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OT: Why We Can Drive With 'Cool Cadillac Comfort' In Sweltering Weather...
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GM
Jun 18, 2020, 8:00:30 PM6/18/20
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Some of us remember when air conditioning was a rare luxury, especially in a car...now it it is ubiquitous. Here is an interesting history of vehicular automatic climate control, very interesting for those of you technically - inclined. And some of us even recall when Cadillac was "The Standard of the World":
Precis of article below, click the link for the whole article:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cold-comfort/cold-comfort-the-history-of-automatic-climate-control/#more-364364
Cold Comfort: The History of Automatic Climate Control
BY TOM HALTER – JUNE 18, 2020
"Most cars today are equipped with (or at least have available as an option) some form of automatic climate control, where you set the desired temperature, press auto, and it does the rest. The obstacles to bringing Comfort Control to market were daunting. First up was the problem of airflow. Most early A/C systems were not integrated, the heating and air conditioning systems were essentially separate, with the heat blowing out the floor and defroster, while the A/C blew out its own dedicated panel outlets. Remember how cars without A/C used to not come with panel vents? This is why. This approach also made it easy to add air conditioning to a car later: A/C was often available as both a factory- and dealer-installed option in its early years...
The insight that solved this was the idea of blending the hot and cold air together...While modern climate control systems use microprocessors and electronic actuators to work their magic, the 1964 Cadillac Comfort Control is pure analog...Temperature sensing is accomplished via three thermistors (thermal resistors) – one for outside temperature, one for inside, and one for duct temperature...So how was this “program” implemented without digital electronics? Simple. With a single two-transistor amplifier (to boost the signal), a single vacuum transducer (to convert the electrical signal into a vacuum signal), and a circuit board...
...
Cadillac released Comfort Control, the world’s first fully automatic climate control system in 1964. This system is an amazing accomplishment and a reminder of how GM and Cadillac really once were the standard of the world. Let’s take a quick look at the development and workings of this system...Cadillac introduced Comfort Control in 1964 as a $495 ($4,100 in 2020) option. Amazingly, all this technology represented just a $21 increase over the $474 price of the manual 1963 A/C option. Cadillac felt confident enough in this system that Comfort Control was the only air conditioning system available in 1964 – no manual system was offered. In fact, Cadillac would only offer automatic climate control after 1964 (optional at first, and then standard starting in the 1970s)...
...
Much like manual air conditioning did in the late 50s, it didn’t take long for automatic climate control to trickle down from the higher brands to the lower brands. The Chevrolet Caprice got Comfortron in 1966, and the 1968 Thunderbird would be the first Ford branded car to get ATC ...Many European automakers relied on US automakers for their air conditioning systems in the 1960s and 1970s. Mercedes-Benz was no different, and they released their first ATC system in 1976, using components from a variety of US automakers. The controller was a Chrysler Auto-Temp II unit, while the compressor was a GM Harrison unit...
...
As late as 1979, every ATC system still operated under the same basic principles as the 1964 Cadillac Comfort Control introduced 15 years earlier. That would change in 1980, when Cadillac went digital in a big way, introducing the world’s first fully electronic automatic climate control system on the Eldorado and Seville. Modern automatic climate control had finally arrived..."
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Precis of article below, click the link for the whole article:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cold-comfort/cold-comfort-the-history-of-automatic-climate-control/#more-364364
Cold Comfort: The History of Automatic Climate Control
BY TOM HALTER – JUNE 18, 2020
"Most cars today are equipped with (or at least have available as an option) some form of automatic climate control, where you set the desired temperature, press auto, and it does the rest. The obstacles to bringing Comfort Control to market were daunting. First up was the problem of airflow. Most early A/C systems were not integrated, the heating and air conditioning systems were essentially separate, with the heat blowing out the floor and defroster, while the A/C blew out its own dedicated panel outlets. Remember how cars without A/C used to not come with panel vents? This is why. This approach also made it easy to add air conditioning to a car later: A/C was often available as both a factory- and dealer-installed option in its early years...
The insight that solved this was the idea of blending the hot and cold air together...While modern climate control systems use microprocessors and electronic actuators to work their magic, the 1964 Cadillac Comfort Control is pure analog...Temperature sensing is accomplished via three thermistors (thermal resistors) – one for outside temperature, one for inside, and one for duct temperature...So how was this “program” implemented without digital electronics? Simple. With a single two-transistor amplifier (to boost the signal), a single vacuum transducer (to convert the electrical signal into a vacuum signal), and a circuit board...
...
Cadillac released Comfort Control, the world’s first fully automatic climate control system in 1964. This system is an amazing accomplishment and a reminder of how GM and Cadillac really once were the standard of the world. Let’s take a quick look at the development and workings of this system...Cadillac introduced Comfort Control in 1964 as a $495 ($4,100 in 2020) option. Amazingly, all this technology represented just a $21 increase over the $474 price of the manual 1963 A/C option. Cadillac felt confident enough in this system that Comfort Control was the only air conditioning system available in 1964 – no manual system was offered. In fact, Cadillac would only offer automatic climate control after 1964 (optional at first, and then standard starting in the 1970s)...
...
Much like manual air conditioning did in the late 50s, it didn’t take long for automatic climate control to trickle down from the higher brands to the lower brands. The Chevrolet Caprice got Comfortron in 1966, and the 1968 Thunderbird would be the first Ford branded car to get ATC ...Many European automakers relied on US automakers for their air conditioning systems in the 1960s and 1970s. Mercedes-Benz was no different, and they released their first ATC system in 1976, using components from a variety of US automakers. The controller was a Chrysler Auto-Temp II unit, while the compressor was a GM Harrison unit...
...
As late as 1979, every ATC system still operated under the same basic principles as the 1964 Cadillac Comfort Control introduced 15 years earlier. That would change in 1980, when Cadillac went digital in a big way, introducing the world’s first fully electronic automatic climate control system on the Eldorado and Seville. Modern automatic climate control had finally arrived..."
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