DeSoto Airflow History

The DeSoto Airflow arrived for 1934 as a sister to the Chrysler Airflow — one of the first American cars designed with aerodynamics in mind, with a smooth, rounded body, near-50/50 weight distribution, and a unitized-style steel structure well ahead of its rivals. It used a 241.5-cubic-inch straight-six rated around 100 hp.

For 1934 DeSoto offered ONLY the Airflow, and the public rejected its unconventional looks; sales collapsed and the gamble nearly took the young division down. Chrysler rushed the more orthodox Airstream into the line for 1935 to recover volume. The Airflow was dropped after 1936, remembered as an influential but commercially disastrous styling experiment.