Mark,
What wonderful piece of research or a wonderful personal knowledge of these cars!
The one that my dad was supposed to buy did not have a glass divider, but in my kids mind, I do remember the car seeming a bit stretched, so it must have been some kind of a limo.
I do think I distinctly remember my dad taking it over 100mph on our test ride. Would that have been possible; I have always used that example as my first trip past the century mark.
My second trip past 100mph came when my dad bought a 1960 MGA. His cars between the Cadillac test drive and the MGA were a 4cv and a Dauphin meaning that I rarely saw 55 in my formative years.
Chip
Houston
--- In diesel_mercedes@yahoogroups.com, "Mark in Lakewood, CO" <beeser750@...> wrote:
>
> Sounds like the car was a Series 75 "Fleetwood", 8-passenger Business Sedan or, if it had the division window in the front seatback, factory-bodied Limousine.
>
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> '53 was the first year for the re-introduction of A/C in Cadillac (and Oldsmobile), engineered with GM's Frigidair division. (It was first offered in 1938 or '39, but I've never seen nor heard of an actual installation.) Chrysler's "Air-Temp" came the following year.
>
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> The evaporator was located in the trunk with two blower motors, the output of which was initially through only two large vents in the rear package tray. Later, a couple of clear, plastic tubes rose up along the C-pillar to direct the air into two plenums on either side of the roof, above the headliner. 4 (Series 62, 60S) or 6 (Series 75) chromed vents then passed the air into the passenger compartment; the forward most vents strategically placed so as to freeze the front seat passenger's necks. The controls were mounted in a little add-on pod placed under the center of the dash. There were knobs for temperature and fan speed, with an "Off-On" switch between them, all finished in brushed steel to match the rest of the switchgear.
>
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> For the first year, anyway, there was no clutch on the compressor. It was always in operation. Turning the A/C off would redirect the freon flow from the evaporator through a bypass tube via a solenoid valve.
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> One could always spot an A/C-equipped Cadillac or Chrysler from the outside because of the two little air intake scoops mounted just outside of the C-pillars, one on each side. It wasn't until 1956 when AMC (with the help of it's Kelvinator division) introduced a much lighter, simpler version of A/C that the evaporator moved into the firewall area in the dash, thus making A/C a possibility for small cars (and convertibles).
>
> Mark in Lakewood, CO (1953 Cadillac Series 75 "Fleetwood" 8-passenger Business Sedan. Yeah, it has A/C....)
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Chip" <czulli@...>
> To: "diesel mercedes" <diesel_mercedes@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Monday, September 17, 2012 7:20:36 AM
> Subject: [diesel_mercedes] Remembering Air Conditioning
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Since I am on this topic I might just as well tell you about the first car AC I remember.
>
> It was the mid 50's and my dad decided to test drive a used Cadillac. It was almost a limo as I recall, and I want to say it was a 1952 or 1953 model.
>
> As men did back then, the first thing my dad did was to find a country road and open the car up. I can still remember bending over the front seat to watch the needle when it topped 100.
>
> Despite all of my begging the Cadillac did not find a home at our house. But I sure remember that cool, fast ride. The back shelf had two huge tinted air flow tubes rising up out of the trunk that pumped out the winter time air.
>
> Chip
>
