That an actual story? The reasoning behind that Buick feature!?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buick
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buick#VentiPorts
A traditional Buick styling cue dating to 1949 is a series of three or four vents on the front fender behind the front wheels. The source of this design feature was a
custom car of Buick stylist Ned Nickles, which in addition had a flashing light within each hole each synchronized with a specific spark plug simulating the flames from the exhaust stack of a fighter airplane. Combined with the bombsight mascot (introduced in 1946),
VentiPorts put the driver at the controls of an imaginary fighter airplane. The flashing light feature was not used by Buick in production, but VentiPorts remained as nonfunctional ornamentation.
They were called VentiPorts because the 1949 sales brochure noted that VentiPorts helped ventilate the engine compartment to minimize the engine overheating. The suggestion was made that they allowed air flow out of the engine bay. Air entered from the grill into the engine bay and was pressurized by the radiator fan, and exited through the VentiPorts. The benefit might have been true in early 1949, but sometime during the model year they became plugged.
The installation of VentiPorts was a reference to Buick having participated in the war effort by supplying over 74,000
Pratt & Whitney radial engines that were installed in
B-24 Liberator aircraft. Buick also supplied Pratt & Whitney engines in the
Douglas C-47 Skytrain and
Douglas C-54 Skymaster.[SUP]
[36][/SUP][SUP]
[37][/SUP] GM also had a controlling interest in
North American Aviation from 1933 until 1948, the company that built the
P51 Mustang fighter plane. GM also owned the
Allison Engine Company, the manufacturer of the
Allison V-1710 V-12 engine that was used in the
Lockheed P-38,
Bell P-39 and
Curtiss P-40.
When introduced, the number of VentiPorts (three or four) denoted the size of
straight-eight engine installed. Since displacement differences in straight-eight engines resulted in more dramatic differences in engine length than on V8s, the
Buick Roadmaster (which was the only model at this time with the larger engine) needed a longer chassis in front of the cowl to accommodate the larger engine. Thus an extra VentiPort also corresponded directly to the necessary extra length in front. After the more compact
V8 replaced the straight-eight engine in 1953 this difference in chassis length was no longer needed. Nevertheless, the convention remained. Consequently, when the
Buick Century, which shared the
Buick Special's smaller body, was reintroduced in 1954, it also received four VentiPorts to denote its engine's greater displacement. However, in 1955, the
Buick Super, which shared Roadmaster's larger body, was promoted from three to four VentiPorts despite having the smaller displacement engine. In turn, the
Buick Invicta which took the place of the Buick Century in 1959, and consequently had the smaller body with the larger displacement engine, was demoted from four to three VentiPorts on introduction. Thus the number of VentiPorts came to denote body size rather than engine size.
this was more about helping him than the truck. 
![[thumbzup]](https://www.steelsoldiers.com/images/smilies/icon_smile_thumzup.gif "Thumbs Up [thumbzup]"){kind=icon}
Cool!!
