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Not a Packard, but it is a Clardy unit

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library.uta.edu/digitalgallery-beta/img/10009243

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Hi Let the ride decide,

Interesting approach to 'aftermarket AC', and not to be critical, but that seems like a most ungainly bit of business to try and 'stuff' under the dash of a car, especially an older Packard that was already space-challenged due to the arrow shaped front end. And if the whole system is contained in that unit, I'm thinking it would probably be pretty loud, too. Just my 2 cents worth, like I say - interesting concept, thanks for posting. Chris

Chris, believe it or not that is the typical size of most of the hang on under dash units and maybe even a bit smaller than a couple of them. AC was in it's infancy and all kind of things were tried to package a universal add on refrigeration unit large enough to cool the entire car but small enough to fit in them.

A whole other category is the inexpensive evaporative units that were popular in desert areas -- some were a large square cube that sat on the hump and had to be filled with water or frozen ice containers and another was a round cylinder like object that hung on the side of the door and funneled cooled air thru the slightly lowered window. Those cylinders were also filled with water and a periodic rewetting of the evaporative pad was done by pulling a cord to rotate the pad thru the water tank. Let me tell you, unless it is Saturday night and you want a bath anyway one DOES NOT pull the cord fast to do the rewet while the car is going down the road at 60 mph.

I had a couple of the floor-type coolers and they worked amazingly well. Unlike the window type, these were electric so had fans to move air even when stopped or in slow traffic.

There was a pump that filtered water down through a mesh in the sides and when air was pulled through it, there was an evaporative cooling effect. It sat on the front hump and had adjustable legs that would be extended down to give it support.

This photo is from eBay but one of mine was identical with map pockets, cup folders and even a bottle opener on the right side!

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Howard, Don,

I certainly 'get it' re these things being 'what there was', at the time, and I suppose for the state-of-the-art of A/C in our car's era, they were probably considered pretty progressive, even amazing. I always look at all these after-market add-ons with an eye to evaluating their practicality and functionality. There are countless ideas marketed to add features to a car that it didn't come with from the factory, and I'd concede some of them are downright brilliant. But being a guy who won't even put a bumper sticker on a car and who will go more than an extra mile to 'stay factory', I just look at all these 'Popular Mechanics-style' aftermarket concepts as being a bit gimmicky. Of course, just my humble opinion, and I know there will be those out there who disagree, otherwise there'd be no market for any of these products, right?? Chris.

The good thing about the "swamp coolers" is that there is no installation or modifications to the car required and even often sold by the dealers themselves. In other words, there is no change to a car's originality because they car itself remains as it was.

Yes, that's DEFINITELY a plus, Don! A gaping hole in a dash from a jury-rigged attempt at installing aftermarket A/C would be a whole lot more of a 'fix', wouldn't it??!?!? Chris.

Bad thing about swamp coolers is they won't work in the humid areas which probably encompasses 2/3 of the country. That is where refrigeration AC being able to remove the humidity is most appreciated. While they can bring the interior to a tolerable comfort level in a dry climate they won't work well even in dry areas if the windows in the car are closed and trying to keep excess hot air out. The ice type units do a better job but even then in a closed car it doesn't take long to turn the hot but dry interior into a hot and now muggy interior.

I've read that but it hasn't been my experience as I used to use mine in wet Washington State where I lived when I first started buying Packards. Possibly it would have worked better where dry but it worked well there too. That was just a couple blocks east of where the Microsoft campus is now even though they are in Redmond and I was in Bellevue.

I distinctly remember one of those installed on the hump of our new 1961 Ford on the way to Las Vegas. In the middle of the Mohave Desert my mother made my father turn it off and open the windows. The interior of the car was like the Deep South in August. They really didn't work (at least the model we had didn't).