I spent all afternoon yesterday struggling to revive my
long-dormant '54 Custom. She could be made to run, but
briefly. After roto-rooting the fuel system, and
putting her back together, I was finally able to coax
her out of the garage just after sunset.
Part of the effort was to get her ready to take to the
California Imperial meet. Mike Porto is taking his '54
Town Limousine, and thought it would be nice for me to
take my entry-level Custom.
The more immediate goal, was to take it to display at
the Windsor Square Historic District Home Tour today. I
placed the car in the driveway of a lovely Mediterranean
revival house built in 1929 in what could only be
described (in 1929) as "out in the country" near Central
and Camelback Avenues. That is the driveway where
my '54 lived when I came to buy her and take her to my
Home for Wayward Mopars. In all these years, she hadn't
been back since her expensive rehabilitation, and she
looked splendid in front of a splendid house.
The house was one of two built as models for a new
subdivision which failed as the effects of the '29
market crash were felt across the country. It features
original plaster walls fashioned to look like ceramic
tile with the color in the plaster. The plasterwork
patterns in the walls and cornices are astounding as
much for their detail as for the fact that they've never
been painted, paneled or papered over.
The kitchen features it's original built-in refrigerator
with the compressor/condensor located in the basement.
The compressor is very similar to the one in my
Imperial, and shows how Chrysler Airtemp adapted
commercial refrigeration technology to the automobile
when it introduced A/C in 1953. A 4 cylinder compressor
is driven by two belts turning a cast pulley with no
clutch and using R-22 for the refrigerant! Walter P.
would be proud that his engineers adapted the work that
went in to cooling the Chrysler Building to his cars.
I'd like to know if anyone has any better numbers, but I
think that in '53 and '54 that perhaps 10% of Imperial
production was ordered with A/C. That's a pretty small
number for what is now nearly a standard equipment item.
Oh, and it was a beautiful day to be out with the old
cars....
Cheers,
Roger
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