Seldom is an automobile more closely linked with its original owner than this 1931 Chrysler and Dr. William F. Whelan. A respected Philadelphia ears, nose, and throat doctor, he served for years both in private practice and as an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School before his retirement in 1963. His success in business and life enabled him to drive a grand automobile, and he did just that, acquiring a new Chrysler CG Imperial Roadster with LeBaron coachwork.
Most men who bought a CG Imperial Roadster new simply drove it. For the first six years of his ownership, Dr. Whelan never left his alone, steadily evolving its appearance to suit his taste. According to a written recollection on file from the car’s second owner, Dr. Whelan’s vision involved chroming the front axle and removing leaves from the suspension to make the chassis sit lower; installation of a custom hood ornament and Sun tachometer; lowering of the seats; modification of the top well to allow the top to fold flush with the rear deck; and fitting a new dramatically raked and lowered V-windshield, believed to have been courtesy of R.C. Wall Manufacturing of Philadelphia, PA.
Some of this work seems to have been supported by ongoing improvements to Chrysler’s engineering, which Dr. Whelan admired. Chrysler Airflow taillights from 1934 were fitted, and according to this correspondence, the original powerplant was changed for a CW unit, which displaces the same 385 ci but produces 150 horsepower, for an additional 25 hp.
In 1952, following two decades of creativity, Dr. Whelan sold his prized Chrysler to Thomas Dickinson, then of New York, who had known the doctor while in his own medical school residency. It was shown that same year at the International Motor Sport Show at the Grand Central Palace in Manhattan, sporting fenders which by this time had been bobbed. The show’s organizers had invited several members of a newly formed organization, the Classic Car Club of America, to take part. Thus, this Chrysler has been taking part in CCCA events for the entirety of the club’s existence.
Mark Smith was utterly smitten with the Whelan Chrysler, and in 2001 secured the car for his collection, in a trade involving a closed Duesenberg — indicative of the esteem in which he held this car. It has remained in the collection now for another two decades and has been preserved in the same patinated condition.
Mr. Smith exhibited the Chrysler on rare occasions, including in 2004 at the Meadow Brook Concours d’Elegance, earning a trophy for the Most Significant Chrysler Product, and as an entrant in the Prewar Preservation class at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 2007 and 2021.
