As summer moves into August and temperatures skyrocket, we asked you to name cars with the best air conditioners. Here are ten of the chilliest cars for a blistering summer day.
This is Answers of the Day - a feature where we take the best ten responses from the previous day's Question of the Day and shine it up to show off. It's by you and for you, the Jalopnik readers. Enjoy!
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10.) Porsche Panamera
Suggested By: Adam Spano
Why It's So Cold In Here: Though the Panamera is ugly as sin on the outside, its climate control system is pretty advanced. Passengers can independently control each of four air zones in the car, as well as mess with settings for their own heated or cooled seats. You won't look cool in it from the outside, but on the inside, you'll be freezing.
9.) Ice Cream Truck
Suggested By: Mister Scroggs
Why It's So Cold In Here: Come on, it'd have to be cold, right?
Photo credit: Pimp It 3D
8.) 2001 Chevy Cavalier
Suggested By: rebeldevil
Why It's So Cold In Here: According to rebeldevil, their 2001 Chevy Cavalier was born with an air conditioning heart two sizes too big. It might have been a mistake at the factory, or it might have just been the result of a few engineers who wanted to be absolutely sure that their Cavalier was damn chilly. Whatever the reason, the 2001 Cavalier was equipped with a freakishly large compressor, which meant that AC was just about the only thing that car could do well.
7.) 1984 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser Diesel Wagon
Suggested By: My X-Type is too a real Jaguar
Why It's So Cold In Here: There were a number of answers that highlighted air vents aimed specifically at crotches, and more that talked about systems so cold that ice would form on various parts, but none that combined the two, until the Custom Cruiser showed up. That must have been one seriously chilly Olds, man.
Photo credit: netti Auto
6.) Volkswagen Phaeton
Suggested By: D_Robb
Why It's So Cold In Here: Everyone's favorite over-designed climate control system lives in the similarly over-designed Volkswagen Phaeton. Famously made to "maintain a constant 72 degrees Fahrenheit inside the cabin while driving at a sustained speed of 186 MPH through an outside temperature of 122 degrees," it was built to function perfectly in a wholly ridiculous set of circumstances. Not to mention its "draftless" methods of cold air delivery. It cools you off without blowing air in your face. I think the Phaeton is powered by magic.
5.) Rolls Royce Camargue
Suggested By: Jagvar
Why It's So Cold In Here: When it was introduced in 1975, the Camargue was the first car in the world to feature split-level climate control. That's important, because the car was so big that there were major fluctuations in temperature across the cabin. It could be boiling hot on one side, and freezing cold on the other, and no one would know. The automatic temperature control worked to reduce that discrepancy.
4.) 1964 Cadillac Eldorado
Suggested By: 64deville
Why It's So Cold In Here: For an additional fee, the 1964 Eldorado could be had off the lot with the world's first fully automatic climate control system. The driver could set a temperature on the dashboard, and the car would use sensors around the cabin to detect when it was hotter or colder, and would activate the heater or air conditioner as necessary. The idea was that you could drive from Maine to Florida and not have to mess with the climate control. Now however, some 46 years later, most of those sensors are broken, so good luck maintaining a temperature now, buddy.
Photo credit: Cadillac World
3.) Mitsubishi Diamante Wagon
Suggested By: zacarious
Why It's So Cold In Here: Zacarious used to use his Diamante as a rolling keg chiller. It was freezing in that car, either because the air con rocked, or because he was in Schenectady in the middle of winter. The memory is clearly a little fogged. No one condones drinking and driving, least of all us, but if you've gotta transport the kegs to the party, the back of a Diamante seems to be the way to go.
2.) 1980's Toyota Van
Suggested By: Elhigh
Why It's So Cold In Here: Deluxe and LE models of the 1980's Toyota Van had a feature we all joke about when discussing air conditioning. These vans actually had a small refrigerator hooked up to the AC lines that would produce ice cubes, right in between the front seats of the car! Sure, it also had dual-zone air conditioning for the people inside, but the most important part is that ice machine. How cool is that?
Photo credit: Mirafiori.com
1.) 1980 Chevy C/K Scottsdale
Suggested By: nt_conant
Why It's So Cold In Here: Sure, the actual air con may have been good, but it's nt_conant's story that takes the cake here. Stuck in "the junkiest truck I've ever seen" for 3200 miles round-trip into Mexico, nt_conant was going to see a solar eclipse with his dad when he was but a wee lad. The truck was about to fall apart, and his dad was fully prepared to ditch it and fly home if it failed during the trip. It didn't, and the AC worked so well that nt_conant wrapped himself in a big fluffy down comforter the entire length of the Baja Peninsula.
Photo credit: CarDomain.com