Chrysler Airflow

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One of the more startling cars to come out of America, the innovative Airflow was largely the brainchild of Chrysler engineer Carl Breer.

Fascinated by the way that flocks of geese moved through the air in a ‘vee’ formation, he persuaded Chrysler to build a wind tunnel in which he and Orville Wright (of Wright brothers aviation fame) experimented with different car shapes to see which would slip through the air most efficiently. The results were surprising and showed that most of Chrysler’s current offerings were so aerodynamically inefficient that they were actually more streamlined going backwards than they were going forwards!

They also experimented with the effect that weight distribution had on handling dynamics, discovering that conventional cars had far too much weight over the rear wheels when loaded with passengers, to the detriment of ride quality and safety. Construction methods also came under scrutiny and it was quickly realised that the monocoque approach offered many advantages over the traditional frame-on-chassis method.

The result of all this calculation and experimentation was the Chrysler Airflow, launched with much fanfare in January 1934. Much sleeker and lower than most cars of the era, it had an all-steel monocoque body with a smoothly rounded frontal aspect incorporating a waterfall grille, headlamps sunk flush into the wings and an innovative two-piece vee-shaped windscreen.

The engine was moved forward over the front wheels so that rear passengers were seated within the wheelbase rather than above the rear axle, on lightweight aluminium seat frames, giving 50:50 weight distribution when loaded for improved ride quality, handling and stability. The standard engine was a 4.9-litre straight-eight mated to a three-speed manual floor-shift gearbox, although for export markets a 3-litre straight-six engine was also available.

Unfortunately for Chrysler, the Airflow was just too innovative for its own good and sales were nothing short of disastrous, the general consensus among press and public alike being that it was an anonymous blob when compared to rival products that valued style over function. Despite a raft of minor styling tweaks to make the car look more conventional over the following years, the Airflow was ignominiously dropped from the Chrysler range in 1937 after just 4,600 examples had been made, with a slightly lower number of less luxurious versions also sold under the DeSoto brand.

This particular car is an especially rare example that was assembled at the Dodge-Chrysler factory in Kew in order to avoid the punitive 33% tax duty levied on complete cars imported to Britain from overseas. Being a 1934 model, it retains all the charming idiosyncrasies of the early cars that were sadly diluted on later models in a vain attempt to bolster sales amongst a conservative public.

The vendor acquired the car in 2013 from David Angel, a leading light in the Pre-1950 American Auto Club, who had owned it for the previous 10 years. During Angel’s ownership the car had been sympathetically restored including a full retrim in green leather with new carpets and cloth headlining, an engine and braking system overhaul and a repaint in the original green. It was also converted to 12v electrics and an electric fuel pump fitted.

Believed to be one of only two such cars known to survive in the UK (the other being in Scotland), the car remains in very good order throughout and is reported to drive well, certainly bowling along nicely when we were treated to a short test drive on the occasion of our visit, much to the amazement of passers by who were clearly baffled by this strange-looking machine. It comes with sundry bills for routine servicing, a V5C, various useful maintenance and parts manuals and some technical literature and brochures relating to the model.

One of the rarest and most unusual machines we have ever offered, it is only reluctantly being sold due to the advancing years of the vendor and is sure to cause a huge amount of interest wherever it goes.