whats wrong with a 55 desoto

if they are worried about how I type they are obviously not reading this for the cars and need to get another hobby elsewhere, didnt think this forum had such floggers on it, I must have been wrong, lets get back to the thread topic

 

I like them as well. I have a '53 town sedan and a 54 sportsman. Had a '55 Fireflite Coronado, parted it out unfortunately. Got $1150 for the grille, it was that nice and I have the gauges in my t-bucket. Still have the 4bbl 291 hemi, half done building it for the '54 Sportsman. Nice cars. It is nice to have something nobody else does. I am thinking about putting a Merc grille in my '54 since someone stole the grille for a stupid merc project. There has to be a million stock merc grilles laying around.

 

funny how many people ask "is it a mercury, coz the grill looks like one" glad to see there is plenty of support for these alternate models, another good thing with having a much less loved model is that you can still find NOS parts for bargain prices

 

I'm a '55/'56 guy. The ONLY things I'd CHANGE if I had a magic wand would be:

(1) 12-V system
(2) Torqueflite for the Powerflite
(3) Improve the tail lights a little (Back end of the '55 is its weakest perspective, whereas the '56 just about had the look pegged!)

 

Now thats just cold.

 

Yes, you do. Some look good, some a bit funny. Lots of teeth, though. Are you an orthodontist?

 

YAH......what kinda stupid fool would own one a them pieces?.....oh wait.....never mind. I once had a guy ask me why I owned three, I told him I found I wasn't getting enough ridicule and abuse with just one. Have fun with an interesting car few others have, what ever the reason.

 

Here's my '55. Owned it since I was 15 years old and 6 years later, this is it at last weekend's HAMB Drags. '56 Olds headlights, '56 Packard tails, Floated the stock grill, molded doghouse, stock hemi with a 5-speed, and chopped 3 inches.

 

... And another.

 

ive always liked desotos. forget about the typing and lack of capitals, the big drama here is those ugly, non hamb friendly, horrible wheels. as for the rest of it, you done good. great start and will be a great car with some cosmetic work. this is the hamb, not pimp my ride. lol.

 

I don't see anything wrong with your DeSoto except you need the lose the 20"
wheels.
V/8

 

Sir! I must protest!

 

54 desoto grille is the best.
55 is second best
53 third best....

 

55s don't get the love that 56s and up get. No tailfins, no torque flight, no push-button, no torsion bars.

The styling is a matter of your level of taste. If you like flashy, 2-tone and fairly plush interiors you're in luck. I like them just fine but prefer the 56s, 57s, and 58s.

WHY IS THERE NO GOD DAMNED EMOTICON OF LITTLE HEARTS TO SHOW LOVE?

 

back view of the 55 dsoto... tail lights

 

but everyone loves the desoto grilles...........

 

That '55 makes a pretty snazzy custom. Great job on the chop also. It took a second glance to notice which is a compliment in my book.
My old roommate has a '55 Desoto also. He's going back all stock with it though.

 

Well, I actually want a 55 DeSoto 2 door hardtop if the price is right. So if any of you guys have one and don't want it, send me a pm.

 

Amen to that and when you find it there has to be enough there to use.

The last two hardtops I chased down were either so rusted that I couldn't see attempting to rebuild it or so stripped that there wasn't enough there to build.

There weren't a great number of them to begin with as compared to other 55 anythings outside of the real orphans and they are few and far between now. When you figure that the total 55 Desoto production was 114,765 while 1,776,682 1955 Chevrolet cars were built you can see why they are a bit rare now. Copy and paste = bold numbers .

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GOOD LUCK, rarerodder. They made, I think ONE hardtop for every sedan.

Couple that with: They made 10 Cheveys for every ONE DeSoto.

YOU and I BOTH dream of a '55 or '56 2-door!

I hope YOU find one. The FEW I have found were a LONG time ago --- and they were sunk down in the mud & rusted to crap.

Wanna see one. Go to a car show. Somebody SELLS one, think twice before turning up your nose at the price.

 

Easy, guys! I think FiddyFour was just pulling us sensitive DeS guy's dog-chains!!! LOL (Besides, HIS car sucks eggs ... & STUFF! sniff!)

 

All the Merc guys want Desoto grills. Thats why they hate to see originals driving around. Same as seeing an unmolested Model T. I put a '55 grill in my '56 just to tease 'em!!

 

love it never seen one of those done up custom before. looks good, real damn good

 

55 Desoto was gods gift to the automotive enthusiast

 

Rusty started this thread over a year ago. I am wondering how the truck rims look with the new paint. Any updates?

Neal

 

HotRodPaint.com is right that DeSotos & Chryslers WERE heavier in '55 and '55 than Chevys and Fords -- tipping the scales over 2 tons, in fact. The weight, coupled with the 2-speed TrqueFlite tranny would have, naturally, relgated them to later use mainly as CUSTOM cruisers, OR for their cool PARTS.

But, also, DeSoto was a "niche" brand and generally didn't make it into the TOP-10 SELLERS list of U.S. cars. Only one DeS was sold for every 10 Chevys, you know?

Given that relatively fewer of them were around in the beginning, it stands to reason that no everybody was scrambling to make the Saturday night scene in a DeSoto.

THEN, couple that with the fatc that DeSoto values bottomed out during the '60s, basically and only began to rebound as collector cars in the '70s & later. So, guys could BUY these tough, heavy cars for as little as $50-100 and take 'em to the Demolition Derby -- further, seriously depleting the ranks of surviving DeSotos.

 

PacMan wrote: I dont think we're not seeing desoto's because no one likes them... no one can find them and its hard to find a 2 door desoto. Hard to find cars are always in demand and I'd bet most HAMBers would pick up a Desoto at a fair price if presented the opportunity. Besides, Desotos have become an endangered species thoughtlessly hunted for their high dollar teeth and hemis.

For the reasons I just mentioned, DeSotos are scarce, just a Pacman said. He and GotGas are dead on, too, that very few hartops were made VS. mom-pop 4-D-Sedans. This makes the coupes (and almost non-existent ragtops) super-in-DEMAND!

Though my '55 Fireflite is a sedan, I count myself LUCKY even to have a running speciment, PLUS all the spare parts I squirriled away back when they still existed in junkyards!!!

 

DeSOTO OF VENTURA SAID: I think ANYONE who says '55-'56 DeSoto's are ugly must be Blind. True they have a bit much Gawdy chrome, but thats easily fixed.

These cars have better lines & lend to a mild custom treatment very well ... Moreso than any custom, '57 Chevy. Beside's Gil Gonzales had one, Remember when Kurt had his Butt parked on it on American Graffiti ?

Gotta agree with "DeSOTO" of Ventura here, on SEVERAL points! FIRST: IT SURE AS HELL DIDN'T GET BY ME THAT THE BUTT OF "KURT" (Richard Dreyfuss) WAS PLANTED ON A '55 DeSOTO IN "AMERICAN GRAFITTI"! (That's what got him in deep shit with THE PHAROES!!!)

Historically and style-wise, the '55 and '56 DeSotos were ONLY a 2-year, TRANSITIONAL series, which makes them special to me. They bridged the gap from the old mom-pop earlier DeSoto sedans of the K.T. Keller era to the Fantastically Finned" creations Exner pretty much finished up the series (on a high note!) with next.

FOR THESE REASONS, I AGREE WITH "GOT GAS." the '55, '56 AND BEAUTIFUL '57 REPRESENT THE VERY APEX OF DeSOTO DEVELOPMENT. Were it not for the odd-ball, DeSoto-badged Dodges of '60 and a TAD of '61, I'd say DeSoto went OUT on a really high note!

Yes, they were pretty darn "chrome-y." But, as "DeSoto" said, that is not hard to amend. My own DeS is pretty much shaved, and I have a '56 Chrysler EAGLE hood ornemnt in place of the non-descript original. I also switched mine from two-tone to one to make it "different than most.





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GotGas is right about rarity AND parts rarity on the 330, 341 and 345, too -- BIG FACTOR rodding folks! I should know. I've been researching and parts-looking since January . . . and I am getting NOWHERE ... BUT, at least fast!

 

VonDust, you did one heck of a job working in real metal on your '55 -- especially on the REAR, which I always thoght was the '55's weakest aspect.

STILL, I'd LOVE to see what "James D" could DO with one!!! Especially after what he did to a Kaiser Manhattan!!! Rock on!