Driving Miss Daisy cars

[fan-of-fans]

I know in Driving Miss Daisy there was a 1948 Hudson, a 1955 Cadillac, 1965 Cadillac and 1970 Cadillac. I'm don't know what the first car was that she backed over the wall in the beginning.

But I was wondering on the 1955 Cadillac, supposedly it has air conditioned, as when she and Hoke leave for Alabama, she tells him that he was supposed to have the air condition checked.

However, there are no vents seen on the headliner and should be clear ducts at the rear roof pillars which I don't see.

Has anyone noticed that?

 

[Ultramatic]

 

 

The same reason production companies use Toronto to step in for New York City. Ease (cost) and perceived  public knowledge.

 

Air conditioned 1955 Cadillac's are far rarer than non-AC '55 Cadillac's and they are betting that virtually the entire viewing audience wouldn't know the difference.

 

Entertainment companies do this all the time with locations, vehicles, props, fashion you name it. I usually catch them flubbing something in a period scene much to my spouse's annoyance. 

 

[ea56]

The first car that Miss Daisy backed out of the garage and down the embankment was a 1947 Chrysler with Fluid Drive. It was the Fluid Drive that confused her as she had been used to driving a manual transmission. Thats why her son hired Hoke to drive her, the ‘48 Hudson was the replacement for the Chrysler.

Fluid Drive was a semi automatic transmission that didn’t require the use of the clutch unless you were changing between reverse or the low and high range of the transmission.

Reverse was selected by pulling the gearshift towards the driver and moving it up, the low range was selected by pushing the gearshift forward and up, high was selected by pulling the gearshift down. The clutch was only needed to change between gears, the driver didn’t need to ease it out to get going, and the engine didn’t stall with the brake on and the car in gear.

Each forward range had two gears, these were essentially four speed transmissions. To move between the gears in each forward range the driver simply lifted their foot off the gas for a second and the car would shift up or down. You could drive all day long in the high range, shifting between 3rd and 4th, up or down just by lifting your foot off the gas.

The driver could stop the car at a light, not have to use the clutch, leave the transmission in gear and the car wouldn’t stall, to proceed when the light turned green you just had to step on the gas. Acceleration wasn’t head snapping but leisurely, however they were perfectly suited for city driving in heavy traffic. These transmissions were also used in some WWII tanks, the other tanks used GM 4 speed Hydramatic transmission's.

If you are watching any movies from the 40’s with a taxi in the scene you’ll notice that most times they were either DeSoto’s or Chryslers because the Fluid Drive made driving in heavy city traffic almost effortless.

Eddie[this post was last edited: 7/16/2022-13:38]

 

[kenwashesmonday]

Here's the Internet Movie Cars Database page for Driving Miss Daisy --

IMCDb.org: "Driving Miss Daisy, 1989": cars, bikes, trucks and other vehicles

www.imcdb.org

 

[robbinsandmyers]

Ultramatic nailed it, I think the production company planned on most viewers not knowing about the A/C vents on that Caddy. But it happens all the time in movies. I bet Stanley Kramer thought most people wouldnt notice in the final chase scene between Culpepper and the two cabs that the back seat studio shots of Tracy driving wasnt the 62 Dart but rather a 61 Plymouth instead in Its a Mad mad Mad Mad World. But I bet all 62 Dart and 61 Plymouth owners did. lol

 

[circlew]

I'm kind of surprised most 1955 Cadillacs didn't have air conditioning. The first air conditioned car I ever rode in was a 1954 Oldsmobile that belonged to my dad's Uncle Fred and Aunt Hazel. Their next car was a 1964 Cadillac, and it certainly had AC.

 

[kenwashesmonday]

As of 1961, 52% of new Cadillacs were ordered with air conditioning.

 

[maytag85]

It seems like air conditioning was few and far between in the 1950’s but seemed to be more common by the 1960’s. I almost ended up getting a 1966 Ford LTD sedan hardtop with factory air conditioning but sadly the seller never got back to me despite inquiring a few times.

 

[circlew]

Perhaps people who didn't have AC in their homes or workplace were more likely to purchase a car without it. My dads uncle and aunt had it in their house from the late 40's on, and in their grocery store beginning mid summer 1955. Our first air conditioned car was my mom's 1973 Buick 225 Limited. I rarely use AC in my vehicle, as it makes my throat dry, and my nose stuffy.

 

[ea56]

The first car I ever owned with AC was in ‘89 when I bought one of the first Hyundai Sonata’s. People around here almost never had AC in the 50’s. It wasn’t until the 60’s when people started to spring for AC in their cars. Very few people here in Northern California have AC in their homes. I’ve never lived in a home with AC. You just suffer through the handful of days every year when its 100+.

I use the AC in my car once in a while when its really hot. But if its 75 or less I just like to roll down the windows and have the fresh air blowing in the car. I had a ‘67 Buick Skylark 2 dr HT from ‘76 to ‘81 and with the vents opened and all four windows open I got a terrific cross ventilation that was very refreshing. I miss that wonderful car, out of the 23 cars I’ve owned next to my current ‘07 Honda Civic that ‘67 Skylark was my favorite.

Eddie

 

[bradfordwhite]

Going by the rear view mirror I'd say it's a cadillac....I think that's what's being driven.

 

[sudsmaster]

Looks like Eddie nailed in post #2.

Good work!

 

[ea56]

Coincidently the car I drove to the theater in to see “Driving With Miss Daisy” was that ‘89 Hyundai Sonata with the AC, my first car with AC, and it was a hot day. We always went to the movies every Sunday afternoon then to see a matinee. It was hot when we got out of the theater and the first thing I did was turn on the AC which was a complete novelty to me at the time. I felt rich! And it was just a Hyundai!

I read the book too. Whats why I remember that she was driving a Chrysler with Fluid Drive and got confused as it was the first time she’d driven it out of her garage, an easy mistake to make for a new driver of a Fluid Drive car, as both reverse and low were in the up position, only reverse was towards the driver and low was away from the driver. She thought she’d shifted from reverse into low after backing out of the garage and hit the gas and careened over the wall and down the embankment.

Eddie

 

[rickr]

There were two black Cadillacs used in the movie. One was a 1955 Fleetwood that did have factory A/C. The other was a black 1956 Sedan deVille, that did not have factory A/C. The 1956 model was used on the trip to Mobile, AL. The 1956 model has a chrome spear that runs along the rear quarter panel. The 1955 model does not.

 

[sudsmaster]

IMHO, air conditioning is really not required in a car in the SF Bay Area. At least not until you go east about 50 miles. YMMV.

 

[qsd-dan]

air conditioning is really not required in a car in the SF

Agreed, I probably got less than 2 hours total use in my 1999 Accord living there.

 

[ea56]

True Rich, you really don’t need AC in most parts of the SF Bay Area, thats why most people here didn’t have it until the late 60’s when it became more commonplace.

But here in Sonoma Co. we do have enough real hot days when its nice to have, especially when your car has been sitting parked in the sun with the windows closed. I only use the AC in our car maybe 6-8 times a year, if that. Most of the time I like the windows down and fresh air blowing in the car.

Also, if you plan on doing any road trips to Southern California you sure as hell want AC. In the summertime traveling on Hwy 101 north and south it can be like driving thru a blast furnace in some places. The last car we had without AC was an ‘86 Honda Hatchback BOL.

When we were driving back from LA in early October in ‘88 David was asleep in the passengers seat while I was driving. We’d just reached Gonzalez and both windows were down, the back pop out windows were popped open and the vents were open.

It literally felt like a convection oven. David woke up and his first words were, “do we have to have these goddamned windows open”, to which I replied, “yah, unless you want us to suffocate while we fry our asses off”. We didn’t speak again until we reached 19th Avenue and the welcome and cooling fog. Six months later we got the ‘89 Sonata with AC!

Nowadays just about every car on the market comes equipped with AC anyway.

Eddie[this post was last edited: 7/17/2022-13:30]

 

[circlew]

Took a trip to SF in late August, 1985 (last time in CA) to visit my friend Jeff. I thought I was going to freeze my butt off while in the city. We went over to Oakland - San Leandro area (Dunsmuir House) one afternoon, and it was at least 20 degrees warmer. San Jose was warmer, too. He ran the AC on those trips.

 

[sudsmaster]

When I was 11 we relocated from New England to San Francisco. Inner Sunset district. It was in April. I was fully prepared for another warm east coast summer, with occasional rain/thunder/lightning.

Instead we got overcast skies, cold air, and fog. I was shocked! And not exactly prepared for it, either.

Eventually I teamed up with a natural history museum that took us on collecting trips all over the state. That way I got to appreciate the real California. San Francisco is not the real California. It's a bad joke, climate-wise. Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful city, with great people, but unless you're in the eastern half (Mission District) it's fucking freezing. And even then, it's sort of chilly even there.

And so it goes. I live in the East Bay, have been here for the past 50 or so years, where the temps are nearly ideal. Today the high was about 72. Can't get much better than that. Sure, we get our heat waves, usually in August, but so far this year not so much. And a heat wave here means temps in the 80's, maybe 90's. There are a couple of weeks most years during that time, when the sea breezes reverse, which accounts for the heat wave, bringing in warmer air from the east. Then nature takes over, with what Herb Caen (legendary SF Chronicle columnist) used to call "our natural air conditioning".

And so it goes.