Have you ever had a once in a lifetime chance to buy an awesomely unique car, but for one reason or another, you just can't get it? I sure have... This happens to me so often it makes me sick. There are so many cars that I should have bought, but life somehow prevents me every time. There seems to always be a lack of space, money, or time when these vehicles come into my life. If I were smart, I would buy an acre of land, and just start buying them everytime this happens. Unfortunately, that just isn't realistic.

One of my biggest not-buying vehicle regrets was a 1934 Chrysler Airflow. It doesn't sound really exciting to most people, but hear me out, I might just change your mind. Lets talk history first. In 1934 Chrysler came out with this completely newly designed car. It had a built in roll cage (yes, roll cage), a straight 8 engine (yes, 8 cylinders in 1934), a roomier interior, and a completely different look than every other car manufacturer at the time. It was called the Airflow. Chances are good that you have never seen one, and probably never will. I have read that they made about 12,000 of them in 1934, but that includes all models. So lets say they might* have made about 6000 of the 4 door "CU" models, just for kicks. Now lets think about how they were an odd looking car that wasn't really desirable. Oh and also think about how many of those original 6000 (ish) survived the last 70 years.....Well, I know of 1, and I could have had it for $500, maybe less, and no I didn't buy it. Here is my sad story.

It was a warm summer day and I was about 17 (almost 8 years ago). My friend and I were making our weekly trip through a junkyard in Billerica Massachusetts to find hidden treasure. We typically didn't need anything there, but junkyard trips are always fun, you can't deny it. As we rounded the first corner we both saw a car that neither of us recognized. It looked like it may have been from the 1930's, maybe even 1940's, but we had no idea what it was. This was weird, because we are both car fanatics that typically know what any car is from a quarter mile away. We figured it must be foreign if we couldn't tell what it was. As we got closer, we noticed that the car must have had an interior fire because the interior was bare metal and the once cloth-covered roof was now just a chicken wire filled hole. The bottom half of the car was very clean, and the frame still had nice paint on it. It looked as if it was a very nice original car that had unfortunately caught fire. We sat there for a few minutes trying to figure out what it was, when we noticed a plastic milk crate sitting next to the car with some hubcaps in it. The hubcaps were from a Chrysler Airflow. Suddenly I realized what we were looking at. I had seen it in my "Catalog of American Cars" at some point. I was in awe, because I had never seen an Airflow before, and after about a half an hour of staring at it I realized how amazingly ahead of its time it was. I was very familiar with cars from the early 1930's because my parents had a 1933 Plymouth that was a work in progress. I was determined to find out more about this rare piece of history and figure out where I could put it if/when I were to buy it. It is nearly impossible to have somebody willingly agree to have a burned car from 1934 in their driveway, I knew I would have to do some sweet talking. The first step was to find out if the junkyard would even sell it to me. So, I walked up to the front desk at the junkyard and asked what the story was with the Airflow in there and how much they wanted for it. The first thing they asked me was "what the heck is an Airflow"?. Once I explained what car I was talking about, they told me I could gladly take the whole thing for $500. Now, this sounded really good to me. (Most people would say I am friggin nuts to want a burned out car, but hey, I am ambitious) The problem was, I already had a car totally apart in my parents driveway and lots of projects hidden in other places. I was completely out of hiding spots for a new toy. I went back to the junkyard every weekend for the next month checking on her while I looked for a place to put her. Unfortunately, her condition worsened and I never found that hiding place. Eventually she disappeared, and I was devistated. My only hope was that she went to some restorer that would bring her back to the glory days when she was new. I asked the front desk at the junkyard where it went, and they had no idea what I was talking about. They claimed no knowledge of the Airflow or its whereabouts. To this day, it still remains a mystery. If anybody knows the car I am talking about or it's whereabouts, please let me know, I would love to see it again!! I can only hope that it wasn't turned into soda cans.

I think about it almost everyday, and everyday I think about what an idiot I was for not buying it.
What's your story?

-HRCS