Re: IML: Airflow's affect on Chrysler during the 1930's

["Bill Watson" <wwatson5@xxxxxxxxx>]

That's kind of a mxied bag you have there.  Packard and Cadillac were
competitors, but neither were considered competitors of Buick or LaSalle.
The Imperial and Custom Imperial Airflows would have been in the same league
as the Packard and Cadillac, but that just shows how poorly the Airflow did
in 1934 :

Packard 8 : 7,000
Cadillac V8 : 5,070
Imperial / Custom Imperial Airflow 8 : 2,416

The Chrysler Imperial 8 competed with the mid Buicks, the series 50 and 60.
The low-priced series 40 went against the Chrysler Six while the
long-wheelbase series 90 was more in the league of the Imperial.

Buick 8, series 50 & 60 : 34,841
Chrysler Airflow 8 : 8,389
LaSalle 8 : 7,195

Below the Chrysler Airflow came the DeSoto Airflow, whose main competitor
was the Oldsmobile, which came with either a 6 or an 8 :

Oldsmobile 6 : 51,082
Oldsmobile 8 : 24,492
DeSoto Airflow 6 : 13,940

So the Airflow was a sales disappointment, but I suspect Chrysler was
entering the market on the side of caution.   Except for the Custom Imperial
Airflow model CW with its body by LeBaron, all Airflows shared bodies.   The
DeSoto Aiflow came on a 115½" wheelbase with the rear doors having a small
dogleg.  The basic door stampings were shared driver's side front
<-->passenger side rear and driver's side rear <-->passenger side front.
To get the Chrysler Airflow 8's 123" wheelbase, lengthen the hood.   The
Imperial Airflow had a 128" wheelbase and that was done by pushing the rear
wheels back and eliminating the dog leg.  The rear stampings were shared
with the smaller Airflows,. Chrysler just extending the stamping between the
door and rear, making the quarter window longer.  And to get the Custom
Imperial Airflow's 137½" wheelbase they used the coupe doors for the front
doors.    Chrysler definitely stretched its tooling dollars as far as they
could with the Airflow.

Chrysler would use this body sharing idea for the non-Airflow cars in 1935.
And GM would follow suit starting in 1937 when they followed Chrysler's lead
into all-steel bodies.  The new GM "B" body of 1937 was used by Pontiac 6 &
8, Oldsmobile 6 & 8, Buick series 40 and 60, LaSalle series 50 and Cadillac
series 60.   The restyled "A" body of 1939 was used by Chevrolet, Pontiac
Quality Six and Oldsmobile series 60 and would be adopted by Buick in 1941
for the Special series 40-A.   And GM topped it all in 1940 with a new "C"
body that was shared by Pontiac Custom, Oldsmobile series 80, Buick series
50 and 70, LaSalle series 52 and Cadillac series 62.

So the Airflow influenced future styling (aerodynamics), seating positions
(ahead of the rear axle), engine location (on the front axle) and body
engineering (sharing of major body structures and unon of body and chassis).
And all that more than made up for the disappointing sales in the
development of the automobile as we know it..

Bill
Vancouver, BC


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dr David George Briant" <drdgb@xxxxxxx>
To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2005 9:07 PM
Subject: Re: IML: Airflow's affect on Chrysler during the 1930's


> ESPECIALLY, READ UP ON SALES OF AIRFLOW IN 1934 VERSUS PACKARD, CADILLAC,
> LASALLE AND BUICK.......
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "David Duricy" <desotobravo@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2005 6:40 PM
> Subject: Re: IML: Airflow's affect on Chrysler during the 1930's
>
>
> > --- Kenyon Wills <imperialist1960@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >> Hmmm.  Always willing to eat crow when it's the only
> >> thing on the menu.
> >
> > It's not your fault that a lot of really poor history
> > has been written, and repeated, about Chrysler
> > Corporation. It has adversely affected Chrysler's
> > place in the American landscape and the value of our
> > cars as collectibles.
> >
> > Read "Riding the Roller Coaster: A History of Chrysler
> > Corporation" by Charles K. Hyde and "Chrysler" by
> > Vincent Curcio. They're fun and informative.
> >
> > Dave Duricy
> >



-----------------  http://www.imperialclub.com  -----------------
This message was sent to you by the Imperial Mailing List. Please 
reply to mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and your response will be 
shared with everyone. Private messages (and attachments) for the
Administrators should be sent to webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To UN-SUBSCRIBE, go to http://imperialclub.com/unsubscribe.htm