Airflows were the first Streamlined Production Cars in the World, produced from 1934 to 1937. 

Born at the start of the Art Deco Streamlined movement in auto design, the Airflow broke new ground, pioneering the movement;  the first mass produced car with aerodynamic science behind it's design engineering.   A technically advanced car, it's features still compare well with cars built over the next 30 years.  

It's body is like a fuselage, aerodynamic, with subtle contours.  The doors are compound curves, its lines fluid.  Window area is rather small compared to the sheet metal.  It's like a cocoon, designed for passenger safety. 

The original purchaser was an almond and english walnut farmer, who drove the car daily until about 1951.  He parked it next to his barn with 66,900 miles on the odometer and there it remained.  For the entire 56 years since, the car sat in one place, covered in tarps, tires flat, engine stilled.

Dec 2005

The car was entirely complete, but there was one piece of external trim missing, otherwise everything that had been on that car when produced in 1936 was still there.

My original goal was to have a nice modernized Airflow daily driver, but once I realized how scarce these things are now, I changed course in midstream and decided to do it up right.  I did not do complete body-off.  Anecdotes of bodies being removed and doors not closing right once put back on, deterred me from that. But with the floor and trunk floor removed, access to 95% of the frame is possible anyway, so I didn't risk it. and the doors close great.     

As the engine was disassembled, it revealed the head gasket had blown and the thermostat was rusted wide open.  That's why it had been parked in 1951.  As we got into it, it also became apparent that a new brake job had been done to the car just before it had been parked, and the same with bearings - all looked impressively new.

April 5, 2007, the engine was started on a test stand for the first time since 1951.  The engine was reinstalled May 2, 2008.  The car spent 14 months in another body shop until returning home in August, 2009.

It may well also be the fastest original Airflow around.  With the 8 cylinder engine, and smaller mass of any of the four door models, performance should easily compare with the two door coupes.  I did have a few things done to enhance performance (such as electronic ignition) while keeping the original configuration as much as practical.  

  Progress Status.