1954 Packard Air Conditioning

[Mr. Bill]

How common was Frigidaire Air Conditioning in a 1954 Packard Clipper Super?
Is the Frigidaire unit a better system than the NOVI units installed in the big Studebaker V8 sedans beginning in 1955?

Referring to the 54 Clipper Super on Ebay now

Bill Sapp
Hamlet, NC

[showbizkid]

Any A/C in a '50s vintage automobile is more uncommon than not, since they were high-buck propositions. The Frigidaire units are the same as were installed in GM cars of the period (Frigidaire was still a GM company at the time and their logo appeared on A/C systems for GM cars into the '70s). Just as good as the Novi units, if not a little better, and parts are slightly easier to come by since they were GM.

BTW, is it just me, or would this car not look great with Cragars, 215/70 R15 Coopers and a set of lake pipes? [}]




[img=left]http://members.cox.net/clarknovak/lark.gif[/img=left]

Clark in San Diego
'63 F2/Lark Standard

http://studeblogger.blogspot.com

https://www.studebakersandiego.com

[showbizkid]

Any A/C in a '50s vintage automobile is more uncommon than not, since they were high-buck propositions. The Frigidaire units are the same as were installed in GM cars of the period (Frigidaire was still a GM company at the time and their logo appeared on A/C systems for GM cars into the '70s). Just as good as the Novi units, if not a little better, and parts are slightly easier to come by since they were GM.

BTW, is it just me, or would this car not look great with Cragars, 215/70 R15 Coopers and a set of lake pipes? [}]




[img=left]http://members.cox.net/clarknovak/lark.gif[/img=left]

Clark in San Diego
'63 F2/Lark Standard

http://studeblogger.blogspot.com

https://www.studebakersandiego.com

[BobPalma]

It's just you, Clark...the car would look best if the original rear fender shields were in place and it had a set of the correct-width "wide" whitewalls. Of course, that may be just me! (But the radials on it were probably cheaper...and being in the midwest, the original fender shields might no longer fit bondoed rear quarter panel openings...[}])

I'm looking at the air conditioning system photographs in the large 1954 Packard Salesman's Facts Book, and that does appear to be a correct "factory air" unit in the e-bay offering, as stated. [8D] BP

[BobPalma]

It's just you, Clark...the car would look best if the original rear fender shields were in place and it had a set of the correct-width "wide" whitewalls. Of course, that may be just me! (But the radials on it were probably cheaper...and being in the midwest, the original fender shields might no longer fit bondoed rear quarter panel openings...[}])

I'm looking at the air conditioning system photographs in the large 1954 Packard Salesman's Facts Book, and that does appear to be a correct "factory air" unit in the e-bay offering, as stated. [8D] BP

[Mr. Bill]

Ok, so the Packard system does not have the plastic tubes or overhead vents for ducting the cool air.

What do the discharge vents look like? I can't tell from the pictures of this particular car, although I see what looks like a rear speaker on the package shelf.

These early a/c units fascinate me

Bill Sapp
Hamlet, NC

[Mr. Bill]

Ok, so the Packard system does not have the plastic tubes or overhead vents for ducting the cool air.

What do the discharge vents look like? I can't tell from the pictures of this particular car, although I see what looks like a rear speaker on the package shelf.

These early a/c units fascinate me

Bill Sapp
Hamlet, NC

[8E45E]

quote:Originally posted by Mr. Bill
These early a/c units fascinate me

There was a rather interesting 3-way comparison of a 1954 Cadillac, a Lincoln, and a Chryler Imperial equipped with factory air conditioning in Special Interest Autos magazine a number of years ago. They mentioned they did not include a Packard as it was basically the same Frigidaire unit as Cadillac, less the transparent tubes on the rear package shelf.

Craig

[8E45E]

quote:Originally posted by Mr. Bill
These early a/c units fascinate me

There was a rather interesting 3-way comparison of a 1954 Cadillac, a Lincoln, and a Chryler Imperial equipped with factory air conditioning in Special Interest Autos magazine a number of years ago. They mentioned they did not include a Packard as it was basically the same Frigidaire unit as Cadillac, less the transparent tubes on the rear package shelf.

Craig

[Guido]

I thought that I had pictures of those ducts from some of Roger Hill's cars, but I do not have any close up shots that reveal the details. Oh Leonard????


http://community.webshots.com/user/GuidoSalvage

Hiding and preserving Studebakers in Richmond, Goochland & Louisa, Va.

[Guido]

I thought that I had pictures of those ducts from some of Roger Hill's cars, but I do not have any close up shots that reveal the details. Oh Leonard????


http://community.webshots.com/user/GuidoSalvage

Hiding and preserving Studebakers in Richmond, Goochland & Louisa, Va.

[BobPalma]

'Really can't tell for sure in the Salesman's Guide, but they really look like large speaker grilles with coarse cross-hatching. No clear plastic tubes.

Here's an old joke in case you hadn't heard it:

As you know, Packard is credited with developing and marketing the first automotive air conditioning system, introduced before WWII. What is not generally known, however, is this: The Society of Automotive Engineers wanted to honor the two Packard engineers who did most of the development work on the system. They agreed to do so by henceforth placing their names on the control panel of every automotive air conditioning unit thereafter.

The men's names were MAX and NORM. [:0][:0] BP

[BobPalma]

'Really can't tell for sure in the Salesman's Guide, but they really look like large speaker grilles with coarse cross-hatching. No clear plastic tubes.

Here's an old joke in case you hadn't heard it:

As you know, Packard is credited with developing and marketing the first automotive air conditioning system, introduced before WWII. What is not generally known, however, is this: The Society of Automotive Engineers wanted to honor the two Packard engineers who did most of the development work on the system. They agreed to do so by henceforth placing their names on the control panel of every automotive air conditioning unit thereafter.

The men's names were MAX and NORM. [:0][:0] BP

[64V-K7]

Here's a paper on early Auto A/C

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

It shows a phantom view of the Packard unit..

Bob Johnstone

[64V-K7]

Here's a paper on early Auto A/C

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

It shows a phantom view of the Packard unit..

Bob Johnstone