The Superbird Wing Was Not "Idiotically-Ineffective" or "Dumb"
1) Naca ducts
2) No
3) No idea my best guess steel
4) Vent air out of the wheel wells
Good Effort. Good Effort.
Answer #1
The front fender vents {reversed scoops} were called 'Exhausters'. This was to
confuse the competition in Nascar racing {primarily Ford} into thinking that they were some kind of 'secret' aerodynamic trick.
'Exhausters' {Fender Vents}
The reversed scoops were put on the top of the fender sections,
because the 'Nascar' Superbird and Daytona race cars actually had 4" diameter
holes cut out of the top of the fenders, to prevent the large racing tires from hitting
the under-side of the upper wheel-wells when the cars went into the high-bank turns as early as 130+ MPH with the 'new' aerodynamic cars.
These holes could not be left open {visible}, as per Nascar specifications.
So Chrysler Racing {Nascar Division} came up with these fender-risers.
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Answer #2
The 'Exhausters' {Fender Vents} were
'not functional' on the factory
production cars for the consumers.
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Answer #3
A 'trick' question.
The front fender vent-scoops were produced in both fiberglass, and metal. Approximately 60% were molded fiberglass, and 40% were stamped steel.
Both 'Creative Industries of Detroit, Inc.' and 'Jo-Ad Industries' produced
these units for Chrysler.
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Answer #4
Why were the vent-openings reversed, or why were there vent openings anyway, if the 'fender-risers' were only there to provide for additional inner-fender clearance for the racing tires at high-speeds.
Ah! wise one. Good question.
Chrysler Engineers {John Pointer and Bob Marcel} found out that by
having a vent-opening in the fender-riser, they actually helped reduce heat
in the fenderwell area.
This did 'three things',
1} Helped lower the temperature within the wheel-well area, keeping
the large front racing Tires cooler, which extended the length of tire
use by 3%.
2} Helped cool the brakes {Wheel Drum and Lining}. The cooler that
the brake assembly components were = less friction.
3} The vents did help remove the 'circle air' within the fender-well
area. The vent actually reduced the front-end 'drag' by 3%, at over 180 MPH.
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