The history of the Chrysler Air Raid Siren dates back originally to early 1942, when Bell Laboratories created an experimental engine-powered siren nicknamed "Big Bertha". This siren, whose chopper was driven by a 4-cylinder 20 horsepower
Wisconsin engine with a separate American Locomotive Company compressor powered by a 95 hp Ford flathead V8, was the loudest siren in the world when it was created. This siren, developed under the leadership of Dr. Harvey Fletcher, was built to demonstrate the concept of sound generation through forcing pressurized air through a rotary chopper. This siren was tested in New Orleans, LA, but was not put into full production and only a single prototype was built. On February 25, 1942, the
Office of Civil Defense brought Bell Laboratories and Chrysler together in Washington D.C. in order to develop a new siren, which was named the "Chrysler-Bell Victory Siren". Driven by a 140 hp Chrysler IND-9 straight-8 engine, this siren did away with the separate compressor and integrated a two-stage compressor into the siren itself. Constructed in Detroit, MI, 120 of these sirens were sold in 1942 at a cost of $3670 each, with the first units sold to
New York City,
Detroit, and
Chicago. The Chrysler-Bell Victory Siren required an operator to sit atop the siren, which rotated on a turntable at 2 rpm. One experimental unit had an operator's booth underneath instead, though this was not repeated. The Victory-Bell Siren would be renamed to the Chrysler Air Raid Siren in the late 1940s. The final model of Chrysler Air Raid siren was produced by Chrysler from 1952 to 1957, as part of the United States civil defense system during the
Cold War. The power plant utilized a Chrysler Firepower
Hemi V8 engine with a
displacement of . In some cases, the salvage value of the sirens is less than the cost of their removal. In the neighborhood of
Phinney Ridge, Seattle, a decommissioned siren is a local landmark. Since 2014, the tower has been decorated annually as a "Holiday GloCone" from Thanksgiving to New Year's. ==Cities with Chrysler Sirens==