What's all this talk about Ventiports? GM has plenty of experience building them.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

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My Buick had Ventiports, and other tales of automotive delinquency

Jim Van Orden on Oct 1st, 2017 at 8:00 am



Photo by Richard Lentinello.

[Editor’s Note: Jim Van Orden returns to Hemmings In-Depth this week to reminisce about his Buick…and all the times it got him into trouble.]

I sure liked my 1955 Buick Special’s portholes…officially called “ventiports” by GM.

They boldly told the world I had “arrived.” It bothered me, I admit, there were only three. The larger, more powerful Buicks had four, along with more chrome, fancier names—Century, Super, and Roadmaster—and longer bodies rivaling expensive Cadillacs and Lincolns.

Unlike 1920s cars with real portholes, through which exhaust pipes exited and engine heat vented, it hardly concerned me mine were fake and didn’t enhance performance. It was all about image when I bought the Buick for $200 in 1961. I had been driving for a year and was “sophisticated.”

The three-porthole Buick sent a message to high school rivals. It announced I earned enough money—as a $2/hour grocery delivery boy—to own a classy car with “DynaFlow” automatic transmission, power steering and brakes, and rear fenders sprouting the most sought-after design feature in America: fins.

{snip}

[gibraltar72]

1. Over the years I had both a three holer and a four holer.

[mitch96]

2. Was the four holer faster? ;) nt

[gibraltar72]

3. Probably a little

The 3 holer was a 2 barrel stick shift. The 4 holer was a four barrel dynaflow but heavier. I think the 3 holer would win a drag race but top end the 4 holer would bury it.