Chevy 210 - 4 door family sedan. The front seat was ROOMY; the back seat had more room than today's front seats. It was basically the size of a Checker cab. My high school girlfriend and i would go to drive-in movies, push the front bench seat all the way back, and it was like watching TV in your living room - kick off yer shoes and stretch out!

I am not a big 'car person', but I REALLY miss that ol' bucket o' bolts!

 

[ideaguy]

Anybody think about getting a convertible?[huh]

 

[Mid-fogey]

I have the...

...head rest issue. If feel the back of my brim brushing it periodically. As far as headroom, that can be an issue. I'm 6'4" and some tall hats lightly touch.

 

[J.T.Marcus]

It just came back to me. The Firebird with the least headroom was the "ESPRIT". It must have been designed for 5'4" secretaries. (Not that there's anything wrong with being a...)

 

[The Wingnut]

The one year only 260-Z. I had one of those back in the day. Have you had carburetor problems? They were famous for it.

Nope! I ditched the nasty flattop Hitachis for some dome-tops. Chucked all the choking smog equipment that did more harm than good, as well. Up next is a fresh motor and trans that runs like a scared cat that I picked up for $400!

 

[tandmark]

Aloha,

How odd -- I'm another Subaru Forester guy!

There's plenty of room for most of my hats in the Subaru.

But more often than not, I follow the recommendations of some style guide I read long ago: 1) Take off the hat to prevent unwanted dents should the hat hit the door frame, 2) Unclip the tie and toss it over your shoulder so the seatbelt won't wrinkle it, and 3) Remove the blazer/sportsjacket/suit coat and lie it over an empty seat to prevent wrinkling.

Cheers,
Mark

 

[pgoat]

When we eventually have to replace our current old faithful we'll prolly get a hybrid, but We were looking at the Forester for years, and I love how tall it is. Good to know there's hat room there, in case we need two cars!

 

[DblCoronaMS]

It just came back to me. The Firebird with the least headroom was the "ESPRIT". It must have been designed for 5'4" secretaries. (Not that there's anything wrong with being a...)

The Esprit had more sound deadening in the roof than the other 2nd. gen Firebirds, hence the lowered headroom.

Nope! I ditched the nasty flattop Hitachis for some dome-tops. Chucked all the choking smog equipment that did more harm than good, as well. Up next is a fresh motor and trans that runs like a scared cat that I picked up for $400!

Those were pure crap! Not to hijack the thread but for those that don't know, Datsun was planning on coming out with the fuel injected 280 in '74 but the US tightened the emissions laws. Datsun came up with the 260-Z in '74 only, the 280 debuted in '75. The 260 had a completely different carbs and intake setup than the 240-Z. Datsun couldn't get it right and changed the carbs 7 times in that single year run. I had version #4 on mine and the car would vaporlock in hot weather. Even though the fuel lines were wrapped in asbestos & foil the fuel would boil in them and leave you sitting for an hour & a half. The easiest fix was to find a wrecked 240 and swap the intake/carbs. Next was to swap the Hitachis for Webers or get a 4 bbl conversion. I loved that car when it ran and boy did it run! I had mine well over 130 a couple of times.

Mine and a friend's 280 had the nasty habit of the hatch popping open at triple digit speeds. Have you experienced that fun yet? Sucks every loose piece of whatever right out the back and pops your ears in the process.

Oh... to get back to hats... I had a black leather driving cap that I bought at a friend's Jammer motorcycle shop when I had that car. Very spiffy!

 

[Edward]

Anybody think about getting a convertible?[huh]

Make sure and wear a fedora with a wind trolley if you do.

 

[J.T.Marcus]

Make sure and wear a fedora with a wind trolley if you do.

The interesting thing about American convertibles is that, years ago, they figured out the windshield (windscreen) angle that produces the least turbulence around the driver's head. The wind trolley would be a good safety measure (Like seatbelts and airbags), but you might actually drive the car at speed and not have your hat blow off. With my convertibles, I remember getting caught in the rain, with the top down. As long as I was going faster than 45 miles per hour, I stayed bone dry. But I thought it was a good Idea to stop and put the top up. That's when I got drenched!!!

 

[Brian Sheridan]

Love the thread because I think about this problem every freakin time I get in my Honda Accord. The headrest pushes my hat up like a gag in a Laurel & Hardy short. I won't remove it (for safety reasons) so I just take my hat off and throw it on the dashboard. My wife usually ends up holding it because it keeps sliding off.

They didn't have safety headrests back in the old days. I wonder how many people had whiplash or neck injuries when in an accident. The cars were made big, heavy and tough so they certainly didn't have any give. Jay Leno talks about his dad's Buick Roadmaster that seated 7 - for dinner. It had a steel dashboard so when you were in an accident, they could just hose it off and sell it to someone else.

 

[NonEntity]

Hats & cars--two of my favorite topics!

Generally speaking. modern cars have less headroom, but there's been a recent trend towards more headroom, and, as a rule, pickups and SUVs have much more of it than sedans, coupes, and, of course, sports cars.

Every thing else being equal, the presence of a sunroof eats up about 2 to 2 1/2 inches of headroom, so get a vehicle without one, and you'll have much more hat room. Fully optioned cars almost always have a sunroof, however, so if you want, say, leather seats, you pretty much have to get a sunroof.

When Consumer Reports evaluates a vehicle, you can look in the specs section and see what the headroom is. It's measured in number of inches over the head of a person 5'9" tall. For example, a 2008 Honda Accord EX-L has a relatively generous 4.0 inches of headroom while the LX-P has a whopping 6.5 inches. The difference is due to a sunroof in the EX-L. I would not select a car soley on the basis of hat room, but it is one factor to consider.

How low the edge part of the roof is between the A and B pillars is almost completely unrelated to the headroom stat, so you really have to try ingress and egress in person with your hat on to assess whether or not you're going to knock it. In terms of contorting yourself to avoid that, perhaps a yoga class would help!

As for the back of the brim bumping against the headrest, whether or not that presents a problem depends on the brim width and how flexible it is. If the back of your head is not pretty close to, and situated in the middle of, the headrest, it confers no safety at all.

I'm 6'2" tall, and I can easily wear my new Akubra Sydney that has a 2 1/2 inch brim turned up at the back without annoyance in my 2000 Nissan Maxima with a sunroof, but I don't even think about wearing my 3-inch-brimmed Panama, Tilley, or pith helmet in that vehicle.

I have an old cheapo wool felt Dorfman Pacific with a wide brim that's no problem in any vehicle, but it's a crushable hat that's extremely flexible. Akubra's line of Pliofelt and the Chrysty's Foldaway should likewise present no brim-bumping issue, and they're all pure fur felt and appear to be of decent quality, too, though I don't own any of these. All such crushable hats necessarily have fabric sweatbands and are unlined, though, so that's a trade-off.

Of course, caps and berets are always an option.

I used to have a 1970 Buick Wildcat convertible and would not think of wearing any kind of hat in it with the top down, that is, if I were interested in keeping the hat.

 

[HamletJSD]

I'd have to put my bet on the side of the model of car more than the age. I have had some classics that you could not wear a hat in and have been in some newer Honda's that a 6' person can't even sit in comfortably.
But my wife drives an '01 Pontiac Sunfire, one of the smaller cars you'll see out there on the road, and I can where my hat without issue. I also never had a problem with VW I had from the 80's ... and it was small enough that my friends would lift up the back end and move it around the parking lot so I couldn't find it.

 

[ideaguy]

I wasn't being too much of a wiseguy when I asked about convertables; it's true, they did adjust the windshield for optimum windflow at speed, and if your did your homework, you got the one that you could have the windows rolled up, top down, and your hair didn't get mussed, never mind the hats; some sports models made today will do it, but getting them to run consistently is another topic altogether.
We have a Ford Taurus SES that's been "breathed on" , an '03, and the only problem I have is getting in the door; if I duck a bit, no problem with an OR;
and once inside, no problem at all- and I'm 5'10"ish. The ford is like the old engine/tranny combos; sweet around town, quiet as a mouse, and put your foot down and all hell breaks loose...heh heh heh -that blows my hat off

 

[Dixon Cannon]

My high crown Borsalino's fit perfectly in my 1997 Ford Thunderbird, even with the sun roof open, but never in my girl's 1994 Mazda MX6!

-dixon cannon