DeSoto’s Demise – 1952 through 1961
DeSoto reached its pinnacle with the high performance Adventurer, first offered in 1956 (shown...
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Category: DeSoto
The 1952-1961 DeSoto Disaster
1956 was the first year that a hardtop joined the Eldorado line. If you were choosing a performance Eldorado, the Seville hardtop would have been your selection.
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1961 DeSoto Fact Sheet
Like Ford’s Edsel in the year before, the 1961 model was only created to use up the stock of pre-ordered trim and any fleet purchases.
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1960 DeSoto Fact Sheet
A Corporate decision was made to integrate the Chrysler and DeSoto bodies and their styling with that of the lower-level Chrysler cars for 1960, standardizing on the shorter 122.0″ wheelbase.
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1959 DeSoto Fact Sheet
In a year of “hold the line” due to the worsening recession, the biggest news was the introduction of the 383 CID “B” series V-8 as the standard engine for all except the Firesweep.
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1952-1961 DeSoto V-8 Engine Facts
The factory soon found that its competitors were touting power! Not to be outdone, the 1955 Eldorado appeared with multiple carbs and the horsepower race was on!
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1958 DeSoto Fact Sheet
The biggest news was the introduction of the new “B” Series corporate wedge head V-8 engine, available in 350 and 361 CID.
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1957 DeSoto Fact Sheet
The new Firesweep body was placed on the Dodge 122″ chassis and the Firedome, Fireflite and Adventurer sat on the larger 126″ wheelbase. The Adventurer was the first U.S. car to provide one horsepower per cubic inch standard.
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1956 DeSoto Fact Sheet
Styling changes were dramatic – with the all-new “Forward Look”. The six-cylinder engine was finally dropped and the V-8 had 291 CID and 200 HP.
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1955 DeSoto Fact Sheet
Styling changes were dramatic – with the all-new “Forward Look”. The six-cylinder engine was finally dropped and the V-8 had 291 CID and 200 HP.
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1954 DeSoto Fact Sheet
A styling change was that the grille reverted to the nine-tooth look of 1952 – with parking lamps floating inside the grille outline. Power went to 170 HP.
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1953 DeSoto Fact Sheet
This was the 25th anniversary for DeSoto, but no special models were offered. A new series called, “Powermaster”, debuted replacing both the Deluxe and Custom lines.
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1952 DeSoto Fact Sheet
The cars available at the beginning of the 1952 model run were basically a carryover of the S15 Series of the previous year.
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