1934 Chrysler Airflow Safty Test.

[Aristaeus]

[video=youtube;Nug-8jCi8O0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nug-8jCi8O0&feature=feedu[/video]

 

[Fletch]

Swell piece. But it needs better music.

Riffs - Boots & His Buddies, 1935, exactly 2:40 long

 

[scottyrocks]

Interesting concept of safety. The cars were more or less fine but what of the occupants? No full front crashes back then I guess. With no crumple zones to ease deceleration somewhat, passengers wouldve had their brains scrambled. Unknown science back then.

 

[Fletch]

You said it. People in the '30s (and maybe later) sometimes died of totally unexplained causes following car accidents even tho they appeared only lightly injured. Today we check for head trauma. Then, they had no clue what was going on inside the braincase, sometimes until too late.

 

[Widebrim]

Good stuff! Thanks for posting.

 

[docneg]

Well, this explains why I'm less than satisfied with my 2006 Chrysler! Hopefully I won't be rolling it off a cliff.

 

[Stearmen]

Safe At Any Speed

The Airflow almost killed Chrysler, seems the people of the time did not want to even think about safety! It wasn't until the 60s that it became acceptable to talk about making a car safe.

 

[Bourne ID]

That's one incredible car! Anyone know if it had seatbelts?

 

[scottyrocks]

The Airflow almost killed Chrysler, seems the people of the time did not want to even think about safety! It wasn't until the 60s that it became acceptable to talk about making a car safe.

I had read, many years ago, maybe in Tad Burness' Auto Album, that the Airflow's (initial?) lack of success was due to its revolutionary styling. Cars, up until that point in time, were still separate fender/bug eye headlight affairs. People werent ready for single-piece-looking autos yet.

 

[Fletch]

There was also an "invisible line in the sand" about what could and couldn't be sold with Moderne design in the 30s.

Small consumables and household products were ok.
Small appliances like table radios and electric mixers, usually ok.
Bigger appliances like refrigerators, sometimes - sometimes not.

Cars could advertise streamline design, but it had to be kept to decoration and maybe a few subtle aerodynamic changes - because of the Airflow fiasco.

Houses were tricky. Building was beyond the means of most everyone, so most of it was traditional wood-frame, lath-and-plaster that didn't lend itself to new styles. Mt. Kisco, NY, actually passed a building code against Moderne after this house was built in 1934!

OTOH, if you were a huge company like a railroad, you could knock yourself out.

 

[scotrace]

During that roll, whoever was seated next to the door that flew open would have been taken away in several small bags.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Cool. Drop it over a 60 foot cliff, and drive right on with only minor damage. The full cage frame didn't even budge.
Saw one of these on ebay motors a few years back,mostly restored for around $12,000,...if I had had the money I would have bought it.

 

[Fletch]

12 thou? Sounds like even collectors won't touch 'em.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

12 thou? Sounds like even collectors won't touch 'em.

A lot of 1930's cars on ebay at any given time that are not completely restored yet, but still serviceable. Some for even less.

 

[Rockyc]

1930s Airflows

Like any car, they vary depending on condition. One rare original coupe went for $83k at Barrett Jackson a few years back. The the next year, a four door sedan went for almost that much. Junkers on ebay can go from between 2k and 4k, and coupes can get $10k even for a junker, but the amount of work to restore can be much more than a Ford, Chevy or Hudson of that era.

Myself, I own a 1936 C9 Airflow sedan which I've restored. There were only 1200 or so of them made, and less than 40 remain. The car's construction was intricate compared to other makes, and some parts are very difficult to find. The design does not lend itself well to hot rodding, so there's no real aftermarket parts available. They did not have seat belts - back then seat belts inferred cars were unsafe and were avoided for the most part by most companies. Airflows brought a lot of firsts to the industry - the first window safety glass, first overdrive transmission, first electric choke, first attempt at unibody construction, and was the first car designed using a wind tunnel for aerodynamics. It started the streamline movement in US auto design, but failed as a product, even though it set land speed records at Bonneville in '34, and also got 18 mpg. One reason they didn't sell well was the appearance - it was too innovative and looked way too different in the front; almost ugly. The fact it did win a European Design award also didn't help win American buyers. Chrysler Airflows (8 cyl) were only made between 34 and 37. Desotos (6 cyl version) in 34-36.

I have photos of mine at www.chryslerairflow.com. They're pretty unusual looking cars, but in may ways seem more like modern cars than others of that era.

 

[Widebrim]

^^Great restoration, Rocky.