Chrome & character

We step back into the 1930s with a beautifully restored Chrysler CI6 Roadster, where timeless design meets mechanical charm and a car's legacy lives on

- By: Wilhelm Lutjeharms

1932 CHRYSLER CI6 SERIES ROADSTER

Engine: 3 669 cm³, inline-six, petrol Transmission: 3-speed manual Power: 60 kW @ 3 400 r/min Torque: n/a 0-100 km/h: n/a Weight: 1 280 kg Total Chrysler production in 1932: 25 291 units Roadster production: 474 units

It was an era we can only read about, or watch on film. If you are fortunate, you might know someone who can truly relay this era through anecdotes passed down through the generations; the early 1930s saw the Great Depression, followed a few years later by the start of the Second World War. When this Chrysler CI6 Series Roadster rolled off the production line in 1939, the Chrysler Corporation was in only its eighth official year of business, having been founded by Walter Chrysler – who started out as a railway mechanic. In the company's centenary year, this car's custodian, Albert Bester, kindly handed me the key to the pride and joy of his garage, but not before sharing its fascinating background.

“The car has been in our family for nine years. My late father had it restored by a specialist called Latie Lategan, in Strand. Previous owners wanted to make a hot rod out of it. At the time, the car was in two pieces. We then decided to fully restore it. My father thankfully saw the finished product, but unfortunately he never got to drive the car.”

If you think the Chrysler is only parked and mothballed in the family’s private museum, you would be mistaken. Albert shares more about the longest trip he has undertaken with it:

“I once drove from Kuilsriver to Oudtshoorn - it took me two-and-a-half days. On this round trip of over 800 km, she comfortably did 85 to 90 km/h - which is quite impressive for a car of its age.”