When sensible car firms went wild

Car manufacturers are, on the whole, risk-averse most of the time. It sometimes happens, though, that they produce a very strange vehicle, or invent a bizarre concept, or make some strategic error that leads the rest of us to wonder who sabotaged the coffee machine. The more respectable the brand, the more fun – or in some cases disturbing – it is when this happens. Here are some famous examples.

DAVID FINLAY

Chrysler Airflow 1934

Chrysler started out building conventional and successful cars in the 1920s, then turned its reputation upside down in the following decade. The Airflow’s unibody construction was very unusual for 1934, but this was far less divisive than its streamlined shape, which the US motoring public just wasn’t ready for, despite star-power input from aerospace pioneer Orville Wright. Even after the saloon’s wildly adventurous styling had been toned down, it was never fully accepted. The Airflow lasted just four years and 30,000 examples – and the firm took a far more cautious approach to design thereafter. That’s a shame, because virtually every aspect of the concept eventually became conventional wisdom. Chrysler stayed innovative after World War II, pioneering technology such as power steering, cruise control and electronic fuel injection.