Did some early '60s wagons have a problem with exaust being sucked into the cabin?

I once heard a story that could be true...or could be urban legend...about an early '60s wagon that had a fatal flaw- the rear window, or rear vents could open, and when underway, such sucked the exhaust into the car- and in one instance, kids sleeping in the back of a wagon died....Did this really happen?

 

Yes thus the addition of vents on the 60's Fords behind the rear side windows.

Oops, I didn't read carefully. I don't know about kids dying but the fumes would certainly enter. The vents that Ford added around 1966 had limited effect. You don't see many wagons with exhaust pipes exiting at the rear either for the same reason.

 

Which particular year and Ford model(s) had that potential lethal flaw? Ford Country Squire?

 

All wagons do suffer from this problem to a certain extent. When you open the rear gate window or the rear door windows while driving you will get whiffs of exhaust fumes all the way up in the driver's seat. I used to like to drive with my rear gate window down and the front widows open in my 88 Electra. I could always detect the smell of exhaust fumes so I stopped doing that.

 

If I open my rear window while driving I get more than a whiff I get a full on flood of hot exhaust gases. It will warm the interior and choke me out.

 

Don't know of ant deaths but I put a dual exhaust on my 80 Colony and moved the tail pipe location further back for looks. Our dog started acting nuts in the back almost ASAP and we could'nt figure out why. One day driving with out the dog I rolled the tail gate window all the way down on the highway....talk about getting gassed! It was a mufler shop that clued me into my erors. I relocated the tail pipes to the stock location/lenght etc and the problem as gone. Strange "eddie curants" with wind happen and it will suck the exhaust rite into the back of a wagon.

 

Number one rule with exhausts in wagons: always out the side or rear corners only. Even if your tailgate gaskets are good, there will always be some fumes sneaking in from the back.

 

Good to know...then it's not a good idea to let the kids sleep in the back on long road trips....

 

Yes and no about out the sides,,it's back to that "eddie currant" as I learned and the shape of your wagon makes the differance. The lenght out and exactly where (from wheel well to bumber) make a all the differance. I changed the factory location and lengths and had problems, went back to factory locations and lengths..all problems gone. But I do totally agree that your tail gate gaskets condition is very important

 

Sleep in th back, you meen in the third seat or like when we were kids and just layed down etc any where no seat belt?

Kids do have to be strapped in.

 

I think kids in my generation (early 1970s) were far more durable than kids of today...We never wore seat belts back then....I thought they were just there for decoration...

 

When I was little kid, we had a '65 Country Squire 6-passenger, and my dad had a trim shop make a big vinyl and foam pad for the cargo area. We kids would lay in the back as that wagon sped down the freeway. It was great!
I remember laying in the back of our '72 Kingswood at night, and looking up through the back window at the freeway lights. Ah, that beautiful glass.
Now, I can't imagine anyone letting a child do that. CPS would be called in! THANKS DAD!

David

 

I know that mopars had that problem too. At a stoplight my wagon will do it if the window is down, but my optional spoiler actually does something at speed (above 5mph). It prevents a "ball or air" that normally updrafts the exhaust into the car on most wagons(think of the "ball of air" in the bed of a pickup, but behind the car). Instead it flows smoother off the roof and the air is less turbulent allowing/forcing the exhaust away.

Oh, and a kid hasn't lived until they've driven laying in a wagon, sitting a pickup bed, and ridden in a car w/o seatbelts (my dad's 60 Plymouth doesn't have any).

 

Do people actually USE seat belts??? The old cars were beautiful and HAD no seat belts. They were unheard of.

 

My old truck does'nt have seat belts, never came with them so It's in the Grandfather clause and I can't get a seat belt fine.

Although at times I stare at that big stearing wheel, all steel dash, and windshield and wonder......I better go out and knock on some wood grain!