Is there such a thing as a cool Desoto?

Jimi, it was mine (that's me) and that car wasn't restorable. There wasn't any sheetmetal left to weld new sheetmetal to. I can't exaggerate how rotten that car was and believe me - I wanted to restore it. It's now a parts car for a '57 Fireflite convertible.

Here are some more pics of it.

I did keep the mice my sister found under the back seat though. One was named "DeSoto", the other one "Hemi".

 

Dude, you have me convinced. But my DeS has donor parts from up to 12 junkyard cards that are (now) gone. SO, I'd surely rather see an iffy DeS go to help rebuild, 'rod or customize than to just go to China as shredded scrap. Bro! Ya done GOOD!


Blimey! Here's a COOL DeSoto! An Ausie DeS Diplomat 'vert! Shit, looks like a factory custom, du'nt it? Me, I LIKE it!











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Here's Walt Disney with his '39 DeSoto Custom or DeLuxe, not sure which. Depending, the 228-CID six could be had with 7-to-1 compression, up a tick from the standard 6.5. That would have boosted the 93 hp a tad. Though the source I searched did not mention overdrive as an option, I once met an old junkyard owner who proudly recounted his '39 DeS with O.D. going well over 90 on straights. Pretty sure the rear ends were standard at 4-to-one. I think the standard wb for most models was 119. The California Taxi model was 136," the limo up to 202 inches (!).

In the K.T. Keller era, DeSoto hung its advertising hat on print and radio (later TV, too) ads with celebrities shilling the brand, usually touting DeS dependability, comfort, mileage AND value in the mid-price market. (THAT conservative image would persist until the new '55 models opened eyes!)

Fresh from the success and notoriety of his first full-length animated feature, "Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs," Walt posed for a series of '39 DeSoto color magazine ads. People have speculated whether Walt actually owned this DeSoto. My WAG is: If not THIS DeS, then one of another color.

(BTW, anybody note a resemblance to the Graham Spirit of Motion (aka Sharknose?).

 

This HobbyTalk '59 coupe shows that people still remember the fading make -- squeezed between Dodge
on the low end and Chrysler & Imperial on the higher end. DeSoto staff created the successful Plymouth
Valiant, etc., for those who care to remember.

 

HAMBer Dan Greenberg, whom many of you HAMBers know from his tireless shooting at shows,
did this MASTERFUL composition of a '59 DeSoto near Peyton, Colorado. Obviously, Dan loves
his subjects and knows how to work with tone, texture, artful cropping for dramatic (real-llife)
perspective. If you like this shot, Dan offers art prints, folks. I wish I could win a small lottery!

The '59 was the LAST REAL DeSOTO, built at the original DeS factory (the Firesweep was built
on Dodge lines), after the fading '59 models, the '60 and '61 were both built on Dodge lines and
of mainly Dodge and Chrysler parts. When the "DeS" parts were used up in mid-November 1960,
MoPar pulled the plug on DeS and all DeS dealers -- who promptly sued. It took through the '60s
for Chrysler Corp. to settled claims from this poorly managed situation.

 

That's mine 41 coupe with a 354 hemi under the hood

 

Wow, StephanT! I love the last of the 3W business coupes. You've done what I've dreamed of doing, if only I could win a modest lottery. I'd love to have a hi-deck DeS Hemi in there and shorten the rear frame and sheet metal by about a foot to change the proportions.

What tranny are you running, bro?

 

Looks like a '57 Firedome 341 with a four-barrel Edelbrock intake. Sweet mill! Thanks, FlickR!

 

'50 DeSoto woody as shot by Bill Dutting FineArtAmerica at the Good Guys Del Mar
Nationals in November 2011. Bill has this available for sale in several fine-art media,
BTW!

 

Nice detail shot, thanks to IndianCountryTodayMediaNetwork. In fact, this is a modern
tribute piece by artist Lewis DeSoto, a distant relative of conquistador Hernando DeSoto
and, until rather recently, a professor of art at San Francisco State University. Lewis notes
that his namesake terrorized and killed native Indians all over the southeast in the mid-1500s.
More of Lewis DeSoto's work can be seen at: desotodesign.net.

 

Super-tough '35 DeSoto Airflow, shot by John Quilter for AllCarCentral in 2010 at Pacific Coast
Dream Machines, Half Moon Bay.

 

Don't know what happened to the focus here, but the '59 Adventurer is still an eye-popper. Pic thanks to CarAndDriver.

 

I've been looking on ebay at the Desoto cars for sale. I can't believe some of the prices these go for!?!?!?!?!

 

Darn right, Hillbilly. All depends on year and body. Speaking of 4DS (the most common) I've seen them go for $3- to $5,000 in nice shape. 'Verts are outa sight, well restored or near-original: Circa $30 grand OR MORE. 95-point or better Sportsman and SeVille coupes, up to $30,000. Adventuers in general are prized, and the '56 is the touchstone, with the '56 Indy special-edition Fireflite "Pacesetter" also practically untouchable.

The '42 with retractible headlights (first car after the Cord 810/812) is very hard to find and brings top dollar in decent shape. Ditto DeSoto Airflows of the mid-'30s.

Those are all generalities, given the current Recession. BUT, select DeSotos are definitely not bad investments anymore (remember the early '60s when Edsels, Packards and DeSotos were hard to GIVE away??).

 

Gotta love the Merc grill in a Desoto switch up!

 

Up date the drivetrain and you got the ultimate road tripper. Diggin' the roof rack.

 

I look at that car and I see miles deep gloss black paint, tail dragger stance, gangster white walls, skirts in the back, filled in quarter windows, possibly a mild chop, ditch the roof rack and hood ornament. Done!

Flat glass, should be a fairly easy chop. I want one.

 

Have you ever watched the "kustoms back from the dead" dvd (sorry, i probably slaughtered that title) In the beginning of that movie Ian Rousel is walking a yard in what I presume to be SoCal, there were a number of cool Desotos, and there was one of these Desoto Suburbans. You could probably contact Ian and I am sure he will get you the hook up.

 

345 DeSoto's . . . what ELSE??? Sure would love a 345 dual-quad
in my own '55!

 

Ga-GAAAAH!! Jaw-dropper Airflow, posted by RichFox in February last year.

 

I just had a cargasm...! Where can i get some skirts for my 55?

 

All DeSoto's are cool, but the '53's are most beautiful...


...and '42's are the meanest looking ones...

 

I like alot of them myself

 

What you guys said! Yeah! Me, I think what goes around comes around.
In 1961, a DeSoto, Packard or Edsel was the lost puppy nobody wanted. Their orphan status is one of the things that -- as a few decades pass, and rarity is a factor -- adds to their panache. (Wow! Never thought I'd get to use that five-dollar word!)

Perceptions change, and people EVENTUALLY take a fresh look. Though I love to see DeS Hemis in 'rods, customs and boats, NOW, folks are thinking twice before eviscerating them. Hell, even the ones that were once considered stodgy can now make COOL cruisers, tail-draggers, etc.

 

Even dead stock, this '48 DeS business coupe from Wikipedia looks sharp!

Just needs a home AND a Hemi!

 

Pontiac Dave caught this nice coachwork by "Cunningham" a few years ago.
I dig the wheels. Cragars? Keystone?

 

Any DeSoto HAMBer probably already knows the masterfully restrained post-war
mordoor of MoParJack44 of Southside, VA. He told me that the 392 Firepower w.
727 sm. block tranny was not too hard to install, with nose metal off. I thought the
steering box would be a HUGE problem. He said no , and he only created some
sheet-metal reliefs on reassembly. GOOD first-hand advice, no? Bagged rear, cut
(not torched) coils up front to create the nice stance. With all of his COOL finishing
touches, paint and wheels, I still doubt anybody will mistake this for a stocker, or
even sleeper!

Seems amazing now, but this car cost a dollar a pound new, back when. Now, it's
worth a mint, and even at two tons, it's an ass-kicker FirePower DeSoto!




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Sweet ride!! Mine is just a 330 two barrel. Good enough for me. Low and slow haha.

 

Wit'cha, man! My dad's Firedome (supposedly only 230 hp but a TON of torque) made me a believer.

In the early '70s, I test drove several 'Cudas with 383s. They couldn't hold a candle to the 330 DeS Firedome with just its two-barrel.

I always wanted to plop one of these into a 'Cuda, since I couldn't afford a 426.

'nough said.

 

I should add: The 'Cuda body was light, and WEIGHT was the only problem I had with the DeSotos in our family stable. All 3 were in the '55 and '56 range. Great cars.