First Air Conditioning in any auto ?

[Guest Silverghost]

When was the first Air Conditioning installed in any auto?

In the 1950s at a PA area car show Dad & I saw a late 1920s Pierce~Arrow Town-car that had a compressed/condensed gas Air Conditioning system !

This system was original to the late 1920s period ~~~

It was not a factory installed system; but a system that the very wealthy original owner had installed !

It did not use Dupont Freon but instead used another early refrigerant gas~~~ Possibly Ammonia or Sulphur Dioxide ?

I believe this Pierce~Arrow still sits in a carriage house in Bryn Athen PA five min. from my home. I believe it was once owned by Harold Pitcairn & Family owners of Pittsburg Plate Glass & Pittsburg Paint Co. It has not seen the outside of that carriage house since the early 1960s !

Are there any other known autos extant today with such a very early original Air Conditioning system installed in that time period? (Non-Factory)

The Packard Co I believe installed the very first factory Air Conditioning in a car in 1939 or 1940 ?

The cars were shipped by the Packard Corp factory to an outside contractor for AC systems installation I believe ?

Can anyone confirm this ?

Has anyone here seen or heard of a similar early AC system installed in an auto in the late 1920s or 1930s ?

Do any exist today ?

Are there any early photos or advertising of such early auto AC systems ?

Edited December 14, 2010 by Silverghost (see edit history)

[West Peterson]

I can partly answer your Packard portion of your question. Packard offered the first factory-installed a/c in the fall of 1939 on the 1940 models. I believe you are correct in that the cars were sent half-assembled to the Bishop & Blalock factory in Cleveland for the a/c installation. I think part of the a/c system was installed at the Packard plant, such as the condenser (since it was part of the front clip) and compressor. On the inside of my un-restored front clip, this writing is scribed in some sort of marker: "Sup 8 Air"

[Guest South_paw]

Here's an article from Nov, 1933

[Dave Mellor NJ]

Years ago in Old Cars Weekly they had a 42 Packard going to auction. This car was shown to be the command car for Gen. Douglas Macarthur in WWII and it featured an early AC unit in the trunk. It seems there also was one in the Major Bowes' 42 Imperial.

[Rusty_OToole]

This question has come up before. Somewhere on the net I have seen an article about a Cadillac ca.1930 with a custom air conditioning system. The pump was driven by a small gas engine and sat on the luggage rack. It was built for a wealthy Texan.

[nzcarnerd]

One memory of my visit to Harrahs collection in Reno in 1978 (coincidentally I think it was only a week or so after William Harrah's death) was a large black 1941 (?) Packard with side mounted spares and air conditioning which I thought was an appropriate symbol of the last of the old and the first of the new. The 'air-conditioned' badge was actually on the side-mount cover. I presume someone still has the car.

[Guest De Soto Frank]

1940-'41 were the first years for "factory" air-conditioning, available from Packard, Chrysler, and Cadillac.

I'm curious about that all-electric refrigeration unit installed in the mid-20's Packard - article says it ran off the car's generator ? That's a mighty beefy motor driving the compressor... wonder if there was a second generator to provide different power for the A/C ?

Pretty cool stuff !

[West Peterson]

1940-'41 were the first years for "factory" air-conditioning, available from Packard, Chrysler, and Cadillac.

Not so. Packard only for 1940. Cadillac offered it in 1941, then I believed discontinued for 1942. Chrysler was also a one-year only deal, but I don't remember if it was 1941 or '42. I do not believe that there are ANY Chryslers existing with factory air.

[PONTIAC1953]

hi, if you'll look up on the internet, "riding in comfort part II" you'll see the first car equipped with an air conditioning unit for a houston,texas cadillac owner, 1927 or 1928 model. charles coker, 1953 pontiac tech advisor.

[MCHinson]

Here is a link to that article:

http://www.studebaker-info.org/tech/aircon/ashrae.pdf

[ply33]

Here is a link to that article:

http://www.studebaker-info.org/tech/aircon/ashrae.pdf

Great article. Thanks for the link.