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Whirlcool,
My Gremlin (don't laugh and worse it was purple) with factory air used the "desert only" setting to control fresh/recirc. Early Ford Rangers did the same with different labels an I'm thinking even some late model smaller Chryslers are doing it. Basically, you can't have recirc unless you choose the coolest setting
 
DaveAm,
GM had the same issue with the early "Comfortron" auto/temp systems particularly the dumbed down version used in the late 60 early 70 Chevy. No way to get 'unconditioned' air and a butt ugly temp sensor mounted right in the middle of the dash.
GM also had something called "Comfortron I" (?) that Olds used that was manually controlled with auto temp. My New Yorker had the same set up and Ford used it for years.
Things have come so far that my Cruze has "AQS" air quality sensor. If it detects odors outside of the car it will automatically switch the auto temp system to recirc! Hell, even my SRX didn't do that!
 
This ad claims Factory Air but it doesn't look 'fancy' enough. I wonder if Ford went the way of many early imports, or verse visa, and used 'dealer installed' as factory. Oddly enough, I know I remember seeing a mid 50's Ford in San Antonio back in the 70's that had factory air with vents built into the top of the dash that rotated.

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www.oldride.com
 
"Desert Only" envy...

I was intrigued by the "Desert Only" dialogue...
An Uncle had a 60's Rambler Classic in the then-popular aqua/turquoise/teal color combo...
Always thought you could never use that setting unless you're driving through Arizona...
Googled, and here's what I found, from a participant in the AMC Forum...

"Actually, my understanding of the "Desert Only" position was that it locks out the compressor thermostat. In a humid environment, the evaporator will freeze up if the compressor runs constantly, blocking airflow. Cycling the compressor avoids this. The "Desert Only" position is just a thermostat that controls the compressor, in a dry environment(like the desert) with low humidity, freeze up is not an issue."

Makes sense...

George
 
George, I'm not sure I follow AMC's logic in that. Why would they need to "lock out the themostat". If the themo was not satisfied it would not kick the compressor off anyway, right? The Gremlin would only allow recirc when turned to "Desert Only"
 
Deserts are hot and very dry. They could get along with running the compressor flat out without danger of icing the evaporator.

The Frigikings had a temperature needle that moved from hot to cold and at the far right of the scale "ice." I wondered it it actually made ice cubes. There was one at the service manager's desk in the Olds garage where were took our '59 and '62. No one ever explained that "ice" was not a good thing.

A friend of ours was a nurse. When she was working her way through school, she had been a legal secretary who typed up the patent papers for the first Frigidaire refrigerator. She had a black 55 Chevy. Her son had AC installed in it. The control was a knob mounted below the dash on the right side of the steering wheel. It had three positions for off and the fan speeds and was pulled out to make it colder and in to make it warmer as I remember.

I remember our neighbor's Galaxie 500XL and the cycling compressor as it sat in the driveway before they left on a trip.
 
Our first car with the factory air was a 1958 Chrysler New Yorker that had the plastic tube comming from the back to ward the front.  Would spit ice at us.  In the 60's the Chryslers had the vents in the dash you could push back to flow on the windshield .  One time were traveling o route 66 out to California and dad stopped late one night to get gas and the attedent started washing the windheild and it was frost on the inside of the glass. 
 
Chrysler factory air

Chrysler started in the dash factory-air in 57,and some Imperials had a dual system all the way to the later60s,56 was the last year for full trunk A/C.You could still buy add on trunk units in the 60s my friends 61 New Yorker had one.
 
Nash/AMC pioneered all up-front air conditioning with help from their Kelvinator division.  They also pioneered the fresh-air car heater back in the 1930s.

 

Quote from the link below:

 

"In 1954, Nash-Kelvinator capitalized on its experience in refrigeration to introduce the automobile industry's first compact and affordable, single-unit heating and air conditioning system optional for its all Nash Ambassador, Statesman and Rambler models. Combining heating, cooling, and ventilating, the new air conditioning system for the Nash cars was called the "All-Weather Eye".

The 1954 Nash models were the first American automobiles to have a front-end, fully integrated heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning system. This was the first mass market system with controls on the dash and an electrically-engaged clutch. This "first true refrigerated air conditioner system" for automobiles was also compact and easily serviceable with all of its components installed under the hood or in the cowl area. With a single thermostatic control, the Nash passenger compartment air cooling option was described as "a good and remarkably inexpensive" system. Entirely incorporated within the engine bay, the combined heating and cooling system had cold air for passengers enter through dash-mounted vents. Nash's exclusive "remarkable advance" was not only the "sophisticated" unified system, but also its US$345 price was significantly less than all the other systems.<sup>"</sup>

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en.wikipedia.org
 

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