The Packard Motor Car Company was the first automobile manufacturer to offer factory-installed air-conditioning as an option on production vehicles, debuting the feature with its 1940 model year cars after announcing it in 1939. While earlier attempts to equip luxury cars and limousines with cooling systems were made during the 1930s, these were typically aftermarket additions rather than factory options.

The cooling system, developed by Bishop and Babcock of Cleveland and marketed as a "Weather Conditioner," represented a pioneering step in automotive comfort technology. However, the system was bulky and rudimentary by modern standards. The evaporator and blower assembly occupied a significant portion of the trunk, while the compressor operated continuously whenever the engine ran, as there was no thermostat to regulate temperature. To deactivate the system, owners had to manually disconnect the drive belt.

In addition to its size and operational limitations, the air-conditioning option came at a steep price—$274 in 1940, when the average annual income was just over $1,000. This cost put the feature beyond the means of many consumers and contributed to limited adoption, with approximately 2,000 Packard vehicles equipped before the option was discontinued after the 1941 model year.

Air-conditioning technology in automobiles did not become widely practical or popular until the 1950s, when manufacturers such as Chrysler and Cadillac introduced more compact, efficient, and user-friendly systems. These advancements helped establish automotive air-conditioning as a common feature in the decades that followed.