TwinTurbo The front hinged hood on older Corvettes gives much easier access to the rear mounted distributor.
Its been a long time but I do remember the Park Ave hood opened straight up so you had full access without bumping your head. OTH changing oil and plugs etc. seemed like I was always going from one side to the other around the hood.
sgtrock21 that’s what I was pointing out when I asked rhetorically which parts really need the best access. Almost everything hard to work on is toward the firewall… IMO the only thing better than a “backwards” hood is a fiberglass one held on with dzus fasteners 
With all the “design cues” 1/2 ton trucks are currently taking from Peterbulits…the one I’d actually like to see take off is having the entire firewall-forward pivot from the front!
Great side access, and the hood is easily removed should you absolutely HAVE to have front access.
My recent Hondas have all had two positions for the hood rod: one “normal” and one lower on the hood that puts it straight up.
@irlandes–Our neighbor had a 1936 Chevrolet sedan back in the late 1940s. The body framework was made of wood, even though the frame carrying the car was steel. As a result, the doors often sagged. The 1937 Chevrolet went to all steel for the body framework. I think that the engine was updated in 1937 as well.
@Bing-- the 1957, 1958, and 1959 Fords had hoods hinged at the front. The 1946 and 1947 Hudsons had front hinged hoods as well. I thought that the Buicks built before 1953 had the right arrangement: the hood could be opened from either side of the car or removed entirely without tools in less than a minute if you had a helper. This certainly made it easier to replace a water pump or remove the radiator.
The 1946 through 1948 Dodges had two hoods hinged in the center. You could open one side to check the oil and the other side to adjust the carburetor. This was the only Chrysler product with that arrangement at the time. The Plymouth, Desoto and Chrysler cars had the hood hinged at the rear.
My grandfather’s '45 Chevy pickup had a center hinged hood. I think you could unlatch both sides and just lift the entire hood off the vehicle for the ultimate in engine access.
Not only could you see the engine in that truck with the hood open, you could see the ground underneath the engine.
Oh yea, 6 volt battery under the floorboard, generator, and a pedal for a starter switch, 216 cubic inch straight six, and good old vacuum windshield wipers, and it had a crank on the dash that opened the windshield slightly. Remember vent scoops that you could open for a blast of fresh air?
This truck even had a crank hole in the grill and the harmonic balancer had crank lugs, even though my grandfather never had a crank to put in the crank hole.
The deceased car hood…
Still has some uses. http://dornob.com/recycled-metal-furniture-from-scrap-car-hoods/
I miss the crank-open swivelling wing windows in my '70 Chevy. Nowadays cars NEED air conditioning to keep them cool as they just aren’t designed for ventilation—same with newer houses too. (though I’m a big fan of A/C)
I too miss vent windows.
The college I retired from built a huge new building for the medical programs, all the latest energy-saving technology, all LEEDS certified. The windows don’t open. In the old buildings, we’d open the windows when it got hot, using the AC only on really hot days. In the new building, we have to run the air conditioning all summer continuously. How is this more energy efficient again?
The theory behind car design is similar. We have AC now, so we don’t need vent windows.
dagosa The deceased car hood.... Still has some uses. http://dornob.com/recycled-metal-furniture-from-scrap-car-hoods/
I recall seeing at least one homemade fishing boat made by welding two old car hoods together into sort of a canoe. I think the hoods on '50 Chevrolet pickups worked quite well for that.
I could see making something useful like a fishing boat, but the tables in the link just look like junk to me. I wouldn’t want one in my home. I guess I have no appreciation for this style.
I like the coffin sofa myself.
Im usually on the fence about classic vs modern. After owning a 1950 cadillac I have a new appreciation for modern cars. Last night it was 12 degrees outside. We turned the key of our yaris and it fired right up, and in 10 seconds we were off to our destination. Do you know what an event it wouldve been to do that in the cadillac? If I was lucky enough to get it to fire! Haha.
But on a warm summer day theres nothing like a classic.
I too miss vent windows...The theory behind car design is similar. We have AC now, so we don't need vent windows.
Fortunately, I still have 'em, and I appreciate 'em! My '94 F150 has to be about the last vehicle on the road with factory vent windows, but there they are. That feature (along with the impossible-to-get-new stick shift) is what keeps me wanting to fix up what I’ve got, vs. buy new.
Actually, outside of better HWY MPG…and a bit better rated towing*…I don’t see any meaningful metric in which a modern 1/2 ton out-preforms my 21 y.o. truck.
*(Ford always rated their MT trucks absurdly low in towing, strictly as a means of avoiding warranty work on the clutch. Given that a) this is not a legal limitation, b)AT versions of the same truck…same springs, frame, brakes…have much higher ratings, I feel justified in towing to the limit of a similarly-sprung, -braked, and -framed AT truck!)
Speaking of getting things started in the cold, I recall single digit temperatures when I was riding a motorcycle to school in the early 60s. How do adults do that on a daily basis? I couldn’t get my leg over the seat of a motorcycle these days and can’t imagine kicking and operating the choke and throttle to keep it running until it warmed up.
I recall seeing at least one homemade fishing boat made by welding two old car hoods together into sort of a canoe. I think the hoods on '50 Chevrolet pickups worked quite well for that.
Neat. I wonder when the aluminum F150 hoods will start appearing as water craft.
@dagosa that reminds me of the story of the Northern natives making boats out of old oil barrels. When a Southern visitor showed him a picture of the ocean liner Queen Mary, he astonishingly asked: “How many oil barrels to make?” This was actually published in the Reader’s Digest many years ago!
@Docnick
Perspective. I vaguely remember the entire structure above the belt line of the Cruise Ship Allure was aluminum (15 stories) How many F150s ?..now the hull, it may have been recycled oil barrels.
It’s stuff like this in recycling that might help make it a real advantage in making more cars out of aluminum. Would like to think Ford has taken a big first step by using it in such a popular auto.
https://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=A0LEVitUZbBUPYsAN1QPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTBsa3ZzMnBvBHNlYwNzYwRjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkAw--?p=cruise+ship+allure&back=https%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fyhs%2Fsearch%3Fp%3Dcruise%2Bship%2Ballue%26ei%3DUTF-8%26hsimp%3Dyhs-001%26hspart%3Dmozilla&w=880&h=491&imgurl=images.cruisemates.com%2Fcruise-ships%2F6%2F0%2F4%2Fallure-cruise.jpg&size=92KB&name=allure-cruise.jpg&rcurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cruisemates.com%2Fallure-of-the-seas-reviews&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cruisemates.com%2Fallure-of-the-seas-reviews&type=&no=3&tt=118&oid=7cff267d5c74b74ee77e703020f611aa&tit=…+Reviews-Top+Cruise+Lines+see+reviews+of+all+cruise+lines+%26+ships&sigr=11lhmt7h9&sigi=11ronau16&sign=10h4jb67e&sigt=1034t694l&sigb=12tcsfiuu&fr=yhs-mozilla-001&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-001
@"the same mountainbike" --I agree with you about vent windows and buildings. The two classroom buildings in which I taught had classrooms in the interior with no windows. In one building the hallways were on the outside and had windows. The theory was that the HVAC blended exterior air with either the heating or cooling coils to get the right temperature. I would have preferred windows, a large fan for the warm months and a fireplace for the winter months. I did “install” a fireplace in my office. It was an after Chistmas purchase for $2.95. It was made out of cardboard with a red light behind the logs. The psychological effect was great–my colleagues came to my office to get warm.
When I,think of the vent windows on cars, I think about the accessory air deflectors that clipped to the frame of the vent window and directed the air to the floor. These deflectors cost about $2 and were widely available.