Thursday, April 18, 2024

Towards the Last Chrysler Airflows: Rear Body Design

As is well-known to automobile history buffs, the Chrysler Airflow was an engineering innovation success, yet also a styling and marketing failure.

Once Chrysler Corporation management realized that sales were far below expectations, a crash-project was started to make Chrysler and DeSoto Airflows appear more conventional.  This included redesigned grilles (I wrote about DeSoto Airflow grille evolution here).  Today's post deals with aft end treatments -- specifically the addition of integral trunks.

Gallery

1934 Chrysler CU Airflow Sedan - RM Sotheby's auction photos
Establishment photo of the best-selling 1934 Airflow model.

Trunk access was via the interior, there being no exterior lid.  Also, trunk capacity was limited.  That was typical of the times: for added space, exterior trunks were optional on a number of current, non-streamlined designs.

1935 Chrysler CZ Airstream Sedan - Hyman Ltd. photo
By the mid-1930s integral trunks became an optional body variation such as seen on this Chrysler Airstream.

1936 Chrysler Airstream Sedan - car-for-sale photo
The Airstream's next restyling resulted in a trunk further integrated into the basic body.

1937 Chrysler Royal Sedan - car-for-sale photo
The 1937 non-Airflow version.

1936 Chrysler C9 Airflow Sedan - car-for-sale photo
Airflows for 1935 retained the 1934 rear design.  But for 1936, integral trunks were added, the design being essentially that used on Airstreams.  The styling goal seems to have been to make Airflows as similar to mainline Chryslers as possible.

1937 Chrysler C17 Airflow Sedan - car-for-sale photo
The final-year Airflow aft end was unchanged from 1936.

Side-view comparison: the 1934 CU Airflow shown earlier.

1936 Chrysler C10 Imperial Airflow Sedan - RM Sotheby's Auctions photo
This car has a slightly longer wheelbase than the CU in the previous photo, but that affects an aft body design profile comparison only a little.
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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousApril 18, 2024 at 7:15 AM

    I most appreciate your dedication to this site. Its a place to go for a few moments respite.

    I’m very fond of airflows. Thanks for another excellent article on them.

    I recently became aware of GM Austrailia’s late 30s “Slopers.” The rear 3/4 view is stunning. I’d like to read your analysis of same.

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  2. emjayayMay 4, 2024 at 12:48 PM

    Airstreams are great, but the most interesting thing here is the difference between the regular 1936 and '37 rear views. On the '36 the fenders are clearly thought of as separate things stuck onto the body. On the '37 the body is shaped to blend into the fenders. If you filled the seam it would be almost a pontoon body at least in the back (although the Airstreams pointed to the future in other ways).

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