Column: The first streamlined automobile

Dear readers,

Do you remember Certs mints?

The advertisement claimed purchasing Certs was always a 2-for-1 deal. Certs was both a breath mint and a candy. Well, this week’s column, like a Certs mint, is a 2-for-1 deal. It is a road trip and time travel.

Mr. Peabody have your boy Sherman set the Wayback machine to the beginning years of the Roosevelt administration, FDR, not Teddy. Now let’s gas up the car at Bonded Oil, buy some snacks, and get on the road to Canada.

Our destination is London, Ontario. We will be attending the 59^th International Meet of the Airflow Club of America. Members of the Airflow Club are all time travelers. They are Airflow automobile enthusiasts. Club members enjoy collecting Airflows, working on Airflows, and keeping the history of the Airflow alive.

Carl Breer, a Chrysler engineer, is the father of the Airflow. It was the first aerodynamic automobile. It is a streamlined and a very cool looking car. Artists would describe it as “Art Deco.”

DeSoto also was a Chrysler brand in those days. Chrysler and DeSoto only produced Airflow automobiles from 1934-1937. 

Crossing the border at Detroit, Sandy and I arrived in London, Ontario, in about seven hours. We were greeted at the hotel by our Canadian hosts, Norm and Jean Mulloy. 

About now most loyal readers are wondering, “So Kris, just how did a midwestern rube such as yourself get invited to this Airflow shindig?”

Well, wonder no more! The secretary of the club, Kim Forster, paid my dues. A story too long to tell in this column.

The first Canadian I ever met was Mrs. Skogland. She was my cub scout den mother in 1962. Mrs. Skogland was always much nicer to me than I deserved, a distinguishing characteristic shared by Canadians. Over the next week, Mrs. Mulloy seemed to always be present to help me with everything from obtaining raisins for my Irish oatmeal breakfast, to making sure I got the right sandwich at the museum. 

Sandy and I met the other members of the club at an ice cream social that evening. Everyone was so friendly and nice, that at first, I thought maybe they were all from Canada. They weren’t but the butter tarts were. 

Butter tarts are the quintessential Canadian dessert. Served at the ice cream social, they are little buttery mini pies featuring a flaky crust and filled with a gooey mixture of sugar, egg, raisins and nuts. They are delicious.

Butter tarts are such a treat that I’ve already looked up a recipe and decided to bake a dozen. Canadians are so nice that I’m sure they will know my butter tarts are cultural appreciation and not cultural appropriation.

We met the president of the club, David Felderstein, and vice president John Boyd. They are both from California as are several other members of the club we met. Not surprising since California and “Car Culture” are synonymous. 

California celebrates automobiles as evidenced in music and movies.  The Beach Boys sang about “Little Deuce Coupe,” “409,” and having “Fun, Fun, Fun” until daddy takes the T-bird away. In movies, Norma Desmond drove writer Joe Gillis around in her 1929 Isotta Fraschini. Closer to home, fellow Hoosier Steve McQueen drove his 1968 Ford Mustang in the most famous car chase scene of all time in “Bullitt.”

The highlight of the meet was the car show held on the green in Wortley Village. The Airflows displayed on the lawn all looked as new as the day they came off the assembly line. The photo included with today’s column is Canadian Bob Cranston with his “People’s Choice” winning modified Airflow.

Waiting in line at the border to return to America took more than an hour. My mind wandered back to that first Canadian I met over 60 years ago. I wondered if I had been a little nicer to Mrs. Skogland would she have given me a butter tart.

See you all next week, same Schwinn time, same Schwinn channel.

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