I drive often with my 3 year old in her car seat in my XK. I've saw several posts here asking, and often the answer is "no a car seat won't fit". I do have some input.

Yes, some car seats fit. I specifically looked for one with a shorter base so that it would fit. I have a babytrend hybrid 3 in 1.

With my 5'10 wife in front, the car seat just fits. My 3 year old happily sits with her legs "criss cross applesauce", which is how she actually prefers to sit. She can move her legs to the sides and hang them down if she wants, but its very tight. If the passenger seat is empty, the seat can be moved far enough forward that there is no shortage of rear leg room at all, and if your front seat passenger is shorter, it may work even better.

My 7 year old fits behind me driving. I'm 6'1" and while I have to sit forward more than I'd like, it's still not unreasonable. We've drove an hour+ like this without much complaint from anyone. Its not something I'd take on a road trip but going to my in-laws for dinner, out for some ice cream, or just an afternoon drive it works.

A few things to note, with the car seat in, the roof will catch on the car seat going up or down. The seat fits fine with the roof up, but to drop or raise the roof you need to unbuckle the seat. It's actually very easy to buckle and unbuckle. Especially with the top down. A rear facing car seat likely would not fit as they are much larger. As for a booster, my 7 year old is very tall for her age, and a booster actually positions the seat belt awkwardly. She is 4'7" and without a booster the seat belt lays absolutely perfect across her lap and chest. The only function of a booster is to position the belt, so we choose not to use a booster as the belt position is significantly better without. For a shorter child, you can fit a small booster sear, but this does reduce leg room even further.

This picture is with the passenger seat back far enough for a 6' person to fit in front.



Hope this answers a few questions.

 

Yes, there are some diminutive seats that fit, I've done it. Jaguar even offered one many years ago. Also, don't take this the wrong way, but speaking as a parent of 3 young children, what you've got doesn't look particularly safe, especially height wise. I hope it's just the angle and your daughter's head's below the roof line.

 

So her head is like 6" below the top of the car seat and with the top up there is a few inches of room between the car seat and the headliner.

 

Doesnt fit in a coupe with a seat that high up in the air. Id be concerned with rocks or debris hitting a child while driving around. At age 5 the rear seats are perfect

 

I think the angle is really making it look like the seat is way higher than it really is. It isn't above the roofline at all and easily fits with the roof retracted.

 

Cool. My kid is now 10 so he sits up front, but the rear seats did a great job. Main thing is that the seatbelt actually crosses their chest properly. A carseat is gonna be her life for a few more years though.

 

That's about what I figured. I might give it a try anyway, with the passenger seat all the way forward. If I had to do that in order to take my infant to attend his first car show, though, then there would be no room for the wife and I would be the one changing diapers

 

I'm not sure how tall your wife is, but the seat would have to be very far forward.

 

Your child will need racing goggles.

 

Similar setup here. A rear facing infant seat does fit, but the passenger seat needs to be basically all the way forward. My wife is only 5'2", and she's dealt with it a handful of times for short trips. The forward facing seat, as OP has pictured, does interfere with the top movement, and does sit a little high for my taste. When my son was using a similar seat, we kept the top up. Now he's 5 and has been using a booster in the back instead, more convenient for everyone and no issue with him sitting too high, and the belt sits really well. He does complain about having a lot of wind in the back though, so I keep the top up if we're on higher speed roads.

 

Consider removing the rear seat cushion for reduced height.
Grab the front edge of the cushion and lift.

 

Actually, good point! That's how I did mine, reduces several inches of height, protects the cushion from the car seat and I also put a cushion in the seat dip to level it out.