56 Cadillac Convertibles with factory A/C

[Barry]

I was always led to believe that the first year that you could get Air Conditioning from the factory on a Cadillac Convertible was 1957 when the air registers were moved to the dash.Now, I have been made aware that some 56 Eldorado Convertibles came with Factory A/C . How was the e system set up ? Did the a/c have special dash vents, or were there vents in the boot well ? Love to see a picture of the set up !

[Walter Youshock]

1956 was the first year AC was available in convertibles.  I've seen a couple and was told the air came from the sides of the top wells in the same manner the clear air duct tubes would come up to the roof on a hardtop.

[J. Gomez]

Barry,

Yes there were a few with the A/C  option info can be found on the 1956 Cadillac data book page 127 attached.

Good luck..!

[Mike Josephic CLC #3877]

The best I've seen is owned by a CLC member in NJ.  It's a '56 Eldo convertible.
That was the first year that AC was available from the factory in a convertible.

The AC unit sits in the trunk and the two vents come up and out the boot well.
The cold air is convected by a rubber duct on each side of the unit up through
the well into the passenger compartment.

Mike

[FreeTzin]

The Air Conditioning option was not exclusive to the Eldorado Biarritz. I own a Series 62 convertible with A/C, confirmed by the Build Sheet. What's interesting about the convertibles is that there were no external intake scoops as found on closed cars, so it was basically recirculation-only, as the unit, which sat in the trunk in the usual location, pulled air from inside the car through rectangular ports located right next to the vents through which it blew cooled air back into the car, both pairs being located at the rearmost part of the top well. Of course the top had to be up in order for the system to work, which is why Elvis' purple Biarritz always appears in photos with its top up. Does anyone know how many Series 62 Convertibles with A/C were made?

[James Landi]

Having owned a '56 with ac, those units can freeze your neck given the location of the ceiling vents.  On a hot day, my wife and I used small towels on our shoulder to absorb the condensate drip that inevitably formed on the metal vents...  the side windows would fog up a bit too.  I can only imagine just how pleasant it would be to sit in the back seat of the air conditioned convertible with those blowers pumping out 50 degree air on the back of your head!