DeSotoAirflow

01

Origins

For 1934 Chrysler committed its DeSoto brand entirely to the Airflow — wind-tunnel-shaped, with the engine moved forward over the axle, passengers seated within the wheelbase, and an early unitised body of real strength. It was one of the most scientifically advanced cars America had built, and the public recoiled from it. The rounded, waterfall-nosed styling read as bulbous rather than futuristic, launch quality was poor after production delays, and while Chrysler hedged with conventional models, DeSoto had nothing else to sell. Sales collapsed, and the marque spent the rest of the decade recovering behind hastily conventionalised front ends. The Airflow's engineering — the weight distribution, the ride, the body construction — quietly became industry practice within a decade. Being right early, DeSoto learned, is commercially identical to being wrong.