Cupholders didn't start becoming a 'required' item for the discerning auto-shopper until the era of the minivan and SUV, when there was more space to put stuff.

I myself had this same problem in my '81 242, back when I bought at least a Super Big Gulp a day. Where to put this gargantuan amount of drink without spilling it all over yourself? Well, at the time I worked at a metalshop. So I whipped out the cad/cam software, and fabricated something up. The boys out in the shop did the punching/drilling/bending/welding, and when it was all said and done, I had a nice little stainless steel cup holder. Two halves, each half mounted on either side of the console around the e-brake handle.

The only problem I ever had was if/when I would pull the e-brake before retrieving my soda. :\
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--Richard (Hillsboro, OR)