Vent windows - anyone else miss them?

psrivats

psrivats

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Anyone else miss the vent windows in the front corners they used to have on trucks in the 80s? Always liked how the CJ's door lines connected the frame of the vent windows to the top of the tub. TJs have this same line (by the door latch) but they look orphaned without the flip out window itself.

I'm sure they had their problems (leaks/security) without maintanence but they were very functional. I recently drove an old truck and I loved getting airflow without having to crank the windows fully down. Wish my TJ has these!


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Also ..CJ owners .. was it really that awful looking out of the windshield for the rear passenger mirror? I've never driven one, just curious. I understand those windshield frame mounted mirrors may vibrate at hwy speeds, not questioning that.
 
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Other than styling I don't miss much else about the old cars but I do miss the vent windows. My first eight or nine cars all had them.
 
Oddly I don't miss them at all.

I think the ultimate dream for most of us (myself included) is to have a classic looking car with a modern drivetrain (a resto-mod in other words).

I can't tell you how cool it is when you see something like a '69 Camaro that looks 100% classic on the outside, but under the hood there's a modern LS, a modern drivetrain, etc.

Okay, I got sidetracked here.
 
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It can get really muggy here and my old Triumph had the vented windows with no AC,so they really helped cool things down and de-fog the windows too.
 
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Chris said:
Oddly I don't miss them at all.

I think the ultimate dream for most of us (myself included) is to have a classic looking car with a modern drivetrain (a resto-mod in other words).

I can't tell you how cool it is when you see something like a '69 Camaro that looks 100% classic on the outside, but under the hood there's a modern LS, a modern drivetrain, etc.

Okay, I got sidetracked here.
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No arguments there at all on resto-mods.

If you don't need to run ac, the vent windows are much better than using the climate control fan cranked up with dinky little vents on the dash. I guess most people these days prefer ac inside cars and that's perhaps one of the reasons the vent windows went away.
 
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psrivats said:
No arguments there at all on resto-mods.

If you don't need to run ac, the vent windows are much better than using the climate control fan cranked up with dinky little vents on the dash. I guess most people these days prefer ac inside cars and that's perhaps one of the reasons the vent windows went away.
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I didn't know that, but it makes sense.

I'm one of those people who prefers the A/C unless the temperatures outside are tolerable.

To this day I maintain my assertion that A/C is literally one of man's best inventions.
 
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I got my dad's '86 Ram D250 when he passed away and it has the vent windows (and the floor mounted high beam switch). I love them both.

I was in high school when he bought it and got chewed out for putting 50 miles on it "just running around' in our tiny little town the first week he had it. LOL

Unfortunatly, she's not in as good shape as she was when this pic was taken in 2009.

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psrivats said:
I'm the same way. Don't run AC unless I absolutely have to. I also don't tend to recirculate the air with a/c on, I get a headache very quickly with that for some reason.
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Im like you I'll put it on to clear the windows and that's about it haha
 
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psrivats said:
If you don't need to run ac, the vent windows are much better than using the climate control fan cranked up with dinky little vents on the dash. I guess most people these days prefer ac inside cars and that's perhaps one of the reasons the vent windows went away.
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AC had something to do with the death of vent windows, and, more so, the yet unmentioned missing lower vents, but I think there's more to it than that. The gas crisis of the 70s created the need for more aerodynamics which vent windows got in the way of. Rain gutters on cars, then on trucks also had to disappear. And today most windshields are so sloped that I hate the reflection of the sun on the glass from the 2+ feet of dashboard.

Back to the vent windows, they started to disappear in the late 60s. I don't think any Cadillacs or Lincolns had them by 1969 so I imagine they all had AC. Most general cars had them or at least available depending on what style was ordered. Back in the day, a buddy of mine had a 1972 Buick Skykark Sport Coupe (hardtop?) that had no vent windows.
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He started dating a girl (now his wife) that had a 1972 Buick Skylark in the same color, she had vent windows.
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Neither one had AC.

By the mid 70s I think vent windows were pretty much gone from all American cars. My first car was a rusty 1976 Dodge Aspen. Aspens never came with vent windows and mine didn't have AC or even a radio from the factory.
 
We had them growing up. As a kid I remember it being an absolute bitch to get them open :ROFLMAO: It would be cool if they brought them back.

I dont like to use AC. For some reason it really dries out my eyes. I much prefer rolling the window down.
 
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I was just thinking this the other day. I do miss the vent window and the vent down by your left foot that you would open by pulling the knob.
 
I also liked the cable operated vent that either my ‘60 Studebaker or ‘63 Impala had. Back then lots of cars had chrome trimmed holes in their front quarter panels.
 
I miss the air flow arrangement in my Scout IIs. The cowl cavity wrapped around the sides and there was a manual slide valve there in the cab to let outside air in beside the feet. Then, the vent widows could be cracked to provide a low pressure exhaust. Man, it was just that easy to have fresh mountain air whistling through, even in rain or snow.
 
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psrivats said:
. . . Also ..CJ owners .. was it really that awful looking out of the windshield for the rear passenger mirror? I've never driven I've, just curious. I understand those windshield frame mounted mirrors may vibrate at hwy speeds, not questioning that.
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Not really, it's just something you get used to. Keeping the mirror head in position was a bigger annoyance because of the ornery ball stud retainer & screws.
 
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Vent windows were probably the reason I didn't get lung cancer as a kid. Dad & grandpa would crack them just a smidge to make sure the kids in the back (or the front, who cared?) got good ventilation.
 
Yeah, I miss them as well. My Type I beetles and Type II buses had them out of necessity. My '72 FJ40 also had vents in the panels just behind the front fenders that could be kicked open. Those were really nice for getting air moving. The fold-down windshield in the new JL's does seem like a pretty cool thing as well.
 
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