Cars and Races: RitzSite

Car of the Month - January 2010

DeSoto_hardtop_coupe_1961

DeSoto - hardtop coupe body - model year 1961

The economic recession in 2009 has had a profound effect on the once mighty car industry of the United States. Giant General Motors just barely survived thanks to a huge cash infusion by the US government and is planning to shed a few of its well established car makes, Ford had to sell many of its assets and Chrysler was acquired by Fiat of Italy. Much of this would have made no sense if you'd predicted it about ten years ago but now it just happened within a year. No doubt this shock will cause the American car manufacturers to bring their products more in line with that of the competition in Europe and Asia and to loose some more of the colorful characteristics that made them American.
Though the fact that the US carmarket alone is no longer enough to survive and thrive is relatively new for the "big three", economic recession and abandoning makes that aren't profitable is not. That has been going on since the beginning of the American car industry. In recent history the Chrysler corporation for instance carried three names to the grave that once were successful: Plymouth (2001), Imperial (1983) and DeSoto (1961). The DeSoto name is perhaps the most enigmatic of the three, certainly outside the U.S. Like Plymouth and Imperial it was conceived rather than established but its departure still was premature and traumatic.

The Chrysler company was comparatively a latecomer in the car industry, only founded in 1924, but quite successful in the range of middle-class cars. To expand their market Chrysler devised a strategy of dividing their range over separate makes that would compete directly with the opposition. And so in 1928 Plymouth was introduced as contender in the lower price segment dominated by Ford and Chevrolet, and DeSoto (named after the Spanish explorer who discovered the Mississippi river) for the mid range option while Chrysler itself moved up the price range, making it the luxury make of the pack. Things got complicated however when Chrysler also bought Dodge in 1928 which already offered cars in the range intended for DeSoto. The DeSoto models were initially priced a bit lower that the Dodges and at first enjoyed good sales despite the in-house competition. But then the great depression of the early 1930s hit and sales declined. To turn things around the DeSoto policy was revised; from 1933 DeSoto offered cars which slotted in between the Chrysler and the Dodge models. Combined with the introduction of the unpopular Airflow models this first spelled disaster; sales were disappointing while the conventional Dodges sold better and better.
Never the less DeSoto was carried through this dire time and in the following years the "lower priced Chrysler" policy started to pay off. The most notable DeSoto models appeared from 1955 and bore intimidating names like Firedome and Fireflite. This was the year the "Forward Look" created by stylist Virgil Exner was introduced which resulted in some of the best looking Chrysler models ever. DeSoto featured the most flashy versions of these designs and combined with powerful Hemi-engine options at more affordable prices than the Chrysler models it became a hit amongst car enthusiasts. This success was continued into 1956 and 1957 saw the introduction of probably the most classic DeSoto models: the second generation of the Forward Look.
It were these models that, in hindsight, formed the pinnacle of extravagant American car styling. Striking multi-color paint jobs, lots of chrome trim, large fins at the rear and long sweeping lines characterized these futuristic fantasies. They might just as well had come from Mars, so outlandish was their appearance. Performance matched the looks with V8 engines available offering up to a staggering 345 hp. The attractive pricing ensured another good sales year for DeSoto but unfortunately it also proved to be the last good year. In the following years Chrysler itself expanded its range to include lower priced models while Dodge moved up the scale, effectively annihilating the niche DeSoto was in. From 1956 DeSoto also suffered from quality problems which tarnished its good name. As a result it rapidly went downhill for DeSoto from 1958; sales were down by half even though the model line-up was broad and attractive. This continued in 1959, compounded by a general recession in car sales, and now rumors of Chrysler terminating DeSoto started to be published.
At first this was denied and plans for future models were shown but car buyers became wary. After some poor management decisions things went from bad to worse and in 1960 it became clear that DeSoto would be shut down. The last model year for DeSoto was 1961 and only two models were on offer: a hardtop coupe and a hardtop sedan, both with a 361 cid (5.9 litre) V8 providing 265 hp, the lowest rating since 1956. There were no names for these models except for their factory designation RS1-L and the body design still was basically similar to that of 1957 with revised front and rear styling. Especially the new front put potential buyers off; the blunt double grill design appeared a bit disfigured and hammered the definitive nail in DeSoto's coffin. By Christmas 1960 the production of DeSotos was stopped altogether and the name disappeared from the market without much ceremony.

So why was that premature and traumatic? First, Chrysler soon noticed that the gap filled by DeSoto before wasn't effectively occupied by Dodge. In 1962 a new Dodge model appeared, the Custom 880, which was more or less a restyled 1961 DeSoto, to mend that. Obviously this proved that with a different strategy DeSoto had been able to survive like before. But, perhaps more importantly, the striking models from the Forward Look area had made a deep impression and in the 1960s Chrysler struggled to offer anything that equalled the excitement those cars had offered. The defunct DeSoto name became synonymous with those golden days gone by and as such its cars became cherished objects of nostalgia.
The 1961 DeSoto models might not be the high point in the history of the make but they're certainly rare. In total only 3034 cars were made for that model year and just 911 of them were a hardtop coupe like you see here. So it's not often you'll encounter one but when you do its great to reminisce about that colorful era with cars like rocketships depicting an uninhibited American exuberance which probably won't be seen again.