Through the Windshield

While nestled in plush leather and zipping along “in 65 mph cruise”, our world flashes past the tinted and sound deadened glass. It is hard to believe the first cars didn’t even HAVE a windshield! Goggles and dusters were the only protection.

Around 1904, as speeds increased, hand-cut plate glass became the first windshields. With no wipers, they simply folded down in rain and snow to give Bob Blake a better view! In a wreck, the shards of glass posed extreme danger. Heads that penetrated the windshield encountered a “glass necklace” that inflicted severe and sometimes fatal wounds. As late as 1919, ninety percent of cars had side curtains and only a small glass windshield.

Many innovations are happenstance and are only captured by an observing eye. What if Fleming had merely washed the mold off the plate? – there would be no Penicillin. Had Goodyear simply discarded the glob of gum that fell on his stove, we probably wouldn’t have strong rubber! So when French scientist Edouard Benedictus knocked a glass flask to the floor and the small cracks didn’t shatter, he realized the nitrocellulose had dried with a film that held the fragments together! When he sandwiched this chemical between two sheets of glass, safety glass was born! In England, John C. Wood was also working with a similar product and, in 1905, he developed a commercial shatter-resistant glass named Triplex®.

It would be 20 years later before Henry Ford adapted it to automobiles. An unsubstantiated legend says his motivation arose from a personal injury while handling auto glass. It is more likely that glass technology had reached such a level of perfection it became feasible for cars. Both Stutz and Ford had a safety glass in 1926 but Stutz cast a small array of wires in the panes. Ford laminated polyvinyl butyrate (PVB) between the sheets. Stutz tagged their car a “Safety Stutz.” Pittsburgh Plate Glass (PPG) introduced Duplate ® in 1928.

Ford Safety Glass Logo
 

This rapidly expanding glass industry needed a standard. In 1927, Madison Tracey, a flat glass pattern maker, founded the National Auto Glass Specifications, or NAGS. He assigned a part number for every specific pattern and published a catalog. The first NAGS glass pattern -#1- was for a 1926 Model K Series 5 Touring and Roadster Chevrolet. The oldest car in the current book is the windshield for a 1915 Touring Ford- pattern #49. In 1991, NAGS was acquired by Thomson International and is now marketed as the GlassMate® Database.

Glass was relatively cheap in the 1940’s. The 1940 Auto Glass Parts Service Catalog listed the cost of a 1933 Chevrolet sedan Safety Plate Glass windshield as $11.76. A less polished variety-Safety Sheet- was $6.20. For the cheap risk takers, a heavy sheet glass replacement– not shatterproof – cost only $2.05 and a vent glass 39 cents! This latter type was outlawed during the mid-1930s as safety glass became mandatory in vehicles.

Tempered glass was another 1930s innovation. This process of rapid heating and instant cooling increased the strength almost five times. This allows the glass to become a part of the body shell.

The 1934 Chrysler Imperial Airflow was the first production car with a curved one-piece windshield. After World War II, curved windshields became common. Raymond Loewy’s 1947 Studebaker Starlight coupe was a daring example of a one-piece bent glass windshield, (NAG # WWW45.)

General Motors adorned many of their 1950’s cars with curved “wrap around” (and knee bumping) windshields. Within three years, cars sported free-flowing glass going in four directions! The side windows of the 1960 cars bent to follow the rounded body shell. This strong new glass could be drilled and attached directly to the lift mechanism.
 

Examples of 1950s/60s Curved Glass
 

PPG introduced green-tinted Solex® in 1952 to dampen heat and sunlight. Dark belts soon wrapped the top of the windshields, as motorists demanded “more tinted glass.” This made auto air-conditioning a practical innovation. A later version, Sungate®, blocked pesky ultraviolet rays as well. Soon, radio antennas and rear window defrosters crept into the glass.
 

Some windshields were truly unusual. The Tucker touted a “pop out” windshield as a safety feature! These cars also had a padded dash (was this the first?) and a place to crouch in the floor in the event of a collision! From the text of a Tucker sales brochure is says: “Safety Windshield – Laminated safety glass is mounted in a sponge rubber fastening so that a hard blow from within will eject it in one piece. Thus, the greatest collision hazard – lacerations or a fractured skull from striking windshield – is entirely eliminated. Windows are armor-plate glass which disintegrates without cutting edges or slivers.”

To my knowledge the Tucker didn’t have seat belts and it would seem a trip THRU the windshield opening was a greater hazard! Today, automakers strive to keep the windshield intact so the airbags will function properly and the roof will be supported. Remember the gold-tinted windshields on 1974-1976 Thunderbird and Mark IV Lincoln? Electrically heated gold flakes heated to melt ice and snow. The high cost made the option impractical.

Today’s auto glass is an engineering marvel. The strength comes from the continuous sheet design and the slightest scratch or “ding” weakens it considerably. Glass is also very susceptible to temperature change. With summer temperatures topping 200 degrees F., a quick exposure of the cold air conditioning can make a “ding” become a major crack.

The strength of glass can be demonstrated with an egg. When a vertical force is applied to the shell between the thumb and two fingers, the shell won’t break. Next, place a small pinhole in the shell and repeat. Squish! There is egg all over your hand as the stress concentrates at the small imperfection. A tiny defect in the windshield can cause the roof to fold for the same reason.

One word of caution: Tinted glass reduces light transmission. Drivers at night should not wear the glasses that darken in sunlight. Their slight permanent tint combined with that of the windshield reduces the available light to an UNSAFE level. Get some plain lenses for night driving!

It is a new year and I’ve had some questions from editors and members about how they can produce a better newsletter. I always tell them that the most important thing to me is “content”, this followed by good club reporting and good information on upcoming events and how to contact the club leaders.

Information on upcoming events must include times, dates, and good directions, and they should be large and bold to attract the attention of members who read may read casually. This does help members avoid forgetting the event.

I’ve always said that the newsletter editor is the most important member of the club. This is because their newsletter is “the glue that holds the club together.” Think about it, if John Q. Member doesn’t know what’s going on, he won’t be there for support. At the same time, if there is not at least 15 minutes of good reading material in the newsletter, old John Q is likely to toss it aside and not give it the reading time to let events sink in. If a member won’t write a story, get the information and write it for them.

A word of caution is that some people do not like to see their names in print, or have a story about their car/s in the newsletter. They are rare, but it’s a good thing to give them their space.

Finally, everything you need to know about producing a great newsletter was printed in a long article in the Spring, 2005 Rummage Box. It is on the AACA Website at http:// www.aaca.org. Take the time to read that article and if you still have questions, write to me at e-mail address For-ever39z@aol.com.

Well, it is official. I was asked by several National Directors to continue as editor of the Rummage Box and I accepted the job. I look forward to continuing in the fine tradition of past Rummage Box editors and even improve the publication when possible. For now, there won’t be any significant differences as I do not believe in unnecessarily changing what already works. The Rummage Box has been a valuable asset to Region/Chapter newsletter editors and presidents and I want to concentrate on keeping it so.

However, one notable change being made was mentioned by Vice President — Regions Sharon Lee in her article on Page 3. This issue will be the last official printed copy of the Rummage Box. Over the years, the Rummage Box has been available in both printed copy and electronically on the AACA web site. A survey of newsletter editors was conducted last year by the Regions Committee and it was found that most of the editors used the web version because it was easier to copy articles to their newsletters. With the web version available, the editors did not need a printed copy of the same Rummage Box.

The AACA decided this year to make the Rummage Box a web only publication. This will cut down on costs by eliminating hundreds of printed copies that are not being used anyway. The exception will be for any region/chapter newsletter editors or presidents that may not have Internet access or still prefers to use a printed copy. For these people, a printed copy can still be mailed to them as done in the past. If you are a Region/Chapter newsletter or president that still requires a printed copy of the Rummage Box, please send a note to my postal address listed on the front cover of this issue with your name and mailing address, and let me know to continue mailing the Rummage Box to you. Otherwise, it will be assumed that you are content with using the web based version. I ask that anyone requesting a printed copy to do so before June 30, 2006 so that you will not miss any issues.

The articles in the Rummage Box are primarily written by AACA National Directors. However, we would also like to hear from the local level as well. Please feel free to submit any articles from your Region/Chapter newsletter that you feel may be beneficial to the nearly 60,000 other members of the AACA for consideration in a future issue of the Rummage Box.

Please feel free to contact me on any questions, comments, or problems you may have concerning the Rummage Box.

And as always…..
Happy Antique Motoring!
Bruce