Why some classic Buicks have three portlights and others have four – Jalopnik

GM’s Buick brand practically invented the modern idea of ​​car styling when it introduced the Y-Job in 1938 – considered the world’s first concept car. It was a massive machine with huge fenders and an electrically retractable roof, and it brought with it a purposefully stylized design approach that transformed the industry. Yes, some companies crush their fine concept cars, but Harley Earl has driven the Y-Job for tens of thousands of miles.

That said, the Y-Job’s influence didn’t really make itself felt until after World War II, with the introduction of cars like the 1949 Buick Roadmaster – the very first Buick to feature Ventiports next to the hood. And they even did triple work on the car.

First, they were distinctive styling cues, inspired by a project by one of Buick’s then-designers, Ned Nickles. He owned a 1948 Roadmaster with a stock hood and decided to spruce things up by installing a bank of orange lights that – activated by the distributor – would flicker in a way meant to make you think of the exhaust flames of a fighter jet. They caught the attention of a GM executive who approved the basic idea for production, but without the flame effect lighting. Instead, they would fulfill the functional role of helping to remove warm air from the engine compartment. Before 1949, the Ventiports also served to distinguish exactly which mill was under the hood: cars with the more powerful 320 cubic inch inline eight had four Ventiports per side, while those with the 248 cubic inch inline eight had three.

So far so simple, but Buick quickly started tweaking how Ventiports were used and what they did. For example, just a year later the 1950 Roadmaster switched to purely decorative ventilation accents. Those decorative designs didn’t stay the same either, as Buick continued to restyle the Ventiports, along with the cars themselves. The brand also continued to use them to differentiate models during this period, with more premium cars with larger displacement engines receiving four Ventiports, while others were limited to three.

Buick revived Ventiports for its cars in 1960 and generally began allocating four holes to model lines at the top of the sales ladder – such as the Buick Electra – and providing three-hole setups for “lesser” models.

Ventiports would come and go on Buick products thereafter, with icons like the Buick Wildcat, GNX, and Park Avenue all sporting Ventiport detailing well into the 1990s. They made a modern comeback in the 2008 Buick LaCrosse, with the specific number of ports related to the engine’s cylinders. The powerful LaCrosse Super, backed by a V8, was adorned with four Ventiports, and less powerful versions were available with three. Ventiports continued to appear on LaCrosse models through the end of 2019, but are no longer part of the Buick design vocabulary. That means, for example, you can get a Buick Enclave with Super Cruise, but not with Ventiports.

Since we’re talking about cars with portholes, we’re also dealing with the (Italian) elephant hanging out in the room – even though it might not be the one you think. Yes, Maserati has made the portlight vents a signature design accent in their own right, but they appear to have come from the celebrated Italian coachbuilder Pininfarina – who, by the way, designed the most beautiful Jaguar XJ220.

During the years immediately following World War II, it was still quite common for companies like Pininfarina to produce bodies for other car manufacturers’ chassis – some point to the 1945 Pininfarina-bodied Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Sport Cabriolet Speciale as the first car to use this look. Then in 1947, Pininfarina transferred a modified version of the portholes to the body for the Maserati A6 1500 Prototipo Turismo Coupé. As you might guess from the name, this was a prototype. Maserati eventually eliminated the porthole vents for the production model, but Pininfarina didn’t give up.

As a result, while many Maseratis offered fender flares of varying designs over the years, the Buick vs. Maserati comparison may have come to a head when Pininfarina designed the bodywork for the 2005 Maserati Quattroporte. Motor Weekfor example, made the connection clear when it reported that the “Buick-style portholes in the front fenders … don’t obstruct the Quattroporte’s sexy lines.” Meanwhile, reviewers from the Robb Report took a harder line and awarded the 2005 Quattroporte the title of Car of the Year with a single complaint: “The addition of non-functional portholes in the front fenders that are reminiscent of no Maseratis within our knowledge, only Buick Roadmasters from the 1950s.”