Edmunds.com | Inside Line | Auto Observer Your Account | Help | Directory
You are here:
![[F]](http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/townhall/webxicons/site.gif){kind=small}
Forums
Classic Cars Project Cars--You Get to Vote on "Hold 'em or Fold 'em"
19412 messages, Last post on Dec 03, 2009 at 3:45 PM
You are in the Classic Cars Forum. Your Host is mr_shiftright
|
Replying to: 210delray (Jan 29, 2009 6:54 pm) You know what, I think that is the same car! Once you mentioned the license plate, it clicked in my brain! I think I saw the car twice, at Allens Pond in Bowie Maryland, in 1991 and 1992. There's also a show in August at the race track in Laurel, so I might have seen it there, too. I probably have a picture of it stashed away somewhere. I think the car also appeared in a writeup in the auto section of the Washington Post, or it might've been a smaller paper, like the Prince George's County Journal. I wonder what ever became of that car? I never could keep the DeSoto model names straight, but those '57 and '58s were great looking cars, as were the Chryslers. DeSoto switched their names around a lot back then, and it probably confused a lot of buyers. In 1953-54, the lineup was PowerMaster/Firedome. PowerMaster was the flathead-6 model, and Firedome was the 276.1 Hemi. I don't know if the Firedome had a nicer interior or other extra amenites, as the PowerMasters I've seen have been pretty nice inside. For 1955-56, the lineup was Firedome/Fireflite, with the high-performance Adventurer being added in mid-year. The name change gave the illusion that DeSoto was reaching into higher-priced territory, but in reality, the Fireflite was priced about where the Firedome had been in '53-54 (adjusting for inflation), while the Firedome was priced about where the PowerMaster had been. The Firedome by this time had a cheaper interior and a 2-bbl V-8, while the Fireflite had a 4-bbl. So the cars were offering some new features compared to the older models, but really didn't move upscale compared to other brands. 1956 was a very good year for DeSoto. While the industry in general cooled off a bit compared to 1955, DeSoto sold almost as many 1956 models. In calendar year sales, which include part of model year 1957, DeSoto actually outsold Chrysler by a small margin, something it had never done before, and would never do again. For 1957, the DeSoto lineup was expanded by adding the cheap Firesweep series. It was priced around $175-200 less than a comparable Firedome, and was fairly popular, although I imagine it cannibalized some sales from the Firedome. IMO, it was a bit grubby looking. It was on the shorter Dodge frame, which had a 122" wheelbase, compared to 126" for the "real" DeSotos and Chryslers. They used a DeSoto body mated to Dodge fenders and hood, and then stuck the DeSoto grille on. The result was a bit awkward up front, as the DeSoto grille didn't fit too well, and jutted out too far. Also, while the Dodges had a headlight setup that gave the illusion of quad headlights, with a big turn signal mounted inboard of the headlight, the Firesweep just used a single headlight in that space, which IMO gave it a bit of an owl-eyed look. The Firesweep was also a bit cheap inside. A Dodge Royal was probably a better deal overall. I believe they were a bit lower-priced, but had the same engine and a nicer interior. DeSoto kept the Firesweep/Firedome/Fireflite/Adventurer lineup from 1957-59. Sales were strong in 1957, at around 117,500. But they plummeted to around 49K for 1958 and 45K for 1959. For 1959, the Firesweep posted modest gains and, interestingly, so did the high-priced Adventurer. But the Firedome/Fireflite, which had been DeSoto's main market in the past, posted a loss. For 1960, the hierarchy was scrapped, and a two-series lineup was offered, both on the shorter 122" wheelbase that was shared with the Chrysler Windsor and the Dodge Matador/Polara. The cheap model was called Fireflite, but it was priced about midway between the 1959 Firesweep and Firedome. The top model was called Adventurer, and it was slotted price-wise, about midway between the 1959 Firedome and Fireflite. The true high-performance Adventurer was gone, but they did offer a cross-ram 383 setup for the 1960 Adventurer that had 330 hp. For 1961, just two body styles were offered, a hardtop coupe and hardtop sedan. They were just called "DeSotos", with no model names. That same year, Chrysler introduced the Newport, which was about $100-150 less, and at the point, DeSoto was pretty much made obsolete. For 1962, Chrysler introduced the non-letter 300 series, which was priced around where the Firedome had been, and the New Yorker was coming down in price a bit as well, to distance it from Imperial.
|
|
|
Replying to: andre1969 (Jan 30, 2009 5:57 am)  Your scope of knowledge on Chrysler-family vehicles is staggering.
|
|
|
Replying to: xwesx (Jan 30, 2009 9:24 am) 
|
|
|
Replying to: andre1969 (Jan 29, 2009 3:17 pm) |
|
|
Replying to: srs_49 (Jan 30, 2009 9:36 am) If the Internet ever shuts down, and all Chrysler history books get lost, auto historians will flock to Andre to tap onto his wealth of knowledge about Chrysler. Andre, I bet you have a ton of automotive books at home.
|
|
|
Replying to: boomchek (Jan 30, 2009 10:13 am) |
|
very close to me, and the price is certainly right... so far.
|
|
|
|
|
Replying to: qbrozen (Jan 31, 2009 11:18 am)
|
|
|
|
|
Replying to: qbrozen (Jan 31, 2009 11:18 am) If he had started with that, he wouldn't have needed to explain why it was listed as a "parts car". It needs a lot of parts! 
|
|
|
|
|
Replying to: jlflemmons (Jan 31, 2009 11:25 am)
|
|
You are here:
Forums
Classic Cars Project Cars--You Get to Vote on "Hold 'em or Fold 'em"
New? Join Now!
Forum Tools
Search Forums
Browse by Vehicle
Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
Today's Chats
