1936 Chrysler Imperial Airflow C10 Sedan

Chrysler introduced a radical-looking vehicle with an Art Deco appearance at the New York Auto Show in January of 1934. It was called the Airflow. It had a novel beam and truss design strength and low weight. It had a large interior with 50-inch wide chair-height seats. For the first time in an automobile, the rear seat was situated forward of the rear axle, which offered unprecedented room for rear occupants. The engine was placed over the front axle 20 inches further forward than it did in other Chryslers.

Production of the Airflow continued until 1937 with only 55,000 produced for both Chrysler and DeSoto car lines over four years. They had a myriad of technical and stylistic advancements, with over 50 engineering firsts and 72 national speed records.

This example has the period-correct fender skirts, dual taillights, an exhaust extension, artillery-type wheels, whitewall tires, and Appleton fog lights.

The car spent half a century in a museum. It was restored in 2013 by the Ruozzi Brothers Collection, of Breinigsville, Pennsylvania, to concours quality. The body has been painted a correct shade of Del Monte Beige Metallic. The interior is tan cloth upholstery and there are aircraft-inspired gauges with crystal-clear lenses and polished bezels. There is an Airflow banjo steering wheel, a radio, a heater, and a Trico defroster fan. The engine has the correct Airflow-specific alloy cylinder head topped by a full set of new-old-stock Champion H10 spark plugs as would have been fitted when new.

By Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2015