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Comments
This car was, in its time, a utilitarian workhorse, not a Bugatti. I see no blasphemy in giving it new life in a reinvigorated form where it can be enjoyed without worry of overheat, breakdown or accident.
If it were my car I would drive it like a '53 De Soto. I would drive at moderate speeds, keep a good distances from other cars and take corners carefully.
I don't think every old car needs a V-8 or a Mustang II front end or even disc brakes.
Now, if it were a ratty car I would have no problem doing those things!
Also, I don't think they have self-adjusters on them. The setup that's going on them is from an M-body copcar, which uses big disc brakes up front and 11" drums in back, so I guess it'll basically stop like my '89 Gran Fury copcar did, only with about 400-500 lb extra weight.
I'm not sure what size brakes a '53 DeSoto would have, but my '57 had 12" drums all around. The only real issue I had with them was that after awhile they would start to groan, deep and loud, so I would take them in to get them cleaned and adjusted long before anything went too far out of whack.
When I was in the tool business I had a shop about to go out of business and I bought a lot of their tools and equipment to resell. Among those items was a like new rear drum puller for those early Chrysler products. I still had it ten years later so I tossed it. Center Plane brakes were NASTY and getting those rear drums off could be miserable even if you had that special puller.
I remember seeing a mechanic crank on that puller's center bolt with an impact gun to no avail.
He heated the drum with a torch and as soon as he turned his back the whole thing flew off!
The fronts were tricky to adjust and no, they sure weren't self adjusting.
And for good reason! It's not a 55 Chevy where everything is reproduced!
In the early 80's I stumbled into one of these only mine was white with blue interior.
Every bit as nice as this one with factory A/C and NO rust anywhere.
I bought it for 700.00. Kept it a year, got bored with it and sold it for 1100.00.
I think this guy is nuts!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pontiac-Grand-Prix-2-Door-Coupe-Purrs-like-a-kitten-/291290778973?forcerrptr=true&hash=item43d2488d5d&item=291290778973&pt=US_Cars_Trucks
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
DeSoto and Dodge introduced optional, smaller versions of that hemi for the 1953 model year.
Chrysler also introduced power steering for 1951. It was the first domestic automaker to make PS available.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
Dodge came out with their "Red Ram" Hemi for 1953. It was a 241.3 CID mill that had 140 hp.
Interestingly, Chrysler and Dodge moved away from Hemi-head engines, while DeSoto seemed to embrace them. Every single '55-56 DeSoto, and every '57 DeSoto except for the Firesweep came standard with a Hemi-head engine. Meanwhile, with Chrysler, for 55-58 it was reserved for the New Yorker and 300 models. Lesser Windsors and Saratogas got a poly-head engine, which was cheaper to produce, and a bit lighter in weight, but had the drawback of a bit lower power-to-size ratio. After a couple years, I think at Dodge the Hemi-head engines were limited to the D-500 options.
Initially, the Hemi-head engine wasn't meant to be a performance engine. Rather, the engineers discovered that particular design ran better on the crappy quality, low-octane fuels that were available after World War II, compared to other designs. It was a design that gave a great power-to-CID ratio. The downside, however, was that it was heavy, and fairly complex, as its design required two sets of rocker shafts per head, which made for a larger, heavy head, giving it a look somewhat similar to today's DOHC engines.
Over at Chrysler, their Windsor Town & Country wagon, which only had a 119 hp 264.5 CID 6-cyl, base priced for $3259, and sold 1,242 units. The one to have, the New Yorker Town & Country, with the 180 hp 331.1 Hemi, stickered for $3898 and sold 1,399 units.
For comparison, Buick offered two wagons. The cheapest was the Super, which base priced at $3,430, and had a 322 CID V-8 with 164 hp (manual) or 170 (automatic). It sold 1,830 units. The Roadmaster had a 188 hp 322, and base priced at $4,031. It had a standard Dynaflow, which I think represented about a $200 value by that time. It sold 670 units. Oldsmobile didn't offer any wagons at all in '53, something I hadn't realized, until consulting my old car book.
Ford really didn't have anything in this league. Their most expensive wagon, the '53 Mercury Monterey wagon, started at a mere $2,591. It sold a higher 7,719 units though.
I guess something like a Chrysler, DeSoto, or Buick wagon was something of a prestigious, glamorous luxury item back in those days. Sure, they had some utility about them, but in sort of a pre-historic Escalade/Navigator/Land Cruiser sort of way.
Hopefully the cold start repair will be easy. Car also gets a new battery.
It was an exasperating job getting it towed - first company Hagerty dispatched vanished with no word, second one was fine - total time from initial call to delivery at the shop at most a mile away, 4.5 hours.
Oh, and that's not a reflection low on the rear of the rear door (the broader area below continuing to the front is a reflection), it's a scratch I put on the car while pushing it out of the garage and brushing up against a door sensor. Fun times!
http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/4754264007.html
Car looks OK enough but missing hood badge and cloudy headlights, I'm calling BS
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
I used to go through a LOT of cars. I would see something that I liked and I would buy it. I might hang on to it for six months, maybe even less before the novelty wore off and send it down the road. guess I enjoyed "the hunt". I wasn't curbstoning cars to make money and usually I didn't. I no longer find this little hobby enjoyable.
I am shocked at what people are getting or at least asking for these cars the
This is why people put Model B engines in a Model A and add overdrive--so they can actually go somewhere with it.
Yeah, I do remember the oil smell that we ignored when we were kids and I certainly remember how cars would overheat and vapor lock.
I remember once when I was 18 working in a gas station I had just finished cleaning up the gas pump area. I had spent a good two hours scrubbing everything down.
Then, two guys came in a POS 1960 Cadillac that was overheating so badly it was whistling loudly. They opened the hood and one of the guys took off the radiator cap! The huge stream of rusty water looked like Old Faithful and EVERTHING was brown! They simply filled up the radiator, waved at me and drove off.
Yes, I do remember.
As for crankcase ventilation, I don't think cars got that until 1968, anyway. Maybe they got it earlier in California, though. My '57 DeSoto just vents it right out of the oil filler cap, and so does my '67 Catalina. Neither one of those is particularly smelly.
I could see something like an old Model T or Model A being a pain to drive in modern traffic. Sometimes when I go up for the car show in Hershey, PA, I'll come across some poor [non-permissible content removed] driving one on I-83 doing about 40-45 mph, holding up traffic. The DeSoto would at least get up to highway speeds. Legal ones, at least. Now if you wanted to keep pace with the flow of traffic, and that happened to be 80-90 mph, you might have a bit of a problem...
Sure, as an everyday daily driver, it would become tiring pretty quickly. Honestly, most old cars do, once you get used to something modern. But as an occasional fair weather fun car, I think it would be fine. I think the biggest problem would be getting caught in the rain with an old car like this. The old windshield wipers sucked, horribly, and the defrosting/defogging systems of the era were marginal. Plus, no matter how nice the car is, most likely it's going to leak, somewhere...
That was probably a 50 or so mile ride, mostly highway, but it was also rush hour, after work, so lots of stop and go driving...not a "true" highway experience. But, there had been times previously, where I'd ride along with him to a car show, or caravan with him to a car show, in my '57 DeSoto, and his car seemed to do fine, at least on the Baltimore Washington Parkway and the Baltimore Beltway.
His car was also in pretty good shape though...so Lord knows what kind of adventure you might have with an engine that has issues that you don't know about...
Description: "This sliced and diced 1959 Dodge body was mated with a 1981 Cadillac Sedan Deville lower section that included the complete drivetrain, floors, firewall, etc. This means you have climate control, cruise control, properly working gauges and all luxuries of the Cadillac while having the looks of a 1959 Big Finned Custom Car. The frame and suspension are relatively stock except for the addition of hydraulics on the front so the front of the car can be raised for steep driveways."
Still, the overall effect is, well, interesting.
Years ago, someone sent me some pics of a project he was working, where he was taking a Lincoln Continental Mark VIII, and trying to put '57 DeSoto Firesweep sheetmetal onto it. I think I still have them, somewhere. I don't know if he ever finished or not though. I think this was back in the late 1990's.
It did have a Hemi, but I don't remember what model it was. Motor said "Firedome" I believe. Kind of a light green color with a tan mohair type interior.
Kept it 'til I went into the service, and while in Germany bought a used '55 VW Beetle. What a night and day difference.
But I remember my first foreign car---with such strang objects---a Tachometer! Wooden dashboard! Actual brakes and steering! (not all foreign cars had these however).
My buddy had a '51 Meadowbrook I think it was called. We beat the crap out of that car but as I recall it rarely broke down. I had a '55 Studebaker V8 at the time and of course I could slaughter him, but I think his was a better made car.
When I got out of the service in ‘65, all my friends were fully involved in muscle-car mania, street racing and weekends at the drag strips. Most kids back then got out of school, got a job, and bought a new Chevelle SS, a GTO, or a Mopar of some kind. I kind of did the same, and had a string of new muscle cars, although mine were all Mercurys. Seemed like no one kept a car more than a year or two, nor had any interest in foreign cars.
I went back to German cars in the early 80's, as the domestics just didn't do it for me. Think I've only owned German cars since. It is truly amazing how much market share the imports have today.
If you owned a foreign car in the 60s, you were...well....regarded as 'quirky' by most Americans. You were definitely out-gunned in the size and power department, but a Mini Cooper could still give fits to any American car on a twisty road---leave it in the dust. American cars of the time were pretty evil-handling.
BMW and Mercedes made owning a foreign car respectable in the 1970s, and in a way "normal". The Japanese hit their stride with the first Accord. British full size family sedans were just awful (albeit pretty, very pretty). The Audi 5000 put Audi on the map.
The auto industry was a real battleground in the 70s and 80s. Anyone with a good nose could wake up and smell the coffee, and it was definitely a foreign roast.
And yes, I was in the service from '62 to '65. Good timing. Was in Germany when JFK got shot, but before 'Nam got hot. And I agree most owners of foreign cars back then were "quirky". That describes the ones I knew perfectly.
The '83 Audi 5000 was my next step into German cars...didn't care for it much. Loved the quality of the car, but it was quite gutless, and I hated the front wheel drive. Graduated to BMW in '86 with a 535i, then on to Mercedes. Haven't looked back. I know they scare you out of warranty, but I've had my current '97 MB (E420 135k) for 17 years, and it runs like a champ. I keep saying I will replace it when it breaks, but it hasn't yet. Knock on wood.