Still no CotW post from OldCarsWeekly, so I dug into the site and found an interesting article.
View attachment 17539
With Chrysler as her last name — Mrs. Walter P. Chrysler, to be exact — Della Chrysler’s automotive choices weren’t as limited as one might expect.
Certainly, Mrs. Chrysler drove a Chrysler automobile, but in 1937, she chose not to be carried in one of the dizzying number of production sedans and limousines in the Custom Imperial Eight or Royal Six line. Nor did Mrs. Chrysler order one of the semi-custom Derham town cars also carried in the 1937 Chrysler catalog. Instead, Mrs. Chrysler had a one-of-a-kind town car built on a Custom Imperial chassis of an art deco form that rivaled the wildest town cars built on Duesenberg and Rolls-Royce chassis.
The teardrop-shaped town car body on her 1937 Custom Imperial built by coachbuilder LeBaron dripped elegance and was perfectly mated to the new streamlined styling of the 1937 Chrysler line. The bulbous aluminum LeBaron passenger compartment was painted black and mimicked the production Chrysler pontoon front fenders. The period-perfect Chrysler streamlining began at the “ship’s prow” front-end, which was striped with horizontal grille bars and matching chrome speed lines along the hood sides. The horizontal theme was picked up by LeBaron with speed lines behind the rear door at the sail panel and with horizontally ribbed aluminum trim that circled the body from the back of one front fender to the rear of the opposite front fender. The subtle trim piece literally brought the whole car together — production chassis and front-end styling with unique town car coachwork — as it streaked from the front fender, across the running boards and unique rear fender skirts, around the back of the car and all the way to the rear of the opposite front fender.
Read more.
View attachment 17539
With Chrysler as her last name — Mrs. Walter P. Chrysler, to be exact — Della Chrysler’s automotive choices weren’t as limited as one might expect.
Certainly, Mrs. Chrysler drove a Chrysler automobile, but in 1937, she chose not to be carried in one of the dizzying number of production sedans and limousines in the Custom Imperial Eight or Royal Six line. Nor did Mrs. Chrysler order one of the semi-custom Derham town cars also carried in the 1937 Chrysler catalog. Instead, Mrs. Chrysler had a one-of-a-kind town car built on a Custom Imperial chassis of an art deco form that rivaled the wildest town cars built on Duesenberg and Rolls-Royce chassis.
The teardrop-shaped town car body on her 1937 Custom Imperial built by coachbuilder LeBaron dripped elegance and was perfectly mated to the new streamlined styling of the 1937 Chrysler line. The bulbous aluminum LeBaron passenger compartment was painted black and mimicked the production Chrysler pontoon front fenders. The period-perfect Chrysler streamlining began at the “ship’s prow” front-end, which was striped with horizontal grille bars and matching chrome speed lines along the hood sides. The horizontal theme was picked up by LeBaron with speed lines behind the rear door at the sail panel and with horizontally ribbed aluminum trim that circled the body from the back of one front fender to the rear of the opposite front fender. The subtle trim piece literally brought the whole car together — production chassis and front-end styling with unique town car coachwork — as it streaked from the front fender, across the running boards and unique rear fender skirts, around the back of the car and all the way to the rear of the opposite front fender.
Read more.
