When I was driving my 1939 Standard as my daily driver in the 60's, I routinely removed the side panels and ran all summer with the side panels open for heat dissipation. The engine temp gauge not only ran slightly cooler, especially around town but, the interior of the car was noticeably cooler too.
It was 150 miles each way to college and on the Interstate I needed all the heat relief that I could get. Yes, I always ran at least the posted 70 MPH speed limit, you know how 19 year old teens were!