The disappearance of DeSoto 

Please try to match the models you're talking about with the ones shown.

Dad bought a new 1953 Desoto when I was 2. My earliest memories are of that fine car. I got to drive it on dates in high school. He sold it in 1969 when I graduated. Dad really took care of all his cars, I don't remember the Desoto ever having a problem. Wish I could find one today.

Bell Model 47B helicopter (with removable top) at 6:12. Driving that Desoto in the surf is a big mistake. The brake housings will fill with sand-laden water requiring a brake job.

In 1971 I was a high school senior and my friends and I would visit junk yards to fix the POS cars we had. On one visit I saw a strange looking car, it turned out to be a Desoto. I had never seen one before, the keys were in the ignition, so I took them. Several years later Happy Days would premier and Mr Cunningham drove a Desoto in the show. I still have those keys, they're aluminum and feel flimsy in my hand.

In my opinion, De Soto's biggest problem was to abandon its traditional (2) model line up. It really enjoyed a unique position in that its models where basically the same car (wheelbase interior room etc.) with the only real difference being appointments. Later the difference included two different engines. However, it was still one basic car with different appointments. When they tried to compete with Dodge, it's image was diluted. In the publics mind, De Soto's traditionally were an alternative to driving a Chrysler which was perceived as a rich mans car.

As I was told, I was born in the back seat of a 1952 DeSoto. A little strange for a birth in 1963.

Our family had a '60 DeSoto Fireflite, the low end trim model. It was a 4 dr hardtop, (no sedan post). A big V-8 that had to have high test gas. It was fast, but was hampered by the 2 speed Powerflite transmission, a light duty unit that wasn't much. It really needed the 3 speed Tourqueflite trans. The body looked just like a '60 Chrysler, only changes were grille and taillights.

DeSoto actually offered an early attempt at electronic fuel injection as an option in 1958. Unfortunately, it wasn't ready and they had to warranty swap them for regular carburetors. Only one or two survive today.

The '61 Desoto shown in the movie "Mississippi Burning " has to be the only example I have ever seen driving...I'm 76, don't recall ever seeing one as a kid

My dad bought a '57 Fireflight. That was a very fast and comfortable. Many U.S. road trips all across our great Southwest.

I enjoyed your program. There is a lot of good information here as well as the fun to look at video content. The biggest improvement you could make is in editing- focus on better synchronizing your video with the narrative. Keep working at this and ignore negative commentary from grouches . The Desoto brand was a casualty of Chrysler Corp. product planners scrambling to deal with a fast changing auto market of the late 50s and early 60s which wanted fewer traditional big medium priced cars and more smaller, economy cars. Also Chrysler Corp’s overall market share was rapidly declining due to a big hit to their reputation from poor quality of the 1957 model year , and buyers tiring of the Forward Look tail fins.

Nice to see a pile of DeSoto photos of cars with Australian licence plates and right hand drive.

I own a 1954 DeSoto firedome sedan it is a great car

Why, early in this video, do you show a 41 Dodge when you are talking about the 42 DeSoto? The DeSoto was not a Dodge, it was a retrimmed slightly cheaper Chrysler 6. Then, you talk about the new 1949 DeSoto, but you show a 46 - 48 car. Now, you are calling the 53 Powermaster 6 DeSoto's flagship when that was DeSoto's base series. The FireDome V8 was the flagship. Later in the video, you are talking about the 56, but keep showing pictures of the 53. Then, you talk about the Firesweep being introduced as a 56, when it came out in 57, not 56, and was the first DeSoto that was Dodge-based. The Firesweep, because of it's low price instantly became the dominant seller, with severe repercussions. That car severely hurt DeSoto's reputation, as the 57 Dodges and Plymouths are very poor-quality cars. DeSoto sales fell sharply in 58, as that was a severe recession year. ALL cars experienced a big drop in sales, except for the Rambler and the new for 58 4 seat Thunderbird, but DeSoto sales didn't recover at all for 59, so Chrysler panicked and pared the model lineup back, way too much. The Adventurer became the 1960 version of the Fireflite, and the 1960 Fireflite was the 1960 version of the FireDome. No convertibles and no station wagons were offered, so sales fell sharply. There was a 61 planned, so it was produced only until the parts for it were used up. As for inter-divisional competition, that was partly from the expensive, (for a Dodge), Regal Lancer for 1958, then in 1961, the Chrysler division fielded a cheap Newport series. That car, priced a tiny bit cheaper than the DeSoto, but carrying the Chrysler name, killed the DeSoto for good and ALSO cheapened the Chrysler, and the Chrysler division never got back it's prestige after than big mistake. THAT is what killed the DeSoto, that 57 Firesweep and the 61 Chrysler Newport. I truly wish you youngsters would quit thinking you know "everything" when in fact you don't know -hit from Shinola about cars unless they are Datsuns or Toyotas. Research your subject BEFORE making a video.

I remember them well they were classy.

The POWERMASTER was the 6 Cylinder. The FIREDOME was the Hemi V-8.

This video was poorly resourced. By 1955 , CHRYSLER CORPORATION had FIVE MAKES…NOT FOUR: PLYMOUTH, DODGE, DeSOTO, CHRYSLER, and the newly separated IMPERIAL.

Subscribed. I agree about showing the cars you’re talking about. I know some are. Congrats on your channel and Best to you!

The Desoto Fire Dome Hemi had only @ 180 HP ? Wow .

55 Desotos were real beauties!

My dad had a mid-50's model Desoto. It had ball bearings (instead of bushing) steering linkages and would follow the crown of the road (hands off).

Knock off the loud music

So Cadillac was named after a French explorer, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, who founded the fort and later city of Detroit, and DeSoto was named after a Spanish explorer and conquistador, Hernando de Soto who was involved in expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula. He played an important role in Francisco Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire in Peru, but is best known for leading the first European expedition deep into the territory of the modern-day United States (through Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and most likely Arkansas). He is the first European documented as having crossed the Mississippi River.

You left out the top of line 1954 and 1955 Fireflite Coronado which had a special tri color paint of Coronado Green (a little green color), black and white. Although many dealers did not like the black and had their body shops repaint the black to white.

As a teenager in the 1970's and 80's Desoto was synonymous with outdated, jalloppie, clunker, ect

You pretty much got tge history of desoto completely wrong. Although in the usa, tge desoto brand of chrysler Corp ended, it didn't not end in the rest of the world. Desoto became chryslers export brand which also included trucks. Desoto branded cars and trucks were produced around the world with chrysler spinning it off in 1979. As an independent brand desoto truck production finally came to an end in 2016 in Europe. Many can be seen on the road today in eastern Europe and the middle eastern countries. Also. You forgot Chrysler's fourth brand in 1960 in the USA, Imperial dodge plyouth and chrysler 4 brands

I didn't finish the video but it appears you omitted an important and unique model designed for the taxicab/limousine market, the 139.5" wheelbase, jumpseat-equipped, 1946 to 1954 DeSoto Suburban. It ranked second only to the Checker in the taxicab market, but was dropped when the restyled 1955 models were introduced.

I wonder what price you could get today for an original 1951 DeSoto V8 Hemi. Talk about the perfect engine for a rat rod.

Good job!

Undoubtedly very interesting but the extremely monotone style of speech without punctuation and intonation makes it impossible to go through the story. Instead of just summing up facts omitting good storytelling, perhaps make it captivating for the audience by applying rest moments, intonation and clear punctuation and stops; all well timed of course. You lost me personally at least at ~59 seconds due to the extremely monotonous character, which is a true shame.

Get rid of the ANNOYING "NOISE" accompaniment and I may return.

Poor car driven in the salt water...

The Firesweep should never had been built , Dads 1957 DeSoto was a very dependable ,Beautiful and Fast car,,.with no problems Chrysler Corp did a bad decision panic in 1960, It was their own fault , They allowed Dodge and Plymouth to get out of their lanes with a upscale models , Chrysler had too many low end models too ,,. Chrysler should have dropped half of the styles naming in each Make and DeSoto would be a more common car today . Virgal Exner got too far into the deepend in 1959 and did not recover.. He either needed a long Vacation of inspiration or a different boss that was leading Him ,,. In my Opinion There Was no more beautiful car than the 1957 and 58 DeSotos of All American auto Makes ,He should have tinkered with that style a yr or too longer ,. the only thing comes close is the 69 Mark 5 . and T-birds

Hey lets drive my new car on the beach,getta whole lotta salty water under it?

Oh c’mon you don’t have to be a car buff. Puh-leeze. Pop culture will inform people. These cars were before my time but tv/movies/cartoon can be great teaching tools. I think there was a Looney Tune where Porky Pig was starting a car but Daffy Duck was under the hood. The old cars had a “choke” knob/lever and Daffy was literally choking when it was activated. And old cars seem to have a starter pedal down on the floor, left foot actuated? I only have experienced turning a key but yet I’m aware of the old timey stuff. What about Packard? Or the amazing Duesenberg cars? Seems that’s the origin of the phrase “that’s a doosey” came from. In the Pixar Cars movie is the fabulous Hudson Hornet. Hudson is long gone. But lots of us today have an idea of what they were like. Edsel? In the Muppet Movie, Fozzie mentions being a bear in his natural habitat: a Studebaker! 😂 I could go on, but I don’t want to date myself by saying I was about old enough to drive when Saturn came out. Wonder if kids today know Saturn? Olds? Or R.E.O. and their Speedwagon (or perhaps the namesake band). My daughter got me into the Bizarre Adventures of some Joe and she mentions a Robert E. O. Speedwagon character and I nearly spit my lunch/dinner out 🤣 So try and have some perspective. Like that food critic in that Pixar movie. 😊

The name of your channel is misspelled. Might be best to start over with proper spelling

Why is this narrated as one long extended sentence?

What about the FIREWOOD for 58????

5:09 there's my car it's not exactly an automatic you have to shift it up and you have to shift it down between the two gears there is no clutch pedal however

Your commentary and visuals are disjointed in numerous instances!

Actress Barbara Rush at 7:31?

You misspelled Watching at the very end

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If this is the best you can do when reading from a prepared text, STOP! You need to do a lot better if you want a RU-vid following. Regards.

This was awful. Video and narration don’t match. Showing Groucho on what’s my line , at the end when you’re talking about the company failing is ridiculous. De Soto was a sponsor of the show. The video and narration suggest they are speaking about the company in the video. It’s stupid.

Poorly done. Shows little knowledge of the subject. Uses public domain video and it often doesn't match the text. Thumbs down, no subscription.