How many DeSoto Airflows are left in New Zealand?
Unicorn 1 in 1,558,291 on the road Built 1934-1935 Sold new in New Zealand
Updated from the NZTA Motor Vehicle Register, counted as at 31 August 2026. Recounted every month.
A streamlined car years ahead of public taste. The Airflow of 1934 was shaped in a wind tunnel, with a body built around a steel cage and the passengers moved forward between the axles for a better ride. Buyers found it too strange, and DeSoto, which sold nothing else that year, suffered badly. It lasted until 1936.
Still on the road, by model year
1 from 1934 and 2 from 1935.
What Unicorn means
Spotto grades every car by how many are still registered in New Zealand. With 3 still registered, the DeSoto Airflow is Unicorn: the grade for cars with fewer than 5 left.
By how many are left it ranks 8th of the 11 DeSoto models and equal 2,454th of all 2,903 cars in Spotto's catalogue.
The six grades: Common, 8,000 or more · Uncommon, 1,200 to 7,999 · Scarce, 175 to 1,199 · Rare, 25 to 174 · Super rare, 5 to 24 · Unicorn, fewer than 5.
Seen one?
Spotto grades every car on New Zealand roads by how many are still registered, down to the generation and the badge. Log the ones you spot, build a collection, and see who else has found one.