People like the future, but apparently not all at once – Toronto Star

An automaker can build the best car in the world, but if buyers dont ultimately appreciate it, and want it enough to spend money on it, then its all over before it ever began. In 1934, Walter P. Chrysler found that out the hard way and the expensive way with the Airflow.

Today, these quaint museum-quality antiques dont appear particularly exceptional or avant-garde, they just look, well, old. However, compared with other vehicles built during the same era, the Airflow was groundbreaking.

It was Chryslers chief designer, Carl Breer, who came up with the idea of reducing wind resistance in automobiles after observing birds and aircraft in flight. The result, he believed, would be a car that would look smarter, go faster and consume less fuel than other vehicles available. Chrysler also hoped that the Airflow would be the kind of breakthrough machine needed to vault his company out of the middle of the pack and into a much stronger sales position.

After consulting with Orville Wright, who, with his brother, Wilbur, had been the first to successfully achieve powered flight, Breer and a small group began secretly testing different shapes in a full-scale wind tunnel that Chrysler had constructed.

One of the revelations garnered in the wind tunnel was that automobiles in the late 1920s and early 1930s were far more aerodynamic when backing up than driving forward. This ultimately led to a smoother front-end design containing a rounded (instead of upright) grille and headlights slotted into the fenders instead of the traditional method of perching them on top. At the rear, full fender skirts and a tapered back end helped reduce drag, adding to the cars slippery silhouette.

Engineering advancements that went into the Airflows development included reversing the weight distribution traditionally around 45 per cent in the front and 55 per cent in the rear at the time by shifting part of the engine over the front wheels and moving the rear seat ahead of the rear axle. This adjustment kept the front of the car more firmly planted at highway speeds, significantly improved ride quality and resulted in more spacious seating.

The methods developed to construct the Airflow were also ahead of their time. Traditional body-on-frame construction was abandoned in favour of a space frame upon which the body panels were welded in place. This system didnt reduce weight, but it made the body significantly more rigid than previous models.

All Airflows were originally destined to carry the DeSoto label, but company founder Walter P. not only insisted the Chrysler brand name be used, but that the Airflow be fitted with a more powerful eight-cylinder engine rather than the six-cylinder in the DeSoto version. As well, Chrysler ordered that the cars be sold in a variety of wheelbases and that a line of opulently dressed Chrysler Custom Imperial limousine versions be built. Meanwhile, the mid-priced DeSoto Airflow was offered in one standard wheelbase.

After a six-year development period and rigorous testing (including speed and durability runs at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah), the Airflow was finally unveiled at the 1934 New York Auto Show. Prices ranged from $1,000 (U.S.) for the base DeSoto version, all the way up to $5,000 for the stretched Imperial limousine.

Initially, the public response was extremely favourable, even though reviews in the press were lukewarm at best. But when the anticipated surge in sales failed to materialize, design changes were quickly implemented for the following year. In a major about-face, the Airflows rounded nose was replaced by a more traditional looking pointed grille in an upright position.

Despite these modifications, sales continued to tumble as loyal buyers began switching to other brands. Chrysler continued to make other conventionally styled vehicle models that sold in decent numbers. Unfortunately for DeSoto, the Airflow was the only car available and brand sales dropped by nearly 40 per cent.

By 1937, the company finally threw in the towel and the car that was designed to be ahead of its time quietly went out of production.

Given the high expectations, the Airflows four-year sales total of about 55,000 was considered a failure. Only a few years later, the teeth marks in Chryslers hide began to heal as the public came to embrace many of the engineering and styling advances pioneered by these exceptionally sturdy and surprisingly quick automobiles. For Chrysler and its Airflow, the future, it seemed, would just have to wait.

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People like the future, but apparently not all at once - Toronto Star