whats wrong with a 55 desoto

some older Desoto's are neat

nothing wrong with 55 Desoto's think there kind of cool, there cousins to the Chrysler 300

had a 61 Desoto hardtop last year for the car that was a odd looking thing with that upper grille by the hood, just click on this link
http://www.conceptcarz.com/view/photo/446835,17554/1961-DeSoto-Series-RS1-L_photo.aspx
this is what i'm talking about, mine was all White with a Red interior
had a 361 V8 yeah 361 not a 360

guess i like orphan cars Oldsmobile's Pontiac's Studebaker's & Desoto's

 

Yo, Gotgas, I was steamed yesterday, so I misspoke RE the SeVille. No SeVilles in '55.

Also, I may have given the wrong impression. Only 2DH in '55. The 4DH was added for '56 and was apparently liked by DeS customers.

Anywho, I am glad to see today that a bunch of other HAMBers beside you and I came to the defense of this cool brand!!!

 

I love them. I think '55 is the best year. I like the taillights over the '56.

 

Obviously, the guys (like me) who love the '55 to about '58
MoPars have had a good time discussing the details. It's been
a great thread (spoken by somebody with a '55 Fireflite).
Some great points have been made, including a few really
OVERRIDING ones.

MoPar had made a BIG commitment to Exner's "Forward
Look" designs, and THAT meant cars that were longer AND
HEAVIER than Fords & Chevies. They also generally COST
more, too! Those two factors go a long way toward explain-
ing why motorheads of the time bought at least 10 times as
many Chevies and Fords as MoPars. The aftermarket worked
the same way. SO, junkyards went ahead and routinely
scrapped a lot of the heavier MoPars after only a few parts
were stripped (or, as I saw, often bought them in and
scrapped them the same day). That addresses the compar-
ative rarity even more.

Then you add to the weight the two-speed Powerflite trans
of '55 and '56, and you can really appreciate why the average
Joe didn't think of Exner models as rod material when new, or
newer. As drag-racers, the weight and tranny were a real
"drag" !!!

But the looks were pretty keen, which is why I show this
'57 Fury -- for my money, every bit as attractive as a '57
Chevy. When I was young, I used to WISH Chrysler had
managed to issue LIGHT models, too, but with the big en-
gines and better trannies (Torqueflite, in particular!).


1957 Plymouth Fury 2-D-hardtop, courtesy PlymouthCentral.com.
GREAT site! Take a look!

And before GotGas assails me, YES! The '57 DeSoto IS even
prettier!!! (I liked: 1 -- '57 DeS; 2 -- '56 DeS; then, 3 --
'55 DeS, in that order).

 

Jimi, I'm not here to assail anybody. Just sharing thoughts and learning like everybody else. These cars are old, and rare, and there isn't a lot of common knowledge out there about them like there is for Fords and Chevrolets. The '57 Fury is one of my all-time favorites, as are the '55-58 DeSotos.

And speaking of learning, our friend StillOutThere has quite a lot of Forward Look knowledge lurking under the surface. He has some incredible detail about some of the rarest of these old cars. Like the D-501 Dodge racing package for 1957, which included a solid cammed dual quad 355hp 354 Hemi from the 1956 300B racers. He explains a lot of the history of these cars here on the FL site.

 

Whoa, GotGas! I meant that in a jocular vein, 'cause I know the '57 Fireflite & Adventurer are among your FAVES, man.

Anywho, I hope no other HAMBers mind that I kinda hijacked the theme from JUST '55 DeS to include through the first Torqueflite & torsion-bar finned beauties.

But, after re-reading the whole thread this morn, it seemed we (in the last couple of days anyway) started re-covering the same stuff on the '55. Sorry, guys!

 

hah, sry

 

uh...............................WOW. SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!



That Black and Gold Custom. man I need a towel for the drool.

 

I'll just throw my 2 cents in. My 55 Firedome floats down the road smoother than any caddy, sweeter than my Dads Mercedes, and can run the legs off any "stock" family car around. Last night some kid in a cutlass thought he was something. 5 miles later we pulled into McDonalds. He came over just to look at what walked away from him so easily.

Now granted I wouldn't put it in a speed test with a 5.0 or try and corner against a vette but when it comes to just lazy cruisin witha smile? This Ol'Firedome can't be beat.

 

This one was on eBay a few years ago. I thought it was bitchin'.

 

Well, yeah, since most people these days want a complete car, not a rolling chassis someone stole the motor and grille out of. And it greatly depends where you advertise the parts, too, just posting them here or the local trader paper ain't going to cut it.

Tried www.forwardlook.net - website or the e-mail list (not all the same guys on both)? Guys who are DeSoto freaks tend to be pretty rabid about them.

55-56 Chrysler/DeSoto can be a hot/cold market. I've seen 55-56 sedans that don't even run sell for $3000 on eBay. Have listed a buddy's '55 that runs, goes, has a clean registration, was on the road in 2000 or so, can't get the money that cars that have sat since the '60s have brought. Makes no sense. Probably going to give it a flat black rustoleum treatment to make it look a little better and try again this summer.

And I don't see how anyone can say one of these is ugly, unless they hate all '50s cars, or just plain have no taste at all.

 

RatDaddieTattoo wrote: I'll just throw my 2 cents in. My 55 Firedome floats down the road smoother than any caddy, sweeter than my Dads Mercedes, and can run the legs off any "stock" family car around. Last night some kid in a cutlass thought he was something. 5 miles later we pulled into McDonalds. He came over just to look at what walked away from him so easily.

Now granted I wouldn't put it in a speed test with a 5.0 or try and corner against a vette but when it comes to just lazy cruisin witha smile? This Ol'Firedome can't be beat.

Jimi adds: Yeah, man, YOU know, 'cause you've driven one. For a heavy car, they do well. The trannies, though good, were NEVER intended for dragracing -- my biggest complaint about the '55/'56. But, mine used to walk away from most stoplight competition, and I can remember going close to a hundred on a straight stretch with a '57 Ford getting smaller and smaller in my rearview mirror. It's what happens in the MID-range of the trans that's the killer, along with 5,000 pounds of steel. If only the TORQUEFLITE could have been out in '55 !!!<!-- / message --><!-- edit note -->

 

RustyNewYorker, that's one of the BEST analyses I have seen on the HAMB about DeSotos. THANKS. Yeah, DeSoto guys get it & like their cars. People who want a light car wouldn't touch any DeSoto, and that's understandable. DeSotos aren't any sort of PERFECT, "undiscovered" car. They have pros & cons that aren't secret.

But SOME people see the pros, BIG time!

 

As a teenager we had a next door neighbor with a 55 Desoto two door hardtop with chrome tipped dual exhaust and Smitty mufflers on it. It had the coolest sound I ever heard. Even though it was an automatic he would pull it into a lower gear to slow it down. What a rumble! I think 55s had a 331 ci hemi in those days.

By the way if you find one as a parts car I need a rear bumper for one on a project I have.