Wing Windows

Before cars were air conditioned, during hot weather, drivers and passengers suffered from the heat. We had a 1938 Ford that had a “nose vent” that was located at the back of the hood and the cover could be raised and lowered to get air flow through the car.

Far more effective to move air through the car were small side windows which were called “wing windows.” These were usually triangular, but some were rectangular depending on the body style of the vehicle. All of them had a crank you could use to crank them open, part way open or closed. Because they stuck out in the air stream, they got more air into the car than open side windows.

We had wing windows on the 1941 Chevrolet, the 1948 Chevrolet and the 1950 Chevrolet. The 1953 Buick Roadmaster was our first air conditioned family car, but I think it also had wing windows.

Wing windows disappeared at some point in time. Perhaps they were not needed as more vehicles got air conditioning, but I heard that they were banned because if a car struck a pedestrian with wing windows open, more serious injury could be caused.

Does any manufacturer offer wing windows today? It so, I don’t know of any.