Look at this seeet ride

[eaglefan]

Super cool car. When those impalas are done right they are really nice. The guys that do up those rides spend a lot of money on them to make it their own. Kinda like the harley, everybody mods them to make it their own, me included.

 

[JDGolden]

Really nice. Just a wheel swap away from my personal style (18's would be really nice), but it isn't mine.

A lot of those "donks" pack a serious punch. Very, very fast cars even launching on those rubber bands. There are a few on youtube. Do a search for "Donkmaster".

 

[Route246]

Follow the money. Wing windows were useful when A/C was not prevalent and for smokers who preferred not to use the ashtray, among many other things. They added complexity and cost to the manufacturing and after-sales maintenance and customer satisfaction level (vis-a-vis repairs, water leaks, etc.). The first Arab oil embargo hit in '73 and car designers started seriously thinking of aerodynamics as a way to increase fuel efficiency. They were also a convenient entry point for break-ins.

As A/C became a mainstream option (instead of a luxury option only), the push for more fuel efficiency, increased competition from Japan to cut manufacturing costs and cars became quieter where wind noise became evident the move to "flow-through" ventilation progressed and wing windows seemingly disappeared overnight from cars, a little later from trucks.

•The vents are part of what GM/AC Delco
called: ”The Astro Ventilation System”.
{It was on many GM makes/models...
ca.1968-72}

-This system eliminated the triangular
shaped window vents—the ones that
not only supplied outside air to the cabin,
but also made it real easy to break into
the vehicle.


As is the case for most over engineered
vehicle components—this ventilation sys-
tem wasn’t always a “closed loop system”.

As such:
After the enormous amount of Customer
complaints; coupled with the costs associated
with warranty work: this system was dropped
from GM’s 1972 model year Impala, along with
many other vehicles in their portfolio.

{Sure enough/magically:
those little (side) vent windows re-
appeared on many GM makes/models.}



Bob

 

[TMQ]

Good questions. I was more interested in whether that is a real 4-barrel carb on the top of the engine and what happened to the air cleaner.

I see a few donk's around my area. Some of them have a high level workmanship and are really unique. I wouldn't drive one, but I appreciate the creativity and workmanship that went into modifying the vehicle.

That is an EFI 4 Self Tuning Fuel Injection System. It is a conversion from a standard carb to electronic system. Tossing out old tech and bringing cars up to date tech-wise. Good stuff and that includes changing out gas systems in gas tanks as well.

Tom

 

[Setec Astronomy]

Follow the money. Wing windows were useful when A/C was not prevalent and for smokers who preferred not to use the ashtray, among many other things. They added complexity and cost to the manufacturing and after-sales maintenance and customer satisfaction level (vis-a-vis repairs, water leaks, etc.). The first Arab oil embargo hit in '73 and car designers started seriously thinking of aerodynamics as a way to increase fuel efficiency. They were also a convenient entry point for break-ins.

As A/C became a mainstream option (instead of a luxury option only), the push for more fuel efficiency, increased competition from Japan to cut manufacturing costs and cars became quieter where wind noise became evident the move to "flow-through" ventilation progressed and wing windows seemingly disappeared overnight from cars, a little later from trucks.

Well, that's a nice theory, but if we take what Bob posted at face value, the wing vents were removed in '68 and reappeared in '73...which would seem to be the opposite of what you are proposing. On top of that, design changes driven by the '73 embargo didn't really hit the market until the 1977 model year with "The New Chevrolet". The product cycle was a lot longer back then. Although Chevy was able to bring the Chevette to the market as a '76 model, modifying an existing platform, as a response to the embargo.

It seems to me that these kind of vents (referring to the trunk vents on this Impala) got moved to less exposed places, I know had/have a car that had them in the rear-door jamb area.