1936 DeSoto Custom Airstream S-1 Taxicab
The Airstream was created to capture market share lost during 1934, when DeSoto offered only the Airflow. Customers found the Airflow’s radical streamlined body more striking than appealing, and the Airstream’s arrival for 1935 gave the division a conventional alternative at roughly $220 less on the price sheet.
In July 1936, DeSoto delivered 2,200 new-type taxicabs to Sunshine Radio System, Inc., the largest single order in the company’s history and, per the same dispatch, the largest number of cabs ever placed in service in any city at once.
The taxis used the longer 130-inch wheelbase version (12 inches beyond the standard S-1), giving the seven-passenger body room for a pair of fold-down jump seats ahead of the rear bench.
A sliding auxiliary roof panel above the rear compartment opened to admit open air (retracting into a pocket inside the roof structure), the feature that gave the fleet its name.
The 241.5 CI L-head inline-six produced 93 hp at 3,400 rpm, backed by a three-speed manual gearbox. Standard taxi equipment included an Ohmer fare register, sliding division window, and a roof-mounted status lamp. The original Sunshine Radio fleet livery was cream with prominent orange accents.
Approximately 2,200 of the 2,951 DeSoto taxis produced for 1936 carried the sliding roof. Intact survivors are scarce.
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