One significant but lesser-known part of our job here at the Autopian is, thanks to what I imagine to be a UNESCO mandate, to keep tabs on global automotive culture and trends and be a sort of early warning system for when we note a potentially destabilizing trend in automotive culture. I think we’re at a moment now where the Autopian Automotive Trend Early Warning System is sounding its warning klaxons, because there is a potentially dangerous trend looming on the horizon: the trend of No Rear Window.
We need to nip this shit in the bud, pronto.
So far, there have been at least three high-profile cars or concept cars to come out in the recent to very-recent past with designs that forego rear windows: the Polestar 4, the Tesla Cybercab, and, from what we can infer from the teaser at least, whatever new concept Jaguar is about to show us.
None of these cars have rear windows, and my fear is that they are all harbingers of a trend. A trend that – and I want to be clear about this – nobody is asking for.
As far as I’m aware, there has not been a massive uprising of people demanding freedom from the tyranny of easy and expansive rearward vision. And, it’s not like the idea of a car without a rear window is even all that new or novel; far from it. Cars have been deprived of rear windows for well over a century, and for a variety of reasons.
Now, even two of those three examples I just put up there are a bit deceptive. The VW30 prototypes (lower center) and the Tatra T87 (upper left) actually had rear windows, even if you can’t really see them. The Tatra actually had two, one on the door to the rear luggage area, which looked through another one in the firewall, which looked through those vents on the rear engine lid:
I bring this up as a way of killing any arguments that the deleted rear window is somehow necessary for some aesthetic look, because these two cars, both designed way back in the 1930s, managed to have looks that hid a rear window while still having a rear window.
Also, are we really so sure any of these cars look better without a rear window? Let’s look at the Polestar 4:
Is it really better looking without the window?
Here’s the thing about rear windows: they’re not actually legally required. The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMSS) Number 111, Rear Visibility really just sets a lot of requirements for being able to see objects behind the car, and you don’t have to see them through rear window glass, if you don’t feel like it. It’s pretty obvious that this new batch of rear-windowless cars is planning to use cameras for rearward visibility, directly to some computer in the case of the Cybercab, or fed to some awful rear-view LCD screen for everything else.
But, surprisingly, it’s not rearward visibility that I think makes rear windows so important (though looking out a rear window is so much better than looking at a screen) but rather the experience for the people inside the car, who may not be driving. Especially those people sitting in the back.
I know cars like the Polestar 4 will (or at least can) have a glass roof, but not having a rear window can definitely made the rear of a car feel needlessly cavern-like. For an archaic example, we can look at this old Steyr 50, which actually had a small rear window, but no rear quarter windows, the result of which was the back seat passengers could likely have developed film back there, if they wanted to:
Of course, I’m sure modern cars will be better than that, but still, it’s going to feel a bit like a cave in the back of a car with a completely opaque rear. Sometimes you want to just look behind you and see the world outside, even if the car may be parked and off. The back window isn’t just for the driver’s rear visibility, it’s so that everyone in the car can look outside and see what’s going on in the world, including the 50% of the known universe that exists behind them.
After the shove-every-control-on-a-touchscreen years-long debacle that I feel we’re only now climbing our way out of, I’m realizing that we, the car-using-and-loving public, need to be very proactive and firm when it comes to significant design choices like this. We have to think about the implications of letting designers just make these capricious decisions: do we want to be in cars with no rear windows? Do we crave darkness? Do we really wish to be so separated from the outside world?
I don’t think we do; at least most of us don’t. People in back seats deserve sunlight and the possibility to see the guy driving on rims behind us, and the showers of sparks that creates, or the unexpected Renault 4 on the road behind us, or that building in the distance or the way a sunset looks; we have a right to see behind us.
Don’t let out-of-touch designers take our rear windows away. At least not without a fight.
Counterpoint: the rear view mirror blocks a significant amount of forward visibility, which is arguably more important than rearward visibility. Secondly, you can still see 90% of what’s going on behind you with your side mirrors, which are required to pass NYS inspection, while a center one is not.
If anything, getting rid of the back window (and center mirror) should be a net safety increase. If you really have to see out the back, I’m 100% for allowing the rear camera – that all cars are required to have anyway – be visible at all times on the car’s display.
Yeah, another damn stupid trend for trend sake
Effin A. Why would the driver want to see if someone or something was right behind the space where the back window belongs. Hey, I love my backup camera. Will I see TOO much if there is a back window?
https://www.theautopian.com/you-dont-need-a-rear-window-if-no-one-can-catch-you/
Sounds like the staff is not unified on this front.
I think there are a few valid reasons for no rear window, but not many of them apply to cars. (The cargo ones all apply to vans/trucks/et. al., of course.)
If you’ve got a big engine in the way (as in mid-engine supercars), well, that’s fair. If your roofline is so low that the back seat headrests hit the roof… maybe you should reconsider your roofline or having back seats, but OK. And, I’ll also accept it if you have solar panels there, ala Lightyear (RIP – also they *also* had the roofline touching the back seat headrests) and Aptera.
Otherwise… yeah, no.
And, if the problem is that a high rear deck for aerodynamics makes the back window largely useless, you can solve that with a split rear window, like (among other things) the Lamborghini Espada did. (Or, you know, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th-gen Toyota Prius. For whatever reason, the 5th-gen dropped the split window…)
I agree. When I was a kid, I would look out the rear window of our hatchback and look up at the stars at night. We did not wear seatbelts much back then….
When I was a kid cars didn’t have seat belts.
You have to give up piano black trim or a rear window. You can’t have both. The designers have spoken.
How about neither?
My XFs has the smallest rear window I have ever had on a car, smaller even that my 3series convertible rear glass. I have come to really just glance at it, and you really can see much unless its on your bumper. A full video screen would help a ton.
As someone that uses a polestar as a daily driver and has been watching the new models, I can reliably state that the rear windows on the 2 and 3 are essentially non functional due to the body structure and aerodynamic body shape. It takes very little to lose all visibility. I can definitely see the designers implementing the design choice to stop complaints about visibility.
The early adopters of the 4 overseas have been largely positive about the removal. Rather than complaining about visibility they are enjoying the greater unobstructed visibility and the fact that the camera does not need constant cleaning. They state that the change from a 3 dimensional view to a 2 dimensional camera view requires you to change how you think about objects behind you but the sensors inspire confidence.
At the announcement I considered it a major flaw but I can now see that it was implemented to allow greater visibility and safety, thus I would be willing to at least give it a chance despite how funny it looks.
Despite your being a jeep guy, I value your opinion. Please take a hop over the pond for s proper test drive and provide us with a follow-up after your experience it for yourself.
Yeah, the rear window in the 2 is about as helpful as the rear automatic emergency braking “feature”.
This gives me headphone jack removal vibes.
You have to subscribe to the Rear Window Package, Jason.
This is all part of foolish trend in our culture to make things that should be mostly or fully analog to be fully digital, and it’s based on both the false belief that newer technology is always better, and the deep hubris that the things we make don’t break, at the worst possible moment, even though that has been continually happening since the dawn of humankind. For the love of all things good in this world just give me a damn rear window, a steering mechanism that isn’t full dependent on electricity, and doors that can unlock when the batteries die.
Murphy’s Law always wins in the end.
I’m fine driving vans. I’m fine reversing vans while towing a car trailer with no reversing camera. But I hate restricted visibility so much I had the window tint on my GT86 removed.
I’m not really sure where I stand on no rear window. I guess if there is a good practical reason for it then fine. Styling is unlikely to be enough of a reason for me.
Fun fact: the supercharged S2 Lotus Exige had zero rear visibility because the intercooler was mounted above the engine and had air ducted to in via a roof scoop. You can see all this in the rear view mirror through the glass rear window. It’s all you can see. Yet you still have the glass and the mirror.
I think we’ve all beaten up on Matt’s Subaru Forester quite a bit, but you know what was great about it?
Windows.
Holy shit can you ever see out of the thing. Especially for a modern car. With the light gray interior (that admittedly, stains too easily) it’s airy and bright in there. Compared to most cars today, the thing is a revelation regarding visibility. You know what’s pleasant? Going on a drive and being able to see the world around you. That’s a big part of the experience, especially if you’re stuck being a passenger!
When I was a kid, the only thing I could do was stare out the window and listen to music, as reading/Game Boy would make me nauseous to focus on. Luckily I could see out the back of most cars back then, thanks to low belt lines and the rarity of window tint. Now, my kids vastly prefer the van and the Subaru over anything else, as they can actually see out of the damn things. Especially compared to the in-laws Pathfinder, which has an all-black interior (including headliner), dark tint, and beltline up to their eyeballs. I guess it makes for a decent place to take a nap, but otherwise it’s a pretty shitty place to spend time.
Why I own 2 convertibles in the tundra north. Today’s wake up temp: 24. Having the entire panorama of view in the warmer months (month?) is literally the best driving experience, especially since there is no way I will get on a motorcycle again due to shit drivers. No rear window means not going to buy it.
PS, do this shit for brains designers really believe that the digital world will not break down leaving us rear ended by a Peterbuilt? Or do they just not give a damn.
If anything planned obsolescence is a sweet feature baked in (for them anyway).
But I think it has more to do with marketing than anything. A lot of manufacturers are desperate to come up with ways to make designs seem new; we’ve sort of tortured sheet metal into every shape you can think of at this point. Tech is the way to make previously impossible designs, possible. It’s the final frontier.
Still sucks though.
Amen to this. Will we now see the rise of blind windows or blind arcades, as it is known as in Architecture? I really see an emerging market for black vinyl fake window stickers. The Polestar 4, or also known as The Hunchback of Gothenburg, would certainly benefit from it.
Maybe they can make one-way windows or something, so we can have our cake and eat it too.
In possibly related news, Google searches for “developed film” spiked today.
PREACH. I hate this so much. It’s ugly and stupid. Rear passengers don’t usually like feeling like they’re in a cave, either.
Fully agree with you Jason. Drove a car a few years ago with the rear view mirror being a screen and got furious over the fact that you cant see anything more by moving your head to other angles.
Oh, I hadn’t thought about that in relation to mirror screens! Excellent point.
I was looking for a piano black style takedown- because this is another stupid, futuristic wannabe idea. Jason, I do look forward to a manifest about LED candles because those people also need to be stopped!
“I do look forward to a manifest about LED candles because those people also need to be stopped!”
Yes! REAL months old, bone dry Christmas trees surrounded by boxes of highly flammable boxes wrapped in highly flammable paper have REAL candles on them burning REAL fire!!