What happened to vent windows? - SFGate
For those too young to remember vent windows, vinyl seats that left branding marks on your thighs and car interiors that felt like ovens, cars used to have small, triangular windows in front of the driver and passenger windows. Those vent windows could be unlocked and then angled outward, so they would catch the wind and blow it directly onto your face. And back before air conditioning, those vent windows could mean the difference between showing up at work ready to suck up to the boss, and showing up for work looking like you’d just played two hours of one-on-one with LeBron James. So if it’s so hot that simply lowering a window won’t cut it, you always have the option of rolling up the windows and turning the temperature down to 70 degrees. And that leads to the second reason why you don’t see vent windows anymore: Cars are actually more fuel-efficient with all of their windows closed and the air conditioner on — even when you factor in the energy used to power the air conditioner. A lot of work and science go into making cars aerodynamic these days so as to maximize mileage. And in order to make the wind flow around the car, the windows have to be closed to create a smooth exterior surface. If you open the windows, you increase the car’s wind resistance and reduce its fuel mileage, especially at higher speeds. If you were to push out one of the windows, so it was perpendicular to the car — which is what vent windows did — it’d be like mounting a pizza box on your door. Source: www.sfgate.com
