De Soto
Brief History
Walter P .Chrysler launched the De Soto and Plymouth lines in an effort to compete with the GM mid-priced lines, Pontiac and Oldsmobile in May of 1928.
in 1928 had started the production of the first de soto - 1929 Model K in the Dodge Highland Park plant.
In 1933 the engineers modified a De Soto sedan to drive backwards. Aimed with back to the wind, this oddball experimental De Soto provided better gas mileage and higher cruising speeds! The ongoing experimentation indicated that a teardrop shape would be the most aerodynamic. it was applied to the 1934 De Soto Airflow. The new cars had great weight distribution, making them extremely stable, the passenger compartment was located in front of the rear wheels, which offered more room and superior comfort, and these were also the first cars with unibody construction, simplifying production and increasing body strength tremendously. These cars truly were thirty years ahead of their time.
In 1938, De Soto began building trucks for the export (mostly military) market.
In 1941 the De Soto Simplimatic Fluid Drive semi-automatic transmission became available on all models. After the war, it would be updated, as the Tip-Toe Hydraulic Shift. In 1954, the semi-automatic would be upgraded to a full automatic transmission, the Powerflite, which would receive the famous ‘pushbutton’shifter the next year.
1957 was the most successfull year for de soto. even though the De Soto was still an independent marque, the newly introduced de soto Firesweep might just as well have been a Dodge. It consisted of a de soto body on Dodge chassis, with Dodge doors, Dodge engines, Dodge front end clip with a different de soto grille treatment, and it was built at the Dodge Main facility in Hamtramck.
By 1959, the once-proud De Soto line had been reduced to the Fireflite and the Adventurer, and the marque was merged with the Plymouth line. This year also saw the 2 millionth de soto sold.
In 1960, the same two models, with virtually no changes, we held over. Sales, as could be expected, were dismal, especially given the fact that the cars were being sold in the same showrooms as their lower-priced cousins.
The final De Soto design was transformed into the Chrysler Newport before production even started, and the 1961 model year was the end for de soto. The remaining stock of 1960 parts was used to build the last few cars, and the marque was relegated to history.
