but I think 1953 was when Mopar started offering it. These early systems were those trunk-mounted, and used R22 instead of R12.
Supposedly, Chrysler was on the brink of offering car a/c in 1942, but WWII precluded that. DeSoto actually had a/c listed as an option in 1942, but none were ever produced.
I saw a Daewoo Nubira yesterday. Boy they sure made a lot of purple cars.
Had a rough weekend, but am now recalling a few sights. Probably the best among them was a brand-new looking 1967 Riviera, in gold. Also saw a 62 Pontiac convert (the small one - Tempest?), a Datsun 610 coupe driving across Snoqualmie Pass, a 64 Falcon also driving across the pass, and a 56 Olds sitting on a GM dealers lot in the Tri-Cities.
Not sure the model but was probably a mid 60s vintage in ugly brown with Mass plates. Had to be in decent shape cause they drove at least an hour to get to where I was from Mass.
Saw a Chevy Epica the other day. Canadian tags. Was in Myrtle Beach SC, the notorious vacation spot for Canadians. Good looking car. I believe it's a Korean car.
2,000,000 Miles and Counting Perhaps the single most stunning example of legendary Volvo durability is the shiny red 1966 Volvo P1800 owned by Irv Gordon. So far it has been driven a world-record-breaking 2,000,000 miles and counting.
2024 Ford F-150 STX, 2023 Ford Explorer ST, 91 Mustang GT vert
i had to make my last post in a hurry. to finish it, that car usually goes to the volvo event held at Mitchell Volvo. Brit_rover would have to wear a beard or other disguise. otherwise he might get recognized in enemy territory.
2024 Ford F-150 STX, 2023 Ford Explorer ST, 91 Mustang GT vert
Maybe he's like the Greek cabdriver with the old MB diesel who kept a few rebuilt engines in rotation, and would just replace the one in his unit when it got tired, every few hundred K.
was that some Canadian cab driver with a '62-64 era Mopar, like a Dodge Polara or Plymouth Belvedere, got up to some ridiculously high mileage and got hit by a truck. He never thought about the high mileage until they converted the kilometers to miles, and it came in at something over a million miles, on the original powertrain (318-wideblock I think)
Supposedly Chrysler made a big deal out of it and gave him a Chrysler Intrepid (they didn't call them Dodges in Canada) for publicity, and the first thing he said was that it wasn't half the car his old cab had been.
I've found references to it on the net from time to time, but never anything conclusive.
For some reason, I remember an article in a GM newsletter about some old guy with a full-sized early 80's Olds or Buick wagon that had 586,000 miles on the original powertrain. My grandparents used to get some Buick newsletter because of the '85 LeSabre they bought, and one of my old supervisors used to get an Olds newsletter because of a POS Calais he bought, and he gave me a few of his old newsletters. I can't remember which one I saw that car in though. Memory's getting fuzzy. For some reason I remember the car being a Buick, but I remember my supervisor giving it to me. guess that happens when you get old! :shades:
I remember a Canadian Toyota ad (I think) with someone who had what I recall was maybe an 89 Corolla, purchased new, that got up to 1000000 kms with no major mechanical replacements.
my uncle said that he wants to get another 200-300,000 miles out of his '03 Corolla! It's currently at around 105,000 miles. And, in almost the same breath he said "Can I borrow your Intrepid?" because the Corolla's in the body shop, and when he gets it back it has a date with the muffler shop to check into getting a new catalytic converter, which ain't cheap. Dealer quoted him $1500. And last nite the tranny in his '97 Silverado went out.
I'll be curious to see just how long his Corolla makes it. It's been pretty reliable (except for the converter), but it gets beat-up too easily. He hit a deer a few years back. Now once upon a time that meant Bambi-burgers for a season, but these days it often means that you have to sit by the road waiting for the wrecker to tow your crushed carcass of a car off to the body shop. Then he hit a work truck at the construction site. And in this last round, someone pulled a hit-and-run on his rear right corner. Even if that sucker makes it mechanically, I think fate has a vendetta against it!
an E500 today. Was a really bad [non-permissible content removed] looking older mercedes with no badging but looked like what I remember an E500 looking like. It blew by so fast I was not sure.
British_rover knows vehicles a lot better than i do, so if Irv does show up at the next local volvo event, maybe he can give his evaluation. spotted today, somewhat coincidentally, a red volvo 740 turbo wagon, complete with lower body kit and black bbs basket rims. yikes! also an early 90's unmarked taurus police version with a couple of crew cut guys sitting in it. i was cutting down a side street with broken glass across it to get out of hartford and skip a couple of lights. does not give me the warm fuzzies.
2024 Ford F-150 STX, 2023 Ford Explorer ST, 91 Mustang GT vert
that style with the panoramic rear window was called the Toronado XS. So even in the 70's, GM's marketing department did have a sense of humor ("XS" --> "Excess" :P )
They were pretty rare, IIRC. I don't think Olds made more than 25-30,000 Toronados per year in 1977-78, and probably only 2-3,000 of them were XS models. Back then, in upper-end personal luxury coupes, the Mark V was everybody's darling, followed by the Eldorado. In contrast, the Toronado just wasn't that popular, and neither was the Riviera, which was downsized in '77-78 and based on the LeSabre coupe.
If it had T-tops, I'd imagine it would be very rare, unless the XS came with them standard? There was also a prototype called the XSR, which had retractable T-tops! It was a cool idea, but unfortunately very expensive and probably troubleprone, and leak prone as well. They did build a few prototypes, but I don't think it ever became available to the public, although I believe one or two of them still exist.
**update: Here's a 1978 Toro XS for sale on eBay. This one has a sliding sunroof, so I guess T-tops were an option, as was a sunroof, and they probably just came standard with a plain roof.
I know they're not to everybody's liking, but I find these Toronados to be handsome beasts. And a little bit unique compared to the stereotypical cliched Eldorados and Mark Vs that dominated this market in that era.
I think the Dynamic 88 was the midline Olds 88 in 1964. Here's a link to a 1964 Olds brochure, but I couldn't quite make out the hierarchy.
I think it went something like this...
Jetstar 88: stripper big Olds Jetstar 1: Olds sports coupe, maybe kinda like a Grand Prix/Impala SS? Dynamic 88: mainline big Olds Super 88: a step up bigh Olds with a stronger standard V-8 Ninety-Eight: The luxury C-body Starfire: top-of-the line, an Olds attempt at the T-bird/Riviera crowd, but without the effort of fielding a whole new model.
Looks like the Dynamic had a 394 V-8 with 260-280 hp. I think Oldsmobiles that year used that "slim-jim" or "roto-Hydramatic"? The one that I've always heard you're supposed to avoid? Dynamic
The bid is 3750 with reserve not met??? What could the reserve be? The car was 161,000 miles!! It's a weird car.
A couple of weeks ago I saw an 80s Toro. I'm not sure the year but it had a very similar silohette to the Rivs and Elods of the 80s but seemed to be far less popular. Either way, that's a Toro that I think was pretty handsome. I prefer it to the more popular Eldos and Rivs.
if it's just because I have a habit of rooting for the underdog, but I always thought the '79-85 Toronado was a good looking car, too. I do like the Riv as well, but just never cared for the Eldorado as much. I think part of it might be because most of the Eldos from that time used junky engines, but with the Toro, it just seemed like they were a bit more conservative and tasteful. And the interiors, IMO at least, were a bit more handsome and less gaudy.
I've loved the Toronado. The Eldorados were really heavily loaded; the Toronados just seemed more up-to-date while the Edorados were for the older set. (My thinking has changed in 30 some years on that. grin)
That's the car. The one I saw didn't have a landeau and was a silverish light blue. I'm not a fan of that era, but it was pretty sharp.
While doing my errands today, I saw a white 70 or 71 GTO in rough driver condition and a 67 Camaro in restored condition. The Camaro looked like a base model and it looked like there was pretty good body work done on it. It was maroon with a black vinyl top. One of the shortcomings is that he put cheapo wheels on it. The wheels looked like Center Lines with half dollar size holes around the flat part.
For the nice work done to it, it would have looked 100 times better with some decent wheels or even some 15 X 8 mexican hat rallys.
a 1970 chevelle ss maroon, black top, cowl induction hood. looked brand new as it drove by. a bentley coupe on the mass pike. on 495 south, a 70's corolla wagon on a dual axle trialer towed by a kind of beat up pickup. on the way home, 495 north, the same trailer on the side of the road with a 70's corolla sedan on it. no tow truck in sight. in easton mass, a red with white top 57 chevy stretch limo!
2024 Ford F-150 STX, 2023 Ford Explorer ST, 91 Mustang GT vert
funny thing is, i still see them around(sho's). when i see a titanium colored gen 1, i wonder if it was my old one. my wife had a '96. i saw it for sale about a year ago. i called her and asked her if she wanted to buy it back. she declined. it was a pretty good car, although the suspension was was kind of harsh and the transmission was kind of abrupt at times. it got us through a snow storm that stopped all the 18 wheelers at the mass state border. i always had an affection for that car because of that.
2024 Ford F-150 STX, 2023 Ford Explorer ST, 91 Mustang GT vert
Comments
Here is an ad for a 1940 Packard with factory A/C.
Packard offered factory A/C starting with 1939 models. Cadillac and Lincoln (IIRC) did not offer A/C until 1953.
http://forums.aaca.org/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=290184&page=3&view=collapsed&sb=- - - - - 5&o=&fpart=1
Supposedly, Chrysler was on the brink of offering car a/c in 1942, but WWII precluded that. DeSoto actually had a/c listed as an option in 1942, but none were ever produced.
Had a rough weekend, but am now recalling a few sights. Probably the best among them was a brand-new looking 1967 Riviera, in gold. Also saw a 62 Pontiac convert (the small one - Tempest?), a Datsun 610 coupe driving across Snoqualmie Pass, a 64 Falcon also driving across the pass, and a 56 Olds sitting on a GM dealers lot in the Tri-Cities.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
Looked like that but in brown and a little more beat up. Still very nice for a New England Car.
I always thought the 4-door and wagon versions of that style looked kinda like tiny little '55 Chryslers.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Perhaps the single most stunning example of legendary Volvo durability is the shiny red 1966 Volvo P1800 owned by Irv Gordon. So far it has been driven a world-record-breaking 2,000,000 miles and counting.
to finish it, that car usually goes to the volvo event held at Mitchell Volvo. Brit_rover would have to wear a beard or other disguise. otherwise he might get recognized in enemy territory.
Supposedly Chrysler made a big deal out of it and gave him a Chrysler Intrepid (they didn't call them Dodges in Canada) for publicity, and the first thing he said was that it wasn't half the car his old cab had been.
I've found references to it on the net from time to time, but never anything conclusive.
For some reason, I remember an article in a GM newsletter about some old guy with a full-sized early 80's Olds or Buick wagon that had 586,000 miles on the original powertrain. My grandparents used to get some Buick newsletter because of the '85 LeSabre they bought, and one of my old supervisors used to get an Olds newsletter because of a POS Calais he bought, and he gave me a few of his old newsletters. I can't remember which one I saw that car in though. Memory's getting fuzzy. For some reason I remember the car being a Buick, but I remember my supervisor giving it to me. guess that happens when you get old! :shades:
I'll be curious to see just how long his Corolla makes it. It's been pretty reliable (except for the converter), but it gets beat-up too easily. He hit a deer a few years back. Now once upon a time that meant Bambi-burgers for a season, but these days it often means that you have to sit by the road waiting for the wrecker to tow your crushed carcass of a car off to the body shop. Then he hit a work truck at the construction site. And in this last round, someone pulled a hit-and-run on his rear right corner. Even if that sucker makes it mechanically, I think fate has a vendetta against it!
white 1971 Buick Riviera
spotted today, somewhat coincidentally, a red volvo 740 turbo wagon, complete with lower body kit and black bbs basket rims. yikes!
also an early 90's unmarked taurus police version with a couple of crew cut guys sitting in it. i was cutting down a side street with broken glass across it to get out of hartford and skip a couple of lights. does not give me the warm fuzzies.
They were pretty rare, IIRC. I don't think Olds made more than 25-30,000 Toronados per year in 1977-78, and probably only 2-3,000 of them were XS models. Back then, in upper-end personal luxury coupes, the Mark V was everybody's darling, followed by the Eldorado. In contrast, the Toronado just wasn't that popular, and neither was the Riviera, which was downsized in '77-78 and based on the LeSabre coupe.
If it had T-tops, I'd imagine it would be very rare, unless the XS came with them standard? There was also a prototype called the XSR, which had retractable T-tops! It was a cool idea, but unfortunately very expensive and probably troubleprone, and leak prone as well. They did build a few prototypes, but I don't think it ever became available to the public, although I believe one or two of them still exist.
**update: Here's a 1978 Toro XS for sale on eBay. This one has a sliding sunroof, so I guess T-tops were an option, as was a sunroof, and they probably just came standard with a plain roof.
Here's a pic of the 1977 XSR prototype.
I know they're not to everybody's liking, but I find these Toronados to be handsome beasts. And a little bit unique compared to the stereotypical cliched Eldorados and Mark Vs that dominated this market in that era.
Ughh that is painful but not as painful as it used to be.
I think it went something like this...
Jetstar 88: stripper big Olds
Jetstar 1: Olds sports coupe, maybe kinda like a Grand Prix/Impala SS?
Dynamic 88: mainline big Olds
Super 88: a step up bigh Olds with a stronger standard V-8
Ninety-Eight: The luxury C-body
Starfire: top-of-the line, an Olds attempt at the T-bird/Riviera crowd, but without the effort of fielding a whole new model.
Looks like the Dynamic had a 394 V-8 with 260-280 hp. I think Oldsmobiles that year used that "slim-jim" or "roto-Hydramatic"? The one that I've always heard you're supposed to avoid?
Dynamic
A couple of weeks ago I saw an 80s Toro. I'm not sure the year but it had a very similar silohette to the Rivs and Elods of the 80s but seemed to be far less popular. Either way, that's a Toro that I think was pretty handsome. I prefer it to the more popular Eldos and Rivs.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Ewwww. That's the kind of car that gave the '70s a bad name. Pimpmobile training wheels.
While doing my errands today, I saw a white 70 or 71 GTO in rough driver condition and a 67 Camaro in restored condition. The Camaro looked like a base model and it looked like there was pretty good body work done on it. It was maroon with a black vinyl top. One of the shortcomings is that he put cheapo wheels on it. The wheels looked like Center Lines with half dollar size holes around the flat part.
For the nice work done to it, it would have looked 100 times better with some decent wheels or even some 15 X 8 mexican hat rallys.
a bentley coupe on the mass pike.
on 495 south, a 70's corolla wagon on a dual axle trialer towed by a kind of beat up pickup. on the way home, 495 north, the same trailer on the side of the road with a 70's corolla sedan on it. no tow truck in sight.
in easton mass, a red with white top 57 chevy stretch limo!
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
my wife had a '96. i saw it for sale about a year ago.
i called her and asked her if she wanted to buy it back.
she declined. it was a pretty good car, although the suspension was was kind of harsh and the transmission was kind of abrupt at times. it got us through a snow storm that stopped all the 18 wheelers at the mass state border. i always had an affection for that car because of that.