Green Machines: Collection Classics: Streamlined Baby
April 1, 2007
This
isn’t to say the Airflow didn’t have significant dynamic advantages. The Airflow
was a revelation to drive, compared to anything else on the market. “You drive
something else from that period, in the same size and price range,” says
Dressel, “and there’s a vast difference. You really feel like you’re riding a
modern car. It rode smoothly, tracked better, turned better, and accelerated
smoothly.”
According to Dressel, what sold Walter Chrysler on the Airflow
was its ride quality. "The spring ratios were tuned to roughly the same
vibration frequency you would experience when walking." Chrysler had a name for
this spongy handling effect—boulevard
ride—for which American cars are often criticized. In
1934, though, the relatively comfortable ride was a revelation. The automotive
mogul also appreciated the Airflow’s handling; an unintended consequence of
redistributing the weight over both axles was to significantly reduce oversteer.
And thanks to its decreased drag and a powerful straight 8-cylinder engine, that
sent 122 bhp to the rear wheels, the car would easily exceed 90 mph.
But no amount of horsepower or handling could overcome the business decisions that hampered any chance of success the Airflow possessed. Walter Chrysler—convinced that the groundbreaking design would revolutionize the automotive industry—made a critical error when he asked his engineers for the impossible: Two distinct Airflow models with two unique drivetrains and a variety of wheelbases, all ready in an aggressive and previously unheard-of 18-month timetable. Blind to reality and anticipating full production by December of 1933, Chrysler showed the car at the New York Auto Show and began taking deposits. It wasn’t ready. Months passed, and the ultramodern Airflow barely trickled out of the factory. Worse, serious defects plagued early Airflows. "That really sealed its fate," says Dressel.
Even without problems brought on by an overambitious launch, the Airflow faced another significant hurdle. In a Depression year, the new car cost approximately 40 percent more than the models it replaced. After stumbling over its botched launch, the Airflow’s sales volume never recovered momentum. Chrysler produced fewer than 55,000 cars between its debut in 1934 and its demise only three years later.
Chrysler’s ads at the time proclaimed the Airflow as "the first automobile since the invention of the motorcar." That wasn’t necessarily marketing hyperbole. What they had achieved, says Dressel, "was to change the paradigm for the automobile."
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