in My 1978 cutlass salon , there are no window cranks/mechanisms in the rear doors. all I have are a couple of swing out windows, behind the doors. what was the reason for this??

 

So your passengers can throw nails out of the window at all the people eating your dust.

 

lol nice thought

 

Does your car have a pillar between the windows on the door and the windows for the rear passengers? I know all of the auto manufacturers went to different styling in the 70s with "opera" style windows for the rear seat in a 2 door car. All you have to do is look at the mid to late 70s 2 door Delat 88s, 98s, Cutlass etc. Not to mention other manufacturers. A few that come to mind with unique windows are the Chrysler Cordoba in the late 70s (check out the movie Anchorman for a good example), the Ford Thunderbird, and the Mercury Cougar. Ultimately, I think it is just a styling thing. Hope my $.02 helped.

 

it's a 4 door thin pillar sedan

sure was an odd design

 

DOH!

I didn't think to read that your car was a 4 door. Sorry. I guess it is just the styling.

 

Cost savings. It was idiot beancounter decisions like this that drove consumers to import cars in the late 1970s.

 

I agree with you Joe. And they are still determining the fate of American automobiles today. Too bad they can't all be put in a little padded cell......where they belong.

 

bean counters..... the reason GM is in trouble these days

 

Cost factor to be competetive, they eliminated the rear door window mechanisms. They often advertised it as "Safety Feature" so children could not lower the windows and fall out. Some models had windows that would only partially lower. That was more of a safety feature than the elimination.

 

yes, that explains it. I've sold the project, and I'm gonna find something else to play with

 

Actually, if you look at cars where the back windows only lower part way, it's almost always due to being limited by the rear wheel opening. On my 68 Vista Cruiser, the back edge of the rear doors are scalloped to clear the rear wheel openings. This limits how far down the window can go. It's a styling limitation but the marketeers spin it as a "safety" feature. Shades of "it's not a bug, it's a feature" Microsoft.