Quote:
Originally Posted by The Toecutter
Which is ironic considering the Airflow only had the appearance of being streamlined, without the actual streamlining that the prototypes had.
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Yes, Airflow is credited with Cd 0.51 according to Alex Tremulis, compared to around Cd 0.64 for the 1933 DeSoto.
The 1937 Ford/Lincoln Zephyr was lower, at Cd 0.47, but Ford was reluctant to even mention 'aerodynamics', after the sales disaster of the Airflow.
John Tjaarda had pitched a lower drag Chrysler body to Walter Chrysler, in the wake of Airflow. He said, 'Forget it, streamlining's dead, no one will ever buy it. All we want are conventional silhouettes.' ( or something close to that )
Around 2010, at the Los Angeles Auto Show, the head of truck design for Daimler-Chrysler-JEEP said to the effect, ' We're not about to build the most aerodynamic vehicle that no one will buy.' ( 'guess they're still stinging from 1934 )
Enter Greta Thunberg