or Everything Old is New Again

While leafing through an ancient copy of Vintage Mounts magazine I noticed a full-page for an unusual helmet.

The image appeared to be a Bell or Nava lid from the era- except for some techie looking fins on the top. The blue logo in the corner said "Cool-Power." I was intrigued. A little digging turned up some interesting information on this high-tech helmet from the Eighties. 

You may have seen ads for the Feher ACH-1, some even claiming it holds the distinction of being the world's first air conditioned helmet. Turns out, it's not even the second!  AGV offered a helmet similar to the Cool Power's. Over the years the idea of an electronically cooled lid has come up, and repeatedly the market has said "no thanks."

Cool-Power was a company out of Plano, TX and held a patent for a solid state cooling apparatus. The patent shows that it used a heatsink and special goo to dissipate the heat from your noggin. 

With a $600 price tag they weren't cheap. Present-day riders balk at the Feher unit at that same price point today! Sales were sluggish and the Cool-Power helmet never caught on. Today they are obscure collectibles and even pop up occasionally on eBay.

The idea lives on though. At most any major automotive race taking place in warmer climates you'll see the same technology in use. The difference is today's version uses an external heat exchanger and forces the cool air through a hose connected to the helmet.

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