Kevin Williamson’s father first purchased a used Chrysler Airflow in 1939 and ever since then Airflows have been a part of their family. The entire family attended the first national meet of the Airflow Club of America in Detroit in 1964.
Below is the article as it appeared on The Globe and Mail website.
Keeping his Chrysler Airflow all in the family
By Bob English
Globe and Mail Update
Published on Wednesday, May. 26, 2010 2:54PM EDT
Last updated on Wednesday, May. 26, 2010 3:02PM EDT
What more appropriate classic car could you bring to a Wings & Wheels Heritage Festival than something called the Airflow?
Chrysler’s early 1930s Airflow was not only North America’s first aerodynamic production automobile, but according to legend was inspired by its designer watching a formation of early fighter aircraft wheeling above him; it also has a connection to aviation pioneer Orville Wright.
A 1934 Airflow will be among hundreds of old autos of all sorts and a wide range of aircraft that can be seen at the Canadian Air & Space Museum’s Fifth Annual Wings & Wheels Heritage Festival this weekend at Downsview Park in Toronto.
Kevin Williamson, who lives near Erin, Ont., has been involved with this particular Airflow since his childhood, but the family connection to the model – credited with launching the aero-envelope-bodied era in North American automotive design – goes back even further.
His father had purchased a used Airflow in 1939 and then went off to World War Two, only to find on his return his mother had sold it for scrap. Years later, he found this 1934 CU Airflow in derelict condition, purchased it and towed it home to Orangeville, Ont.
Its straight-eight engine proved to be badly damaged, however, so he went looking for another, which lead to the purchase of a rather special 1935 Airstream (a more conventional model with aero-style-add-ons) with twin side-mount spares and just 38,000 original miles on its odometer.
To read the rest of the article, visit The Globe and Mail website, at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-drive/car-life/classic-cars/keeping-his-chrysler-airflow-all-in-the-family/article1581840/.
