History When did window tint film first come around?

The dark stuff like they still use today. I remember using it in the 80s in high school. I know the spray can stuff came about earlier.

 

I remember seeing it in 67-68....

 

well it wasnt before 65 so according to the rules of the hamb this thread should be closed.

 

I was selling it in the early 70's at Gratiot Auto Supply,.. I think it was around 72 when the film came out, (if I remember right,).. I think VHT and Cal Custom sold the ****py spray on tint sometime back in the mid 60's, But it didn't work very well.

 

Some g***ers had that stuff on their windows...

 

So,...nobody on here has anything on their ride that was made past 1965??
Pssshhhhhtt......

 

There were actually some places here in the Detroit area (Edwards gl***) that had gl*** with different colored safety laminate,.. they had blue, green, smoke & I believe orange ?.
This dated back to the 50's with the heavy tint Blue & Green,... the smoke & orange I believe was a 60's thing

 

I think this refers to the cars them selfs,.... Not the custom parts and support items,.... If we had to build stuff that was only actually made before 65',... we would be in a world of hurt.

 

That was usually colored plexigl***.

In answer to Gulliver, on this one I'd have to say that it's about as far from traditional as you can get. Guys actually wanted to have other people see that they were the one driving the cool rod or custom back in the 40's 50's and 60's.

 

Who Cares ?

Dark Tinted windows on Old Cars Just looks like **** Anyway.

With the exception of the Colored Plexigl*** On early Drag cars, WINDEX is the only thing you should use on your Gl***.

 

OK,.... I can see where this is going,.... First of all "E-Z Eye Green" tinted windows was a really big thing right after WWII,.. There was some in the old custom 40 Merc."Romango" form Detroit as well as the Frank Taubitz 36' Coupe,... That were both in the first Detroit Autorama in Feb. 1953,.. Both cars were built late 40's early 50's,... and both cars had the E-Z Eye green gl*** in them. In 1955 Romandgo's gl*** was changed to Blue.

Frank Macks Roadster also had it, As well as a ton of others,... Just hold a piece of white paper behind a window,.. and you will see the tint in it.

 

I posted a thread the other day asking about a 454 chevy motor. The thread was deleted because they said " We like to keep topics to 65 or earlier here, 454 was introduced in 70".

 

I here ya on the Blue Tint GL*** that was available & Often used as far back as the '40s

But as far as Tint Film or The Dark Tint gl*** that is so popular today, It looks Like ****

Nothing worse than a Nice Chopped Coupe or Kustom with Limo tint Gl***

 

Huh,..... Cause that's not what it looked like you were saying in your first post. I actually like some tinted windows,... And there is some actual dark smoke gl*** in one of the coupe bodies I have,...... And it's really growing on me. Yep !, I like it.

 

I remember side gl***es tinted so dark you couldn't see the driver on drag cars in the mid 60's. NHRA didn't like the idea of not seeing the driver from the outside and outlawed tint shortly after it that.
I'm still looking for orange tint or lexan if anyone knows a source.
Larry T

 

The reason for the tinted windows in the g***ers was weight. It had nothing to do with style or looks.

Plexigl*** weighed less than gl*** and we all know it's HP to weight ratio that makes a car fast.

It quickly became a style issue for the guys on the street that wanted the g***er look and you would be pulled over by the cops as quickly as you hit the street with real plexigl***. A friend had a 55 that used a very light green plexigl***. He wanted to go fast and not just be a parking lot racer. The cops didn't bother him because it didn't have "the look".

I remember using a liquid that was sprayed on at the top until a big run developed across the top of the gl*** and you kept adding to it as it rolled down the inside of the gl***. I think it might have come from the Pactra model car spray candy colors for the model cars that were so popular.

I can't tell you what year the first gl*** tinting film came out but it was in the middle 60s sometime. It was a PITA and useless for the rear gl***. The pro shops cut it in strips to get it to bend but it still looked like ****.

 

I remember a guy on my street in '69 with a '62 OR '63 Fairlane that was being fixed up. Seems to me used a spray can window tint on it. the light green gl*** is cl***.

 

I can remember buying tint in a spray can in 1964. I did the windows in my '56 convert.

 

There was a 60 Pontiac that at Houston Drag Raceway in 62, it had blue spray on tint. could have been an early Don Gay car, since his family owned the strip..

 

They actually used tinted plexi gl***. Or colored plexi if you prefer.

You could get the spray on window tint in the very early '60s I can't put a date on it. The idea was that if you owned an older plain jane you could tint your windows and be just like the high end cars with tinted gl***.

Stude as well as Caddy and Buick was using tinted gl*** way back when. My '53 Commander has green windows, if you want to shoot for a '60s or late '50s look green windows is what you want unless you are building a gas cl*** car then orange was popular as well as red and blue and yellow.

But back to the original question I don't recall seeing the "dark" windows (we called them dope smoker windows) until late in the '70s or the '80s.

 

1972 JC Whitney catalog has two different types of spray tint kits, no film type at all.

 

i like the look of the blue or green gl*** in the kustoms from the 50s iv seen. would love to go for a ride to trip on the view.

never seen spray on tint. iv only used the film. plan on going with tint on my tbucket project. i find it amusing how some people think there opinion on what looks right is the gold standard.. man, lighten up.. life is way to short to be riding such a stiff stick. ( but then i did die noo oxygen to brain for 2 mins bad motorcycle accident.. so maybe my out look on life is jaded now )
chris.

 

agreed.

 

I really like dark tint, and I want to put in on my ride, but I just can't. It's just not right for the era.

 

I'm going to tint my windows in my 29 Sedan, just not sure how dark yet though.
All cars look good with at least a little tint IMHO.

Rant on.

 

Luck for you the the law in OK allows you to go down to 25%, so you legally have pretty free reign on how dark you want to go.

 

Should have dropped a 396 crank in it and call it a 427...

 

OK then, so how do you remove it without scratching up the gl***?

 

new single edge razor blades.

 

I was thinking of tinting the windows on the '65 Riviera, it gets hot as Hell in there, but I agree with DeSoto, old cars look like **** with dark windows. I was thinking the Riv might be an exception, it's a later model and more of a lowrider. Maybe it won't be so bad once I fix the factory A/C.