I’m sure you’ve all heard about the controversy involving Sydney Sweeney and jeans and accusations of eugenics or hellenics heuristics or fennics, or something like that. The truth is, I haven’t really been paying that much attention. What I do know is that this controversy seems to have jeans at its heart, and you’d have to be a fool not to make the connection between public discontentment and the alarming lack of denim-upholstered cars in this current age.
I know what you’re thinking – surely the world has a plentiful and ready supply of denim jeans-upholstered automobile choices, right? I mean, it must, if we’re all to get along and make civilization work in harmony. That’s just how it works!
Well, get ready for some hard truths: there has not been a denim/jeans-themed car available to buy new since 2017. That’s right; it’s been eight long years of no jeans-themed cars, and even then there was only one lone option.
The truth is that there has been a steady decline of jeans-themed cars since their origin and heyday in the 1970s; if we plot the major jeans-themed car releases on a timeline, you can easily see the steady decline:
Look at that; the ’70s were truly the Golden Age of Jeans-Themed Cars, starting in 1974 with the AMC Gremlin Levi’s Edition and the first of Volkswagen’s many Jeans Beetle special editions. And, remember, the 1970s had almost no major social, environmental, or political problems whatsoever. (Not counting Vietnam, Watergate, rampant environmental issues, social/racial/class struggles, the success of Rick Dees, and more, none of which count.)
Things continued into the later 1970s with the Jeep Levi’s Editions, which had both CJ5 and CJ7 versions, and Dodge got into the game with the Jean Machine pickup truck variant of the D100.
From there things started to wear thin; Volkswagen was the lone holdout of jeans-edition cars with denim upholstery in the 1980s and 1990s, with new versions of their Jeans Bug, and it wasn’t until 2007 that we saw entirely new denim-themed cars available.
Mitsubishi had a version of their i-Series cars with the Kurashiki edition in 2007, named for the region of Japan where they produce blue jeans, and then the next year fashion brand Diesel had a special edition of the Fiat 500 with denim upholstery. After that, in 2017, VW had one more denim-themed car, this time based on the second-gen liquid-cooled modern incarnation of the Beetle.
Since then? Nothing.
And the nation, perhaps the world has been suffering. Suffering so much that this commercial with whatshername in jeans is causing all sorts of angst and division and controversy, the discussion of which is not really suited to these electronic pages, and, more importantly, tires me greatly.
So, I have to look past the accusations, past the partisanship, past the madness and vitriol from every corner, and get to the truth of things: this is happening because there are no more jeans-edition cars available today.
The good news is this problem can be solved. Any major carmaker could get a deal with Levi’s or Toughskins or Calvin Klein or anyone who makes denim trousers and make an announcement of a new jeans edition car tomorrow and end this long national nightmare.
Who will be the first to step up? It’s time. It’s jeans-car time, motherscratchers.
I once saw a Levi’s Gremlin at a classic car show. I already enjoy the Gremlin, primarily because it was so hated when I was a kid, but the Levi’s edition just made it great. Better than the jeans Beetles or Jeeps. It was just great.
Why stop at interiors? Give us denim vinyl roofs and denim convertible tops!
Can you go to Goodwill buy the largest pairs of jeans and get seat covers sewn?
Manufacturers realized denim lasted. No parts sales no new car purchases so no more denim
Apparently she designed some kind of Mustang with Ford and two were made. No denim seats.
https://www.motortrend.com/news/sydney-sweeney-ford-mustang-contest-owner
Baby blue over brown is a solid choice.
Not a great wheel choice however.
I don’t know if Ford could take up the American Eagle partnership on a Bronco, or if Chrysler would get touchy about the trademark.
Maybe follow the lead of the Bronco’s unbranded Goodyear Wrangler tires, and do a Wrangler Jeans edition with no Wrangler logos.
Oh, and one of my all time favorite 24 Hours of Lemons team names is “Jeancoln Jown Jar,” which, of course, races a Lincoln covered in denim.
https://www.instagram.com/p/C3tE239s8oc/
You know what is slightly disappointing? Levi’s signature touches are the metal rivets, the tan color brand tag above the right back pocket, and the little red tab with the vertical LEVI letters. Yet you don’t see any of these touches in the special edition car interiors. This was a real missed opportunity.
My 2010 Ford has little rectangular fabric tabs on the the seats that say “AIRBAG”, but I always think of Levis when I, from time to time, actually notice them.
Not true! The Gremlin had the little red tags and something that at least approximated the rivets on both the seats and the door cards!
https://www.hagerty.com/media/car-profiles/the-levis-amc-gremlin-wasnt-just-quirky-it-fashioned-a-movement/
You are right! They did have the red tags and the rivets! I missed that on the smaller pics.
I’m pretty sure my ’78 CJ7 Levi’s Edition was defined by the Levi’s rivets on the seats. I think they were the only actual Levi’s branding in the interior but I haven’t owned it for 20-ish years so my memory is a bit foggy…
The AMC Pacer Levi’s edition is conspicuously missing from the timeline.
Well The Autopian can start with a denim membership. Replace cloth with denim and add 25% blaming tariffs lol
This is the compelling social commentary that keeps me coming back every time.
Yes, we need more jeans cars. And since you hit me right in my 70s-kid feels by name-dropping Toughskins (my mom was the opposite of impressed that I was able to blow out the knees in Toughskins as a boy), suddenly I want a jeans car from a dead brand name on both counts: Plymouth Duster Toughskins Edition.
What in the airbrushed AI is going on with the woman in the lede image?
She actually looks like that.
I mean, I can believe that’s a real woman’s face – albeit heavily digitally adjusted.
The body they attached it to I’m much, much less certain.
I’ve seen her in enough things (White Lotus S1 comes to mind) to know that her body really does look like that.
Her head is somehow significantly bigger than the rest of her?
I also don’t think that American Eagle makes jackets that look painted on like it’s a PS3 game.
The high 80s were clearly tough – I think we had parachute pants themed editions then? Like Nissan Pulsar NXs maybe?
I don’t know what this controversy is and refuse to look it up, but I would hope they use better quality denim than most jeans are made of today. I’m not a fan of denim as an upholstery, I want them to get rid of this alcantara crap and bring back velour.
You have to go with Japanese selvedge denim, or, at the very least, Roundhouse is pretty solid
Uniqlo selvedge denim jeans are my favorite
2025 Volvo XC90 has a Denim Blue paint color – does that count?
No.
It may be the only thing standing between all of us and a permanent oblivion
The new Renault 5 EV is advertised as having demin seats.
This is the best link I could find showing it, heh.
Since Saab called their top models Aero, too bad there was no Aeropostale edition 😛
As someone who was in highschool during the height of the Aeropostale craze I can assure you that it would’ve cursed the car and caused GM to kill the brand even faster. Those clothes didn’t last more than a dozen washes. Which is why all the teenage guys just didn’t wash them. And the solution to the resulting consequences was cologne. Lots and lots of cologne.
Drakkar Noir and B.O. was the smell of high school in the 80s. Some things never change.
That’s OK because Saabs didn’t last long, either! 😛
Euro cars and bailout-era GM shit quality just suxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Z Cavaricci pants were like that. They were popular when I was in middle school and it went from, “yo, are those cavs?” to completely forgotten within a year. They were something like $80 at the time and a pair only worn moderately lasted only slightly less time than the entire fad. I felt terrible when my 1 pair fell apart because of what it cost my mother after guilting her into buying them for me, but it was a valuable lesson as I didn’t let the whims of fashion enter my head again, so it was ultimately a big money-saver. Since that rolled into the grunge era, I didn’t even have to look out of place as looking unfashionable became the fashion.
I was actually looking at a Levi’s Gremlin (yes, I like Gremlins and no, not as a drag car) a while back as a project. It was really more like the rough outline of something you might consider a car, and therefore well beyond my meager bodywork skills. It needed…. everything? Though I would have been able to redo the denim seats pretty easily.
Like most gremlins and AMC cars, you don’t want to get them wet (unless it a post 1980 car).
What kind of drag?
A lot of Gremlins I’ve seen for sale over the last five years have been built as drag racing cars, and I have no interest in them or drag racing. Going fast in a straight line doesn’t really do anything for me.
I find your lack of respect for the Ford/Levis/Coca-Cola Denim Machines to be down right insolent! None of these other cars have jeans pockets painted on their rear-ends! Peruse the pictures and note judicious use of denim interior, trimmed with the most elegant red shag carpet! This is class, baby! Pure, unadulterated (OK, maybe a little adulterated), Liberace levels of class and elegance!
To be fair those were customs, not factory offerings.
OK, hang on while I find my David Essex, David Dundas, Elton John, and Mel McDaniel records. There, now I’m in a denim mood …
YES, WE NEED MORE BLUE JEAN CARS! Doesn’t matter how uncomfortable denim is in hot, humid conditions. It’s American, baby. I had a CJ-5 with the denim seats. Cool for cats, Jack.
Lord have mercy, Sydney’s got her blue jeans on. (Apologies, Mel.)
You forgot Neil Diamond and Forever in Blue Jeans.
Not to mention the Jean Genie. He’s outrageous.
and
jizzingjazzing for Blue Jean!When will the automotive industry punish us with a corduroy interior so we can live in a constant sensory nightmare?
This is giving me bad ideas about doing a corduroy interior that matches the corduroy suit I was given many years ago and being invisible in my own car.
The automotive equivalent of The Quiet Place: they can’t see you, but they can hear you. Oh, how they can hear you.
I had a 1987 Dodge Colt with corduroy seats and it was a real upgrade from the standard vinyl or the dollar store backpack cloth the auto industry uses now.
I can hear the horrible sound of getting into your car and feel the nightmare texture of sitting in it in shorts in my mind. If I ever get “Saw’d” it will be driving your car naked on a hot day to get antivenom for a snake bite.
Now that you say it, a Corduroy Cordoba would have been a very ’70s thing. I can imagine the sound of Ricardo Montalban pitching it right now.
A possible etymology of corduroy is the French “Corde du Roi”, or “the king’s cord”. Ricardo would have had a field day with that.
I love this site for tidbits like this!
Corduroy is great for stimming!
How about this Rover SD1? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syMc3U6jtYI
Oh the Rover SD1. The Citroen DS if it was created by a culture that thinks beans are a breakfast food.
I don’t think the Brits invented huevos rancheros, one of the best breakfasts possible.
I’m sorry for disparaging Huevos Rancheros. Full English Breakfast remains a crime against God.
A Peugeot 501 or Mustang 5.01 seem like natural Levi’s tie-ins.
I remember the 205 Junior and 106 kid having denim seats.
Here is a commercial for the 106 Kid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8I9r9lbxixI
205 Junior: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_HxlEfMvao and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yr9fnADYjMA
Those commercials were ridiculous.
I just want to say the Sydney Sweeney jeans “controversy” is the most absurd thing I have ever seen. Your government at work, America. The cherry on top was when Trump said if she was a Republican then the ads were great.
He also declared Taylor Swift not hot in that Temu-tweet. Which has been considered official communication of the government. Which means, Taylor Swift is now the first known person to legally be declared Unattractive by a State.
I have it on good authority that Stalin once gave a bombastic speech denouncing Trotsky as “fugly”.
It might be important to have a clear understanding of his taste in women when we finally see those Epstein files.
Probably going to have to substitute the word women for girls if we ever see the files…
This is what we get when 25% of our economy is “talking heads with hot takes”.
The Maverick would look good in a denim color.
Why was there never a Jordache edition car? Seems like it would have been perfect for the Firebird Esprit or something.
Hey, no one’s done a Dockers themed car yet (I hope).
Toyota Camry Dockers Edition.
With pleated seatbelts!
I’d say there have been no Dickie’s themed cars yet either, but if you take away the capitalization, there are plenty of options – frequently seen leaving a Cars and Coffee meet with a questionable rate of speed and/or amount of control.
But have there ever been any car-upholstery-themed pants of any kind, ever?
Tons of nerdy white men have bought vinyl pants thinking they were leather.
Corinthian leather.
The finest leather, hand-crafted in the fabled Corinthian town of Newark, New Jersey.
Yes.