What happens when a company develops a car that combines innovative body design with unique styling, state of the art aerodynamics, superior ride quality, and improved handling? Unfortunately for Chrysler, the result was dismal sales and a production run that lasted just four model years! Considering the present-day iconic status of the Airflow, it’s hard to fathom why this car wasn’t a sales success, but there were a handful of reasons that contributed to its failure. We’ll cover some of them in a minute, but first be sure to check out this ’36 Airflow 4-door sedan, available here on classiccars.com in Parkers Prairie, Minnesota for $5,500. Thanks to Barnfinds reader Simon P. for finding this listing!
If I were to only discuss the distinctive styling and design of the Airflow this could easily be the lengthiest Barnfinds post ever written. Can you imagine if I also attempted to cover the more than 50 engineering firsts Chrysler packed into this car?! The Airflow offered myriad technological advancements and I encourage you to read more about the car and its fascinating history here on conceptcarz.com. As for this example, little information is provided by the seller other than to say there is “some rocker rust coming through” and the car is “not currently running.” It looks mostly complete and might even be wearing its original paint. Obvious missing items include the hinges and handles for the trunk, one of the windshield wiper arms, and a front parking lamp bulb. The grill is intact with adorning hood ornament and all of the chrome accents look to be present and accounted for, including the light bezels, window trim, and side molding. Just imagine how beautiful this car would look restored! Dripping with Art Deco elegance, the Airflow looked drastically different from other cars of the day. But its unique appearance actually contributed to lackluster sales. During the height of the Great Depression people just didn’t take to these cars. Many early models also experienced issues, some real and some rumor, that led to it being reported as unreliable and unsafe.
Sorry for not giving you advanced warning regarding the frightful condition of the interior! The seller reports it’s been eaten by raccoons and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a better example of the destructive power of those critters! It’s a shame because nothing is left to provide one with the sense of luxuriousness this car once possessed. Photos of the varmint-destroyed interior also fail to accurately represent the super-roomy cabin that was a result of the Airflow’s engine forward design. Perhaps the most technologically innovative aspect of the Airflow was its steel truss and beam, unibody-like construction. Rear passengers were carried fore of the car’s axle instead of riding over the top of it, resulting in a more comfortable travel experience.
Thank goodness raccoons don’t like to chew on engines! The inline 8-cylinder motor, although currently not running, is reported to have “ran when they put it in the shed 20 years ago” and looks fairly complete. Although not present in the photo, the seller mentions he is in possession of the car’s radiator. Hopefully, the engine can be brought back to running form without too much trouble because the cost of completely refurbishing the interior might make it tough if not impossible to come out ahead on this restoration. The unique engineering and styling of the Airflow directly inspired automakers like Volvo, Peugeot, and an upstart company from Japan named Toyota, to produce near clones of the car in subsequent years. Buying one for something in the neighborhood of $5K seems too good to be true, and perhaps it is, but wouldn’t it be amazing to own one of the most influential cars of all time?
I have been studying and researching the automobile for many years now and after owning and driving almost everything else out there I am now involved in the birth and evolution of the most famous vehicle ever built (The VW Beetle). I have discovered that it was J Ganz and not A Hitler nor F Porsche who gave the birth to this famous car. ( to be honest it was H Ford that presented the ‘People’s Car’ – simple and affordable – in 1908 thru 1927)….
Lol, we read Jalopnik too.
The main reason that sales of this car were low really had nothing to do with the car itself but had everything to do with the economy and the great depression at the time. Unemployment was at about 25% in the U.S. People were having a hard enough time feeding their families. A new or newer car was simply out of the question. This is the same reason that other “luxury cars” at the time did not sell well and some prominent car manufactures went out of business. This is a great find and will make a great addition to someones collection!
Driving an Airflow is a real treat. I did a road test of one for NZ Classic Car magazine back in the 1990s. The car felt like a mix of old and new, which was to be expected of what was then a fairly advanced design.
I hope someone brings this one back to life. I wonder if my Mopar-loving neighbour across the road would like to own a second one..? (cheeky grin)
Send it to Bad Chad Customs (just edged out Graveyard cars for the worst show on television) and let him work his “Magic”. Ugh…
$5500 is pocket change for any condition Airflow today and this example looks very savable. However, the underbody was well known to rust away.
Ive got the exact car, but it had an interior fire 15 yrs ago
thought it would make a cool HRPT car, dont touch the
patina and make it run and put a interior back in it .
Just curious, is my burn victim here an Airflow ? thought the title said it was a DeSoto something
Yes. your Airflow is a 1936 DeSoto S2 Airflow Six- note the chevrons on the side of the hood. All 1936 DeSotos, Airflow and Airstream, had them.
Production totalled 4,971 in the U.S. (coupes and sedans) plus 32 sedans in Canada.
Lovely looking Chrysler Airflow Imperial. I hope whoever purchases this rare classic restores it and enjoys it.
How did Racoons get into the car ?
Window left down?
Some Museum will buy it for parts
Now THIS is a Mopar to get excited about. This is a rare and beautiful classic someone should lovingly restore. I agree with Mark on why this car ultimately failed – few people had the money to buy a car like this in 1934-37.
Raccoons don’t ruin cars.
People that neglect cars and leave the windows down ruin cars.
Note that this is an Imperial, and has curved glass in the windshield, here intact. I have heard that replacements are unobtainium. The regular Chrysler Airflow had flat glass, replaceable, see the above picture. And, although beauty is in the eye of the beholder, the original grill (see pictures above of a ’34) was copied by Divco in the milk/bread trucks of the day, and ran for over a decade. Ford, on the other hand, starting in ’37, moved styling ahead, but made so many, that they were accepted. Ford also dissed hydraulic brakes as being unsafe.
The only Airflow with a curved windshield was the semi-custom CW Custom Imperial Airflow with body by LeBaron. A bit of a monster on a 146½” wheelbase with prices starting at $5,000. This car (not an Imperial, by the way) has the normal flat glass, two piece windshield.
The smallest 1934 Airflow, the Airflow Eight (123″ wb), went for $1,345. The non-Airflow Chrysler Six (CA) started at $740 for the business. That price difference was the sales killer.
The car in in this article is not a C10 Airflow Imperial (128″ wb) but the 123″ wb C9 Airflow Eight. The rear quarter window is one piece, and the non-Imperial Airflows used the one piece quarter windows. The 5″ increase in wheelbase was done by pushing the rear axle back, but leaving the rear door width the same size. Thus the longer, two piece quarter window on the Imperial Airflow (128″ wheelbase) and Custom Imperial Airflow (136″) .
Bill W, I appreciate you clarifying the correct model of this Airflow. And I am especially appreciative that you did so in such a gracious manner! Thank you