Remember When Cars Had Vents?

Back in the ’70s and ’80s, scores of models sported big, black air vents carved into their C-pillars, rear quarter panels and occasionally their tail lights, blowing cabin air into the atmosphere.

“Flow-through ventilation” was something to brag about in owner’s manuals and dealer brochures.

But look around now: The visible cabin vent has nearly vanished from the automotive landscape. Like key slots on passenger doors, they disappeared slowly, almost imperceptibly.

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Modern cars still vent cabin air to the outside, obviously, but unlike the older cars that clearly advertised their flow-through ventilation exactly where and how they do it something of a mystery.

Prominent vents started showing up on cars in the mid- to late-60s and seemed to peak about a decade later, although there are some fairly recent examples (the first-generation Prius and the Jeep Grand Cherokee come to mind.)
Saab made mud flaps and air vents, two of the most practical features you could imagine, a virtual art form on the 900.

In some of the old cars with visible vents, the designers appeared to make some effort to hide them, or at least downplay them. The original Datsun 240Z, for example, blows air through the circular “Z” logos on either side of the car, just above the rear tires. The original Acura Legend coupe features slots in the tail lights, similar to the Grand Cherokee but much more subtle.

In other cases, the designers seemed to slap on vents as after-thoughts — think Volvo 200 wagons, mid-70s Toyota Corollas and Alfa Romeo Alfettas.

Volkswagen went in the other direction, going out of its way to display vents that were likely more cosmetic than functional. Beginning in 1971, the Bug featured prominent crescent vents behind the rear side windows, but it’s hard to imagine they were hooked up to any kind of mechanical blower. The Bug’s heater and windshield vents didn’t even have those.

The case of the magically disappearing cabin vent is not unique, of course. Modern cars still feature crash-absorbing bumpers, but you can’t tell as readily by looking at them as you could in the ’70s. New cars still come with radio antennas, but the power telescoping antenna is a relic now. Even the source of a car’s power — the engine — is frequently hidden now beneath a giant plastic shroud.
Every year, it seems cars become a little more sophisticated — and a little less transparent.

So, which currently visible feature do you think auto makers will find a way to hide next? Those back-up sensor “pimples” on rear bumpers? Perhaps satellite radio and GPS antennas?

Photo credits: Saab Automobile USA via SaabHistory.com; Alfa Romeo Alfetta, productioncars.com; Toyota Prius, Art’s Automotive; VW, gaywheels.com; Jeep Grand Cherokee, wikimedia commons; Volvo 240 DL, Bull-Doser;