Does your car have a heater?

[EdP]

There was a time it was optional.

On this and another auto forum, people have complained that the 10 minute start/run time is not long enough. Many of us lived without remote start as it did not exist. There was a time though, even heaters were an option in cars. We've become spoiled!

Warm Comfort: What Was the Last American Car Available Without a Heater? - Curbside Classic

Regular readers of my Cold Comfort series of posts know that I am fascinated (obsessed, really) with automotive air conditioning. Well it is time to see how the other half […]

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The earliest post-war American car I could find with a heater as standard equipment was the 1949 Chrysler Imperial ($4,664) and Crown Imperial ($5,229). It was a $70 option for the rest of the Chrysler lineup that year. Literally every other American carmaker required you to purchase a heater at an extra cost.

 

[Andyj]

Volvo had a wood burning car heater, no remote start though.

 

[Alfer]

Bet it's hot as F in that car!

 

[Jhon]

I owned two VW Bugs. The heat was horrible in them and the defrost was an manual ice scraper and rag.
I wonder how heating an electric vehicle in 10 degree temperatures will reduce the range on it.

 

[tarhoosier]

I worked in a large Ford dealership in Indianapolis in the mid-late 1960's. In Spring we would receive a tractor trailer load of air conditioners. New cars which customers desired to have A/c would have these add ons included. The interior unit hung below the dash. The vehicle was manufactured with attachment points for compressor and condensor in the engine bay and the firewall could accommodate the connections. We sold MANY of these. Occasionally to a customer of an existing car though those folks were less common due to the cost which was meaningful. For new cars it was rolled into the finance amount so less visible. These units were subject to problems though if they were more or less than the designed and factory installed units I cannot say. In 1988 I bought a 1961 Ford Galaxie (Sherrif Andy Taylor car) that had been a company car then purchased by the employee and kept in his family for the duration. The A/C was this add on type and still worked although the car would overheat when running low speed or idling with the A/C on.

When was the last time a heater core failed on your car?

 

[joegr]

....When was the last time a heater core failed on your car?

A 1994 Mercury Grand Marquis, probably around 1998. I think that when they made that car, they started with the heater core on the assembly line and built the rest of the car around it.

 

[Jhon]

I worked in a large Ford dealership in Indianapolis in the mid-late 1960's. In Spring we would receive a tractor trailer load of air conditioners. New cars which customers desired to have A/c would have these add ons included. The interior unit hung below the dash. The vehicle was manufactured with attachment points for compressor and condensor in the engine bay and the firewall could accommodate the connections. We sold MANY of these. Occasionally to a customer of an existing car though those folks were less common due to the cost which was meaningful. For new cars it was rolled into the finance amount so less visible. These units were subject to problems though if they were more or less than the designed and factory installed units I cannot say. In 1988 I bought a 1961 Ford Galaxie (Sherrif Andy Taylor car) that had been a company car then purchased by the employee and kept in his family for the duration. The A/C was this add on type and still worked although the car would overheat when running low speed or idling with the A/C on.

When was the last time a heater core failed on your car?

The nice thing about the heater coil failing was that you could just bypass it in the summer but come winter, you better have saved up you money to get it replaced.....The coil was cheap, but the labor was intensive. I can imagine what it would cost now with all the crap crammed in the firewall.
In 1970, I guy I worked with put one of those add on AC in his 60's car. He did not appear to me mechanically inclined and I was impressed that he was able to do it himself. I purchased a new 73 Mazda and I think it had one of those add on AC units, that the dealer pur in. It seemed to work find.

 

[Jhon]

A 1994 Mercury Grand Marquis, probably around 1998. I think that when they made that car, they started with the heater core on the assembly line and built the rest of the car around it.

Exactly. I could not say it better.

 

[joegr]

I dropped the dash and replaced the heater core myself, but I don't think I would go that far again.
I had a 1973 Mercury Monterey that had the heater core under the hood. It looked like it was just six bolts (and two hose clamps) to change it out, but I never had a problem with its heater core.

 

[Charlie1982]

A 1994 Mercury Grand Marquis, probably around 1998. I think that when they made that car, they started with the heater core on the assembly line and built the rest of the car around it.

That sounds like the 1990 Audi I used to own. I’ll bet 90 percent (give or take a bit) of the vehicles on the road today are similarly constructed. I wonder if anyone has that kind of data stored anywhere…

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