Early motorcar drivers were probably more concerned about staying warm than staying cool, given that the first automobiles were open-air and had no closed bodies. The first Ford Model T, especially the Roadster and Touring models, had no standard driver’s door, and drivers of open top vehicles carried umbrellas for shade during bright sunlight.
Of course, in the early days of motoring people wore protective driving clothing. Clothing included a hat, duster coat and goggles on hot days. Meanwhile, older motoring fashions included goatskin gloves and a leather storm coat in rainy weather. The dilemma began when Cadillac introduced the Osceola prototype in 1905. It was the first motorcar with a closed body and by the 1920s almost all car manufacturers had adopted the “closed car” design.
Then motorcar owners realized that car interiors became too hot in the summer, and manufacturers responded with roll-down windows and vents under the dashboard, allowing outside air to cool the cabin. The problem was that those pores became entry points for dust, dirt, bugs, and pollen, so there had to be a better way. In 1919, Cool Cushion auto seat covers came to market. With half-inch springs to separate the driver’s back and lower back from the seat, the gap allowed air circulation to evaporate the driver’s sweat and bring a cooling effect while driving.
fans and car coolers
Today, seat covers are simple upgrades that can make inexpensive cars feel more premium, but even the most innovative covers at the time weren’t enough to cool a closed cabin. The Knapp limo-sedan fan appeared in 1921. It had a fancy name, but it’s just a small, electrically powered fan that drivers install in older cars. It did not blow cold air, but it made the cabin airy. The good thing is that drivers still use fans in some vehicles today, and that primitive technology managed to survive into the modern era, which can’t be said about the “car coolers” that debuted around the 1930s.
The car cooler is a missile-shaped metal box with a one-and-a-half-gallon reservoir and a water-saturated pad inside it. Air enters from the front of the unit and passes through the water pad. The air eventually cools through evaporation, and that cooled air moves inside the cabin. It seems new, but it also has shortcomings. It feels good to sit awkwardly above the car window, and it can reduce the cabin temperature by 15 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit. However, it can only do this when the car is moving, and it does not work efficiently in humid weather. Oh, and the half-gallon water reservoir may need replenishment every three hours in extremely hot climates, so this isn’t the only place you’ll be thirsty for water while traveling in the desert.
General Motors and Packard led the way
Willis Carrier is considered the inventor of electric air conditioning. In 1902, Carrier created a machine that controlled air humidity, a precursor to the modern A/C system that does more than just cool the air. Nearly two decades later, General Motors designed a vapor compression car air conditioning system using R12 refrigerant. But in 1939, Packard became the first automaker to offer a car with optional A/C. As you can imagine, it was not as efficient or neatly packaged as what we are used to today, and Packard discontinued the air conditioning option from its cars by 1941.
For starters, the A/C system’s evaporator and blower system were large enough to take up half the trunk space. Yes, Packard’s A/C was a trunk-mounted unit, and at the time it was a $274 option (about $5,000 today). It was also highly impractical to use. You must manually remove the drive belt from the A/C compressor to turn it on or off. Furthermore, there are no control settings, and users cannot adjust the air temperature.
Pontiac and Nash were the first automakers to move the A/C system to the front of the car in 1954. This system connects the A/C and heater to the dashboard. By 1964, Cadillac unveiled Comfort Control, the first car with automatic climate control. And in 1969, the AMC Ambassador became the first company in the world to roll out the factory with standard A/C.
