Is there such a thing as a cool Desoto?

Yeah, man. Best finned models of the '50s AND with a Hemi under the hood! Not cool?

Unfortunately, I think that many folks get a negative impression of DeSotos overall, based upon the dowdy two final Keller-era series -- 1949-51 and 1952-54. The unimaginitive styling has been compared to the profile of three shipping crates, two low, one on top. LOL. Unfortunately, it's true, IMO. (Still, even THOSE can be turned into pretty cool CRUISERS!)

Regarding the original question, DeSotos are just plain scarce, for a lot of reasons, especiall the pre-war ones. I doubt that most HAMBers would turn down a gimme pre-war DeSoto. My personal favorites are the immediate post-war models, particularly the business coupes, '46-'48, plus the transitional, hemi-powered '55s through '57s.

 

Well, before I saw this thread I would have thought a DeSoto could never be cool. Thanks for opening my eyes. There are some awesome pics in this thread!

 

What's not to like about the '53 and '54 models??



Not altogether different from the popular '53 and '54 Chevrolets, in my opinion.

-Dave

 

I agree, Dave. I guess I just never gave it much thought. When I was a kid I always thought of them as an "old man's" car and I guess that kind of stuck with me. But I have to say, there are some very cool DeSotos!

 

Willey's41 in Seattle just posted this at "29 DeSoto Commerical Sedan." If someone doesn't
take it, he says he's likely rodding it. More photos of this super-cool SOLE SURVIVOR DeSoto.

 

Hi, Dave. Wasn't trying to step on anybody's toes. It was just my own eye. My feeling is that, even late in the Keller era, the emphasis was still on engineering and mechanical excellence, plus creature comforts. Since Keller was a big guy (who liked to keep his hat on in the car), he required a high roofline, which IMO pretty much took things out of stylists' hands.

But, as CRUISERS, they are just fine. When the '55s came out, this was a sensational shift.

 

Here's a pretty cool '55 coupe, slightly customized.
I don't care much for the wheels, but hey!

 

No toe steppage at all. I don’t own a DeSoto of this era, although as a big man who likes to keep his hat on while driving, I do appreciate that aspect. I just have always thought 1953 and 1954 as a high point of American auto styling; including the MoPars. I agree that ‘49 to ‘52 (especially ‘51 and ‘52) were not nearly as good for MoPar styling as the preceding and following designs, but I think by ‘53 the stylists had a good handle on how to integrate hat-wearing practicality with good aesthetics.

The ‘55s are darn good looking cars too, though: One has only to watch Vertigo a couple times to start appreciating them (that is, once you can tear your eyes from Kim Novak).

There is no excuse for the 1962 Plymouth downsize and restyle, however. I’ll take a ‘52 over one of those any day of the week.

-Dave

 

Car is gone, but I still have the grille and hemi !!

 

More angles on that '55 Pennsylvania custom.

 

Desotos are very cool.. note remembering they're the only other car besides Pontiac to offer an illuminating hood ornament..

 

BigCheese: There is no excuse for the 1962 Plymouth downsize
and restyle, however. I’ll take a ‘52 over one of those any day of
the week.

I heard THAT, Dave! That was due to a piece of internal espionage
that backfired WAY badly! Anywho, below is a '54 Coronado
special edition you'll like. Besides the Firedome Hemi, they featured
two-tone paint and tricked out interior.




The '54 Coronado was just in duo-tone paint (compared with
tri-tone on the '55), but that was kind of hip for DeSoto which
had happily labored along 'til then with the rep of being a
maker of family sedans driven by librarians, ministers and
other conservative people.

Actually, the V-8 Firedome really WAS the "top-of-the-line"
(to borrow your terms) in '54.(The 200-horsepower Fireflite
didn't come out 'til the '55 season.) The "Coronado" debuted
in mid-'54 as a luxury sedan in the Firedome series. It had
special designated Coronado I.D. script and trim, and (ac-
cording to the source I referred to) was only available in
turquoise and ivory with a plush color coordinated matching
interior.

When we really boil it all down, "Coronado" was not a model;
it was a luxury paint, trim and interior package, available for
around a hundred bucks over the most expensive Firedome
4DS of '54. (And the formula stayed pretty much the same for
'55, for that matter, except that Coronado was a Fireflite with
tri-tone paint.)

 

Thanks to Sean72, who's also with Castline/M2 Machines, here's a real dream car! DeSoto only did the '55 tri-tone limited-edition '55 Coronado as a 4DS, by M2 liked the effect so much that -- like me -- they sought to capture what the Coronado would have looked like AS A COUPE! Answer: Sharp. Definitely, DeSoto never made a '55 Coronado coupe. Thing is: This would not be hard for a Firelite coupe owner to accomplish. What a head-turner THAT would be!

 

'55 sled posted by HAMBer Bonz.

 

Sheck THIS Firedome 2-barrel Hemi out from Kustom55!

 

RevKev6 posted this '56 Adventurer over on my thread, "The Elusive DeSoto
Coronado Coupe?" Airy coupe, 320-hp Hemi 2X4 Carters, 130 flying mile on
sand -- faster on Chrysler's proving grounds. So cool, the parent company
was getting uncomfortable.

 

Interesting, I was just reading about that.

-Dave

 

Here is a cool business coupe in the cl***ified my friend has for sale. I posted this earlier as sold, but potential buyer changed his mind, so it is still available. ~sololobo~

 

Come to think of it, I don't know of any other lighted hood ornaments
than Pontiac and DeSoto in that era! As a kid, I used to love
seeing these coming own the street at night. Here is the '50 that
Norrland in Sweden just acquired in mid-'11. You can see that the
previous own did some pretty funky things to it, which Norrland is
gradually fixing his own way. Would you look at the previous owner's
p***e eyelids and the J.C. Whitney lights?

 

Sololobo, way cool, bro. One of the last true three-windows. Hombre, I need to win a small lottery!

 

GotGas -- who calls the '57 DeS Fireflite and Adventurer THE
pinnacle of '50s fins -- posted these clean pix of a CLEAN '58
Adventurer, quite some time back. Damn! Well worth a reprise,
if you wanna talk COOL DeSotos!!! GotGas says that ONLY
FIVE DeSotos -- all Adventurers -- were equipped with this
Bendix EFI setup! This is the ONLY ONE that's had the EFI
restored to stock! (The 'vette special-order injection was
Rochester mechical, incidentally.)

 

MacTexas' '48 DeS club coupe. Sick!!! Check out the SWEEP
of that long profile! NOT cool? ANY car with a naked-lady
hood ornament just can't be bad!

 

Check out the wheelbase on this California Taxi! Pretty sure this beast is the Cal Taxi, not the 'burb.
Posted by LenM of Winnipeg, NS.

 

1956 DeSoto Fireflite "Pacesetter" convertible. Not an Adventurer but a Fireflite special edition equipped
with Adventurer H-D components.



<SMALL>These photos are credited to bsabarnowl and were shot in 2008. They were sourced through the Wikimedia </SMALL>
<SMALL>Commons project. </SMALL><SMALL>These are the property of the rights holder, and there are certain accreditation require-</SMALL>
<SMALL>ments ***ociated with any republication. P</SMALL><SMALL>lease support Wikipedia, as well as the Wikimedia Commons </SMALL>
<SMALL>project. My sincere thanks to both!</SMALL>
<SMALL></SMALL>
<SMALL></SMALL>

 

Now I wish I had bought the '55 4-door that was for sale here last summer. It was way cheap too! You can't go wrong with the '55 Desoto.

 

No such thing as a cool DeSoto!







Especially '61s...



And especially especially the rust buckets...

 

I liked a '53 Firedome I looked at, quite a bit. It was a complete, running 4-door, in really good shape. It's still sitting and will probably go for well under 3k. I went and looked at it twice, while I was debating and then picked up the Ford.



http://orlando.craigslist.org/cto/2749878500.html

 

This makes me want to dig out my fenderskirts!

 

GotGas, this is just ridiculous! HOW could any stylist ever think that these fins were cool???
Seriously, though, I could sit and drink in those body lines all day! Look at those 14" wires!

 

No problems here. I see a GREAT, restorable coupe. The floor pans and rockers,
sure, but they are available. Look at the fit of the doors and the lower door edges.
Bad doors are much harder to restore than rockers and floor pans. Whoever has
this '57, I am seriously green with envy! Yowza!