Times in Tanzania: Car modifications: The Seats

Well, the roof rack at least looks nice.

We recently decided to make some upgrades to our car, mainly attaching a roof rack and refurbishing the seats Our car is a three door (two side and one back) and is known as a "short wheel base" Landcruiser. We love it because it's not a behemoth truck yet it still has the power to get us through the roughest of roads. However, it is 25 years old so it's due for a few replacements. About a year ago the springs for the drivers seat blew out. Our company driver decided to fix the seat in the most local way possible, which resulted in a very thick piece of foam being set, which elevated me way up in the seat. It was quite comical how high I perched and even a traffic officer once asked why I appeared to be so high when the other seat was low. The foam finally did settle and driving was a bit more comfortable, but in the past few months the condition of both seats has deteriorated greatly.

The rear seat is also extremely cramped and I always feel bad when we have two passengers back there for more than 15 minutes. There is very little leg room and in addition, I also felt the seat prevented the car from fully utilizing the cargo space in back. Basically, I felt like it was a crappy compromise for both the passengers and the cargo and I thought I had the perfect solution.

One of the great things about the craftiness and economy of labor here is that repairs and modifications like car interiors can be relatively cheap and the level of customization is unlimited. Thus I gained inspiration from several old Landcruisers that I saw that had removed the rear seats and put folding seats facing sideways. It's not entirely uncommon, so I wasn't stretching the bounds of imagination. Or so I thought.

I decided to do the repairs while we were on holiday for two weeks. I left the car with a friend that owns a safari company, which means he is familiar with Landcruisers, and he has also previously helped me do work on the car before. I explained to him that I wanted the rear seats taken out and replaced with fold up seats facing each other, as well as replacing the foam and covering for the front seats. He asked what type of design I wanted for the seats and I said I really didn't care and trusted him that it would look presentable. I left the car with him and went on holiday.

When I was on holiday my friend sent me pictures of the car. I was shocked. Not only were the seats a tacky bronze and leopard print design, but the back seats were completely too high and without any space for the legs of passengers. I responded saying it doesn't seem like there was much space (and that they were the wrong orientation) and he countered with the fact that it only appears that way because the front seats are pushed back.

When I arrived I realized that it was even worse in person than in the pictures. To be honest, I don't even really mind the seat covering, in fact, it's so gaudy that it's humorous (and makes for a nice story) but the rear seats had to go. I was surprised my friend didn't understand my usual request and further, I can't believe he couldn't see that it obviously didn't fit. I also couldn't believe that the guy working on those seats wouldn't at some point say, "I don't think anyone could comfortably sit here?!".

I ended up showing my friend some pictures of the seats I wanted and we eventually found something that worked. In the end I met the guy who did the original rear seat job and he was non-chalantly like "Oh, the other seats in the back didn't fit". And I was like, "Was it you who did them?", to which replies, "Yeah, it was me". I was so shocked I didn't even respond.

In the end the upgrades were made and the car is out on the road. Tanzanians seem to really love the seat coverings (I'm looking for some to throw over them) and they are comfortable. I got the fold up seats I wanted and I learned a valuable lesson: if I say I truly don't care about something, I might end up with bronze leopard print.