So,. I'm remembering on my grandmother's 85 cutlass 4dr that the family owned for god knows how long, that the rear windows just didn't go down...at all. The fronts were power. Has anyone else seent his bizarre situation on any other cars?

 

All the GM G-body cars of that era were like that. My mom's 86 Cutlass was like that and my friend's 64 Regal.
However, those cars had rear "wing" (vent) windows far back that opened (either power or manual). Those made for great ventilation when the fronts were open or the climate contol vent was on, even in the rain!

 

The way they designed the cars there wasn't space for a window to go down or they would only go down down partially, cheaper to build too.
The rear doors windows in my Vista stop about two or three inches from all the way down.

 

How many cars built in the last 30 years have you seen without A/C? No one uses those windows, so GM saved a few bucks.

 

Thanks for that very detailed explanation. That makes perfect sense.

 

We looked at an 84 or 86 Pontiac Bonneville that had the same restriction. The rear windows didn't roll down.

My daily driver 2003 Dodge SX 2.0 (Neon for you U.S. folks) has power windows for the front and crank windows in the back. They were all made like this due to restricted space in the rear doors. Always seemed strange :-)