Ford air conditioning
Posted: August 14, 2011, 6:22 pm
Here is a little known fact of automotive history:
The Goldberg Brothers - Inventors of the Automobile Air Conditioner
The four Goldberg brothers, Lowell, Norman, Hiram, and Max, invented and developed the first automobile air-conditioner after WWII and wanted to sell it. They couldn't get an interview with anyone at GM so they went to the Ford offices in Dearborn.
On July 17, 1946, the temperature in was 97 degrees.
The four brothers walked into old man Henry Ford's office and sweet-talked his secretary into telling him that four gentlemen were there with the most exciting innovation in the auto industry since the electric starter.
Henry was curious and invited them into his office. They refused and instead asked that he come out to the parking lot to their car to see their invention.
They persuaded him to get into the car, which was about 130 degrees inside, started the motor, turned on the air conditioner, and cooled the car off immediately.
Henry got very excited and invited them back to the office, where he offered them $3 million for the patent.
The brothers refused, saying they would settle for $2 million, but they wanted the recognition by having a label, "The Goldberg Air-Conditioner," on the dashboard of each car in which it was installed.
Now old man Ford was more than just a little anti-Semitic, and there was no way he was going to put the Goldberg's name on millions of his Fords.
They haggled back and forth for several hours and finally agreed on $4 million, but that only their first names would be shown.
And so to this day, all Ford air conditioners show -- Lo, Norm, Hi, and Max -- on the controls.
I can hear your groans from here. Stop it!!
The Goldberg Brothers - Inventors of the Automobile Air Conditioner
The four Goldberg brothers, Lowell, Norman, Hiram, and Max, invented and developed the first automobile air-conditioner after WWII and wanted to sell it. They couldn't get an interview with anyone at GM so they went to the Ford offices in Dearborn.
On July 17, 1946, the temperature in was 97 degrees.
The four brothers walked into old man Henry Ford's office and sweet-talked his secretary into telling him that four gentlemen were there with the most exciting innovation in the auto industry since the electric starter.
Henry was curious and invited them into his office. They refused and instead asked that he come out to the parking lot to their car to see their invention.
They persuaded him to get into the car, which was about 130 degrees inside, started the motor, turned on the air conditioner, and cooled the car off immediately.
Henry got very excited and invited them back to the office, where he offered them $3 million for the patent.
The brothers refused, saying they would settle for $2 million, but they wanted the recognition by having a label, "The Goldberg Air-Conditioner," on the dashboard of each car in which it was installed.
Now old man Ford was more than just a little anti-Semitic, and there was no way he was going to put the Goldberg's name on millions of his Fords.
They haggled back and forth for several hours and finally agreed on $4 million, but that only their first names would be shown.
And so to this day, all Ford air conditioners show -- Lo, Norm, Hi, and Max -- on the controls.
I can hear your groans from here. Stop it!!
