Fashioned by Function - Chrysler Airflow
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ต.ค. 2024
- The development and testing of the revolutionary, streamline designed Chrysler Airflow.
The Chrysler Airflow is an automobile produced by the Chrysler Corporation from 1934 to 1937. The Airflow was one of the first full-size American production car to use streamlining as a basis for building a sleeker automobile, one less susceptible to air resistance. Chrysler made a significant effort at a fundamental change in automotive design with the Chrysler Airflow, but it was ultimately a huge commercial failure.
Source: en.wikipedia.or...
S154
That does it! My next car will be a 1934 Chrysler Airflow!
I think I'll wait for the new 2034 Chrysler Airflow with MacPherson struts and "moon roof top" to appear in showrooms. The 2034 model comes with "retractable wheels" and Airflow ejection seats for just $ 34,000 more. Now that's a Chrysler bargain!
I'm still driving around in my Australian 1976 HJ holden ..
Aerodynamically it would have to be the most dirtiest car around...
But I love it !!
@3:55 so this is the guy that designed the ford flex.
@@davidandrews2822 hell no im getting my 6391 airflow Chrysler.
prius is still more reliable that that Chrysler though
Back when the company was run by engineers and not bean counters.
It was run by W.P. Chrysler himself.
And not many people bought this car. Why? They didn't like the way it looked - because ti looked a bit different. Why didn't they buy this car? Because they are stupid I guess. Actually, initially there was a fairly high demand, and Chrysler took downpayments on orders. Chrysler had difficulty meeting the demand. Cars were coming off the assembly line too slowly. And while the cars may have been fashioned by function, or as we say today, according the philosophy of "form follows function," Chrysler Airflows didn't function as they were designed to function. Many systems were malfunctioning. While you could roll a new Airfolow off of a cliff into a ravine and it would still operate, let it sit outside in the rain for a couple of days and try that, and it would break apart at the places where it had rusted through. Beautiful beautiful car, outside and in. My favorite car of all time. Good engineering, poor construction.
@@soilmanted They say Fisher Body helped General Motors sell so many vehicles because of the styling and not much else.
@@MrYAMAHA32177 I would think that's so. However the Fishy Body Company was affiliated with Generally Motors Corp, and not with Chrysteler.
Judging by other comments here, where Chrysler fell down was on build quality, i.e. production engineering. The Japanese car manufacturers won out once they had that licked.
I knew the chrystler airflow looked significantly more aerodynamic than its counter parts of the day but I had no idea just how far ahead of its time it was! Unibody construction, windtunnel designed, they even though of how weight distribution effected ride. Wow this is a really incredibly interesting car!
morgan
chrystler?
@Barndancer61 It was ahead of it's time, you dipshit. It had features that became the industry standard some 30-40 years later. And the visual aesthetics were a hint of things to come in the next 20 years.
@Barndancer61 It may have happened in its time, but it took much later until they were features applied to most cars. Here's an example, all cars after 2012 were mandated to have vehicle stability control (abs & traction control might have already been mandated, I'm not sure). Although the first stability control for cars was invented in the 1970's it still wasn't on most cars until about 2010. Another thing is touch screen monitors and backup cameras. In 2004, you could buy a Prius with 50mpgs, top crash ratings, side airbags, vehicle stability control, and a touch screen monitor with a backup camera, navigation & Bluetooth. Now although they did this at the time they did, cars did not become synonymous with all of these features until about 2019. Now in 2021, backup cameras have been mandated and the next thing cars are working towards is brake assistance and pedestrian avoidance for all cars (which could be a mandated feature by 2025, who knows). The point being is that there is a first for everything, and that first is technically ahead of its time because of the amount of time it would take for the features incorporated to be common. I don't know why I even had to say this, as you probably already knew and were just trying to the wise guy. Either way, I had fun with the shpeal so thanks for opening the opportunity!
This commentator dude is making me feel like I’m being punished for accepting the status quo of late 20s car design
It's amazing to see just how clearly physics and engineering are described in the video to explain aerodynamics. Also greatly insightful information about Chrysler personnel in the video.
Back then: more power means bigger engine!
Now a days: 1 litre turbo makes more power than those big Six engines.
Right. When I saw 2l mercedes make 450hp I was completely shocked.
@@andreistoler9468 Koenigsegg Gemera 2L turbo, 3 cylinder 600 horsepower!
Yea lots of power but the longevity of the newer stuff is for shit.
@@kaprentice the drivetrain of a Tesla Model 3 is tested for 1Mio Miles. The only carmaker who doesn't build planned obsolescence into their cars (yet)
Yes that is true but 20 years after this video was made a computer took up 7-9 rooms then the same 20 years later a computer could fit on a table and some were even Portable💻
3:54 little did he know that he was holding the design of modern day SUVs
Add to that how inefficient modern SUVs are on fuel mileage too.
@@rickj1983 and it seems the solution is put quad turboed 1 liter 3 cylinders to get 1 more mpg than a naturally aspirated 5 liter v8
“And available on any color as long as it’s grey!”
Black. And that was Henry fords quote.
@@Fjsbdjdh yep.
@@Fjsbdjdh it's a joke because the video is in black and white you buffoon
Even though the Airflow inspired automotive design for decades, it was a complete failure at the time because customers thought it was ugly. Up to that point, Chrysler made their cars on a foundation of engineering, on the basis that building a better mousetrap is the best way to sell mousetraps. The Airflow demonstrated that people will buy an inferior automobile over a superior one, if the superior one is too "out there." Combined with the death of Walter P Chrysler, this crippled Chrysler's creative spirit and lead them to stay conservative for many years. It took big changes like Virgil Exner's styling and the hot-rodding influence of the '60s to bring back the pizzazz.
The contemporary Buick, Hudson, Nash, and other mid-priced makes were all great cars and in no way inferior. The Mopars from the late 1930s thru early 1950s were all well-engineered. Automakers must use marketing research otherwise their new designs may be flops.
@@SpockvsMcCoy Hudson was ahead of its time more than the big three though ;)
@@RustOnWheels Do you know anything about the 1934 Hupmobile Aerodynamic?
That's also why today's Mopar pseudo-muscle cars are a waste of a lot of extra sheet metal in inefficient shapes. The technology under the hood gets somewhat wasted for the sake of fashion.
@@fmphotooffice5513 Well if we're being honest, Detroit stopped being the center for bold and daring innovation a very long time ago. I applaud Chrysler for at least having the balls to make some absolutely nutty cars, and make them in quantity. The cars are heavy because they're big; I don't think the styling is really their problem, and clearly the public are into it. And their under-hood technology is... well it's not so much technology as it is sheer violence. Most economy cars have more technologically advanced powertrains than a Redeye Challenger, but it's just got a bunch of everything. And hey, it's a muscle car, that's what it's about. Big dumb brute force. I think they have the best muscle cars for that reason - they're the biggest AND the dumbest.
Listening to the narrator speak, just the vocabulary used, really goes to show how "dumbed down" things are today....it's incredible and sad at the same time...
The way to counteract that, albeit on a much smaller scale, is to expand your own vocabulary. When someone asks me what a particular word means, I simply tell them to look it up. That way, they learn something.
@@binyon7 You're wrong. Language is changing constantly, yes. The way we are marketed to is what the OP was referring to, the language in today's marketing is very buzzwordy with little explanation whatsoever as to why a company's product/service is better, in a non emotionally manipulative way.
This is much more straightforward and logical. New advertisements are anything but that.
@@ApartmentKing66 If I asked someone what a word meant and they told me to look it up I would get fucking pissed lol. I hate when people do shit like that.
I wouldn't say its so much the fact that people wouldn't understand the language being used. When this Chrysler ad was created, the reach it would have had was extremely limited. People didn't have televisions in their homes, and few people went to movie theatres to see the 1930s equivalent of an infomericial. Video ads today have much more reach, and need to be designed to appeal to a much bigger variety of people than commercials in the 30s did. If you look up ads for specialty products with small consumer bases, you will see that the language becomes much more technical similar to the way this video was made.
Could not hear the commentator - pity.
And this is what happens when you let engineers design the shape of the car. You get a car that is so far ahead of its time that no one buys it. People at the time thought the Airflow was just too ugly to buy. The Airflow is now a collectors item and no one lets their engineers design a car without consulting an artist.
My man was getting worked up at the end lol
Check the airflow by flicking a cigarette out the window.
It was Chrysler that had the"Forward Look"➡for many years.
so now we're here for a backward view
@@michaelheinrich44: In every sense of this statement👈Backwards👈 even Chrysler is name is being phased out by Fiat🇮🇹Walter P and Lee Iococca is rollin in their graves.😵
*cough cough* 2nd generation ram
Unibody before they had a name for it. Slippery? Yes. But the Tatra 77 was even more so with a drag coefficient of 0.212! Still to this day one of the most aerodynamic cars ever made. Said to be the inspiration for the VW Bettle.
What an excellent historical document. Being a mechanical engineer all the new design features and their benefits were so logical and clearly presented it made me giddy with delight. Modern commercials appeal to instinct and especially emotion. "Buy this and it will make you happy!" , "You're worth it!" , "This is cool!" I really don't care for modern advertising.
I liked the way this was presented...I'm already a MoPar fan going back to my 1st experience w/one even before I had a driver's licence ('65 New Yorker), but taking a look back is even cooler.
I have a 1937 Airflow restored as original. I have driven it coast to coast twice with no issues. Averaged over 70 miles per hour on interstates. Magnificent car decades ahead of its time!
Those scale models 😃 Wonder what happened to them
This is a great example of “over selling”.
Primitive but effective historical example of early computational fluid dynamics driven mechanical design.
that rear end drag really works, I pulled up behind a transport truck, on the 401, spitfire, 70 s. put it neutral , did some sailing.
Did anyone else notice that the engineer at the wind tunnel lab holds a test block that is the EXACT shape of today’s SUV? In fact with a bit of detail sculpting it could easily pass for the Ford Edge. Look at again!
Imagine getting an advertisement back then. You'd watch the whole ad, then watch the video and one would be just as good as the othar. You might even wish you could replay the ad!
I can't believe that guy biked 76 mph just by riding behind a car :o that's literally freeway speeds
Could be an exaggeration. Good catch.
Lol I stopped the video to look for this comment. No fuckin way he biked along at 76MPH for a whole hour
@@PFPTHEGREATEST he was sucked along by the car he didnt have to pedal very hard at all it sucked him along like a vacuum cleaner would.
As a kid I would cycle in the wake of trucks. Dumb and dangerous thing to do. But the feeling of cycling without drag is something very special. It almost feels as if you’re lifted up.
SOLD !
I'm going out tomorrow to buy me one !!
Hahahahaha. Me too. Screw the Lamborghini!
Great video and shows how advanced Chrysler were compared to the rest, but unfortunately the average car buyer in the street wasn't an engineer and couldn't appreciate the advantages of good engineering. Chrysler has had so many 'firsts' in the auto world, it's why they were more of a car for the thinking people (ie, minority) rather than the followers.
Word is the factory works didn't do as good a job of putting the thing together, as the engineers did in designing it. I heard that welds broke, frames cracked, engines did not stay put on their engine mounts. And speaking of design - on early models, the only way to put things in the trunk, the boot, was to fold the back seat down and put them in from there - there was no access to the boot from the rear!
Yep! The factory workers didn't know how to build such a complicated space frame. The welds just weren't up to the task. "Because of the unique and expense involved in the new Airflow design, the factory had not accounted for this, so it required a bizarre number and variety of welding techniques. Unfortunately the original Airflows that arrived at dealerships had numerous problems, mostly due to faulty manufacturing. Fred Breer, the son of Chrysler Engineer Carl Breer, commented that the first 2,000 to 3,000 Airflows left the factory with major defects that included breaking loose from their mountings at 80 mph." www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z16803/Chrysler-Imperial-Airflow-C10.aspx
Back in a time when TH-cam was black and white.
Bro?
Alright - I'm sold! Where can I place an order?
Oh, wait - Chrysler doesn't exist anymore - just some conglomerate known as Stellantis.
As I was watching this video, it reminded me of the 'new' Post-War HUDSON.... which had many of the same design features.
Maaan they were thinking waaaay ahead of their time with this car. Straight facts all throughout the infomercial but sadly failed due to people not liking it's design. What a shame.
"People Ride an Automobile to ride in to carry thing in and not just for the fun of hauling around a power plant " enter Dodge demon
have a BMW Z3 as 2nd car just for cruising around for fun.
It's too bad the Airflow didn't sell very well. It had some good ideas that drivers and passengers alike would appreciate.
It took awhile, but many of the advancements that the Airflow had "trickled down" to later cars. Regardless of sales volume, The car itself was a winner!
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Ill bet those Airflow engineers thought their car was stunning. Too bad most people are so blind to innovation...and function over form.
Always loved the front end of airflows.
Pure art.
And Ford gave us the horse collar in 20-some years
It was no airflow!
If I recall correctly, Walter Chrysler said the Airflow was his biggest mistake. Way ahead of its time, but people weren’t buying it because of “the look.”
One of the mega drawbacks was that the head of Chrysler design was a big man whose trademark was always wearing a Fedora hat and chomping on a cigar. Everywhere. One of his mandates was that every design had to so that he could sit behind the wheel wearing his hat. Other manufacturers were after the sleek, lower profile look, even with Mom driving, smiling, and happy kids in the back seat. Or Dad with the entire family aboard. No hat on Dad, which was the evolving customary “look.”
We just watched 13 minutes ad and we loved it
A great and direct to the point video! If it were made today, the government would want them to include the L.B.G and T. people and same sex bathrooms etc...
Yup. A long time before hedonism and decadence took over.
Chrysler: noooo our airflow automobiles are superior you can’t just put more horsepower in a car
Ford: ha ha V8 go brrrrrrr
Omg...
I am going Deaf!!!
Lol,,,,
Thats why I love my PT Cruiser
Good luck with the plastic intake manifold.
@@allwinds3786 untill now I dont have any problem with that ..
I wouldn't worry about the plastic intake manifold. My PT, an '01 owned since new, never had a problem with the intake manifold. I think most intake manifolds are plastic these days (glass reinforced nylon?). Anyway, I liked the PT so much, I got a second one a year ago. Happy motoring!
@@crusinscamp I don't want to jinks you or anything bad, safe travels to you 👍
@@crusinscamp Good point. Plastic intake manifolds are the norm for most engines these days. And they only become an issue when you overheat the engine.
Today we have learned to shape and bend sheet metal to gain structural strength and surround the occupants with exploding bags for protection as the vehicle crumbles from impacts.
Most modern vehicles are unrepairable after a relatively small collision due to the "energy absorption" of the folding structure forcing yet another new vehicle purchase from the manufacturer.
Today many vehicles have lost reliability due to the forced regulations as new unproven technology is needed to achieve higher fuel mileage requirements.
The new electric vehicles are the rave but no one questions the fuel required to produce electricity or the mining processes needed to supply materials for the battery construction.
100 power is enough? But my neighbor Billycock got a 600hp CHK clapper-mobile and I have to show him up! No, I say, give me more!
The 1936 Lincoln Zephyr was a much more marketable aerodynamic car that used a sharp prow of a radiator yet mimicked the Chrysler Airflow from the cowl backward. Interesting how a classic Pierce Arrow convertible sedan is used for comparison.
The 1934 Chrysler Airflow was the Most Popular Car in Lost Heaven
Lost Heaven in Mafia 1
We were making aero cars way back then but now everything is as much of a big dumb brick as possible. A big dumb brick with the most excessively large engine possible. Fuel is too cheap and Americans are far too wasteful.
Man oh man, your head is so far up your sphincter! You postulate so many dumbassed things that separating the shit from the Shinola is impossible.
@@brucewelty7684 OK Boomer
And today we are driving SUVs 😁
Wonderful and beautiful times and cars.
An advertisement that actually explains why their product is better with thorough illustrations. Now all you see is a pointless driving montage and some useless statement about the “all new 2021 blahblahblah available with 0% apr......”
Damn they really didn't continue this thinking after the war did they
pre: "More speed without more power"
post: "big engine go bwbwbwbw"
This show comes from the time when the air flow was released hence the sound quality
It looks like an extended VW with body armor.
Whoppi. Let's go get a new 2024 Airflow, where today it looks like every other jelly bean on the road. Weee.
Holy shit this car was advanced, cuts right through the air and is even a unibody construction!
My grandfather was a Chrysler man and I'm A Dodge.
Why didn't they say what the top speed of this car is? That was the whole premise, the lack of efficiency or top end speed with double the HP.
All this knowledge, yet look at a 70s Chrysler. Hmmm.
Way ahead of it's time and Chrysler took far too long bringing it to market from the date first shown. By the end of the decade all cars had adopted some airflow elements.
The Citroën 2cv was also way ahead of its time and ugly.
Car buyers didnt and still don't realize what's good for them....
Love this demonstration video.
I’m sold!
4:06 Look at that, he's holding a Volvo 745!
Imagine how Chrysler could of been of the airflow would of caught on
would *have* caught on
Love the cars of the 1930's.
I have to wonder if the car would have appealed more to the average buyer if they would have concentrated more on the MPG factor. You know that if the car was that streamlined, it would most likely get much better fuel mileage than the "common car" of the day. Judging by the depression that the country was going through at the time, I bet that would have been a great selling point of the car.
Where they actually fell down was in reliability. The cars came out of the factory practically falling apart because the welding techniques were so inadequate.
Interesting. When do they start taking orders?
Lol a lesson in aerodynamics can be learned here
Walter P Chrysler was CMO(Chief Mechanical Officer) of the Chicago Great Western Railway and was the real deal. An engineer first, a man that knew mechanics, steam engines etc. Chryslers were always known as the thinking mans car. I love my GM cars and the design's of Harley Earl, who also had a organic flow to his car design, and Virgil Exner also. These were good cars that just were too ahead of there time. I would LOVE to have a Imperial Airflow.
Looks awesome even now! Look at Citroën DS from 1955. That is what the VO said: fashion by function.
Jay Leno had one on his show, surprised he didn't mention it was unibody construction, cool car!
This is so well made I want to buy one in 2021!
Airflow this, airflow that. Then the end-result with a license plate mounted like an air-brake.
Yeah, but it's like the '73 bumpers. The government made 'em do it.
So 80 years ago 100 hp delivered 80 mph with a car that weighed ~ 3,500lbs. It cost $600.00. A 2020 Chrysler 300S has 292 hp goes 155 mph (limited by electronics) and weighs ~ 4,000 lbs. It costs $38,000. How far we have come
Well, there‘s that thing called inflation ;)…
@@ExBenzi2 $600.00 in 1935 translates to $11,700 in 2020 dollars. Instead of posting the usual BS, it would be better if you looked the topic up. "OHHHHH! The inflation thing" ... No one understands it so it's a great excuse.
@@milesobrien2694 Ofc it's not only inflation. You can't compare just a sticker price tho. Factor in inflation plus higher cost for resources such as steel, copper, etc. And the average wages of today are higher than 80y ago. Furthermore, cars of today have to comply to much higher standards than years ago. Could you imagine the backlash if the welding gave in at 80MPH on a modern car, like it did on the Chrysler Airflow? The extra weight of modern cars mainly stems from the usage of much denser and harder steel. Just compare an A-Pillar from the 60s to that of a modern car. It's like night and day. They're also a lot better equipped than they were like 30y ago. And - as you can imagine I guess - that equipment is not exactly weightless.
Cheers.
@@ExBenzi2 Reading your paean to the modern capitalist world gave me a laugh. Of course I can compare sticker prices. Seems to me though, you're leaving $25,000 + on the table. $11,000 to $38,000. I wonder where that comes in? Oh, right. PROFIT for the car maker and his dealers.
So smart. The engineers must have had to devise a way to include relaxation into their schedules because their heads would have been overweight with all those facts.
Fairfaxcat Herp Derp Durr Hurr Hurrrrrrr
Millennials will not understand any of the terminology in this advertisement.
i understood most of it
Very interesting presentation.
This car was not a great success in 1934, but still influenced car design from decades to come. Even in 2021 cars are still using the aero design style.
An advanced design that became Chrysler 's Edsel. In short order Chrysler was itself going backwards in design because the public was not ready to advance so quickly. Except for the 57-58 period, I don't feel Chrysler ever had styling superiority, and frankly don't see how they stayed in business.
Back then (1934) only the wealthy could buy a car. For most working class Americans, a car was a luxury item. It was not until after 1945 that car ownership grew massively.
LS swap it haha
very good video
Yup. I'm definitely buying that 1934 DeSoto Airflow now.
1:59 some people do though
Science of car design
Chrysler was actually considering Front Wheel Drive for the airflow, just like the Cord, but it was not meant to be. Also the Airflow was the first car with Overdrive, I believe. correct me if I am wrong.
if you go back in time with a honda city or yaris it will be the fastest car in the world.
6:30
The wise guy 🧐
I was cruising at 80 mph yesterday in my 1992 Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon, which has a 180 hp V8. It has an aerodynamic shape.
This car was so ahead of it time. I would love to buy ome of these one day!
They were beautiful and VERY advanced automobiles. Sadly, the cars were brought out too far ahead of an auto's usual 3 year development cycle, in 1933, in order to be available in time for the 1933 Chicago's Fair. This led to long delivery times and more than the normal amount of "bugs", in the new cars (Cracked frames were the most common problem). People waiting almost a year for the cars, coupled with the cracked frames gave the public reason to think of the Airflow as a lemon, despite the fact that most of the bugs were fixed by 1934; but by then a nasty campaign of lies and 1/2 truths, by GM, killed public confidence in these amazing cars and after 1937, the Airflow would be gone and forgotten.
Is this why birds don't have bricks for wings?
100hp 80mph lmao
They should have named it the Mustang.
One of the Wright brothers was consulted. That blows my mind. Btw my 60hp car is cruising comfortably at 65mph.
This car was inspired by Bucky Fuller’s Dymaxion car.
Surprised none of the comments mention this.
Chrysler has always been the "engineering" company, always having new and best features but they just could never get their reliability together SMH
That's infomercial grade acting there! **Throws his cigarette out the window**
**Proceeds to wave hand in disbelief and pout for 60 seconds**
Must just be me, the modern 300 has some resemblance to the Airflow. So did Dick Tracy’s car.
oh wow they got the Wright brothers to help them design this, that's honesty kinda crazy to think about
What's wrong with the sound?
Film recordings used a light track on the side of the film, for audio, this track would decay like the film, and sound like crap eventually.
These engineers couldn't have been that smart because they didn't develop front wheel drive until decades later. It's superior over rear wheel drive, especially in the snow
I'd say Romans were also pretty dumb for not developing a train
Incorrect. Cord was front wheel drive in 1936
Yes, Cord did it. The stumbling block was development of a universal joint for the front drive axles that allowed power transmission at tight steering angles. This wasn’t a simple problem in the days when basic driveshaft joints were still primitive, and cars just a decade prior had been using flexible disc couplings so unreliable that people like my grandfather carried spares for roadside repairs. I still remember U-joint replacement as a pretty common maintenance item in the 60’s, and those were modern cross and roller type. But in the 30’s, roads were so bad that I suspect most people would have gained little benefit from front wheel drive, likely being stuck regardless. My dad used to tell about his mom holding a candle up to the windshield in winter to defrost a little spot to look through while driving. It’s hard for us to imagine the conditions then.
As for engineers not being smart, it’s always easy to downplay the accomplishments of a prior era. These were the people who brought the essentials of the automobile from a crude powered wagon to essentially their modern form: full pressure engine lubrication, sealed forced circulating cooling systems, hydraulic brakes, power steering, automatic transmissions, hypoid gearing, air conditioning, electrical accessories, safety glass...all developed in this era by those not-too-smart engineers.
Cord was a big, expensive car. Ordinary people couldn’t pay for Cord front wheel drive, with its extra-long hood to accommodate the transaxle. There was no market demand, so no one else did FWD either. It wasn’t considered a necessity. I don’t recall any other front wheel drives in the US prior to the 80’s onrush except the Toronado and Eldorado, which were also curiosities, at least in this area.
interesting. I didn't know anything about this car until hearing chrysler will be unveiling a concept of the same name in 2022