Being alive in 1932 was tough. While the Great Depression may ring a bell, plenty of other tragedy and tribulation was playing out across the land. It was 1932 that witnessed the Lindbergh kidnapping and Adolf Hitler earning German citizenship (he was Austrian/Hungarian by birth). The same year saw four people shot dead in front of the Ford River Rogue plant when 3,000 unemployed workers marched for jobs at the site. In 1932 massive dust bowls began to ravage the central US, carrying dirt coast to coast. Among the places affected by these storms in the mid 1930s was Tulsa, Oklahoma, which is near where we find this 1932 Chrysler for sale on Craigslist for $7,600. Perhaps not everything about that year was terrible.
Being a higher end car company, the six cylinder CI saved Chrysler during the economic hardship of the era. The company made some 19,000 of the vehicles, including about 13,000 sedans like this example. At $895 new for the base sedan, the car cost the equivalent of nine months salary for an average worker. That’s competitive for Chrysler, as a competing Buick cost about $100 more.
This car appears to have last been registered in Minnesota in 1955. If local to Tulsa some storm dust may still be stuck in its crevices. Thankfully there’s no dust to mention in the old six cylinder. This car’s engine is essentially the same one that came in Plymouth and DeSoto cars at the time. This running and driving CI has never been restored, but features a few new parts as of late.
The fact it runs is probably the highlight here, as the rest of the car is bare bones. The wooden roof seems to have rotted away, and the interior is hanging on by a thread, so to speak. The door handles and window cranks are still attached, which for some reason, makes my heart skip a beat. All the gauges appear to be present in the dash too. When looking at them something pops out, that blue shifter knob. It is really the only clear indication that someone has cared for this car in recent years.
This 1932 Chrysler for sale is certainly on of those “If cars could talk” types of vehicles. From its birth to its recent resurrection, this car no doubt has stories to tell. I’m hopeful that it will see plenty more in its lifetime. Could you be the one to tell it some secrets?
