The styling of
Chrysler Airflows was wind tunnel based -- streamlined -- something unusual for mass-produced American cars in 1934 when production was launched. Engineering features were also advanced for that era, but their virtues did not outweigh the styling, which the buying public found unacceptable.
Chrysler Corporation soon realized that sales were not up to expectations, so then facelifted Airflows in later model years to make them seem more conventional. For example, I discussed DeSoto Airflow facelifts
here.
Airflows came in a variety of sizes and body types. I wrote about 1934 types
here.
With the passage of time, Airflow styling does not seem as ugly as first perceived. That said, Airflows were never beautiful. In
this post I said that the 1935 Chrysler C1 Airflow Coupe was the best-looking of the lot (though another came close).
That best-looking Airflow, in my judgment, is the featured car in today's post. The photos are from Mecum Auctions.
Gallery
Airflow sedans were boxy-looking: coupes were not.
Hood length varied due to the types of motors used. All DeSoto Airflows were powered by inline six-cylinder engines, all Chryslers by longer inline eights. DeSoto Airflows with their short hoods and comparatively short 115.5 inch (2934 mm) wheelbases looked stubby. This Chrysler Airflow Coupe does not, due to its longer, facelifted (from 1934) hood and longer 123 inch (3124 mm) wheelbase.
The fastback profile required a two-segment backlight window because flat glass had to be used due to the glass-forming technology of the time.
At least that allowed a fairly large rear window area for the mid-1930s.
1934-1935 Airflow coupes had trunk lids, sedans did not. Sedans had their spare tires mounted on their aft ends, coupes stored theirs in their trunks.
Attractive, but not beautiful.
The 1935 grill is a wider version of the grille design used on 1935 Airstreams, Chrysler's new conventional alternative to Airflows.
Airflows were wide for their time.
Dashboards in those days tended to place instruments in the center instead of in front of the driver.
2 comments:
The first year of DeSoto Airflows had the instruments in front of the driver: speedometer to the left of the steering column and the rest of the gauges in a matching opening to the right. They shuffled things around every year after that.
By 1936 the four door sedans had sprouted one of those 1930's tumorous trunks and the spare tire went inside instead of being outside in back, horizontally with a shelf over it and a some more room in the trunk.
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