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Here's another question for historical posterity... Months ago I bought a '59 GMC 100 Long Bed out of San Francisco that was listed in Hemmings. It was one of those deals where the guy didn't know what he had... with only one small grainy picture of the front of the truck and in the description left out most of the options the truck had.

The story is this: The truck was originally bought by the owner of the GMC dealership in Oakland, where the truck was manufactured, so it had a lot of snazzy options on it as well... hydramatic, V8, deluxe cab, radio, and A/C. Now, my question here relates to the A/C...

As the story continues, the guy I bought the truck from was selling it to pay for his cancer treatment... so I didn't talk him down from his asking price of $3300. During the period of his ownership he had rebuilt the rear end, the hydramatic, the generator/regulator, the entire drive line and brake system including lines, wheel and master cylinders... a pretty good buy. But due to the fact that his San Francisco garage was so small, he always had to get in and out on the passenger side (ever seen a passenger door wear out before a driver?).... and because of this, the floor-mounted A/C unit was always in the way and getting damaged by climbing over it each day.... so he took it and the compressor out.

Naturally, I asked him if he still had it and he said no, he threw it out since it was taking up too much room. Did GMC offer "factory" air in their trucks... or was this some kind of dealer-installed aftermarket unit with a York or similar compressor? The pontiac V8 seems to have a very unique factory-looking mount and auxiliary idler wheel installed on it, which also holds the generator as well. I'm a little hazy on this so I'd like some thoughts and insight.

Justin - GM had factory air units in the cars by the mid 50's, so a dealer would no doubt have been able to get it in the truck as well, or just install a car unit, especially with the V8 - you might try to find info on 58/9 car AC

Bill

Yeah, I knew about the car units, so that may be a possibility. Though if I understand it correctly, factory units were indeed installed in the dash with those 'astro-ball' style vents, and the aftermarket ones bolted to the floor. Know anyone who specializes in original vintage air units?

'59 was the first year for factory air on GM trucks. However, the evaporator unit inside the truck was much different from the passenger car. It actually mounted to the floor rather than under the dash.

I don't know how I could have missed that truck. Good Score!

Thanks. What is even more miraculous is the fact that after the truck 'outgrew' his garage, it was permitted and parked on the street in front of the guys house downtown in the mission district for 5 years straight. It was still his driver, but the fact that it survived being parked out on the street downtown for that period is amazing.

I suppose my 'mission' now is to find a floor mounted evaporator unit.