Grand Designs

Innovative, influential and the world’s first mass-produced streamliner

Exploring the extraordinary Chrysler Airflow – the world’s first mass-produced streamliner.

The Chrysler and Desoto Airflow cars have acquired a simplistic and unscholarly reputation as failures. But, in fact, their place in automotive history is substantial and their legacy impressive. They were the first genuinely mass-produced streamliners, painstakingly developed in a wind-tunnel.

The cars incorporated innovative features that would have long-term influence on the industry, notably the engine and seating locations, optimised weight distribution and all-steel construction with integral chassis and body frame. A total of 55,150 Airflows were built from 1934 to 1937, compared to 255 timber-framed Tatra T77 and T77a streamliners from 1933 to 1938. Oddly, it’s the latter that’s commonly presented as the pioneer of production car streamlining. The Chrysler chapter was the more significant and the Airflows are often acknowledged as ‘the first truly modern car’.

Sales were disappointing. History has shown that customers are often reluctant to accept too many new features at once, but the primary cause was the Airflow ‘face’. The integration of front wings, radiator opening, headlamps and full-width curved bonnet were all intelligent initiatives that would soon become universal, but the tall waterfall grille and the proportions imposed by the Chrysler model’s high-mounted straight-eight engine were not well-received.