By the way, I do not think the driver went over the cliff with the car! GM and its dealers were quick to deem the car unsafe, saying, 'That car doesn't even have a chassis! That body can't protect you the way a solid steel chassis can!' Despite a much-publicized stunt where an Airflow was driven off a 100-plus-foot cliff and then driven away under its own power, the seeds of doubt were planted.
"The Airflow was the first all-steel, unibody car at a time when nearly all other manufacturers were using steel panels over wood-frame bodies. "Entire books have been written on the whys and how-comes, but basically it was just a little too forward-thinking for the time, and Chrysler simply underestimated the public's resistance to such radical change. Introduced in 1934 as the only DeSoto offering and as an addition to the 1933 Chrysler carryover lineup, the Airflow was a failure from the start. I noticed the fins open on the hood area, so that tells me they needed extra cooling, but I don't see the windshield looks like it pushes out, and the '35 did."ĬANTON, GA.: David Anderson wrote: "Way before Ford stepped all over itself with the ill-fated introduction of the Edsel, Chrysler did it way better (worse?) with the Airflow.
#1934 DESOTO AIRFLOW COUPE CRACKED#
Sam Roney said it was the 1935 DeSoto Airflow: The aluminum block engine caused a lot trouble with cracked heads on them. (Too much time has passed to remember how it was on the street.) Keep these coming!" "A friend of mine had one in the 1960s, and we thought it was the most unusual thing we had ever seen. This was probably the most streamlined auto on the American market at that time. This appears to be an early attempt at a unibody design in that this car had a 'cage-type' frame around the passenger, trunk and hood areas. The rear-seat passengers were moved forward so that both front and rear passengers were riding 'between the wheels,' according to the sales brochures. wrote: "The photo is of a 1934 DeSoto Airflow or 'Floating Ride' concept by Chrysler. This was a tough one! Thanks -I love this feature."
Tom Turner wrote: "The vehicle in the photo is a 1934 DeSoto. It was discontinued in 1936 to focus on more traditional designs." Other readers identifying the vehicle were:ĪUGUSTA: Carolyn Ogles wrote: "A futuristic car for that time. Holbert wins a gift from The Augusta Chronicle. The DeSoto and Chrysler were so similar that we included guesses for both makes but chose a winner from those who knew it was the DeSoto.Ĭhosen randomly from the correct entries was the name Jo Ann Holbert, of Blythe, who wrote: "I believe that car may be a 1934 DeSoto Airflow. Unfortunately, it was too far ahead, and the public rejected it, preferring to stick with the squarish cars of the time.Ī couple of years later, other automakers picked up on the aerodynamic styling, and some of them - notably the Lincoln Zephyr - became hits. Our photo last week showed a bit of the 1934 DeSoto Airflow, a car that, like its Chrysler near-twin, was ahead of its time in design and styling.
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