those crazy side vents on wagons

[mikhuk]

do those vents really have to be there or can they be filled in thanks

[bugdewde]

I would say those are the exit vents for the free flow ventilation of the car. Air is drawn into the car via the cowl and exits at the rear. It's a safety feature that helps keep the interior windows from fogging up with stale moist exhaled breath..... also keeps the carbon monoxide levels down inside if you have an exhaust leak.

Modern cars usually have a fresh air vent setting on the HVAC as well as the Recirculation setting. The recirc setting is not for defrost, as it recirculates the already heated/cooled interior air into the system to make the system more efficient at heating/cooling. The defrost settings use fresh outside air.

I would say you could remove them but at least try to make an exit vent somewhere..... use f-body door jamb vents or maybe in the hatch or something just to be safe.
Personally, I hate it when the windows fog up due to poor ventilation.

My old VW Bugs(non-vented pre '70's Bugs) always fogged up until I learned to open a vent window to move the moist air that I had exhaled inside the cab to the outside. Sure, it was a bit colder, but at least I could see!

[HotfootGT]

Correct. Flow Through Ventilation. The vents on the hatch perform the same function for the hatchbacks. Don't remember how they did it on the notchbacks.