Sorry it took so long guys but here ya go! In May of 2009, I had bought this 1953 DeSoto 8-passenger Sedan off of the local Craigslist. It was in need of ALOT of work but with there only being 200 of them made, getting a good deal on it, and not seeing a whole lot of this body style DeSoto around. I went for it! It was in pretty rough shape when i got it. The rear stacks were broken on both sides, the first 6-8" of the floor boards were gone from front to back, body mounts were rotted off, the common spare tire dip in the truck was gone along with the corners of the trunk. surprisingly enough, the doors only had a couple minor rust spots down in the corners.
Being a Firedome, It WAS an original HEMI car but of course someone had robbed that before me coming along so I had actually been givin a Mopar BB 400 with a A/T 904 behind it from my grandfather which has less then 3000 miles on it. The motor in the pictures is a mock up 383 motor I used. Very thankful for that one! As you can see in the pictures I had to cut out part of the fire wall in order for the 400 to sit back and low enough for the driveline. I did all of the metal work with some help from my father when he had the time to help out. Its far from perfect but its the functionality that matters. I used KBS coatings Rust seal product for the whole frame, the underside of the car, and the inside of the car to protect it. Being the car is almost 20 feet long, thats a whole lot of roof to get perfect, and I didnt want it perfect in the end anyways, I left it alone and went for paint.
I went with a Lime green roof and satin black bottom. Im not much of a fan of shiney. The wheels I got off of Craigslist and they are Mopar Artillary style wheels. The interior is black leather seats and door panels. I do not have a picture of it but the headliner being a one-off is black courderoy. I have a thread on my page about how I made the Steering wheel if anyone wants to know. With the help of my father here and there, I built the car from start to finish, I painted it myself, I tackled the upholstery myself, which was a big task! Kudos to people who do it for a living. I wanted to change some things up a little so I eliminated the single antenna on the front left fender and put dual antennas in back, the grille teeth, handles, and bezals are all powder coated in silver vein to help the cheap pot metal last. and of course had to get the H.A.M.B Alliance tag in there too!
man that car is huge and unique , i really dig it , i bet its so heavy it rides good to , like an old caddy , good save ,
It rides and drives awesome!!!! I was shocked by the ride. And for the original steering setup, it has an amazing turning radius too! Thanks!
And when I said I didn't want it perfect, I say this because I want to drive it regularly and not feel bad about dings and any imperfection that might arise
That thing is cool as hell. Love everything about it - except the green. But nice job! Did you make those floor panel patches?
No fleabay had them but they did not fit good. I ended up having to re bend one and remake the other. If I would have known they were that bad I could have saved the 200 bucks and just made Emm from the git go. Its pretty damn cool to drive and for sure get lots of looks!
Damn, that'sa big car. I really dig the contrasting colored components. Dude, that's seriously somthin' an' that alot'a work ya' done there.
I figured its rare being only 200 made, a DeSoto, which you don't see often, so I wanted to go loud to get some attention. Something these ol cars don't get enough of
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