Sometimes a design is so far advanced it can only be fully appreciated after it has come and gone. In 1934, Chrysler thought so far out of the box, the Airflow never quite enjoyed commercial success. In the early thirties, and still today, two factors remained at the top of consumers priorities- price and style. Compared to its contemporaries at Cadillac, Lincoln and Packard, the Airflow was shockingly unique. Gone were the externally mounted bulky headlights, upright grilles, and tall passenger compartments. Instead, aerodynamics played an integral role in design and Chrysler used a wind tunnel to hone the Airflow’s shape with help from Oroville Wright. Rather than placing bodies atop ladder frames the body was built using a new technique that we now recognize as unibody construction. This allowed for more spacious interiors and a lower, sleeker stance. No doubt an engineering milestone, the design was too far out of line, and the price too high, for the average motorist to accept in the economically depressed times of the mid-thirties and by 1937 the Airflow was done.
During the first model year run of 1934, a single prototype Chrysler CX Custom Imperial Airflow Town Sedan with coachwork by LeBaron was built. This car was purchased by Charles Goddard of Tulsa, Oklahoma, one of the founders of the Humble Oil Company; the original price was $2245. He used it until 1939 when it was given away under unusual circumstances. Mr. Goddard’s son was involved in a car accident and found on the roadside by a passing farmer, who placed the boy and his friend onto the bed of his pickup truck and drove them to the nearest hospital. Unfortunately the boy did not survive, but out of gratitude for his efforts, Charles Goddard gave his 1934 CX prototype to the farmer who kept it for over thirty years.
*Originally published in the Palo Alto Concours d'Elegance official program, June 2006*
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