Another testament to the amazing reliability of sealed refrigeration systems...before I even took it inside, but after I'd cleaned it up, it pulled down to below 0°F (18°C) in about two hours while sitting in the sun on a 90°F (32°C) day.

Yes, I really did put this freezer into the trunk of a Mercury Grand Marquis automobile. And while I couldn't have shut the decklid, it did fit in very nicely. (Maybe it would have fit into the station wagon, but I don't generally take that out after dark. I'm also pretty darn choosy about what I'll put in the wagon, since I want to keep it nice. A stinky freezer isn't going to go in there!)

At first glance it looked pretty grim, the smell notwithstanding. The lid was noticeably sprung and wouldn't shut. My cure for that was, basically, violence. I twisted and "kinked" it, which got it close to being right. Slamming it shut (which is what's recommend on the back of the Signature freezer you can also see in this video) rather violently brought it the rest of the way and now it's fine.

The seal looks really bad, but it passes the "dollar bill" test and so I'm satisfied that it's actually doing a decent job of sealing the lid when it is closed.

This is not the first refrigeration appliance I've taken to the car wash. I've certainly caught some quizzical looks while doing so, including one from a guy who saw me hosing out a refrigerator that had been full of really rotten meat. But it works and it's a darn sight cheaper than buying or maintaining my own pressure washer.

Before plugging it in, I tested for shorttoground conditions and similar problems.

Unlike many freezers where the neon lamp is almost impossible to reach, this one is completely accessible from underneath the unit.

I did some research after shooting this video to try and find out when this freezer was made. It is a Whirlpool unit, manufactured in September of 1982 at their St. Paul, MN plant. The plant, formerly owned by Seeger Refrigerator Company before Whirlpool bought them in the 1950s, closed in December of 1984 and was demolished in 1994, making this one of the last products to be assembled there. Before its closure, the plant made only freezers. Today a shopping center seemingly exists where the 650,000 square foot facility used to be. I'd be willing to bet that plant was incredible both inside and out.

Whirlpool still manufactures many appliances for Sears to sell under the Kenmore name.