The CW-19L Coupe was designed by George Page as an advanced all-metal two-seat cantilever low-wing monoplane for the private owner. Built in 1935 and powered by a 67kW Lambert engine, tests showed it to be manoeuvrable but underpowered. The CW-19W retained the side-by-side cabin layout of the earlier machine but replaced the Lambert engine with a 108kW Warner Super Scarab. Another feature common to the whole CW-19 series was the streamlined 'trouser-type' fairing over each main unit of the fixed landing gear.

The militarised CW-19R was a radical redesign intended for the export market. The two-man crew was accommodated in tandem under a long sliding canopy and there.was provision for a forward-firing synchronised machine-gun plus another gun on a flexible mounting operated by the observer; light bombs could be carried on underwing racks and additional guns for ground attack could be attacked to the landing gear fairings.

The Curtiss-Wright management believed the CW-19R would satisfy a need for a utility fighter, reconnaissance and ground attack aircraft. In the event sales were limited, comprising 20 aircraft purchased by China and three by Cuba. Power was greatly increased, the CW-19R having a 261kW Wright R-760E2 (J-6-7), with the 336kW Wright R-975E3 (J-6-9) as an alternative; the aircraft demonstrated good flight characteristics and had an outstanding rate of climb.

An unarmed basic trainer version of the CW-19R was built as the CW-A19R. Flown in February 1937 it was tested by the US Army but no production orders followed. Three were completed, one being converted subsequently to a CW-22. The sole CW-23 was developed from the CW-19R. It had a 447kW Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp engine, inward retracting landing gear and was intended as a basic combat trainer for the US Army. Flown in 1939, official testing led to its rejection for production.