History of A/C in cars

[John Luciano]

The Goldberg Brothers - The Inventors of the Automobile Air Conditioner

Here's a little factoid for automotive buffs or just to dazzle your friends.

The four Goldberg Brothers

The four Goldberg brothers, Lowell, Norman, Hiram, and Max, invented and developed the first automobile air-conditioner. On July 17, 1946, the temperature in Detroit was 97 degrees.

The four brothers walked into old man Henry Ford's office and sweet-talked his secretary into telling him that four gentlemen were there with the most exciting innovation in the auto industry since the electric starter.

Henry was curious and invited them into his office. They refused and instead asked that he come out to the parking lot to their car.

They persuaded him to get into the car, which was about 130 degrees, turned on the air conditioner, and cooled the car off immediately.

The old man got very excited and invited them back to the office, where he offered them $3 million for the patent.

The brothers refused, saying they would settle for $2 million, but they wanted the recognition by having a label, 'The Goldberg Air Conditioner,'on the dashboard of each car in which it was installed.

Now old man Ford was more than just a little anti-Semitic, and there was no way he was going to put the Goldberg's name on two million Fords.

They haggled back and forth for about two hours and finally agreed on $4 million and that just their first names would be shown.

And so to this day, all Ford air conditioners show -- Lo, Norm, Hi, and Max -- on the controls.

BTW I have a good Bridge for sale in Brooklyn:innocent:

 

[TriGlide]

Got Me lol

 

[danbgt]

I remember when I was a little kid my dad had an old Pontiac. When we when on a trip down to the Rio Grand Valley to visit my grandma and grandpa, dad had an air condictioner than hung in the window. It was like an old evaporative air conditioner. It was round and had a funnel shaped air intake on the front. You filled it with water and as you drove down the highway, air would blow through it and the wet pads would cool the air being blown into the car. It had a string hanging out into the car that you pulled to wet the pads. If you pulled the string too fast, it would blow water all over the place.
Does anybody else remember these things?

 

[Bikerbozo]

Hey, I'm from Brooklyn originally, and I bought the bridge years ago.
And on another note. What the heck year car was that old evaporative air conditioner in? An 1897 Loco Mobile? Enquiring minds want to know.

 

[John Luciano]

I saw one mounted on a car that was in the great race Looked like a 1937 Airflow Chrysler

 

[John Luciano]

U asked for it antique window air conditioner - AACA Forums

 

[TriGlide]

I've seen them on a TV show called Low Rider. A lot of the owners of the late 40's and 50's cars were paying big bucks for them. Think it was a low rider club out of Los Angeles Ca. They had all kinds off stuff dash fans, the window water ice cooler. Never saw or heard about it tell I saw it on this TV show. A couple of years ago. Think it was on the speed channel.

 

[oleman69]

Dad had one in one of his cars back when I was a kid I remember it would get you wet

 

[jim peacock]

I think cadallac was about the first car to have regular A.C.around 1949,at that time G.M. owned Frigadare.
:wave4::wave4::wave4:

 

[John Luciano]

I knew a guy with a 1949 Buick Roadmaster convertible with power top automatic tran. and air condition. (Wish I had that car today ) a maroon and black one .