The air-cooled brake light
04/07/2024
At first glance, this 1954 Oldsmobile 98 4-Door Sedan appears to be free of pointless ornamentation. But what is it? An air scoop at the end of the rear fender, set so far back that only the taillight comes behind it. What is that supposed to do? Is it supposed to cool the bulb so that the filament doesn't burn out so quickly? Of course not. But it's not a dummy either, as is usually the case with US models of the time.
Together with its partner on the right-hand fender, it collects the air for the air conditioning system. This is because the evaporators of the 1950s (with the exception of those from Nash) were still so space-consuming that they were not mounted under the dashboard, but between the wheel arches behind the rear seat bench. The cold air was directed behind the headliner via transparent ducts behind the rear window, from where it then escaped into the interior through nozzles above the side windows.
