It just became a lot easier than ever to support the car-cult that is The Autopian, because we have a new base tier — one that you, dear readers recommended — that sits just below the former-lowest membership level, Vinyl, which itself sits below Velour and Rich Corinthian Leather. The new tier is called “Cloth,” and it foregoes merch to focus on getting you access to Members-only posts, the private channel on our Discord, and you’ll get discounts to our events! If you buy the annual membership, it adds up to just $5.83 a month, which is a 30 percent savings over the previously-cheapest option! (Sign up here). I’m going to spend much of the rest of this blog talking about some very good cloth seats even though I’m supposed to be convincing you to become a member, since it’s a critical part of our roadmap towards sustainability as a website. Let’s talk cloth seats.
The cloth seat that gets the most love, I’d say, is the VW Golf GTI’s plaid seat, and you know what? Rightly so; it’s fantastic:
There are a few other examples of decent modern cloth seats, but these days cool-cloth is rare. We’re at a point where, in the U.S. at least, it seems cloth seats are blander than ever. If you buy a modern car with cloth, chances are you’ll get a plastic-y-single-color fabric of some sort. Maybe you’ll get black and another accent color, but this doesn’t mean cloth is somehow uncool. No, cloth is legitimately cool, even if you’ll be hard-pressed to find a modern vehicle with cloth seats that look as good as those on this old Chevy K5 Blazer:
I once bought one of these seats from a junkyard in Michigan. What a find!:
The thing is: This was hardly an isolated thing. Back before cloth became relegated to the cheaper trims, and leather/fake leather became the standard for higher trims, you’d find great cloth patterns in even the top models. Check out the 1990s-era Jeep Wrangler Sahara’s green and tan seats. Lovely!
And let’s not forget this fantastic seat available on Jeep TJ Wranglers:
Nowadays, if you want cloth seats in a Wrangler, this and a tan version of this are all you get. All the interesting stuff is leather/leatherette, these days.
(Note: Before the Wrangler, there was the CJ, which could be had with a Levis interior:
But, as a reader pointed out, and as written above, this was actually vinyl! -DT].
Oh boy, check out this Jeep Cherokee XJ cloth seat below. XJ seats were fantastic at launch in 1984, remained fantastic even after the headrests entered the game sometime in the late 1980s, and then in the mid 1990s they became awful. After the XJ’s refresh in 1997, cloth seats remained bad but became slightly better than 1995/1996 cloth seats. It’s really amazing how much the seats regressed, but this was a pattern in the industry.
Anyway, please post in the comments your favorite cloth seats of all time to commemorate the new, cheapest Autopian membership tier. Oh, but maybe click the link in this caption first:
If you’re unsure about supporting us, just know that we appreciate the fact that you read our website, no matter what. That said, we’ve amassed a few testimonials from members. Folks seem happy! (Though we’re always open for feedback on how to improve!).
Oh, and here are some grille badges that Velour+ members put on their vehicles. Amazing!:
Rich Corinthian Leather members, though, get the GOOD stuff. Rust (among other things, including private car-collection tours, which we’re working to orchestrate!):
You can sign up here. But expect some weird members-only content from your favorite car cultists.
[Ed Note: What David was supposed to say was: In a world where our competitors are looking to use AI instead of writers, platforms like Facebook are de-emphasizing news, and advertisers are turning more and more to influencers, we’re hoping to build a sustainable community that supports writers and treats its readers like customers instead of just a product to be sold to brands. He was going to add that we have over 750 members and they help cover about 10% of the operating costs of this site. Our goal with this summer membership drive is to get over 1,000 total members, which would help a lot. Additionally, we’ve added a Foreign Legion tier for people outside of the United States who still want merch/gear. If you’re an existing member outside of the USA you’re grandfathered in. – MH]
[Editor’s Editor’s note: Fair point, Matt. I got distracted by the cool old-school seats. -DT]
I said I would, and I have. Thank you for the Cheap Bastard Tier. Along with Mr. Fusion, I also recently acquired my first car with seats not made of cloth or ‘vegan leather’ aka pleather. I do not enjoy the air conditioned seats option that my wife has in her Mega Wasteful SUV but I do for the first time have heated seats so bring on Ol Man Winter
Shocking take: My current car is the very first one that I have ever had with leather seats. After years of assuming that cloth seats were more breathable, better in heat, etc., I am finding the opposite to be true. Modern seat cloth is made from synthetic fibers that do not breathe like natural fabrics. As a result, I always found myself sweating in car seats. I thought it was just the way I was.
Thus I was surprised to find my current car’s perforated (but not ventilated) leather seats to be much more comfortable than any previous cloth seats. Yes, I may still sweat when the weather is hot or muggy, but generally I am sweating less in these seats than I ever did with any synthetic cloth seats of the past 20 years. Even sitting on hot, sun-exposed leather is way better than I expected. It’s hot only for a few seconds, and then it basically modulates to match my body temperature. Leather: Nature’s Miracle Material!
(This was all a David Tracy-esque tangent to say that I like the new tier, and will surely join in the next couple of paychecks.)
Yes! It’s nice! The reaction to leather seats is always the same old “oh, those are too hot”
is there a U-haul furniture pad tier- in a 67 beetle, that won’t stay in gear unless you hold the shifter knob in place…….
I love this site (and all your Jalopnik content since 2008-last year) but I have one complaint that’s preventing me from committing to a membership and that is a proper notification system that I can just click while on the homepage. Without that, I find myself struggling to engage with people in the comments because I never know whose responding to my comments without manually going back to each article and searching for them. The current notification system doesn’t seem to work for me. If that’s built into the membership, then sign me up, but I haven’t seen anything that mentions this.
This is a totally fair point! We are quite close to having a working system that does this. Hopefully, when it’s live it’ll encourage you to sign up. I don’t think we’ll limit it to members as this is a feature we planned on always having.
I can’t imagine the amount of engagement you’ve missed out on by not having a way to see your own comments, comments you’ve upvoted, posts you’ve commented on, and replies to your posts.
All this comes built in to various commenting platforms so I’m a bit flummoxed.
Also fair. We’re pretty close to a solution. We’ve been working on it for… a while.
Good luck!
Awesome!!! Thanks for the response Matt!
I am a cheap-ass and I’m cranky, but it’s also my birthday and I deserve to not get blocked from posts on my favorite car website. Also, my wife tells me I should use my money to “vote” for the kind of content and businesses I want to see succeed. So, fine, there. . . I’m a member now. Are you Happy with what you’ve Done?!?
yes!
Damnit, you just convinced me to become a member too.
Lemme know when you’ve got the vinyl bench covered in a mexican blanket sub.
Sold. $10 a month was just a bit too much for me. This I can do. Happy to contribute!
Hmm we are getting close, I may hold out for duct tape and Mexican blanket
My ’97 conversion Econoline had cloth seats that were plush as hell. They’ll probably be the standard by which I judge all car seats for the rest of my life.
Leather doesn’t have to be the “upgrade” option.
I believe I’m a Vinyl member, but I don’t know how to check? I don’t get access to the private posts but I swore I signed up for a monthly subscription.
Will there be an MB-Tex option? The best or nothing 😛
> it foregoes merch
Forgoes
I have two rules for vehicle interiors:
1. The color scheme cannot be BLACK ON BLACK ON BLACK ON BLACK ON BLACK
2. No leather, be it Corinthian, vegan, or whale penis.
So consider me a newly-minted cloth member. Happy to support this place. It’s $7/month of my cheap bastard graduate student budget well spent.
Yeah, I always knew I was a cheap bastard. This cinches it. Take my money.
Okay fine, you got me. Glad to do my part and help fund about 1/5 of one blog per year…
Is it easier or harder to remain logged in at new level than vinyl?
The Japanese still properly understand qualities of cloth in cars. See Toyota Century.
OK, the AI pitch got me. Just upgraded to velour … this one, specifically.
https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Mojave-Main-Image.jpeg
Yes finally ! Will be signing up ! As an European, this is for me the better option. And I love cloth, it doesn’t burn you on hot summer days. My VW Caddy ordered back in 2019 has a nice cloth option in its almost basic configuration. Black with gray and white patterns like a pixellated schoolboard. Comfortable too and durable, easy to wash off.
What about just calling it Cheap Bastard?
Regardless, you got me…nice work!
Or Yugo, shitbox, kei, or unicycle
Agreed on the benefits of cloth! One of the reasons I chose the XLT trim on my Maverick is the nice cloth seats that are heated and have some personality to them, with two tone fabric and contrast stitching. Of course not as cool as the plaid ones seen in the post, but for a cheap bastard like me they are perfect (same with the new cheaper membership tier).
bit.ly/3XQg3TJ
Next up: Neoprene seat cover level memberships.
Also waiting for the vegan leather membership.
First requirement of vegan leather membership – tell everyone about vegan leather membership.
Not always cheap bastards. As an Aussie living in Brazil, I’ve followed this motley crew since the early Jalop days but with the exchange rate of 1US$ to 5BR$, there is no way Jose or Hose B that I can afford membership. I would not be adverse to the Autopian throwing me a free membership as thanks for my obsessive patronage over the years. (wink wink). I could offer you a whole lot of regular tips and story fodder from Brazil in exchange.
Hey, a fellow Brazilian (of sorts), neat! I don’t live there anymore, but I know for a fact that everything from outside the country gets lost in a black hole on customs, so there is another barrier still…
Don’t talk to me about customs. My brother in Aus just sent me an old poster (sentimental value only, that I have owned for 35 years), a simple poster like you buy at Wall St Posters, and these see-you-en-tee-esses are trying to charge me R$1450 taxes for a poster that cost me AU$35 35 years ago. I’ve lived here for 30 years and I effen hate Brazilian customs.
Jesus Pereira Cristo, what do they think this poster is made of, cocaine paint over diamond paper?
> Jose or Hose B
I died
Mouse fur for the win!
Cloth is a better material for seats than anything else, so there :p
Also, I’m a cheap bastard, so I’ve been holding off until there was a membership I could afford, and that time is now.
Cloth seats ARE the best seats.