IN SEARCH OF CHRYSLER’S SOUTHWESTERN NATIVE AMERICAN INTERIORS OF 1941 AND 1942.
Many car enthusiasts are first drawn to the late prewar Chryslers when they see the spectacular Town & Country wood-sided wagons (and their postwar convertible and sedan cousins) at car shows. Almost any article about the 1941 and 1942 Chryslers will mention, in addition to the Town & Country wagons, the wide variety of interior colors available. Probably the best-known interior design is the Highlander, which for 1940 was a separate model with plaid seats, a plaid convertible top cover, special plastic interior trim and exterior badging, and a multi-tone horn that played a Scottish tune. Here are the two plaid options from a Chrysler brochure:
For 1941 and 1942 Highlander became a trim option instead of a unique model but, almost always, in the same paragraph as the Highlander, is mention of a “Navajo” interior trim. These fabrics were apparently an option only on the (steel-bodied) convertibles and Club Coupes in the New Yorker and Windsor model range, they were never offered for the Town & Country.
Often, a mention of Navajo trim is accompanied by this black and white photograph:
The impression is that this was commonplace enough that it bears mention in even a brief description of 1941 and 1942 Chryslers, so I decided to see if I could find more information about it.
First, my friend and co-researcher, Ben Hill, contacted Fiat Chrysler America’s Historical Services division to ask for information. They had no information but they did have two black and white photos:
This is the only place I have ever seen this picture, and I suspect that this is the actual “Navajo” trim of 1941. As to whether it persisted into 1942, it is not clear. This is the other picture:
Note that this is a different picture than the one posted above. The car appears to be gray rather than white (perhaps it is the Navajo car above). I believe this is a 1942 “Thunderbird” trim, not “Navajo.”
I started searching in earnest, looking for color photos or surviving cars, but found nothing. Ben contacted Don Narus, author of the book Chrysler: The Golden Age 1940 – 1949 and several other books concerning cars of the period. Mr. Narus confirmed that there were two options, the Navajo and the Thunderbird, and suggested that we contact Howard Mermel. Mr. Mermel is one of the most respected and experienced Chrysler historians in the world, with a large collection of Chrysler cars and factory literature. A member of the Society of Automotive Historians and President of the Town & Country Chapter of the National Woodie Club, he has over fifty years of experience with prewar and early postwar Chryslers.
Mr. Mermel confirmed that the Navajo and Thunderbird options were $20 interior options, not a separate model like the Highlander. He also said that he had never seen any photos other than these black-and-white photos and had never seen a car in person with either interior. He searched his vast collection of Chrysler factory literature and was kind enough to share the only two mentions he found. The first was in a 1942 issue of “Chrysler Tonic,” a magazine sent to Chrysler dealers. It mentions that a dealer in Vineland, New Jersey displayed a Navajo convertible and drew a great crowd. Apparently the car sold the next day. Newspaper records from Vineland, NJ, indicate that the dealer, John Possumato, had recently won a sales award from Chrysler, so it’s possible that this may be the reason his dealership got the car.
Mr. Mermel also sent a copy of an article from the January, 1942 issue of “Chrysler Photo-Gram,” a magazine sent to both dealers and owners, which mentioned that Navajo weavers were creating fabrics for Chrysler interiors. (This seems unlikely that hand-loomed wool fabrics would be suitable in terms of durability or availability for vehicle interiors, but that’s what it says.) It also confirms the two different patterns.
Mr. Mermel also pointed out that the black and white photo of the light colored “Thunderbird” convertible car that was posted at the top of this article was actually of a 1941 car, which made him think that it was mocked up as a publicity shot before the 1942 models went into production in September 1941.
So where are all the Native American trim cars? There is no mention of these interiors in the Detroit Free Press’s multi-page coverage of the Detroit Auto Show of September 1941. There is no mention of them in Chrysler sales brochures or in fun “build-your-own” checklists in Chrysler publicity brochures:
I suspect that there may have been production delays in the fabric which prevented it from being included in brochures. There was a strike for wages in July, 1941 at National Automotive Fibres, Inc., a major Chrysler upholstery supplier. This caused a two-week shutdown in several Chrysler plants in July although there is no way to know what fabrics this affected from news articles. Additionally, there are no mentions of any kind of agreement between Chrysler and any representatives of Native American tribes or organizations in newspapers of Arizona and New Mexico between 1940 and 1942. 1942 cars were only produced from September to early December 1941 and then all domestic non-military automobile production halted. I suspect no cars with the Navajo or Thunderbird fabric were produced except the publicity photo cars, and perhaps the Navajo car of Vineland, NJ. (barn find, anyone?)
One interesting postscript: In December 2017, collector John Roberts posted in Diecast Forums that he had painted some Brooklin models of 1941 Chryslers with his interpretation of the colors. He did a lovely job and his pictures and some discussion can be seen here:
https://www.diecast.org/diecast98/html/asp/forums/lounge/viewMessage.asp?id=163234&start=163179 
This prompted me to try my hand at colorizing the old Chrysler factory photos. I used authentic period Navajo rugs for the colors; of course these are just guesses.
For now, enjoy, and if you find a real one please send pictures!
Thanks to Benjamin Hill for research assistance.
Thanks to Harold Mermel and Don Narus for sharing their expertise, and to Mr. Mermel especially for the copies of period Chrysler factory publications.
Newspaper records from newspapers.com, particularly the Detroit Free Press and Vineland, New Jersey Daily Journal archives.
