Wind Wings? Windshield Wings? Odd car part find......

[jerzee908]

So it was the last day of a 3 day estate sale that I was in the area for.  I knew the person working the estate sale and I asked her where the garage was (I always go for the basement or garage, no basement in this house).  I'm in the garage and I find a few NOS Mustang parts, I dig around in the tool box and find a few Snap On sockets, I see a jack laying around........this guy was a car guy.  I pick up a few more other things out of the garage and come out.  I ask the lady I know if the owner of the home was a car guy.  She said yes and there were more parts in the garage that I missed.  She points to a pair of brackets sticking up from a pile of dust and dirt on the floor against the wall.  She said she thinks they are some kind of car part and I immediately thought they were the glasses that would go on the side of the windshield (I couldn't think of the proper name at the time).  I noticed they were damaged.....the glass anyway and asked how much?  I got them for $10.

Did these belong on a specific car?  Are they even for a car (I've seen these on boats I believe)?  Are they something aftermarket?  It looks like everything with the brackets is original to the glass (wingnuts, screws).  There is a built-in type of round rear-view mirror in the glass which is pretty cool, but damaged.

I'm guessing they belong to or were used on something in the 20's or 30's, but I really don't know.

[jr-41ford]

The wind wings were very popular with the older open cars like roadsters and touring cars. They push the air further out (redirect) away from the cab of the car. Some people have been known to install them on their closed cars too. 

I've never seen any with mirrors on them, but I do like the ones you have. Some of the manufacturers put them on as standard equipment their cars, some as an option, many of the ones you see on Fords are aftermaket. 

Many of the wind wing glass can be seen etched with floral designs. Today, you can buy the hardware with a template for cutting the glass at nearly any glass shop.

I have a set that were at one time on my 1928 Ford Model A Roadster. They attach to the windshield stanchions of an open car or to the door post of a closed car.  I really liked having them on, but the glass shop (national chain) I used cut them 3 times and could never get them right, so I just removed them until I could find another shop to cut them for me.

You have some nice ones, they should clean up real nice. Yours clamp to a windshield stanchion.