1954 Chrysler Windsor: The Last Of A Long Line
Flathead-powered Chryslers Didn’t Return For 1955
May 5, 2009
Walter P. Chrysler became president of Maxwell Motor Company in 1924 and introduced a new model carrying his own name. Maxwell in 1926 became Chrysler Corporation, which launched a four-cylinder model and the Imperial line that year to accompany the original six.
The new four was actually the last Maxwell updated, while the six-cylinder Imperial was the entry in the high-end market. Both used flatheads and would be joined in 1931 by eight-cylinder flatheads for Chrysler and Imperial.
The Chrysler Flathead Has Plenty Of Company
At the time, flatheads powered everything from Fords to Packards. Most were inline configurations such as Chrysler’s, but some manufacturers used V-8s and V-12s while others believed in overhead-valve designs in straight or vee layouts.
Through the 1930s, Chrysler continued with the flathead for all of its cars. Anyone who questioned its wisdom had only to wait until World War II, when Chrysler’s Dodge Division built countless four-wheel-drive trucks for the American military. All were powered by flatheads and one was modified after the war to become the civilian Dodge Power Wagon, which relied on the flathead for years.
Overhead-valve Engines Begin To Dominate, Thanks To General Motors
The flathead’s limitations as well as its merits were mostly ignored in the early postwar years due at least partly to the shortage of cars. Virtually anything that could replace those worn out during the war was acceptable, but as demand gradually receded to normal, changes began to be seen. The most dramatic development and probably the largest impact was General Motors’ introduction of modern OHV V-8s.
Oldsmobile and Cadillac each launched one for 1949 and although completely different engines, they shared the basic design elements of having their valves in the heads instead of in their blocks as on a flathead and the piston’s bore being larger than its stroke. The latter reduced everything from piston-travel to block-size and made for a more free-revving and free-breathing engine; maximum horsepower developed at lower speeds and higher compression ratios were possible.
With that, the flathead’s decline was irreversible.
Chrysler Responds
Chrysler was next among America’s Big Three to answer the challenge, doing so with 1951’s Firepower V-8 hemi. More complex than the GM V-8s, the Chrysler engine used hemispherical combustion chambers to boost efficiency. All else being equal, it was thus capable of better performance than a conventional OHV engine.
The hemi replaced Chrysler’s flathead straight eight immediately, but the flathead six had several years left. It remained popular enough with Chrysler customers to survive the line’s major 1953 restyling, something that’s not surprising.
Some drivers, no doubt, bought Chryslers for reasons other than performance and for them, the flathead six was entirely acceptable. After all, they really didn’t need the 180-horsepower hemi when the 119-horsepower six would meet their requirements, but there was also the matter of cost; a V-8 New Yorker club coupe was priced at $3336 in 1953, when a six-cylinder Windsor Club Coupe was only $2555. That offered customers both high-priced performance and affordable quality, a smart move in that it could attract new owners while ensuring that current Chrysler drivers would not be alienated in the process.
One More Year For Chrysler’s Flathead
The 1954 Chryslers were mildly updated from the 1953 models, which kept them attractive if somewhat restrained. The six-cylinder Windsor still had its loyalists, as Chrysler sold about 45,000 examples of it along with about 55,000 New Yorkers.
The 1955 model year would see a very different look on Chryslers and a new model aimed squarely at enthusiasts, the C-300, so the 1954 Windsor was not a bad way for the flathead Chrysler to depart.
Other Chrysler Corporation divisions would offer flathead sixes in passenger cars through 1959, leaving Studebaker in 1960 and Rambler in 1962 as the last holdouts.
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