In the 1950s, every car-spotting kid could identify a Buick by the portholes in the front fenders. Here’s some backstory on a novel styling feature that continues to this day.
In Buick lore, portholes came to be when noted General Motors stylist Ned Nickles designed and installed a set of round fender vents on his personal 1948 Roadmaster. As the story goes, Nickles incorporated small electric lamps (probably neon or similar) wired to the ignition system so they would flash in sequence with the engine. Reportedly, he was inspired by the flashing exhaust pipes (or gun muzzles, in some versions of the story) on World War II fighter aircraft. No one knew it at the time, but at that moment a Buick styling trademark was born.
Buick manufacturing boss Edward T. Ragsdale ridiculed the gimmick, saying it ruined the car, but general manager Harlow Curtice fell in love with it and ordered it into production on the 1949 models, a scant seven months away—but minus the flashing lamps. The ’49 Roadmaster (convertible shown just above) carried four “Cruiser-Line Ventiports” (the official Buick term) per side, while the junior Super and Special sported just three per side.
So began the custom of three holes per side on lesser Buick models and four per side on the top-of-the line offerings, with slight tweaks from year to year. In the 1955 lineup (above) the Special (264 CID V8) featured three mouseholes in each front fender, while the Century, Super, and Roadmaster (322 CID V8) boasted four per side.
Ventiports were temporarily banished from the Buick look for 1958 and 1959, then returned in stylized form on the 1960 line. The 1961 Electra 225 Convertible above employs four streamlined ventiport slashes per side, naturally, while the LeSabre and Invicta got three, and even the little Sklylark compact got into the act with three portholes per fender.
The signature styling feature continued all through the ’60s, often as merely a stylized strip of bright metal fender trim. And since them, the Buick porthole has never really gone away. Just when we think it’s finally been killed off forever, it returns as Buick stylists search for the perfect balance between innovation and convention. Notable reappearances of the ventiport include the 1987 GNX neo-muscle car and the 2003 Park Avenue Ultra. And if you look closely at the front fender of the 2017 LaCrosse pictured below, the ventiport tradition continues to this day.
Here is the story I heard in the 50’s while I was at GM Styling. Joe Funk, the Chief Modeler in the Buick Studio, went out during lunchtime and purchased several plumbing escutcheons for a home project. When he returned to the studio, he jokingly placed them of the side of a front fender of a Buick clay model. Nickles saw them, was impressed and had his own Buick portholes installed and modified with the lights. I witnessed Nick’s Buick and the lights were spectacular!
I would imagine that the lights flashing in concert with the engine would’ve been something to see!
I really miss illustrated advertisements. It’s a better looking world in an America that’s still looking forward.
The portholes were to simulate exhaust posts NOT machine guns, this is common knowledge to most car people…except the writer who got bad advice or guessed?
The story is told numerous ways. It seems silly to get nasty about it.
I have never really thought about it. But do know that 50s Buicks have stylised holes in the front guards. Never noticed that some have 3 and some 4. Next cruise I will have to look.
I have always assumed there were four each side for the eight cylinder engines and three for the sixes. I’ve never owned a Buick but do have a 231 V6 installed in my Triumph TR7 convertible with a TH700R4 and 3.08 rear end from a TR8. It’s great fun. I have often thought I should install some triple ports on the front fenders in homage to the Buick engine.
There were no Buick sixes from 1931 to 1961. The V-6 came in the 1962 Special.
Exhaust ports certainly have a long history prior to Buick in the more performance oriented cars. Backward facing machine gun ports don’t make much sense, but if you have ever seen a old airplane fire up, flames from the exhaust tips aren’t uncommon initially,
The last picture is a Buick LaCrosse 😉
Thanks, wrong photo!
Leave the portholes alone. It’s bad enough that all the other traditional Buick features have been dropped. With everything gone a Buick is hardly a Buick anymore. I was a Buick man before .bought a 53….57…58…64…66..and a 70.
at some point they came to show either a six cylinder vehicle with three holes per side or an eight cylinder with four per side
I think it’s good for a car maker to have a standout styling cue. Most people today can’t distinguish one make from another. Pontiac had it’s hood strip, Lincoln it’s stand up prominent grill, Cadillac it’s fins. Except for gearheads it’s now they all look the same.
When I bought my 55 Buick in 1974, I also, bought a 1956 Buick for part. Someone took it upon themselves and put bulbs in the portholes of this 56 Buick. I always thought that was a neat idea.
4 Ventiports instead of 3 doesn’t necessarily imply 8 cylinders, it only implies the upscale model. The GNX had 4 per side with its V6 engine.