chrysler airflow

[Ross Klein <tailfins@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I have always been fascinated by the Airflow design, in particular the
Imperial Airflow. In years past, at Das Awkscht Fescht car show in Macungie,
Pa. a gentleman would show up in a beautifully restored Crown Imperial
Airflow limousine. The revolutionary design, combined with the size of this
huge car (I think the wheelbase was about 145 inches) created quite a
sensation. My earliest recollection of the Airflow was in the early fifties,
when we still lived in the Forest Hills area of New York City. I was only
about 4 years old then, but can remember a brown Airflow that was always
parked on our block.

It seems that the design of the Airflow influenced several foreign auto
makers in the thirties. In my extensive model collection, I have examples of
the 1935 Peugeot 402 and the 1936 FN Airflow, both of which bear very strong
resemblence to the Chrysler Airflow. FN was a Belgian company that
originally manufactured firearms and military equipment.

Ross Klein
'56 sedan
'68 sedan
'78 NYB
'Life's too short to drive 'ordinary' cars"
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Evans" <evansma@xxxxxxxxxx>
:

> An interesting historical tidbit on the Airflow was that the Japanese were
> quite taken by the Airflow. So much so that, in 1936, Toyota (then known
as
> Toyoda Automatic Loom Works) produced their own hand-built version. Here's
a
> picture of the 1936 Toyoda Model AA next to a 1934 DeSoto:
>     http://www.1000islandstoyota.com/pages/linkpage.html