71 Cad with louvers ?

[dan48]

 I'm looking at a 71 CDV . The one original owner died recently. It appears completely original . However, one thing has me puzzled, and I don't have a car for comparison. The trunk lid has a row of louvers toward the forward edge. The openings do not go directly into the trunk -- looks m like they lead to an inner liner. The grandson/heir in possession of the car says it must have come that way. True ? Did 71's come with any louvers in the trunk lid ? If so, what is the purpose ? Thanks - D. Lough

[Barry M Wheeler #2189]

I am pretty sure that 1971 cars had this feature. Something to do with ventilation or emissions. In any case, don't worry, they are supposed to be there.

[Alan Harris CLC#1513]

All 1971 GM cars had louvers in the trunk lid. It was part of a system GM was pushing as a substitute for the discontinued vent window. The HVAC blower ran continuously at a low speed and the louvers were there to relieve the air pressure in the cabin.
I think it was called "flow through ventilation".

It wasn't popular. Customers complained about the blower that wouldn't shut off and dealers got tired of explaining that they were supposed to be that way. The system was dropped and forgotten

[jagbuxx #12944]

Also, there was changes midway thru '71 model year, later cars had less louvers.

[Davidinhartford]

Yup.   Just as everyone said.  And the later ones had fewer like this one.

[Walter Youshock]

My aunt and uncle had a '71.  They, my sister and cousin went to Niagara Falls for a vacation and suddenly became ill in the car.  They stopped to rest, felt better and continued on their trip and it happened again.  They stopped at a garage to find a leaky exhaust system and it was getting sucked back into the car through those trunk louvers.  That's one reason it was one-year-only.  Needless to say, the car was traded soon after.

[936CD69]

In 72 and later years those louvers were replaced by the vents you see in all modern cars inside the door jambs, The blowers still ran on low speed at all time in later years, after the engine warmed up.

[TJ Hopland]

I believe the blower ran at low speed any time the key was on.  The feature you are likely thinking of related to engine temp was that in heat modes the blower would not be allowed to speed up till the engine was warm.  Can't have cold air blowing on you in the winter.   Defrost would go to high no matter engine temp.     All the 70's and 80's cads I have tangled with worked this way.   Its possible that some of the later stuff may have shut the blower off in off modes (gas saving maybe?) but the 70's stuff seemed to leave it on.

[Coupe Deville]

I have a 1972 Coupe Deville and when ever the key is on the fan runs too.