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The DeSoto Airflow is a full-sized automobile built by DeSoto during model years 1934, 1935 and 1936. DeSoto received the then-revolutionary Airflow model due to its price structure relationship to larger and more expensive Chrysler brand cars. The 1934 Airflow models are noted for their unique styling. They generate interest for their engineering innovations. It has a 115.5 in (2,934 mm) wheelbase.
The Desoto Airflow was a result of Chrysler Corporation policy of badge engineering, being mechanically substantially similar to the longer wheelbase, longer bodied Chrysler Airflow.
The Carl Breer designed Airflow was ahead of its time in terms of aerodynamics. The design was revolutionary for the 1930s. The design of the vehicle came about after many hours spent in wind tunnels. Orville Wright, an aviation expert, was called upon to help design a vehicle that achieved aerodynamic like an airplane. Lightweight, rigid materials were used to help complement the vehicle's design. A prototype called the Trifon Special was constructed in 1932. In 1934, the production model was completed and ready for sale as both Chrysler and DeSoto models.
DeSoto (and Chrysler) touted all of its Airflow bodies as "futuristic" in an age of streamlining, but the public found the cars to be too different in a time of economic uncertainty. While Chrysler's cars looked better, with the Airflow bodies stretched over their longer wheelbases, the shorter 115" wheelbase of the DeSoto made the cars seem bulky. Walter P. Chrysler, who had been a strong proponent of the Airflow project, was stunned by the lack of interest in the car, which he believed pointed the way for the future of American cars.
Interest in the Airflow was strong when it was introduced. Unfilled orders for it totaled 15,580 on April 30, 1934. This was 48.3% of comparable Chrysler and DeSoto shipments in 1933.
In May 1936 the DeSoto Airflow began to be promoted in some 435 newspapers in the United States. The highly streamlined car was advertised together with more traditional Airstream cars in general magazines and by itself in class magazines. The DeSoto advertising account was managed by J. Sterling Getchell.
Rumors persisted that the Airflow's body was unsafe. Tests showed its all-steel uni-body construction safer than those of other cars made at the time (most automotive manufacturers still used body on frame construction, with a stout metal chassis and partial wooden sub-framing over which steel skins were applied for their car bodies). In one widely distributed advertising film shown in movie theatres, an empty Airflow was pushed off a Pennsylvania cliff, falling over 110 feet (34 m); once righted, the car was driven off, battered, but recognizable. Still, the myth persisted that Airflows were unsafe.
While Chrysler still built a more familiar-looking car in 1934, DeSoto only offered the Airflow. Despite DeSoto selling more Airflows than Chrysler, Chrysler sold more cars overall with the majority being the redesign of the 1933 "regular" Chrysler.
For 1935 and 1936, Chrysler added the more traditional DeSoto Airstream, which it shared with Chrysler, and DeSoto regained a portion of its lost market share. While the Airflow was still offered, the bulk of DeSoto's sales were Airstreams and the Airflow was relegated to the back of the DeSoto catalog. Those buyers who did choose the Airflow found that their models carried a more prominent peaked grille design. Other than cosmetic changes (hood louvers, etc.) the cars remained unchanged. While Chrysler continued to use the Airflow body through 1937, Chrysler discontinued the DeSoto Airflow in 1936 and focused on the DeSoto Airstream so as to offer more traditional designs and the higher sales volume that they brought the division.
Rick DeBruhl Commentary - No one wanted this car
115.5-inch wheelbase
Hydraulic brakes
Inline 6-cylinder engine
122 horsepower with a top speed of about 88 miles per hour
3-speed manual gearbox
13,940 sold in 1934
Pre-War Classics / 1916–1941
