First American Production car with a functioning hood scoop ?

[Greg Myers]

I think this is it.  Regardless, show us some others.  

Edited December 7, 2015 by Greg Myers

[Greg Myers]

A look inside, shrouded air cleaner  

[Sledsel]

Greg.... I am going to be a lil technical on this. You are incorrect, it was this.... a 55

You pic is a 56. Note the nose emblem and Y-block emblem on the fender. 56 has Ford Crest.

55 had no portholes or continental kits unless added. Also, no side vent or wind wings or visors.

Here is an intersting one. The engine dress up was an option, included chrome air filter cover, Chrome oil cap, Finned valve covers, and in 55 and early 56, chrome 3 blade fan. 

Just playin though, I think it was the Thunderbird also

Edited December 7, 2015 by Sledsel

[Greg Myers]

I thought I was gittin the '55. and either way, the dress up is just great. 

[Sledsel]

Well, now you know differences. ALL 56's had continental kits

[Greg Myers]

There was a time here in the desert , this time of year, that any auction you went to had a pretty nice parade of '55-'57's going to the block.

[Greg Myers]

Here are some more : http://www.timelessrides.com/blog/top-lists/13-coolest-muscle-car-hood-scoops

 

[unclescott58]

Early Thunderbird hood scoops were non-functional. You could remove a plate from behind the scoop to make it somewhat functional. This help get more air under the hood. But, it wasn't directly channeled into the carburator like a true ram air setup.

[Sport Suburban]

Didn't Hudson have an open scoop on the hood before Ford?

[MrObsessive]

Didn't Hudson have an open scoop on the hood before Ford?

I do believe they did. I could be wrong, but particularly with the "Twin H" setup I thought they were functional.

[Harry P.]

1953 Packard Caribbean.

[unclescott58]

I do believe they did. I could be wrong, but particularly with the "Twin H" setup I thought they were functional.

No. The Twin H did not change anything with Hudson scoop.

[unclescott58]

1953 Packard Caribbean.

I know of fake scoops before the Caribbean. But, I think you might be right about this Harry. From what I remember, the scoops were open on that hood. Still not a ram air setup. But, open none the less. A buddy of mine just sold his '53 Caibbean this summer. I wish could go back a take a look at it now.

The first truly functional hood scoops I can think of are the '64 Dodge Ramchargers, Fairlane Thunderbolts and A/FX Comets. "Regular" street car, the '65 GTO.

[Rob Hall]

I know of fake scoops before the Caribbean. But, I think you might be right about this Harry. From what I remember, the scoops were open on that hood. Still not a ram air setup. But, open none the less. A buddy of mine just sold his '53 Caibbean this summer. I wish could go back a take a look at it now.

The first truly functional hood scoops I can think of are the '64 Dodge Ramchargers, Fairlane Thunderbolts and A/FX Comets. "Regular" street car, the '65 GTO.

Before the Ramchargers, etc I believe Pontiac did some 412 Catalinas with hood scoops...and wasn't the '65 GTO scoop non-functional?

[Harry P.]

I know of fake scoops before the Caribbean. But, I think you might be right about this Harry. From what I remember, the scoops were open on that hood. Still not a ram air setup. But, open none the less. A buddy of mine just sold his '53 Caibbean this summer. I wish could go back a take a look at it now.

The first truly functional hood scoops I can think of are the '64 Dodge Ramchargers, Fairlane Thunderbolts and A/FX Comets. "Regular" street car, the '65 GTO.

The question wasn't about the first "ram air" setup, but the first functioning hood scoop. That is, a real scoop that was really open and really let in air, not just a bulge on the hood with a fake "grille" for looks only. The '53 Caribbean has a real, open hood scoop that was functional. How much it actually affected performance is debatable, but it did actually "work."

[unclescott58]

Before the Ramchargers, etc I believe Pontiac did some 412 Catalinas with hood scoops...and wasn't the '65 GTO scoop non-functional?

I forgot about those. The '63 Catalina SD hood scoop was a scoop mainly used on trucks. Designed and purchased from Ford. You'd see them mainly on medium-duty Ford trucks during that time. And your right about the '65 GTO. Ram air wasn't offered until later.

[Art Anderson]

I do believe they did. I could be wrong, but particularly with the "Twin H" setup I thought they were functional.

No.  That "Hood Sceep" look of the '54 Hudson hoods was merely an appearance thing--it wasn't open.

Art

[PeeBee]

The backwards hood scoop on my '74 T/A had a removable plate (why did they block it off in the first place?).  Anyway, with the scoop opened up (permanently on my car) and the windows down, the carburetor sucking air and gas was loud and clear.  Cruising along at 100-120+ you could almost see the needle on the gas gauge move.  I had to choose between gas and food when I owned that car (college days) and I lost a lot of weight.

[PeeBee]

Ford got it so right with 55-57 'Birds, didn't they?

[Greg Myers]

Early Thunderbird hood scoops were non-functional. You could remove a plate from behind the scoop to make it somewhat functional. This help get more air under the hood. But, it wasn't directly channeled into the carburator like a true ram air setup.

First Thunderbird scoops were functional

There was no plate that needed to be removed.

 

 

The air is channeled into the carb, see the cork seal on the aircleaner

Edited December 8, 2015 by Greg Myers

[Greg Myers]

Let's see some pictures.  

[Greg Myers]

No.  That "Hood Sceep" look of the '54 Hudson hoods was merely an appearance thing--it wasn't open.

Art

Hard to say  

[espo]

One other minor difference between the '55 Thunder Bird and the '56 was on the tail lights. It didn't seem to matter if you had the optional back up lights or not, there was a small red reflector that extended slightly at the top on the '56's that the '55's didn't have. The location of the hood scoop looks good but it is in a low pressure area and would need to be much taller to be very effective. I think at the time it was more of a style thing and for air cleaner clearance. The '65 GTO's had a little better design and they were trying to get some additional air to the engine. Arguably the best hood scoop in the middle of the hood would have been the AMC hood scoop. Thru wind tunnel test and racing experience engineers learned that they needed to have an opening in a high pressure area such as the base of the windshield or on the leading edge of the hood. If you look at the air intakes on almost every modern car today you'll see that they almost always have an air cleaner intake at or near the grill area because of the high pressure in that area.

[Greg Myers]

Yep  modern   

[Greg Myers]

'52 Merc ?