Openings in Fenders

[etzmolch]

Can anybody tell me what’s the name of the openings in the fender as seen on the picture? Do they have a deeper meaning or just show?

 

Thanks

André

 

[casper50]

they were used on some high end cars as exhaust ports.  Buick used them for years as decoration i.e. false exhaust ports.

 

[busycoupe]

Buick called them “ventiports.” They were fake exhaust ports, simply used as decoration.  For a few years the number of ventiports was related to the model of the Buick.  The use of them on the Dodge was probably something the owner added.

[etzmolch]

Thanks.

Looks not bad for this was asking.

[knuckleharley]

I always called them "port holes". AFAIK,Buicks were the only cars to come with them from the factory,but they seemed to be popular with customizers in the 50's,who put them on everything.

 

BTW,REALLY nice color combo on that Dodge. That thing is a beauty!

Edited March 7, 2018 by knuckleharley

[Plymouthy Adams]

André, is that an ADO16 in the background...hard to tell in the pic as it sits so far back...

Edited March 7, 2018 by Plymouthy Adams

[Young Ed]

4 hours ago, knuckleharley said:

I always called them "port holes". AFAIK,Buicks were the only cars to come with them from the factory,but they seemed to be popular with customizers in the 50's,who put them on everything.

 

BTW,REALLY nice color combo on that Dodge. That thing is a beauty!

HAHA one day I told my friend that really wants a 71 cuda that the gills on the fender made it look like a buick. He wasn't too happy with that!

[knuckleharley]

1 hour ago, Young Ed said:

HAHA one day I told my friend that really wants a 71 cuda that the gills on the fender made it look like a buick. He wasn't too happy with that!

Ahhh,but the fender vents in Cuda's were there to look good as well as let out heat. Believe it or not,but Buick started putting them in Buicks in the mid-30's to simulate the exhaust ports of speed boats. Buick WANTED people to think of Buicks as "land yachts" back when "big is good!"  IIRC,they used them right up through the 1957 year models,and IMHO,they were still looking good.

I have never seen it,but there is no doubt in my mind that at some point someone,some red neck ran his headers out of them. It is just too obvious to have not happened.

[Plymouthy Adams]

51 minutes ago, knuckleharley said:

Ahhh,but the fender vents in Cuda's were there to look good as well as let out heat. Believe it or not,but Buick started putting them in Buicks in the mid-30's to simulate the exhaust ports of speed boats. Buick WANTED people to think of Buicks as "land yachts" back when "big is good!"  IIRC,they used them right up through the 1957 year models,and IMHO,they were still looking good.

I have never seen it,but there is no doubt in my mind that at some point someone,some red neck ran his headers out of them. It is just too obvious to have not happened.

I do not recall the 'cuda fender inserts as being open to allow passage of air...what part of the inner fender would need cooling?

[desoto1939]

My 39 Desoto has ports in the side panel of the hood assembly to help vent out the heat. The forward movement of the car and the air passing into the engine compartment  would force air past the engine block and manifold and the air would then go out the side port vents.  If you remember the early model car had slits inthe side of their hoods to permit air circulation instead of the portholes that the buick used.  Nothing new just a design concept change.

 

Rich Hartung

desoto1939@aol.com

[knuckleharley]

39 minutes ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

I do not recall the 'cuda fender inserts as being open to allow passage of air...what part of the inner fender would need cooling?

I never had any real interest in owning one,so I never paid that much attention to them. I was just assuming the hemi Cuda's needed all the heat relief they could get in those tight quarters,so the vents would open.

[Plymouthy Adams]

it would seems like a good idea but the inner fenders block the very vent area as it is...so there is nothing to ventilate...I have functional scoop and exit vents on one of my cars with a slightly warmed over engine..you can feel the heated air being pushed out even at idle...at speed this is even more so...the gills on the 'cuda are pure dress and very tactfully done in my thinking.....

 

 

[knuckleharley]

32 minutes ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

it would seems like a good idea but the inner fenders block the very vent area as it is...so there is nothing to ventilate...I have functional scoop and exit vents on one of my cars with a slightly warmed over engine..you can feel the heated air being pushed out even at idle...at speed this is even more so...the gills on the 'cuda are pure dress and very tactfully done in my thinking.....

 

 

There is nothing to prevent anyone with a hole saw from sawing holes for header pipes out of the inner fenders so the pipes exit the port holes. I have a 39 Ford with a hi-po V-8 that  has part of the inner fenders cut away so the headers can exit out over the top of the frame rails.

Edited March 8, 2018 by knuckleharley

[Plymouthy Adams]

you are right...nothing to stop them......