Chrysler Corporation’s “Flight Sweep” styling triggered panic attacks at GM and Ford in 1957. But is it true this massive finned behemoth was styled by the same guy behind the Volkswagen Karman-Ghia? You bet your Exner it was!
30 years ago, I just got my drivers license and while driving into town, noticed what looked like a '57 Chrysler at the end of a long row of cars behind a farmhouse. Being a lifelong Mopar kid, I built up the courage to knock the door to ask about the ol' gal in the field and was abruptly ran off of the place. 30 years of watching those cars in silent slumber as I drive by. Well, last summer there was a change, and the row of cars were being dragged out into the open field. There was Packard, Olds, Cadillac, and the one lone Mopar was a '57 Desoto Firedome. Long story short, I now own that car and took it on its maiden voyage within two weeks of bringing it home.
One of the greatest car ads of all time was the 3/4 rear view of a '57 DeSoto with the caption "This baby can flick it's tail at anything on the road" Congrats on getting a legend! 👍
Steve never misses a trick. Saw this car in the background of the Olds ragtop video the other day and was hoping Steve would get to it and sure enough.... Steve never disappoints! Love the Exner cars.
A quick torsion bar story. A coworker brought in a broken torsion bar off of his Dart and welded it back together. We told him that it was high carbon spring steel and wouldn't work. The next day he said "It broke as soon as we lowered the jack!" A used one was like $15 at the time! 🙄
Here’s another torsion bar story , a junkyard owner had a customer come in needing a lower control arm for a fifty five Packard , the kid working in the junkyard, went to a car to remove a control arm. The kid was lucky, when he freed the lower control arm with a length of pipe, it only broke three of his fingers, and sent the pipe straight through two doors of another junk car.
A great profile of the '58 Windsor. These were beautiful cars. I certainly enjoy the addition of the Jo-Han promo model, brochures and magazine articles. Thank you @Steve for all of your work putting each of these videos together.
My Dad's '70 Coronet was parked in the driveway when the driver's side torsion bar broke. It sounded like a gun shot. I think we were watching "All in the Family" when that happened. My dad loved Archie Bunker.
My brother in law ( big sisters boyfriend at the time) had on of those, remember his was jacked up in the back with dual exhaust and had a rumble! I thought it was so cool!! He went to Murray Wright high school in Detroit which was a mechanical vocational school at the time. He became jet fighter mechanic and was off to Thailand and Vietnam
Hey Steve - It should be noted that the brake booster seen on this car was actually a dealer-addition for a car ordered with manual brakes. If the car had factory power brakes, it would have had the Bendix canister or Kelsey-Hayes accordion on the firewall.
We need the canceled bit back! That Non trendy motor magazine that made a bad decision by canceling a great writer! Maybe we wouldn't have this awesome channel?
Thanks for the kind words. The hassle with the end of my old Roadkill's Junkyard Gold show happened after the Knuckle Heads from Velocity Channel "merged" with the former "Motor Trend On Demand" (MTOD) about 4 years ago. You might remember that MTOD was all online and hoped to create an automotive destination - for a modest subscription fee, a.k.a. "pay wall". Well it was doing pretty well and my old Roadkill's Junkyard Gold ran for 31 episodes (3 seasons). Then came Velocity Channel. These guys were my "bosses" for several years as they produced the Barrett-Jackson collector car auction TV shows - on Velocity Channel. I pitched these Know Nothings a "junkyard treasure hunt" show TEN TIMES over 5 years and they'd say things like "you are TOO technical" as they shot down my show pitches. Well, they "merged" with MTOD and within a year, changed the format back to cable-dying TV and killed off a bunch of highly rated shows including Fred Smith's Dirt Every day and my little show as well. Anyhoo, I'd NEVER go back to trend Motor Backwards after experiencing the freedom of RU-vid! And THANK YOU for watching and writing. -Steve Magnante
@@SteveMagnante You're definitely be better being your own Boss. It's fun, we laugh,we learn. Even with the diecast cars in the model kits and it's just a great channel. And trust me any idea you have is probably a pretty dang good one! Keep up the great work!
@@SteveMagnanteit's a shame that the idiots in charge killed your show. In my opinion all of the roadkill variants, were, and some still are, the best automotive shows out there. Now they give shows to hillbilly's that do stupid things like raise trucks six feet off the ground.
The cause of the problems for the rust in 1957/1958 @ Chrysler was that the dual headlights pods that captured pools of rain water and could never be released, thus rusting out the front fenders within months. Also added was the front windshield posts that collected water and did not drain properly, so the door frames became rusty. Ditto the rear window rubber seal, the water collected in the hinge area and dripped onto luggage and the trunk floor. ln 1958 they added rubber hoses and holes to redirect the rain water accumulation, but it never was correctly done.
@@DanEBoyd As a kid in the rust belt, I remember lots of cars with coat hangers wired up to hold the headlights somewhat in place! The more mechanically inclined owners used scraps of metal (like old licence plates 😁) and sheet metal screws or 'pop rivets' to hold them in place. I had to do that to a '61 Comet. A $50 special in 1971.
Some years ago I found a '58 in a yard that was up on blocks. If you stood on the left rear bumper the whole rear would twist and the rear window (which I pulled and sold) would start to come away from the roof. it was rotted that badly.
my dad bought a new '57 plymouth plaza 4 door, 6 cly, flat head, 3 speed on the tree, flat red it wa s kept for 11 years, learned how to drive in this car. lots of memories and many miles
I don't know about the styling of the Chrysler. But I do know my grandparents had a 57 Olds 88. I remember it till this day. It was absolutely beautiful inside and out.
Mr. B. Here ! Morning to all late 50’s NY for a kid was car show everyday ! Dad had 1957 Olds it was cool , my buddy’s dad had one just like that one Steve , both cars were two doors, both black . Great video Steve !
Guys I was thing think on colors ; dad’s car was black on out side with a red stripe , interior, black - ivory - gold ! My buddy’s his dad’s car was black - tan & gold trim , these vehicles to a youngster were out of this world 🌎. Many of you baby boomers know what am talking about ! Todays vehicles are about as exciting as having a hang nail . 🥂 🍸🍸
It seems like Chrysler products from this era were forgotten and the 57 Chevy Bel air got all the attention, until Christine. I have often wondered why the poly engines didn't have a bigger legacy. Making 290 HP from a 354 ci engine with a two barrel carb is pretty good power. If I remember correctly the 318 poly made more power than the LA 318 as well.
The "polyspherical" combustion chamber concept is good buy the hassle is that Chrysler (and the other Poly offshoots used in Dodge, DeSoto and Plymouth) were cast in a way that places the internal coolant passages quite close to the inner sides of the intake and exhaust ports. As they are, the ports are large enough to support 354 cubes but cannot be enlarged to allow more flow volume for larger engines or serious hot rodding. As "peppy people movers" the Poly family is good. But again their "curse" is how you "hit water" if you make the ports as large as they'd need to be for Hemi-league breathing potential. But they do have a menacing exhaust rumble. Thanks for watching and writing. -Steve Magnante
I've been watching car videos for the last couple years, daydreaming about finding an old one for myself and getting it spiffied up and on the road. 🤣 Yesterday I changed the oil, the trans fluid, filter and shift solenoids on my 97 mustang😂 today I feel like a gang of thugs took turns beating me with a burlap bag full of rocks. 😮 Muscles that I wasn't aware that I had are aching. 🤣 My bald head is sunburned and I have a rash on my back and posterior from sliding and rolling around in the concrete. 😂 Nope, not the 23 year old that used to crawl around and under these old cars. Lol I'll need to get into better shape if I'm to restore an old American classic.
57 Chrysler Windsor brings back memories from me as the youngest of 3 sons riding in the back seat from Dayton, OH to Houston, TX where we moved permanently in the Summer of 58. Our 57 Windsor 4 door sedan was later model with the dual headlights dark metallic blue with a white top and white side trim and yes with push button drive. I sat in the middle of the back seat between my 2 older brothers. My parents traded a 51 light green 2 door Dodge with an early automatic at a Chrysler Dealership in MIamisburg, OH for the 57 Chrysler which was a dream car for my mother with 4 doors better for a growing family. On the way to Houston we broke down in Texarkana and needed a new fan belt and water pump and I remember it was at least 100 degrees and my mother was crying and told my father he brought her to hell. Most cars in the late 50s didn't have air conditioning and when we arrived in Houston in was midnight and well into the 90s with humidity to match. That fall the Chrysler got traded for a white 59 9 passenger Plymouth Sport Suburban with factory air conditioning. The trip to Houston was enough with 3 bored and unsettled boys in the back seat and no air to cool things off so the Plymouth fit the bill. I rode in the rear facing seat on the new Suburban and loved having my own seat and watching the people in the cars from behind. From then on my father always had a station wagon even when all of us were grown and left home. My mother had my little sister when I was 14 and my father had a flat tire in the family 64 Impala 9 passenger wagon on the way to the hospital. I drove that Impala when I got my driver's license and loved that 327 with the Rochester quad 4 carb and despite the Powerglide that car would move.
A shame it's that far gone, it would be an amazing car to be driving around. Never knew what a poly was, but your always there to teach us. Thanks Steve. What, no reindeer today?
If you've ever watched the old TV show "Crime Story" Dennis Farina's character's personal car was a 1958 Chrysler 300 convertible. When you compared it to all the other period cars used in the TV series all the others looked like slugs. Interesting to see Chrysler was using an integral power steering box in 1957 when everyone else was still using the add on hydraulic slave cylinder systems that were complicated, heavy and always leaked when the seals got a year or two old. Ford used the slave cylinder systems right up to the 1970's.
Man that car is beautiful. A '57 Fury of Belvedere 2 door hardtop is on my bucket list but a Newport, Windsor or New Yorker in the same style would be a great backup plan. I currently own a '57 Imperial 2 door hardtop. The styling is good but a little busy compared with the other cars. I also own a 61 Catalina bubble top. I think Steve and I have very similar tastes in cars.
I love these cars! Myself and a few others have been waiting for this car's turn in the lineup, having seen it in the background. And Steve's fact-filled presentation was worth the wait. The rust over the headlights was common on all car makes back then, with Chrysler probably being the worst.😒 Schott Company, in Akron, Ohio stamped out repair panels for these and many other cars. And as a footnote, the old promotional model cars were made in acetate plastic, which warped with age. The styrene plastic, also called ABS ( the stuff of black plastic drain pipes) was much more stable.
Prestolite made that starter for Chrysler and they are still around today. They are related to Leece-Neville who makes alternators for large truck applications, one of the more popular being the "4800" and "4900" Series units. There was a white and blue 1958 Windsor in my neighborhood up until about three years ago. The guy has a changing fleet of hoopties. I think it was owned by a guy for years that used to talk to my dad all the time when he was working on the 1941 Plymouth. My dad would say, "Nice chatting but it is dinner time. My wife is calling me." That was the only way to shed the guy. He was goofy and nerdy and rode a bike around the neighborhood and had "Nader was Wrong" shirts on all the time. No offense but he actually looked like Mr. Magnante. Lol. I showed the 1937 Desoto video to my uncle who is my dad's older brother. He had the Plymouth for years after my dad passed. No VIN, can't win, but can be figured out, no doubt: L for 1958 model year, C for Chrysler, 1 for V8 equipped, then an additional "L" if it was made at the Maywood, CA assembly plant (Los Angeles, which operated from 1932 to 1971), and without that additional "L" if it was assembled at the Jefferson Ave, Detroit, MI plant. However, some literature states that the second "L" is for "Low price class" which would be something that future Chrysler VINs would use. The Jefferson plant that may have made this car operated under Chrysler from 1925 to 1990 and then closed, with a "new" Jefferson plant opening in 1991 and still operating today under Stellantis. The Maywood plant was located at 5800 Slauson Blvd in Maywood. The starting production number at both plants was 1001 in 1958. Chrysler's west coast parts plant was located at 1950 Davis Street in San Leandro, CA which was down the block from the San Leandro plant at 1933 Davis Street and served as their west coast parts plant after closing in 1954 as an assembly plant. IHC had it for a time and then sold it to Caterpillar in 1975. Today, it's the Westgate Shopping Center. Ford's Maywood plant was across the street and that closed in 1957 when Ford's Los Angeles, CA plant was opened that summer (which was also called Pico Rivera and operated until 1980). They had several other parts plants, including one at 1150 Murphy Ave in Atlanta, GA which appears now to be a graffiti covered long range of buildings with many bay doors that you could envision could have been a parts plant. Chrysler had a "telegram" service for ordering parts that was a coded message system used by dealers to communicate and order parts. It was surely styled after some sort of military system following WWII with its coded messages and delivery instructions. No tag, can't brag, but this is code "A" Raven Black exterior paint. This is a case where showing the VIN and any other tags could have helped out. It was a bit out of reach from Mr. Richardson's filming to make it out, but I thought I (barely) spotted an "L" for the first digit, which is surely the 1958 model year.
Hey Google User GP, do you know what Auto-Lite made in Syracuse, NY? I found some unused tags that look like they'd go on a generator, starter or distributor, gold and black, all they say is Auto-Lite Syracuse NY. Was mixed in with model RR stuff in a box lot from an auction.
I work at the mack Ave plant as a repairman making the jeep grand cherokee L and the overflow regular grand Cherokee from the Jefferson north Assembly I love seeing all the old cars my family built im a 4th gen autoworker I used to work at Mcgraw glass next to Wyoming assembly where the desotos were made before going to the jefferson Ave plant it neat to see all the history
Heck that Windsor except for the drivers door clearly being gone... doesn't look all that rotted away. Surprising to see, of course if I were there in person I might feel differently
@@UberLummox Upper end of it, like Oldsmobile. But so was the Chrysler Windsor, which shared its chassis with the DeSoto Firesweep and top line Dodges.
That car would look fantastic lowered, sitting on some wide whites and Fiesta hubcaps. Semi gloss black and red wheels, of course. If you could find a "Winky" the cat for the package tray, that would be the cherry on top. Really enjoy not only your knowledge and passion for old cars, but your collection of automobilia as well.
