'54 Imperial with A/C

[mopar48291@xxxxxxx]

I have one--it's a '54 Custom 4door with complete 
original Airtemp.  As soon as I can find a compressor 
shaft seal for the Tecumseh compressor (70 lbs and as 
big as some rice-burner 4 cyl), I'll have cool comfort 
for my desert touring.

Also, a friend of mine (not on the IML) has a '53 Custom 
4door with Airtemp, but he doesn't have the complete 2 
stage condenser.  Another friend has a lovely '54 in a 
special order Cadiz Blue (ala DeSoto Coronado) with the 
Newport leather/Cloth interior and A/C.

The '53/'54 Airtemp is an interesting piece, as I think 
it's simply an adaptation of a commercial refrigeration 
unit as used in a walk-in cooler or building A/C.  These 
guys do not use a compressor clutch, so as long as the 
belts are in place, the compressor is running.  Also, 
they use R-22 (as used in your fridge or house A/C) 
instead of R-12.  I think that in '54, there were 
probably 10% of production that were fitted with 
Airtemp, meaning about 500 cars, between Customs, 
Newports and Crowns.  If anyone has any better figures 
on the A/C build numbers, I'd love to hear.  If it's 
fair to assume a 10% survival rate, that means about 50 
of them left.

My car was probably destined to become a donor to some 
hot rod if I hadn't saved it.  That's far too sad a fate 
for a car with a rare early A/C unit and I'm glad to be 
joined by Kerry, Dave, Aaron, Thad and others in saving 
these old dears.   While I think the '55's are far more 
stylish, I'm proud to own a car that boasts the longest 
wheelbase of any six-passenger car built since WWII.  
Take that, Cadillac........

Cheers,
Roger