Ahh. It's the little quarter windows. That makes the main window less wide so it can fit in the door when it rolls down. That must be a 92-96 RMS thing.kevm14 wrote:Here's a crazy factoid: the rear windows roll all the way down. Is that a 96 thing???? I had no idea. Pretty awesome.
Look closely at the picture of RM sedan rear door and compare it to your Chevy's (and RM wagons). The secret is the little quarter window. In the quest to make doors as large as possible, the rear doors have to impinge on the rear wheel wells making the rear doors curve on the trailing edge. [It's even worse in smaller cars.] This means that a full-size rear window physically cannot go all the way down. The little quarter windows mean that the main part of the rear window can be smaller and therefore go all the way down.
The additional quarter window obviously adds costs and therefore not a good choice for the entry-level GM brand, Chevrolet. [Yes Chevy is... research all the talk about GM restructuring where they reaffirmed that strategy and just get over it.] This is why the upper brands (Cadillac and Buick) have the additional quarter window. My wife's Seville does the same quarter window trick to get a fully rolldown rear window in a smaller car. [Unfortunately, the RM wagon was likely judged too utilitarian to get the additional quarter windowm]
The additional quarter window also adds a window post which lessens the sportiness of the side view. [Take at look at almost any car since the 40's... fewer or no side posts means more sporty.] This is not a problem with the car with a more luxury oriented image.
I had always wondered if a Chevy door could "easily" retrofitted with the additional quarter window by using guts and maybe the upper door frame from and RM sedan rear door.
A final comment is that the '94-6 RM sedans are the best kept secrets. The "ugly" nose [sorry RoadMonster], huge rear pillar, Buick lineage [marketing to an older demographic], and no hint of sportiness have kept the prices down while the drivetrain is the same as the SS with much more luxury appointments inside make it the ultimate sleeper. If I didn't want/need a wagon, I would be driving one. [I had an oppurtunity to get one recently with about 60K miles for about $2K from an estate sale. It was the hardest deal to walk away from. It was snatched up shortly after I saw it.]