And I am old enough to remember my father's 1950 Dodge Special DeLuxe and
1955 Dodge Regent, both with low pressure systems. Those heaters were in
absolutely no way as effecient or effective as today's heaters.
I grew up in Winnipeg, with -40°F/C (both systems are the same at -40°)
winters, and well remember being bundled up in the car, with all the output
from the heater going to defrost the windhshield. And it took over half an
hour to clear that windshield, too!! And the cars had antifreeze. If you
didn't you had a cracked block in a very short time.
They could put out heat at times, though. My uncle had a 1948 Studebaker
Champion with the optional under-seat Climatizer heater (fresh air via the
vent on the passenger side, and a small, separate core under the dash for
the defroster). On his honeymoon, early summer of 1950, the hot water
control valve stuck open on their first day of their trip. My aunt had a
very hot seat until a replacement valve could be found a couple of days
later in Minneapolis. In those days before interstates, Winnipeg to
Minneapolis took two days.
Those old heaters may have been able to "blast you out of the car" south of
the Mason-Dixon line, but north and west from there to the Rockies, they had
much to be desired! The effectiveness of those heaters was dependent upon
ambient temperatures. The heater could heat 0°F air to +40°F, but its
efficiency and effectiveness decreased as the temperature dropped, such as
to -40°F.
Today, the heater of even a small 4-cylinder econobox can put out enough
heat in -40°F weather to clear the windshield and have the car a comfortable
temperature within half an hour. Fifty years ago - no way!
By the way, it was not until my father's 1965 Dodge 330 (Polara) that the
heater was able to put out enough heat that he could get away without
frostshields on the side windows. He still needed one on the rear window,
though (no rear window defogger). Frostshields in the 1940's and 1950's
were thin sheets of glass with felt glued around the edge and the other
side of the felt glued to car's window. This created an air space between
the two sheets of glass that prevented fogging and icing (double and tripled
paned house windows do the same). Most people used to have frostshields on
the windshield of cars built prior to World War II.
Plastic became the material of use in the late 1950's, with self-adhesive
edges by the mid 1960's. Their use died out during the 1970's as vehicle
operating temperatures increased to 190°F. Some people, though, such as my
brother, still used frostshields on all the windows of the car. My brother
owned a VW beetle whose exhaust heater could be used to prevent frost bite
on the fingers, but not much else. He never could get the gas heater to
work properly.
Bill
Vancouver, BC
If you go back to the days
when cars had 7-lb (or less) rad caps, the cars used a 150 or 160
thermostat. (Which is one reason why heaters today are so much better - the
coolant they use is hotter now than before.)
Bill
Vancouver, BC
This is one time I have to disagree with you Bill. In the late 40's, 50's,
& 60's most cars where I grew up (Pittsburgh, Pa), used 160 thermostats in
the summer and switched to 180 degree in the winter. (Unless they were using
alcohol type antifreeze.) The "fresh air" type heaters introduced in the
40's and pretty much the norm in the 50's cars, were every bit as hot as
todays heaters. They just didn't have these overpriced electronic controls.
I can recall on more than one occassion someone saying, "man, that heater
could blast you out of the car."
Bill B.
56 DeSoto Station
Wagon sitting in 114
degree heat
today!!!
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