Driving around Springfield this weekend and you may feel like you’ve entered a time warp. The city is the site of this year’s annual Airflow Meet where enthusiasts from around the world share their beloved collections of classic cars. KSMU’s Theresa Bettmann attended the show and judging on Friday and has this report.
Enthusiasts of the Chrysler and DeSoto Airflow say these historic cars are “one of most influential and sought after cars of the 20th century.” Chandler Smith is the vice president of the Airflow Club of America and says these 1930s cars were the first of its kind and highly revolutionary during that era.
“It was the first car designed using a wind tunnel because it was the first car that took aerodynamic into account. They proved in fact that the typical car of the day was more aerodynamic going backward rather than forward. So the Airflow was designed by a threesome of engineers that really made ‘form follow function.’ Orville Wright was a consultant on the wind tunnel research for this car,” says Smith.
These cars accounted for many “firsts” regarding design, explains Smith, including all steel unit body construction, passenger safety cage, and three-across passenger seating in the front, just to name a few.
“Once they had it kind of squared away they took Walter P. Chrysler for a ride and he loved it, and realized how revolutionary this was. He [Chrysler] said ‘I want one of those with my name on it and we’re going to make it the most incredible car that ever hit the market—and I want it all done by 1934 which will be the 10th anniversary of Chrysler,” says Smith.
Smith shares that depending upon the model these cars first sold for around $1,000 to $1,500 off the assembly line. To put that into perspective, he says that was about half the price of a house in those days. The cars were only made for four years between 1934 and 1937, says Smith, who adds that the Depression and gas rationing during World War II were some of the reasons the automobiles were pushed aside.
Smith lights up when talking about these cars. He’s been an enthusiast since childhood and became a member of the national Airflow club 20 year ago. It began in 1962 and celebrates around 300 to 400 cars still on the road today. Smith says he now has two of his own—one he drove all the way from Texas for this week’s meet.
“They are a 30s car that you can drive at highway speeds. When they came out in 1934 they set 72 land speed records for that class of car. I drove mine [for this meet] all of the way from Ft. Worth, I didn’t trailer it, I actually drove and cruised at 70 to 75 mph all day long. A typical car of the Airflow’s vintage may go 45 mph, maybe 50mph, but that would be pushing it,” Smith says.
The meet in Springfield runs through Sunday, when all members will disperse and head back home. Smith says anyone interested in seeing and learning more about these cars can stop by the University Plaza Hotel and Convention Center in the evenings, since the group is out enjoying the sites of Springfield during the day. He says usually members are near their cars and just love to share their love of the vehicle.
