A whole host of improvements greeted the Chrysler buyer of 1933: a silent three speed transmission that used helical gears throughout; exhaust valve seat inserts of special steel alloy; Silent U spring shackles with their greater capacity for retaining lubrication; the coincidental starter: starting by depressing the accelerator pedal instead of using a push button.
We have no idea what we are looking for here. The caption under the photo of this car stated that it was a Mercedes chassis with a custom built body, used by a movie actress. Many comments we could make about the design - most of them uncomplimentary - so we better stay with the obvious. First thing to note is that the chauffeur has no protection from the weather. As none was provided (by looking at the photo) I suppose it would be natural to assume the owners avoided its use in winter and on wet days.
Have a close look at the radiator surround - remind you of a 1933 Plymouth? The whitewalls extend the full width of the tyres. We don't think this vehicle is right-hand-drive as it appears in the photograph. Our guess is the negative was reversed when the picture was first printed by the photographer in 1933. (We wonder if it was deliberately done in order to be able to sell it to overseas magazines and this copy made its way to Australia all those years ago?). This photo appeared in an Australian automotive trade journal in 1933 with an article on the Victorian Motor Show for that year.
