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Steve McQueen's Bucket Seat Design

By Rain Noe - June 28, 2012

in Object Culture

We all know Brad Pitt yearns to be an architect, but are there any Hollywood stars with industrial design leanings? (And I'm not talking about Lady Gaga "designing" a pair of headphones; something tells me she wasn't working the AutoCAD.) When GadgetLab posted a list of "19 Patents Invented by Ingenious Celebrities," I eagerly scoured the list to find anything vaguely ID related.

Closest thing I found was exciting... then disappointing: Steve McQueen, it turns out, designed a bucket seat in 1969, and the patent was granted in '70.

I say disappointing because there isn't a single mention of any functional or ergonomic improvement in the entire filing, which merely describes it as "the ornamental design for a bucket seat." So why'd he design it, just for looks? Was the shape more comfortable?

"I just don't like the way this damn thing feels."

The internet is no help—ridiculous sites like WikiAnswers credit McQueen with inventing the bucket seat altogether, which is absurd. (Europeans had them in the '50s, and they started popping up in Chevys around 1962.)

The real mystery, though, is why no one has yet knocked his design off and attempted to cash in on McQueen's cool. The patent expired in '84, and I know some of you reading this could CAD that thing up faster than a speeding Bullitt.

I love that new car smell

I love that new car smell

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Mark Nowotarski (patent agent)

11 years ago

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@spelukative

True, design patents do not protect functional inventions. That's what utility patents do. Design patents act more like 3D trademarks. They testify to who designed something. Most industrial designers go for a mix of design and utility patents. This covers the both the style and innovation they bring to new products.
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chris D

12 years ago

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In a book entitled, "McQueens Machines", theres a section which describes his design being birthed from his racing career. Mcqueen played a race car driver in his films, but actually was one in real life too...If i remember correctly, one of his friends and fellow drivers was paralyzed from a crash, and so McQueen designed this seat with deep hip bolsters to hug the occupant better. it makes sense, as most seats have a gap where the back reclines and hinges from the bottom cushion....
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Stephen

12 years ago

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They are quite comfortable actually, I have a set in a 66 dune buggy.
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spelukative

12 years ago

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His particular patent is a design patent, which sadly only protects the styling of the object from being ripped off, but not a whole lot else besides. It's possible that he wasn't able to secure a more impressive utility patent for the seat, as it seems to be a primarily form-driven and not mechanically or functionally-driven design. I'm curious as well how it feels..
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