Why did folks buy black cars in the pre-air conditioning era? Surely they must have understood the basic physics involved as to how much hotter a black car gets than one in a lighter color. This potential torture chamber reminds me all too much of our black 1962 Fairlane, which in 1965 was finally confiscated by the Iowa Child Protective Services, thus forcing my father to buy a sand-colored ’65 Coronet. Did folks really like torturing themselves that much?
Sure enough; no sign of A/C in here –although this interior does sport a T-handle Hurst shifter for the three-speed manual transmission. There’s no way to know what’s under the hood; it could be anything, from the base 170 cu. in. six right up to the 289 V8.
In 1964, Mercury took the plunge into factory-supported drag racing with the 427-powered A/FX Caliente, which was analogous to the 1964 Fairlane Thunderbolts. Needless to say, they acquitted themselves quite well and, as a kid, certainly raised my awareness of the Caliente–even in white–as a hot car, even if I didn’t know what “caliente” meant.
The Caliente was a new top-level model in the 1964 Comet lineup. Although the name is most often associated with the hardtop coupe or convertible, obviously there also was a sedan. It’s a rather awkward name, given how back then most Americans didn’t have a clue as to its proper pronounciaton.
But then, this is a somewhat awkward car. Despite having the same basic platform and dimensions of the original 1960 Comet, it’s trying hard to look even more like a genuine mid-size car, especially after the failure and rapid disappearance of the truly mid-size Meteor.
Although its wheelbase is a fairly generous 114″, this Comet shares the Falcon’s narrow body. There’s about three inches less shoulder room inside versus the Fairlane/Meteor, so I’m just thankful my father wasn’t enticed by one of these; of course, if he had been, it would have been the base 202 instead of the Caliente.
The grille has a distinct resemblance to that of the ’64 Continental–no harm in that. And black was a popular color for the Contis. Maybe the Continental association was what this Comet tried to cash in on; then again, by that time most Conti’s had air conditioning. There is a price for riding comfortably.
Note: a rerun of an older post.
My parents had a black 1953 Chrysler Custom Imperial, no AC in SE Virginia. The really bad thing was, he had traded in the 1948 Pontiac Silver Streak in which he had installed a very functional home built AC system. I remember being quite warm in the Imperial and the fact that the temperature and humidity here have a contest to see which can get higher (temperature ultimately wins as it can go over 100°).
DIY AC in 1948? Really amazing. Would have loved to see that setup.
Me too!
As Gino Vanelli famously sung “black cars look better in the shade”. My parents and I trended toward lighter colored cars, although our BMW 2000 was dark blue with black vinyl seats and rather hot unless it was in the shade or moving. The BMW was replaced by a gold 77 Honda Accord which was their last car without AC. I have a friend who drove a black Pontiac Sunbird without AC for years, before replacing it with a Subaru Forester.
In 1964 Mom and Dad had bought a more sensible yet paradoxically more luxurious Plymouth Valiant with AC and an automatic, and probably never even considered a Comet.
A Montreal taxi driver, spent 36 years driving a black 1963 Plymouth Fury. I don’t know for sure, but I doubt it had air conditioning.
Driving 1,621,591 miles, in that time. While carrying, an estimated 800,000 passengers.
It looks like 5 bolt wheels – V-8. Until 1967, the small Fords ( including Mustang) had 4 bolt wheels on the six cylinder cars. The V-8s had a heavier duty suspension recognizable by the 5 bolt wheels. No call out for 289 so likely a 260, which only came with a 2: bolt carburetor.
Pop grew up in the era where “gangster” movies were quite popular. In that era, gangsters were often deified as the powerful men who stood up for the downtrodden. They all drove big, black cars. So Pop aspired to a big, black car, and if affording a big, black car meant eschewing A/C, that’s how it was gonna be.
When I was a little kid, his Pop drove a “hand me up” car, an early 60s Oldsmobile 88 that my father purchased brand new. it was the epitome of a “big, black car” and it didn’t have A/C.
That’s just how it was back then .
I never had AC until the 2000’s, I love it now .
Still drive my beige ’59 VW Beetle in Death Valley though, I must like hair shorts or something .
-Nate
Hair shirts, not shorts. My parents had an original Beetle in El Paso, but a later one with a bigger engine. It had AC with no problems, but they probably never drove up a mountain at 100F, which might toast any Beetle. You can still get similar systems for them, probably because most remaining ones are expensively restored.
My father was very frugal, not a bad thing, and my parents cars for most of their lives lacked AC. But even when they got AC equipped cars, he was too frugal to use it, especially if the sun was on my side and not his. And if I was riding in the back seat of his Chevy Astro, he wouldn’t even let me open the pop-out windows because he thought the glass wasn’t designed to be open at speed. Started taking my own car as much as I could.
My current-gen white (with charcoal interior) VW Jetta is easily the hottest interior of a car I’ve ever owned. Anything above 65 degrees and I need windows opened or AC on. I can only imagine how much worse black Jettas must be.
My dad was able to get a fantastic deal on a leftover 1980 VW Rabbit — black with black interior, no AC, no sunroof. Even in the far northern suburbs of the NYC metro area, it was almost painful to drive in the summer months; even with all the windows open. The family nickname for the car was “the oven”.