Re: Frigikar air conditioning in my Packard

Posted by Dave Brownell On 2014/5/21 8:13:50

Does anyone, with a historical perspective, know if "Frigikar" has any relationship to "Frigiking"? A Google and Wiki search seems to mix and match, making the names almost synonymous. Both seem based, if you look at the name plates on the units, in Dallas, TX. Fifty or so years ago, when I was working at a Volvo agency, I remember putting Frigikar underdash units in new customer cars, prior to delivery. My 56 Packard came with a Frigiking underdash unit that looks almost as old as the car itself, but still cools well, even with a R-134 conversion kit.

I suspect that the originating companies are the same, but somewhere Frigikar morphed into Frigiking. This might have occurred when OEM units took over and Frigiking became focused on units much bigger than mere passenger cars.

In my searches, I discovered that Frigiking did significant developmental work with major German car makers to try and bring their offerings up to American expectations. There appeared to be considerable back and forth with Mercedes engineers and technical expertise. I suppose that headquarters in Dallas made things much more a/c relevant than Dusseldorf. My 1987 BMW 635CSi coupe, black with black leather interior, could still use some American magic applied to its dual unit system to cope with the Atlanta summer. On the other hand, the single Frigiking unit in the Packard does fine.