I’m referring to those little triangular hinged windows on either side of the front passenger seat. They were handy when you wanted a little fresh air but didn’t want a strong wind blowing through the car. They were also handy for smokers, as I recall. I remember seeing people flick their ashes or just hold a cigarette out that window. I do kind of miss them. But then, I miss two-tone cars, too. Neither one is coming back
Someone told me they disappeared around the time cars AC became standard, but as their sole purpose was to vent, not cool, I’m not sure I understand that. Maybe it was just cheaper to make cars without them?
They were designed to direct air onto the windshield, to act as supplementary defrosters. In mild damp weather it’s difficult to keep the windshield defrosted without the dehumidifying ability of the air conditioner or blasting the heat. Opening the regular windows doesn’t do anything for the windshield since the air blows towards the back.
On top of the items Johnny quoted, the A pillar is also getting bigger to accommodate side-impact airbags. This further reduces visibility, so adding a vent window would only make it that much worse with the extra trim between it and the rest of the window. I figure that would complicate visibility to the sideview mirrors as well. Because vent windows are on a pivot, it’s also very difficult to keep them watertight.
Technology made it easier & cheaper to produce window glass with a slanted front edge. So now the manufacturer could fill the entire window space with a single piece of glass.
And eliminating vent windows saved money in manufacturing. Only 1 piece of window glass; no extra metal frame, hinge, and handle to be assembled, and less weight overall. And vent windows had disadvantages (many already mentioned): noisy, leaky (I certainly remember that, as a kid growing up n Minnesota winters) prone to breakage, easily smashed to break into a vehicle, etc.
Also, eliminating them allowed auto company publicists to push the streamlined, elegant style of their new cars. (When you introduce new models every year, you need a new gimmick to push.) There was some slight advantage in improving driver visibility, but nobody wanted to talk about safety back then.
Technology made it easier & cheaper to produce window glass with a slanted front edge. So now the manufacturer could fill the entire window space with a single piece of glass.
And eliminating vent windows saved money in manufacturing. Only 1 piece of window glass; no extra metal frame, hinge, and handle to be assembled, and less weight overall. And vent windows had disadvantages (many already mentioned): noisy, leaky (I certainly remember that, as a kid growing up n Minnesota winters) prone to breakage, easily smashed to break into a vehicle, etc.
Also, eliminating them allowed auto company publicists to push the streamlined, elegant style of their new cars. (When you introduce new models every year, you need a new gimmick to push.) There was some slight advantage in improving driver visibility, but nobody wanted to talk about safety back then.
As an ironic side note, hasn’t there been some concern that the wider A pillar obscures visibility, posing something of a threat to pedestrians and bicyclists? And a cop once told me of a fatal accident in which the A pillar obscured a small car. Of course, any danger would be more than offset by the safety advantages.
Many modern vehicles have godawful visibility. Streamlined shapes and sculpted back ends on SUVs have caused many vehicles to have huge blind spots. Older cars often look like greenhouses in comparison.
This is somewhat explained by the rise of backup cameras, parking sensors, and the like. The availability of those tools has allowed car designers to compromise outward visibility, while the increased compromising of outward visibility is driving further development and regulations requiring such sensors.
Also note the advent of the side mirrors as smaller inserts where the vent window used to be. My first Honda Civic (85) had a solid piece on the passenger side and the passenger side mirror was an option. Note the far cheaper manufacturing in putting the side mirrors in that triangle - no holes to drill, no funny cable to thread for adjustment cable that then had to be attached to the door interior; and those holes drilled in the door for the rear-view were a great source of rust. Can’t remember how many old junkers I used to see with a side mirror rusted loose and hanging by the cable. Today, the side mirrors are often installed at the dealer - less risk of damage.
I think a lot of design compromises on modern cars are due to simplicity of assembly nowadays.
(ha ha - there’s a bit in Death of a Salesman where the protagonist reminisces about cranking open the windshield to enjoy the breeze.)
How would that happen? Cars exhaust out the rear and the vents are in the front. The car would have to be going backward relative to the airflow outside the car for the exhaust to make it in.
Probably. It was one of the issues with opening them too far (that it put the breeze back on your body) in the rain; you basically got soaked. I can remember getting stuck behind buses and slag-trucks - it really did fill the cabin pretty quickly through the vent windows.
I do not know the factual answer but aerodynamics can be counterintuitive. If the car creates turbulence rather than laminar flow along the sides of the vehicle, exhaust could certainly be sucked up to the front of the car.
Station wagons used to have roll-up/down windows on the rear door. With the window opened, the turbulent airflow from the back of the car would blow some of the exhaust into the car.
I’m getting traffic tickets for running red-lights where I can’t see the traffic light as I enter the intersection. And the last time I bought a car, visibility was my primary criteria, but I still can’t see out: visibility is blocked by the pillars and the roof-line.