Add to that the poor production quality, the delays brought about by the rushed introduction, and General Motors underhanded advertising and rumor-mongering, and the cars were doomed to failure. The look was simply far too advanced for regular production models. right away! Disregarding his styling heads, he ordered the cars to be rushed into production. Chrysler himself, a vehicle with this many improvements needed to be on the street. The Airflow Models for Chrysler, DeSoto and Imperial were certainly not a designer’s car. Chrysler bred a feeling of ‘engineering as king’ into the company right from its inception. The resulting vehicles were an aerodynamic success, but the motoring press was less than enthusiastic, with many writers extolling the virtues of the engineering, but panning the ‘odd’ appearance. It was applied to the 1934 DeSoto, Chrysler and Chrysler Imperial Airflow automobiles. The ongoing experimentation indicated that a teardrop shape would be the most aerodynamic. Aimed with back to the wind, this oddball experimental DeSoto provided better gas mileage and higher cruising speeds! Armed with the results of this testing, the styling department went to work. In 1933 the engineers modified a DeSoto sedan to drive backwards. Their conclusion was that cars of the time were ‘backwards’! The Chrysler engineers even pioneered wind tunnel testing of automobiles, with none other than Orville Wright (of the Wright Brother’s fame) manning the controls. The high grills, squared-off lines, and long fenders and hoods were limiting economy and top speeds. Carl Breer, Fred Zeder and Owen Skelton, brought over from Maxwell by Walter P himself!) were convinced that there was something wrong with the contemporary car designs. Throughout this time, the Chrysler/DeSoto engineers (sometime called the Three Musketeers. But it serves my purpose to show how much alike the Divco and the Airflow Car Grilles, headlights, windshields and roof lines looked so much alike. By the end of 1937, the Airflow design was gone in the Chrysler and 1936 in the DeSoto. It ended up that the public wasn’t ready for all this in one drastic model year. There was a new innovation that allowed the driver to shift the transmission without using the clutch. This included the first rear seat that was mounted forward of the rear axle instead of sitting over the rear axle. The 1934 DeSoto and Chrysler Airflow cars had 25 major changes that included the looks, ride, power and driving. To achieve the best mileage and horsepower, the engineers came up with this design. This test showed that the 1930 DeSoto was more aerodynamic if the body was turned around on the chassis and ran backwards. Both vehicles were designed and tested in the wind tunnel owned by Wilbur Wright. The reason I had interest in the car was because of the aerodynamic styling that looks a lot like the front end of a Divco delivery truck. They have been compared to the Lincolns as the futuristic designed cars along with the high-speed trains of the 1930s & 1940s as well as the aerodynamic designs of the airplane industry. They have been in articles written for the Lincoln Zephyr Newsletter. I saw pictures of them and read articles about them. In 1937, the vehicle was taken off the market.I never saw a Chrysler and/or DeSoto Airflow car in person until I saw this car. The 1936 year saw only 6,285 Chrysler Airflow sales and 5,000 De Soto sales. The cheaper De Soto alternative sold 13,940 vehicles. The 122-horsepower Inline-8 could power the car from zero to sixty in 19.5 seconds and attain a top speed of about 88 miles per hour.ĭuring the first year of production, 11,292 Chrysler Airflow's were sold. This also did not produce desirable sales results, so the grill was again modified. When sales did not do well, the grill was changed to a more conventional 'skyscraper' gill in 1935. ![]() The front of the car had a large grill that extended from the hood to the bumper. The largest length measured 145 inches and was dubbed the Custom Imperials. The vehicle could be purchased in five different wheelbase lengths. In 1934, the production model was completed and ready for sale.Ĭhryslers Airflows used strictly eight cylinders, while the De Soto version used six cylinders. A prototype called the Trifon Special was constructed in 1932. Lightweight, rigid materials were used to help compliment the vehicle's design. Orville Wright, an aviation expert, was called upon to help design a vehicle that achieved aerodynamics similar to an airplane. The vehicle's design came about after many hours spent in wind tunnels. ![]() The design was revolutionary for the 1930s the sales, however, would be its downfall. The Carl Breer-designed Chrysler Airflow was ahead of its time in terms of aerodynamics.
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