Fly Windows Are Coming Back!

stever

Not really although some of us old timers who remember working vent or "wing" windows liked having them. And if yours was open and you had a wreck you could always claim that a bee got in the car and distracted you. :-)

I miss tie-downs or tow hooks underneath the bumpers. Most of those have either gone away or they are so far under they are hard to reach.

What other "old car tech" do you wish would come back?

crkyolfrt

@ab348 said:
Testing posting a picture. If this works, it's my hobby car.

I'd love to see fly-windows make a comeback. If you've driven an (old) car lately that has them, you realize just how great they were. They hung around a lot longer in big trucks. That's the last vehicle I drove that had them.

I remember seeing the start of an episode of The Littlest Hobo (a kids show about a super smart carefree German Shepherd that trucks around saving everyone from themselves back in the 70s/early 80s) and in the opening scene they had one of those Cutlasses in the same colour, but as a rag top.

stever

@crkyolfrt said:
I'd love to see fly-windows make a comeback.

Ah, fly windows (we called them wing vents when I was growing up). We're showing our age.

carnaught

@Stever@Edmunds said:
Ah, fly windows (we called them wing vents when I was growing up). We're showing our age.

Then you remember (gulp...), crank windows?

kyfdx

@Stever@Edmunds

Locally, those are known as cozy wings..

crkyolfrt

I know they probably cost a slight FE penalty an maybe a hair more wind noise, but I miss the roof drip rails. Every vehicle I have owned since they disappeared drops water and snow all over my seat and carpeting. Plus...if you're out checking yard sales and see a great (but bulky) find..you can't just whip out the universal fit roof rails.

I also miss not having NO centre console. Remember when you could swing outta the driver's seat and exchange drivers on the fly of minivans if it was pouring rain outside? Or had to get something in the back and the mosquitos were so bad that to open a door they'd be munching on your ankles for the next 3 hours..I liked the floor space and all the room on the seat too.

And when you went to a drive-in..your sweetie could snuggle up close to ya..
ahhh...the good ol' days...

fintail

Many MBs still have tow hooks. Wing windows are cool, my fintail has them and I use them a lot - but eventually they seem to leak or develop wind noise. I remember my Galaxie had mini sized window winders for the wing windows, where the fintail has a circular knob.

imidazol97

@Stever@Edmunds said:
Ah, fly windows (we called them wing vents when I was growing up). We're showing our age.

feeling older. I was trying to figure out "fly windows". I'm sitting here in L ooperland trying to figure out friend's IPad for posting and reading.

stever

@carnaught said:
Then you remember (gulp...), crank windows?

The '82 Tercel in my current avatar had crank windows, as did our '89 Voyager and those two were just three and four cars ago. Very recent history.

stever

@crkyolfrt said:
I know they probably cost a slight FE penalty an maybe a hair more wind noise, but I miss the roof drip rails.

Can't believe I didn't think of real rain gutters - I'm not even sure if the newest Geländewagen still have them; some of the cargo vans do. Best roof rack going were some Quick-N-Easy towers bolted to your own 2x4s. NRS still sells them. My set lasted 20 odd years when I gave them away and it was easy to move them to a new car without having to buy clips.

I thought about getting some camper shell gutter mounts and mounting them on the current van so I could use the Quick-N-Easys, but I got a pro deal on some Yakima racks.

carnaught

@Stever@Edmunds said: The '82 Tercel in my current avatar had crank windows, as did our '89 Voyager and those two were just three and four cars ago. Very recent history.

Steve, the 80's were a very long time ago .

bhill2

@carnaught said:

Then you remember (gulp...), crank windows?

Oh hell, I remember when my best friend Jay's parents bought a '57 Mercury with power windows and I thought I had been transported into the future (yes, I'm [ahem] age-enhanced.) My last car with crank windows was an '81 Rabbit, but I learned to like the power jobs in the '78 Tbird that my girlfriend (now wife of many years) had. Good thing because not long after that I don't think you could get crank jobs anymore except perhaps in bottom-feeder economy cars.

fintail

I'm pretty sure the G-wagen still has them. Only downside to them apart from aero or looks is that they can become rust magnets.

@Stever@Edmunds said:

crkyolfrt

Yes that's true..especially on the old Toyota Land Cruiser Wagons at the rear above the rear hatch on the corners. Was a known spot. Mind you there were no shortage of other spots, but the rain gutters were infamous.

The G Wagen..that's that really high-end very square type SUV right?

lemko

The only car on which I had them was my 1968 Buick Special Deluxe.

bpeebles

@crkyolfrt said:
I'd love to see fly-windows make a comeback.

Do you realize the reason why "fly-windows" were there so the wind-down window had a STRAIGHT front-edge? Once the technology reached the point where the wind-down windows could be designed to fit into the door and be contoured on the front-edge, there was no need for the added expense of the fly-windows.

HOWEVER: I agree with you - I miss the flexibility the fly-windows and pull-open floor-vents allowed to provide ventilation. (Also recall, cars did not normally have AC back then either.)

isellhondas

I've never heard the term "fly windows" and when I had them I can't remember ever using them.

cdnpinhead

My family called them wing vents back in the '50s and '60s when they were everywhere. My '65 MGB had them and my '73 240Z did not. They cost something extra to produce, and after the mid-70s air conditioning was very common in the U.S., so that could help explain their demise.

ab348

@cdnpinhead said:
My family called them wing vents back in the '50s and '60s when they were everywhere. My '65 MGB had them and my '73 240Z did not. They cost something extra to produce, and after the mid-70s air conditioning was very common in the U.S., so that could help explain their demise.

I always assumed it was mostly a cost issue. Had to be cheaper to install a single piece of glass and mechanism rather than that plus a vent window, the divider bar, special weatherstrip and (as in the case of my Cutlass) a separate crank mechanism to open and close the vent window.

KCRam

I last had vent windows on my 1993 F-150. I liked them for causing more rapid airflow from the HVAC, and of course if I had a smoker as a passenger.

Another reason they're gone is because of the side mirrors. Once automakers began mounting mirrors directly to the forward edge of the window area instead of free-standing mounts on the door, the frames of the vent windows got in the way.

snakeweasel

May I ask what models will those vent windows be making a comeback on?

My first car was a 1970 Dodge Coronet that had them, I do remember them fondly.

nippononly

As aerodynamic design has advanced and windshields have become more and more steeply raked, I find that a second window in front of the main side windows is becoming very common. They don't open of course, but they are there to add visibility. My Yaris had one, the new Civic has one too, as well as several other cars I have been in recently.

(Didn't know these were called fly windows, got me curious enough to come take a look at this discussion)