# Whatever happened to vent windows on cars? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 13, 2019, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-vent-windows-on-cars/827706 "2019-01-13T21:47:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-vent-windows-on-cars/827706/21 "2019-01-14T20:55:22Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > Sure, but any more than any other method of getting air into the car? There’s a cabin air filter for the ventilation system in modern cars (I’m not 100% certain of whether older cars had those), though I don’t know how good a job those do on engine exhaust. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-vent-windows-on-cars/827706/22 "2019-01-14T21:05:36Z")
I vonder vhwere ze vindows vent? ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-vent-windows-on-cars/827706/23 "2019-01-14T23:05:12Z")
Subaru vehicles still maintain the triangular vent windows…they just don’t open any more. But they’re there on all their cars, and it does provide better visibility around the a-pillar, especially when the driver is making a left turn. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-vent-windows-on-cars/827706/24 "2019-01-15T03:32:02Z")
In cars with no AC, weren’t the Vents a good way to “cool” the car when it was raining hard? ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-vent-windows-on-cars/827706/25 "2019-01-15T16:28:43Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > Sure, but any more than any other method of getting air into the car? At least as far as my memory goes; yes. The still air box for the regular vents/dash vents must have been located in such a fashion that they didn’t get as much and having the windows wide (the 4-60 AC Unit as we called it) allowed as much out as in. With the vents it seemed like the fumes didn’t just enter but lingered for some reason. > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > There’s a cabin air filter for the ventilation system in modern cars (I’m not 100% certain of whether older cars had those), though I don’t know how good a job those do on engine exhaust. No filters at least on the 50s/60s cars I owned. > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > There’s a cabin air filter for the ventilation system in modern cars (I’m not 100% certain of whether older cars had those), though I don’t know how good a job those do on engine exhaust. See my post #16; it depends. They could help quite a bit but you had to learn how to set and adjust them. Like outside mirrors back then (the kind that you adjusted manually sometimes mounted in odd places like the fenders) YMMV widely. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-vent-windows-on-cars/827706/26 "2019-01-15T17:20:04Z")
> [@jjakucyk](#): > > 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. How, exactly, did they direct air onto the windshield? ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2019, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-vent-windows-on-cars/827706/27 "2019-01-15T18:06:43Z")
> [@MikeF](#): > > How, exactly, did they direct air onto the windshield? [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cd/1965_AMC_Ambassador_detail_of_vent_window.jpg/1024px-1965_AMC_Ambassador_detail_of_vent_window.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cd/1965_AMC_Ambassador_detail_of_vent_window.jpg/1024px-1965_AMC_Ambassador_detail_of_vent_window.jpg) Set like this it really did draw a flow across the inside of a windshield and work as an addition to the “defrost” setting. If you did both sides the same way it also created a sort of central flow keeping the driver and passenger “draft-free”. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-vent-windows-on-cars/827706/28 "2019-01-16T03:09:41Z")
Camaros had them in '67 . They did not in '68. Why? At first, GM said it was styling. Eventually, they admitted it was simply a cost-saving measure. Other makers followed suit. The other reasons mentioned earlier in this thread were not considered then. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-vent-windows-on-cars/827706.md?page=1)