I ran into a Desoto Airflow in a wrecking yard and the styling just blew me away!!! That rear roofline and window are out of the Jetsons! It was pretty rough. Does anyone have a pic of one of these whole? Damndest thing I ever saw,,,,,,,,,,,
heres one that is at all the shows around here. I think the back half is a 48 fleetline, front 36 airflow.
check with enjenjo he built either a chrysler or a desoto. Its pretty cool cept the guy that owns it doesnt want any paint. I think the car is begging for paint.. Dave
The two door Airflow is about the neatest thing on wheels. They look like a full custon when they are stock.
If the yard car is a coupe you better go get it, it's a very RARE car. There is one that runs Bonneville.
Here's a pic of the Desoto enjenjo built with Fat Cat co-piloting. They put an LT-1 in it but I think it's getting a hemi soon. Other pic is the Airflow at Bonneville.
Is the one you found a 2-door? Any Airflow is fairly rare nowadays, but the 2-doors are much less common than 4-doors.
Damn! Even the fordoor's not awful !!! The junkyards was a 34 tudoor. If all I saved was the louvered panel behind the front fender, that'd be cool!
there's a 37 Chrysler Airflow ,4 door,in the Knoxville paper for $3750,if anybody is interested..ad has been in there for a while
By the way...the original Airflow prototype is currently on display at the Walter P.Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills Mi. It's kinda ugly, but an interesting time capsule (it's almost 100% original unrestored) and probably the oldest protptype / concept car around.
The pic of the "streetrodded" Airflow (Airflow#4) opens up an old wound...and confirms that I was right in my stance. About a year ago (or so) that vehicle was featured in a StreetRodder magazine article. The builder took a perfect, running, unrestored, Airflow and clobbered it with modernity. SRM praised the build. My letter to the "double B" (Mr. Brennan) contended that this was a beautiful (albeit, ugly to some) car for its engineering foresight that shouldn't be used as fodder for some dude with more money than brains (or building capability). Cars like this should be considered off limits in my opinion. There are only about 6 of these originals left. Period. Will there be originals left when people want to look back and see the real deal like this thread suggests? Doubtful. I was fortunate enough to examine an original at the Eyes on Design show at the Edsel Ford grounds a few years ago. I was blown away. With so many other vehicles to choose from to give the moneybag "streetrod" treatment to, why pick a breakthrough design where only 6 originals remain? Mr. Brennan told me I was full of sh*t to suggest such an idea. Sometimes he really pisses me off.
Save that car if you can, they are rare and valuable in any condition. Try to get the entire car, not just parts that will leave it incomplete for the next guy if you can't get it all.
They Pre 1936 models looked an aweful lot like a tarted up bug to me, but they have a large number of advanced ideas in those things.
The coupe in the pictures above, and the big dollar Chrysler were both offered to the Airflow club members first. No one stepped up and bought them to restore, so they were hot rodded. I cut up one, would I do another? Damn straight I would. That makes the ones left worth more.
If that "streetrodded" Airflow was the last remaining "original" example,maybe you would have a good point but,with 6 or so remaining,I say GO for it!!That "streetrodded" one is worth more then all the remaining 5 or 6 combined.....I think Mr.Brennan is RIGHT!
I was thinking along the same lines.... to me it looks like a large Beetle with a grille. Cool, though. Nice write up about it on the Journal.
enjenjo, Is that a 34? Whatever year it is it looks perfect to me ! Thats the same year/ model as the one I ran across. I wanna take the rear window and chrome and splice it into a 52 Chey fastback.
You reckon they're rare in the States, they are like rocking horse shit over here. A mate of mine has done a full resto on a '34 4 door Chrysler version and it's like an ugly chick with a good personality - after a while it starts looking alright. Anyone got some interior shots? With all the chrome framework they are one of the best looking mid 30's cars on the inside.
Yes it's a 34. The only major difference between a 34 and a 35 is the grille. Some of the parts are near impossible to find, like intact tail light stands. Both of the ones on the 34 I did were broken, and had to be repaired.
Hey, The DeSoto and Chrysler are sure interesting fodder for thought..... Chrysler Corperation spent and lost millions of dollars on these in the 30's. The public just wasn't ready for that much"deco". Some say that the reason that Chrysler products looked so, well bland or staid into the midfifties, when Exner arrived, was because of the total ass kickin' their products took in the market place. It would be a number of years after the Airflow was produced, before Chrysler could/would take another styling risk, enter Mr. Exner. When asked of K.T. Keller( head of Chrysler in the 40's & into 50's) why their products looked so blah or stoggy, styling wise, in comparrison to Harley Earl's offerings, Keller replied "we build cars to drive, not piss over". Swankey devils C.C.
Most of what you said was true, but according to the Chrysler Chronicle (ISBN: 0-7853-2901-3): "Despite the impending disaster (sic Airflow style effecting sales), Chrysler turned a profit in 1934...Chrysler had another reasonably good year on the sales front, courtesy primarily of Plymouth, whose model year output neared 327,500 (sic 1935). ..Enjoying strong profits in 1935, Chrysler looked forward to soon overtaking Ford Motor Company as America's Number 2 producer." 321,171 Plymouth's were sold in 1934. 95,011 Dodges sold that were similar to the Plymouth's in style. Of the airflows: 36,091 Chrysler's and 13,940 De Soto's. Pre-Airflow 1933 numbers were 32,241 Chrysler's; 22,736 De Soto's; 106,104 Dodges, and 298,557 Plymouth's. Why the jump in Plymouth sales for 1934 & 35? In 1934 Plymouth had independent front suspension (thats right, a drag link, drum brake, coil spring independent). A new more powerfull 'Floating Power' inline six (which meant the engine mounting in front was high and the engine was silky smooth), and at $510 it was the best bang for the buck there was in 1934. The AllPar - Chrysler, Plymouth, and Dodge car information web site has an article [AllPar 2001] that includes more British performance information from the era. 0 to 40 (seconds) Ford V-8 Tudor 12.4; Chevrolet 17; Plymouth Six Coupe 11.9 0 to 60 (seconds) Ford V-8 Tudor 29.7; Chevrolet 39; Plymouth Six Coupe 29.0 Top Speed Ford V-8 Tudor 83 MPH; Chevrolet 65 MPH; Plymouth Six Coupe 85 MPH I'm not trying to boast about my knowledge of car history. If you are wondering why I would care so much, see my 1934 Plymouth in my profile. From http://www.allpar.com/history/desoto.html - 1934 Desoto Airflow
Alrightty then. I guess I stand corrected. I can take the lumps. I guess, at age 41, I'm too old and stodgy. I dig hotrods and streetrods as much as anyone possibly could. Yet, I suppose the parent in me hopes that when one of my kids or grandkids wants to see one, they get a chance to see an original up close instead of that SRM model. "Anyone have a pic of an Airflow?"
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