Chrysler Airflow SUV?

"ptak appreciates old racecars" (racecarptak) 01/29/2015 at 00:28 • Filed to: chrysler

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There's been some discussion recently on how modern SUVs are similar in layout to a 1930s sedan.

Well, why not bring back the old Chrysler Airflow as an SUV? It had even chunkier styling than usual in the '30s, I really think this could translate well to a luxury SUV. Perhaps something with the rough proportions of the Aspen, which already makes use of a couple of its design cues:

Think of it as the PT Cruiser done right.

Spoon II > ptak appreciates old racecars 01/29/2015 at 01:02

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Now all I can imagine is a lifter Airflow, and I gotta say, it looks pretty good in my head!

ly2v8-Brian > ptak appreciates old racecars 01/29/2015 at 01:55

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That's some subtlety there. I like those subtle call backs. It's one of the things I liked about the 2000 LeSabre I had.

kanadanmajava1 > ptak appreciates old racecars 01/29/2015 at 02:01

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If I would be an Airflow I would be pretty upset being compared with any modern SUV. Airflow was too modern to attract the planned amount of buyers and it was discontinued fairly quickly. What would have happened if it would have been a success and others had followed? Here's how the body and chassis were constructed.

E. Julius > ptak appreciates old racecars 01/29/2015 at 02:40

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Perhaps something with the rough proportions of the Aspen, which already makes use of a couple of its design cues:

I'm not outright disagreeing with you here, but I'm going to play skeptic. What design cues do you see between the two? The only thing that looks really deliberate are the lines on the hood. Other than that it seems to me that any similarities are just coincidental or being imagined. That being said, I could be wrong and unobservant.

Edit: maybe the chrome mirrors as well, but that doesn't seem to be super Airflow specific.

ptak appreciates old racecars > E. Julius 01/29/2015 at 03:45

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The hood and the droopy headlights. Plus I used the '30s car-modern SUV parallel to convey my argument better. ^-^

E. Julius > ptak appreciates old racecars 01/29/2015 at 04:07

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Ok, I think you could probably make a decent argument for the headlights. Definitely agree on the old car/SUV parallel—I'm always amazed by how large the wheels and tires are on cars like that when I see them.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > ly2v8-Brian 01/29/2015 at 07:59

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2000 LeSabre owner here, the styling really grew on me. I like how it's basically a four-door 8th-gen Riviera.

ly2v8-Brian > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 01/29/2015 at 10:47

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And other subtleties like the creases on the hood and trunk emulate, in a very conservative way, the main contour lines of the 1959-1960 LeSabre-Invicta-Electra. The shape and the way the low and high beams are separated also call back to the look of those cars.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > ly2v8-Brian 01/29/2015 at 11:05

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I like the hips. Very few "grandma cars" have hips like that. Gives it a slightly muscular stance.

ptak appreciates old racecars > E. Julius 01/29/2015 at 14:25

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Definitely, they're giant!

DavidHH > kanadanmajava1 02/02/2015 at 00:39

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The airflow was killed by GMC's lies about all metal cars. When challenged with a better design, GM decided to run deceptive advertising showing how steel encased wood was stronger than steel tubing. Never mind that no one has ever made a steel encased wood frame in all of automotive history, and the GM was still making cars with wood as a structural member. Chrysler tried to fight the false rumors of the Airflow being dangerous, and went as far as rolling one down a hillside and showing that it was not reasonably only intact, but that it still ran and drove.