The History Of Air Conditioning In Cars | .uk

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For many motorists, air conditioning is a necessity, something they simply must have in their car.

But many of us have vivid memories of cars with no such thing. We can vividly remember summers (1976, for example) when vinyl seats felt so hot on our bare legs that we thought they would stick to our skin permanently.

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Those hot cars only offered some respite when we were able to wind down the window (manually, of course, with winders – none of your fancy electric-powered windows in those days) when the car was up to a decent speed.

So you might be surprised to learn that in-car air conditioning has been around since 1939, when US car company Packard started to install it as a $274 option – although there wasn’t much of a take-up, so it was discontinued in 1941.

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Air con began to become commonplace in American cars in the 1960s

It was the 1950s before US carmakers tried it again, with Chrysler launching its Airtemp system in 1953.

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Operated by a single switch on the dashboard with low, medium, and high positions, it not only cooled the car, but also reduced levels of humidity, dust, pollen, and tobacco smoke.

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The small ducts directed cool air toward the roof of the car, after which it filtered down around the passengers instead of blowing directly on them – which makes it more advanced than modern systems.

A year later, the Nash Ambassador incorporated a fully integrated heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning system that was entirely incorporated within the engine bay.

Air con gradually became standard-fit in American cars through the 60s, but Europe was far slower.

Even in the early years of the millennium, less than a third of European cars had air con fitted – and usually it was the preserve of premium and luxury cars.

But that has changed rapidly in the last decade, to the extent that only cars at the very low-budget end of the market now don’t have air con fitted as standard.

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