Buick Portholes Are Back
FOR RELEASE: March 20, 2002Buick Portholes Are Back
DETROIT - Among the most eye-catching styling elements of Buick's 2003 Park Avenue Ultra are three "portholes" on each front fender - icons that reach back into Buick's rich design heritage.
Like the first portholes, those on the 2003 Ultra are functional, providing some underhood cooling. But also like the originals, they are primarily a styling element - a reminder of Buick's design heritage as it begins its centennial year in 2003.
Annette Smith, Park Avenue brand manager, said the six portholes on the Ultra are related to the number of engine cylinders. Ultra is powered by a supercharged 3.8-liter 3800 V-6.
Portholes were created by legendary Buick designer Ned Nickles, who also created the Buick "hardtop convertible" (providing a convertible look by eliminating the center side pillar) and "sweepspear," a bright metal sculpture that swooped down the side of the car and kicked up over the rear wheel opening.
The portholes happened almost by accident. Nickles had cut holes in the sides of the hood of his own 1948 Roadmaster convertible and behind them installed amber lights attached to the distributor. The lights, flashing on and off, suggested an unusually powerful engine with flaming exhaust.
While some car buffs think the idea for portholes came from the 1910 Buick Bug racer with its large and dramatic engine exhausts in the hood, Nickles said he actually got the idea from World War II fighter planes. When Buick Manufacturing Manager Ed Ragsdale saw Nickles' custom work, he told General Manager Harlow Curtice that Nickles had "ruined" his convertible. Curtice, however, was intrigued. He liked the portholes so much that even though the 1949 Buicks were only seven months from production, he ordered them on the new cars - but without the lights.
Originally named VentiPorts, portholes made their debut in '49 and brought instant recognition to Buick. Children soon learned they could identify a model by the number of portholes.
For the next decade a variety of models sported three or four portholes, while a few Buicks didn't have any.
In 1958, Buick left portholes behind. They didn't return in 1959, either, when Buick got all-new styling, big fins and a new-model lineup: LeSabre, Invicta and Electra.
But portholes quickly returned. In 1960, the formula was four portholes for Electra and three for LeSabre and Invicta. They were not much like the big, bold round portholes of 1949, however. They were merely small, elongated chrome decorations. For 1963, when Buick introduced Riviera - today considered a modern classic - it was without portholes. Buick also introduced Wildcat for '63 - and gave it three portholes. In 1964, Wildcat offered an unusual variation -- three vertically stacked portholes on the fender behind the front wheels.
Small decorative portholes appeared on at least some Buick models into the early 1980s, ending with the Electra in '83 - although the limited-edition Regal GNX of 1987 had fender vents that some people called portholes.
From that time on, portholes lived only as aftermarket add-ons, until they showed up on the concept 1999 Buick Cielo. Cielo was a hit with auto show audiences and the press. Portholes repeated on the concept 2000 LaCrosse, which surveys showed was highly popular with auto show audiences of all ages. They were again on the 2001 Bengal, honored as "best of the best" of all concept cars unveiled at international auto shows that year.
Buick Motor Co. was incorporated in Detroit on May 19,1903, and moved to Flint, Mich., later that year. While experimental Buicks were built as early as 1899, the first production models were built in 1904. In 1908, Buick became the financial foundation for the creation of General Motors by William C. Durant, Buick's leader. Buick's headquarters returned to Detroit in 1998. Since 1904, more than 35 million Buicks have been produced.
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