Family's first airconditioned car

[arbilab]

The car belonged to Westinghouse, not 'the family'. It was a 1957 Buick. 'The family' got a (slightly) used 62 Pontiac in 63, that was "our" first AC car.

MY first AC car was dad's company 67 Plymouth he sold me in 75. Had to replace the expansion valve but after that it would ICE the vents, not just frost them.

 

[passatdoc]

Parents' cars: first two with factory a/c were a 67 Camaro and a 68 Buick Sportwagon 400. Cars previous to these had no A/C, though this was in Southern California where it was needed maybe one month a year.

My cars: first car was a new 1980 Toyota Tercel, no a/c. A/C was added at the dealer as a factory unit when one wanted a/c. It was not installed at the factory. My next car was a 1985 Toyota Celica liftback which had factory a/c. My cars subsequent to this have all had a/c....not sure if you can get a new car w/o a/c now.

 

[goatfarmer]

We always had Oldsmobiles, a 60 Super88, a 64 Cutlass 4 door, 70 Cutlass wagon, and the first with A/C, a 76 Delta 88.

 

[pulltostart]

Rick, Tom, Kenny

Were/are any of those Super 88's 4-door hardtops (Holiday Sedan, Holiday SportSedan)?

 

lawrence

 

[pulltostart]

Harrison

Harrison was GM's Radiator Division and was originally credited with ownership of the air conditioning systems - with a footnote that the compressor was supplied by Frigidaire.

 

lawrence

 

[MikeS]

'62 Chrysler Newport

It had the vents on top of the dashboard, which really allowed the cool air to reach the back seat faster. That was great for long trips. Also, it had the coveted "Air Conditioned by Airtemp" label on the window. So did our '69 Newport, but I always loved the '62 with its "plucked chicken" styling and space-age dashboard. And that super air conditioning system!

 

[thor]

1967 Cadillac Coupe deVille

The oldest car I owned with factory air was a pristine 1967 Coupe deVille I bought in 1982 with just 30 kmiles, here in Buenos Aires. The odometer was in kilometers, and it reached 200! It was a fully loaded car (I'd never seen a car with so many Factory options before), and the air conditioning was automatic, you could select the inside temperature with a rotating wheel, and you would get cold or hot air as needed to keep that temperature, automatically.

The system had a constant running Frigidaire compressor. The cold output of the system was regulated by a closing (choking) refrigerant valve in the suction pipe of the compressor, which restricted the refrigerant flow when less cold was needed inside the car. This was achieved by a bulb sensor attached to the discharge side of the evaporator. As this pipe started to reach temperatures close to 32 °F the suction valve would start closing, choking the compresor of refrigerant, diminishing its output, in order to avoid the evaporator from freezing up. It worked flawlessly!
Emilio

 

[NYCWriter]

Ours ...

... 1979 Caprice Classic station wagon. Two-tone burgundy with burgundy interior and luggage rack.

Sharp-looking car it was!

 

[goatfarmer]

It was a 4 door, not a hardtop, though.

 

[dirtybuck]

My dad worked for GM, and to the best of my knowledge, all of our cars (mostly station wagons) had ac. But the '65 and '66 both had climate control and am/fm stereo radios.

Even though the picture is showing a Bel-Air (ours was an Impala), this is what the '65 looked like. The '66 (also an Impala) was white.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Lawrence, None of the Oldsmobubbles were hardtops. Daddy traveled 7.5 southeastern states and believed that the center pillar offered him more protection in an accident. Got sie dank, we never had to find out.

 

[paulg]

1965 Ford LTD

It had air-conditioning, but I don't remember it ever working correctly.
It was replaced by a 1965 Ford Galaxie 500 with an aftermarket air-conditoner that looked like a vented box bolted to the floor. It, too did not work.
Our flat-roofed house didn't have air-conditioning either. For all these reasons I handle heat well.

 

[DADoES]

 
Possibly a 1965 Bel Air.  For sure the 1970 Impala that followed had factory air.  All cars since the 1970 have been equipped.

 

[imperial70]

Ours was a 1982 Mercury Cougar 4 door sedan (fox body). Super cold AC. But very Problematic. The very first car I purchased was a 1986 Mercury Marquis (fox body, not to be confused with the Panther Body Grand Marquis).

 

[whirlcool]

Since it hasn't been mentioned, Chevrolet called their factory air with a settable thermostat "Comfortron" and under the lip at the top of the dash was a caged probe of some kind. That's where the system took the cabin temp from.

 

[ptcruiser51]

1966 Chrysler Newport

Could double as a meat-locker. My OM never bothered reading owner's manuals, "I know how to drive a car". So consequently, did not understand that the "heat" lever could temper the a/c blast. This continued thru 1968 Chrysler, 1970 Chrysler, 1973 Ford LTD, 1976 Ford LTD, 1979 Mercury Marquis, 1981 Mercury Sable. Always freezing, all the time.

 

[countryguy]

Ours was a '72 Lincoln Town Car - similiar to this one.

 

[petek]

I never understood people who put on the a/c or the heat "all the way" and then when they start feeling too cold or too hot they shut it off instead of turning the dial or lever down so it's comfortable.. someone I lives with does this LOL

 

[rp2813]

That would be a 1957 Lincoln Premiere Landau 4-door hardtop.  The cooled air was delivered from the ceiling, with a round directional vent in each of the four corners.  Circulation to the rear vents involved a pair of flared oval clear plastic ducts that came up out of the package tray.

 

The thing that I hated was my parents' rule of aiming all vents toward the center of the cabin, as if the system should be operated like central A/C or something.  The interior of that car was cavernous and the only way to stay cool was to have a vent pointed at you, not toward the no-man's-land in the center.  My sister and I would often re-aim our vents in the back seat to blow the cold air at us instead, when Mom & Dad weren't looking.

 

[xraytech]

I don't recall my mothers 1983 Cavalier having A/C but I know her next car did.
It was a 1987 Chevy Celebrity Classic, gray with matching carriage roof and tufted velour interior, and wire hubcaps. Unfortunately it was the 2.2 little engine and was essentially junk when traded off in early 1992.

 

[countryguy]

Pete,
I have a friend that does the same thing with the heat and A/C. She'll come to pick me up and the temperature will be set to 18C on a hot day or 32 C on a cold day. I've explained to her several times how the auto temperature control functions but she just doesn't get it. I have mine set at 21.5 C year round.

Gary

 

[dynaflow]

our first

was a white 68 Plymouth Fury III next was a 72 Delta 88 then a 79 Electra 225 that would be blast u out of the car
my Grandmother had a 63 merc with a underdash factory unit it would freeze ur leg if u were next too it

 

[dirtybuck]

Whirlcool:

Thanks for the correction on the name.

 

[whirlaway]

A 53 Cadillac

We had a 53 Caddy with air in 58,my first car with air was a 54 Chrysler New Yorker Deluxe.Chrysler seemed to always have the best air.On the 1942 Desoto 5th avenues,they had factory air,of course with the war just starting not many were made.I wonder how many survived!

 

[pcasa]

58 impala

.. pretty sure it was our 1958 Chevy Impala - Black with beautiful turquoise striped interior - if not that one - for sure our 59 Olds had A/C because I remember our family vacation to Disneyland in 1961 and daddy having to put wooden clothes pins on the lines when it froze up

 

[countryford]

I knew a guy who had a 42' Desoto. I remember it having the hidden headlights on it. Not sure about if it had A/C on it or not.

 

[countryford]

When I was a kid, we had a 74' Ford Econoline van with A/C in it. We also had a 79' Plymouth Volarie station wagon. I can't recall if it had A/C or not, but I would assume it did.

 

[pulltostart]

Bobby with the '53 Caddy

That must have been very special - 1953 was when GM introduced air conditioning.  Because the fan and evaporator were installed in the trunk, this option was only available on coupes and sedans - no way to make that work for convertibles and station wagons in 1953.

 

lawrence

 

[philr]

GM kept the trunk-mounted air conditioner in some brands until 1955. Pontiac got in-dash a/c in 1954 (and I think they didn't have a/c in 1953) but Buick and Cadillac kept the trunk-mounted Frigidaire units for 3 years until 1956 models were introduced. The 1953 Buick and Cadillac system had 4 vents in the roof while the 1955 system just blew air from the two plexiglass tubes at the back. 

 

I'd love to get a 1953 Roadmaster hardtop coupe with factory A/C. I guess I won't find that around here...

 

[abcomatic]

My folk's first car air was a 1969 Mercury Marauder; the unit hung from under the dash.
My first car that I bought was a 1968 Ford Ltd. Brougham which had factory air in it.