Technical 1948 Frazer With Factory AIR!!!

first i wanna say that yes i know this is an ad! but i'm posting this because HOLY CRAP I NEVER KNEW SUCH A THING EXISTED rather that because its for sale......and hence why it should be shared here!
so ok i came across this nicely preserved 1948 frazer while wasting time......now frazers are rare to begin with.... but one with factory air!? i never knew that existed! hell most caddys didnt even have air then and it wouldnt be till about 54 before you stated to see it often!
http://desmoines.craigslist.org/cto/4901727313.html

 

That is a very classy car. I love those orphan brands..

 

Pretty cool car and yes I would say a rare piece as well. Like the two-tone green colors. Deserves to be restored. Wonder what they were using for refrigerant in 1948?

 

I think they used R12. There's some question which manufacturer used the system first, Packard or Cadillac. I know trunk mounted units were used by some into the '60s.

 

Before air conditioning as we know it, some manufacturers referred to their heaters as air conditioners or conditioned air heaters. Nash started this, they made the first heating and ventilating system integrated into the car. Before that you got a box that bolted to the firewall and recirculated the old air, where the modern system brings in fresh air.

The first air conditioned cars with cooling like we have today, were 1939 Packards. Then the idea was dropped until Chrysler introduced it again in 1952 or 53.

So it seems the 48 Kaiser "air conditioner" was a heater, not what we would call air conditioning today. A look under the hood would tell you if it has a compressor or not. My guess is, all you will find is heater hoses.

Cool car by the way.

 

Very interesting. Thanks Rusty.

 

Quite true.

 

If you look at the under hood pic in the ad, no comp. There is however a fresh air duct on the passenger side fenderwell.

 

For $1200 bucks I would be after that car. Even though, if the spark plugs have been out and the air filter off for very long the engine is probably seized.

 

Actually I saw a New Yorker from the '50s that had the pop corn machines in the back glass I guess it could have been swapped in as it was not a resto car just an old car for sale.

That said I am surprised that a '48 frazer has AC.

Zerk would it be R-12 or Ammonia? They were still using a lot of ammonia back then for a refrigerant.

 

The question was answered here and on the AACA site. It is a heater, not A/C as we know it.

 

thats very interesting.

 

I'm thinking R12. According to the geniuses on Wikipedia, DuPont invented Freon 12 in 1929, and it was sold from 1931 on. Strange to discover that R-134A came along in '36 or '37, not in modern times.

I knew a butcher who had large commercial freezers that used ammonia as refrigerant. He thought it was great stuff!

 

That is possible, Chrysler New Yorker and Imperial were the first postwar cars with air. I believe they made a few late 52 models, they definitely had it in 53. First GM air was 54.

 

I don't know about A/C, but I'd sure like to have that O/D knob!

 

I believe some RV's still use ammonia as a refrigerant...or at least they did until fairly recently.

Ray

 

I can't get over how well integrated the bumpers are, nice looking grille too, glad the wife said no more cars until I sell the car to the left

 

It's not too far from you.
Maybe the wife would let you sneak just one more in?

 

Sell the "car to the left" and buy a Frazer? Uh..... NO. Nothin' wrong with Frazers, but....

 

They still do in propane fired refrigerators. Pretty crazy that you can heat a mixture of ammonia, hydrogen and water in a closed system and somehow get cooling from it. It is called absorption refrigeration, and was discovered by Michael Faraday in 1824. FWIW, propane has also been used as a refrigerant, albeit a dangerous one. The properties of propane match quite closely those of R-22 refrigerant.