With all this talk about Summer Heat...

[twintubdexter]

<span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #008000;">Here is an article about the history of automobile air conditioning that I thought might be of interest to some members. I found it informative. What do you think?</span>

 

<span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #008000;">PS...This was posted on the Facebook page of the car club I belong to so there's replies and other stuff there too.</span>

 

<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">You'd sure have to order the optional rear-view camera with this baby...</span>

[this post was last edited: 6/15/2017-15:45]

Cold Comfort: History of Automotive Air Conditioning, Part 1 - Pre-World War II - Curbside Classic

(first posted 6/1/2017) I’ve never really seen a good, comprehensive history of Automotive Air Conditioning, so I decided to take it upon myself to write one, being somewhat […]

www.curbsideclassic.com

 

[iheartmaytag]

My how we have progressed.

 

We never had  A/C in the car until 1971.  Air-Conditioning used to be a very expensive option.  I didn't see in the article, but can only imagine these monstrosities of modern invention cost more than the car itself. 

 

I remember my dad having one of those water cooler type things that hung on the window and the wind blew through as you drove.  Wasn't very effective in city traffic.

 

I am so happy we have Freon in our lives.

 

Edited:

I found it in the article  $475, about $5,000 today.

 

 

 

 

[kb0nes]

Great article Joe, thanks for sharing it!

The photo made me think of this gem right away though

 

[cuffs054]

I love this stuff! Didn't know Cadillac went back to '41.  Oldest in our family I can remember is the '58 Lincoln. My Uncle gave me his '61 Biscayne with factory air but no P/S or P/B or even tinted glass. Loved that car. I oft wonder if people 70 years from now will be interested in "now" and what will be of interest?

 

[wayupnorth]

My sister had a used'64 Olds 98 with Air. Our first was a '70 Country Squire land yaught. My first was an 81 Vette that I still have. Always had a/c since and would never think to even putting those contraptions on my vehicle, even though a/c MAY be needed a total of 3 months here. Thats desperation and I would rather bake until home. But I am not sweltering trying to sleep. My old Frigidare cools just fine.

 

[wayupnorth]

My sister had a used'64 Olds 98 with Air. Our first was a '70 Country Squire land yaught. My first was an 81 Vette that I still have. Always had a/c since and would never think to even putting those contraptions on my vehicle, even though a/c MAY be needed a total of 3 months here. Thats desperation and I would rather bake until home. But I am not sweltering trying to sleep. My old Frigidare cools just fine.

 

[supersuds]

Thanks, Joe, this is the most comprehensive history of early AC I've ever seen. I knew both Packard and Cadillac offered systems prewar, but not that they were identical. I also didn't know that the same system was offered on Chryslers and DeSotos.

Part 2 of the series talks about the aftermarket units developed in the late Forties. Almost all of the car ACs I remember from when I was a kid were the kind that were added on under the dash. Maybe we didn't know the right kind of people.

Cold Comfort: History of Automotive Air Conditioning, Part 2 - The Aftermarket - Curbside Classic

(first posted 6/2/2017, updated 6/2/2023) As I detailed in Part 1 of this series, Packard, Cadillac, and Chrysler all dabbled in automotive air conditioning between 1940 and 1942. […]

www.curbsideclassic.com

 

[twintubdexter]

Back as a kid at the big appliance store...

<span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #008000;">The owner of the store, a friend of my dad's and a highly-respected member of the San Jose business community, was a car nut. He often went to dealerships on Stevens Creek Blvd. (his store was down the street) and checked out new models. His income allowed  him to buy whatever he wanted like the 64' Chevelle SS convertible with every option including wire wheels. How I wanted that! Another car he purchased was a 63' Buick Riviera, the first one I ever saw. He snatched that one off the showroom floor too. Not an air conditioned car, he eventually sold it to my dad's secretary. I remember her being disappointed about the lack of air but said the only thing she and her husband could do was get a trunk-mounted unit that caused "stiff necks" from the cold air blowing on the backs of passenger's heads. I had no idea what she was talking about.</span>

 

[firedome]

Dad's first a/c car...

was a new company car, a '64 Ford Custom 500 sedan. As a salesman he was in the car a lot and always dressed in suit, hat and tie. In Baltimore you REALLY needed /ac, we basically had the same humid hot climate as DC. That year all full-sized Fords still had under-dash mounted A/C units from the factory, not until the re-designed '65s were the vents routed through the dashboard. When we drove every July from MD to our ancestral home in VT in our '63 Ford Country Sedan wagon with no a/c for the next 4 yrs, we sure wished we could take the company car instead! Not until he traded it for a '68 Squire did the family car have a/c, and I was away at college by then. We never had it at home either, just a lot of fans!

 

[DADoES]

 
Family has had air conditioning in all our cars since the 1970 Chevy Impala.  I don't recall before that.  Not in dad's pickup until some years later.  I've never personally had one without it.  My GM cars were a little weak on performance.  Mazda and Infiniti were excellent, as is my Fusion Hybrid (although the auto temp control tends toward conservative compared to the Infiniti).  Both of RJ's Jags have been comparatively weak IMO.  Our 1973 Ford wagon wasn't good, maybe it lacked in capacity for the extra space.

 

[gusherb]

I can't speak for cars any older than the '91 model year, but my best experience with car A/C performance has been with Nissan and some Hyundai's. Usually the mid size models and up have good performance, compact and smaller cars A/C seems to perform anemically by comparison. Some compacts have cooled very well, like a '13 Mazda 3 in the Texas heat, or a '97 Dodge Stratus. 90s Chrysler products in general seemed to cool very well. (Sometimes too well, the family minivan's evaporator would always freeze up on long trips).

My mom had a 2010 Fusion that cooled very well until a hose crimp end gave out 2.5 years into the lease...wasn't under warranty so just rode it out and turned it in during the winter...

 

[jamiel]

Last cars I encountered with under-performing AC were the original Taurus/Sable in the late 80s...was renting them multiple times a week in the late 80s and they were never quite up to the job. It's pretty amazing that modern A/C perform as well as they do as long as they do. It's interesting--in the Far East taxis were built in the past with A/C but no heater (logical when it's >85 degrees all year).

 

[vacerator]

The switch to 134A

refrigerant compromised some cooling performance. I had an '89 Taurus and the a/c worked great on a trip to Florida.
Car colors and interior color also affects cooling. Black is a hotter color.
Windshield rake angle and glass area also affect cooling efficiency.