This short film piece features Chrysler’s presentation at the International Century of Progress Exposition, known to all as the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair. Includes some fancy thrill driving—watch.
Along with the inauguration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the repeal of National Prohibition, the opening of the Chicago World’s Fair was one of the big stories of 1933. Naturally, the Motor City’s big three automakers—General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler—all provided major exhibitions for the show. Chrysler’s display was centered around the striking art deco building pictured above, but perhaps the real audience grabber was right next door: a quarter-mile test track with a six-times-daily daredevil thrill show starring the latest Chrysler products.
This clip, an excerpt from a much longer Chrysler film, shows the auto thrill show in action. While Barney Oldfield was billed as the star of the operation, here we watch Harry Hartz, a popular race driver of the time who finished second in the Indianapolis 500 three times, as he beats the tar out of a brand-new 1933 Plymouth sedan. (Hartz was also a frequent spokesman and demonstrator for DeSoto.)
Two more drivers illustrate the Plymouth’s impressive rough-road capabilities, and in the finale, a deliberate rollover shows off the product’s (almost) all-steel body and safety roof construction. As you know, we always enjoy old-fashioned thrill show driving. Watch this.
If they didn’t replace those Plymouths weekly then I am thoroughly impressed. I wonder what would happen if you put one of today’s sport utility vehicles through that infield at those speeds. Are they as off-road as they claim?
Cool. Nice foley work, too.