1935 Chrysler C-1 Airflow Sedan

The Airflow was produced by Chrysler from 1934 to 1937. It was, as many today would recognize, the first full-size American production car to use streamlining as a basis for a sleeker automobile. It was also, however, a commercial failure for Chrysler.

It was an interesting exercise to study aerodynamics and transfer the data to automobile design. The engineers at Chrysler noted that most cars of the day were very inefficient, so they focused on ways a car could be built to reduce drag, strengthen the body, increase the power-to-drag ratio, and generally distance themselves from boxy design standards.

The car was introduced in January 1934, powered by eight-cylinder engines. Unfortunately, within six months of Airflow's introduction, the vehicle sales were a disaster. For the model year 1935, Chrysler made some body modifications and brought the car more in line with consumer tastes. Production dipped below 8,000 units for 1935.

Sadly, this attempt by Chrysler to distance itself from the competition ended up causing the company to design in a much more traditional way. Until the debut of Virgil Exner's 'Forward Look' in 1955, Chrysler's cars maintained a conservative and mainstream design.