The Airflow's structure, appropriately enough, was designed by Dr. The Chrysler Division's two six-cylinder lines retained their conventional styling, but DeSoto placed all its bets on the success of the Airflow - with dismal results, as we shall soon see. In addition, DeSoto fielded a six-cylinder Airflow. In the end there were four Chrysler Airflows, each with its own wheelbase, and all with straight-eight powerplants. The introduction of this revolutionary new automobile would be, he believed, an appropriate way to celebrate the upcoming 10th Anniversary of the founding of the Chrysler Corporation. On the next page, learn about the structure of the Chrysler Airflow. And finally, it made possible the use of roomy, 50-inch-wide seats. Second - and even more importantly - this positioning cradled all the passengers within the axles, largely eliminating the bouncing sensation that had typically been experienced by rear-seat occupants. This had the effect, first, of reversing the previous weight distribution of approximately 45-percent front, 55-percent rear. For instance, passengers were moved forward 20 inches from their traditional position. However, many of Breer's other proposals were incorporated into the Trifon Special. Carl Breer had originally proposed seating for three in front, two in the rear, but that idea was quickly shot down by the marketing people. Dubbed the "Trifon Special" in honor of an engineering laboratory employee, it was a semi-fastback four-door sedan. A wind tunnel was constructed at Dayton, Ohio, and there Breer and his cohorts, Fred Zeder and Owen Skelton, undertook their research under a cloak of secrecy.īy the end of 1932, a prototype was on the road. With Walter Chrysler's blessing, work got under way on the development of a streamlined automobile. Breer was just beginning to recognize the handicap posed by wind resistance.
If the airplane, or for that matter the bird, was shaped in such a way as to minimize wind resistance, could not the same principle be applied, Breer wondered, to ground transportation: to trains, to trucks, to passenger cars? Especially to passenger cars, for by that time (late 1927) some of the better automobiles were capable of speeds as high as 80 or even 90 miles per hour. It was one of those illuminating moments. But as they approached he came to realize that what he was seeing wasn't geese he was observing a squadron of military aircraft on maneuvers. According to company legend, one day Breer was watching what he took to be a flock of geese in flight. Chrysler's great engineering triumvirate, who supplied the inspiration for the project. It was Carl Breer, one of the "Three Musketeers" of Walter P.
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