THERE’S nothing like being in the right place at the right time. Just ask Bob Wagner.
In the early 1930s, Chrysler offered several of its “Eight” series models, divided into the Series CP Eight and the higher-end Series CH and CL Imperial Eights.
They featured distinctive “de Sakhnoffsky” styling and were available in a choice of sedan, coupe, or convertible, all boasting four-wheel hydraulic brakes and a new lower “double drop” frame.
The five-passenger sedan was by far the most popular of the range and that’s what classic car enthusiast Bob Wagner spotted one day in 1973 when he was driving through a town in Wisconsin.
He’d spotted a good-looking and shiny old classic parked at the kerb.
What was it? It was too big and classy to be a common Ford or Chevy. It was definitely worth driving around the block to get a better look.
The car turned out to be a 1932 Chrysler, and by its length and appointments — such as dual side-mounted spares and a fancy trunk on the rear — it couldn’t be a Six, it had to be an Eight.
Closer inspection showed “Chrysler Eight” on all six chromed hubcaps – four on the wheels on the ground and two on those in the side-mounted spares.
Although 40 years old, the car was in remarkable condition and didn’t appear to have been restored.
The dark blue body and black mudguards and waistline sash had not been repainted, and most of the original white pin-striping was likewise intact.
Everything about the car was so symmetrical: there were dual chrome hooters protruding below the bold, chromed headlight buckets, dual rear-view mirrors on the side-mount covers, dual cowl lamps and air vents in front of the new-for-’32 split windscreen and dual round tail lights on chromed stalks attached to the rear mudguards.
Closer inspection revealed that the car had some additional options inside that were rare in 1932, but would become much more common years later.
Like the heater. The name on it was Ha-Dees, which probably meant to imply that it would make the interior warmer than, um, usual.
A small electric fan attached in the upper left corner of the ceiling served the dual role of defrosting the windscreen in winter and cooling the driver in summer.
And both halves of the windscreen could be wound open for more ventilation.
Far ahead of its time, the radio had one knob to switch from “city” to “country” to “streetcar,” the latter to cut down interference from electric trolley lines, and another to adjust for music, voice or “mellow.”
The Motorola unit, a 1935 model that the previous owner installed, had six sliding buttons set to tune in the most wanted stations.
Though a radio was a rare option, Bob said Chrysler wired an aerial into the roof of all its cars.
The 1932 Series CP Chryslers were built on a new “double drop” frame on which the side rails curved downward slightly between the front and rear axles, setting the body lower than previous models.
That design and a switch from 18- to 17-inch wheels gave the cars a slightly lower profile. The wheelbase span was 125 inches.
The Chrysler Eight engine displaced 298.6 cubic inches (4.9 litres and produced 100 hp (74kW) at 3400 rpm.
The cars came with a four-speed transmission, which apparently was problematic and most, like this one, were recalled by the dealer the following year and replaced with a new Chrysler-built three-speed.
This car was equipped with the optional automatic clutch that operated off engine vacuum.
There’s also a device attached to the thermostat housing, which opens and closes the grille louvres to regulate the coolant temperature.
While wooden spoke wheels were standard, wires were increasingly in style, so it’s safe to say most of the eights had them.
All Chryslers had four-wheel hydraulic brakes in 1932.
Having stopped to check out the car that day in Wisconsin, Bob met the chap who had parked the Chrysler there.
“He told me the Chrysler had belonged to his best friend, who had died some months before,” Bob said.
“He got it out and ‘exercised’ it every few weeks.
“I left my name and phone number,” he said.
“A few months later, I got a call telling me that no one in the family was interested in the car, so it was for sale.”
Bob Wagner bought it and has maintained it in its original condition since.
“Only the tyres and battery are not original,” he said.
The smart box on the back of the Chrysler was made by Potter Manufacturing, which used to make manilla-paper products, but switched to war material during World War I.
It then ventured into the motor industry, assembling and trimming the passenger compartments of General Motors products, and found a new niche building steel trunks to carry luggage.
The firm made trunks for many car companies and its output of 100 trunks a day increased to more than 10,000 a month during the firm’s heyday around 1927, when it employed 100 workers.
Then came the Depression in the early 1930s, coupled with most new cars by then having built-in trunks, or luggage spaces, and so the Potter plant closed in 1937.
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