1961 Desoto - Cool, Fun and Weird 1 of 2
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Here is a review of some of the wild and outrageous features about the 1961 Desoto. Since this was the last year for the Desoto brand, the designers must have felt obliged to really let loose in the creation of some of the most outrageous design of the times. But it's not just the styling that's so striking. There were many innovative features developed and applied to this car as well. Join me for a tour and a review of some of the most wild, outlandish and exciting features of the era.
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Beautiful car. I remember going car shopping with my Dad in 1961. I was 13 at the time and I loved the 61 Desoto he was considering - black with, I believe, a red interior. Worried about future parts and maintenance for the Desoto, he opted for a 61 Plymouth Fury.
Peter Molchan just bought 56 Desoto I’m parting out on my channel to a subscriber in Norway I purely bought the car for him
I love the dashboards in cars of this era. Lots of chrome and push buttons!!
JWelchon I love those cars so beautiful .
The "Flash Gordon" instrument panels on the early "6o's Chryslers were a sight to behold...3-D gauges and beautiful background lighting that outshines any other dash I've ever seen.
I had a 1965 Plymouth Barracuda with a 225 slant 6, drum brakes all round. It was the best car I have ever owned. I'm from Minnesota and she went through -27 deg F temperature during the winter. It sat out side and started every time. Also I never had any problem with the brakes. The best mileage I got was 28 mpg. I also owned a 1990 Dodge Dakota Pick-up. 127000 miles and only had to change the switch for the aircon. I now own a 1937 Plymouth 82 years old and We just took a 260 mile round trip with no problems. The engine has never been cracked nor the trans and rear end. Chrysler built great cars up to the 70's.
In the 60's growing up, one of the neighbors had a 58' DeSoto, black & yellow 2 tone exterior with all black interior. Man that was one beautiful automobile. The kids mom drove it, she had cat-eye framed glasses & wore skin tight pedal pushers. This was like 1963, I was 6, cool memories....
CaptDeano57 So she was a hottie? 😆
Moms looked either dowdy or hot. Not much in between. But, hey, it was the early '60's.
Leapord print on those pedal pushers?
DeSoto Golden Adventurer had the anodized side trim and was the flag ship since 1956
I owned a 1959 Imperial & a 1962 Newport both superb cars (one of which saved my life) - Tom Cahill's test of the 57 Imperial vs. 57 Fleetwood is hilarious - If memory serves not only did the Cadillac have an early 1940's suspension system it was still using vacuum wipers - Chrysler had gone to electric in the late forties or early fifties. The other element worth mentioning is the Torque Flite transmission it had 200 fewer moving parts than the GM Hydramatic and was much less prone to problems especially when going into passing gear. Your DeSoto is an absolute jewel - than you for putting this excellent video on youtube.
"Tom McCahill"...and the Torque-Flite was the world standard for automatics for decades, while Ford flailed with the Ford-O-Matic and Chevy with the Powerglide, both lame two-speed transmissions while the TF was a super strong three-speed. You could treat the TF like a manual, shifting up AND down on the go, while the PG and Fordo couldn't do that for lack of, well, another gear...
I had a 63 imperial what a boat of a car I think was like 23ft long lol I just bought a 56 Desoto Fireflite for my channel but it’s a parts car and I’m sending out most of the parts to a subscriber in Norway it’s been a very cool experience all thanks to TH-cam
The first car I bought was a 9 year old Chrysler New Yorker. 4 door, sedan with a 413 engine. Very similar to the DeSoto. Great car. My dad had a 59 DeSoto Fireflite Sportsman. Another great car. Would love to have both today.
Do you remember who was DeSoto's spokesman after Groucho? Rock Hudson!! He drove a new `59 Fireflite convertible in :"Pillow Talk" with Doris Day!
I love the suspension comparison of the Imperial against the '58 Cadillac. especially when the Cadillac's trunk lid and rear door come open. Wow!
I got a kick out of seeing the Cady door and trunk open up during the ad video.
Hey Pat, thanks. I enjoyed your intro video on your truck. I can't wait for more video from ya. I also subscribed as well. As for that Cadillac, man, that thing got beat up. Also, the announcer in that promo video said something about teeth in a curry cone. Huh?
Haha me too
@@hullinger Curry comb, used to groom a horse, not cone.
The truth is that customers actually preferred the Cadillac ride. On actual roads, not test tracks taken at a constant 40 mph no matter how jarring, the Cadillac was more comfortable. Chrysler engineers chose much firmer spring rates than Cadillac and Buick and as a result they sacrificed ride quality for superior handling.
It also wouldn't surprise me at all if we learn that Chrysler rigged the Caddy in that test to make the door and trunk fly open. The latches are pretty positive and would normally stay closed no matter what the suspension was doing. Cadillacs in these years were body on X-frame, very rigid and not prone to falling apart on a few nasty bumps.
Wikipedia reports that the 1957 Chrysler corp cars torsion bar
suspension system was prone to breakage, and the car bodies rusted pretty badly.
@@dlwatib Chrysler torsion bar front and leaf rear did offer better handling for decades, but in that one specific test it's not 100% fair because they spaced the bumps to coordinated w/the ChryCo. cars wheelbase....I THINK. I could be wrong. Either way, I love all cars, but that Caddy should not fly apart that easily. Have seen the rest of that test with "Uncle" Tom McCall(or is it McCahill?), and it's killer!!! McCall's favorite personal car of all time was the '63 era Imperials. Being an owner of a Dodge, 2 Plyms and an Imperial I prefer the better handling but still having an excellent ride. The GM X-frame I believe was strong torsionally, but except for the Buick which had a combined ladder/x-frame, I think they weren't as strong horizontally. I did love my '50s/'60s Bucks and Cadillacs though very much, and a couple Lincolns! BTW, they fixed the metallurgy in '58 for the torsion bars and then became the 1st US company to dip their bodies in a vat of zinc primer and have galvanized rockers. They paid the price for those '57s for sure though!
It's delightful
It's delovely
It's Desoto
And tell 'em that Groucho sent you!!!
It protecc
It attacc
And most importantly its chrysler crap....
It's also DeUgly.
Real Dudes Party Nude Do you really think 🤔 the 1951 De Soto was a good looker?
I absolutely like even love your video! I was born in 1958 so I got to grow up with lots of those cool ole outlandish cars. When I was a little tot we had a beautiful black 58 Impala SS convertible with all the cool extras the Impala had then. When I turned 16 (,1974) our neighbor sold me her old 57 Dodge Coronet. I had no idea back then it had all that torsion suspension or even what a hemi was. But I sure loved that car.
Ah, DeSotos! I’ve always been fond of them, as my Uncle bought two or three new ones when I was a kid. I think his last was a ‘55 or ‘56. And if anybody ever built a more beautiful, classy ride than the ‘55 through ‘58 DeSotos, I haven’t seen it! I still have a factory DeSoto vanity mirror hanging above my garage work bench that a friend gave me decades ago. That’s as close as I ever got to owning one, but it always makes me smile. I have to admit that the styling of the last couple of production years was a bit quirky, but GM was offering some odd styling at the end of the fifties as well. Then, too, compared to many of the Chrysler Corporation cars in the early sixties, your DeSoto’s lines are clean and restrained! Thanks for a great video!
AkronDave just bought a 56 Desoto Fireflite for my channel for one of my subscribers I’m currently shipping parts over to Norway for him it’s been a very cool experience
Great job. It was refreshing to say the least to hear an owner dish the bad with the good. I grew up in the 50's with all these GREAT cars. IMHO, the 50's were far and away the best of auto design. I still absolutely love these cars. We lived 4 blocks away from main street and we used to sit on the front porch when I was about 12 and name the brand and model of the cars flying through the intersection 4 blocks away. I remember an 10 year old kid (younger than my crowd) who would join us on occasion. He was amazing never missed a model or a color. Some 6 years or so later he drove a gorgeous 55 windsor.
Love your comment and thanks for checking out my Desoto video. If you'd like to see more than be sure to check out part 2 here: th-cam.com/video/2x9ArO0WEKU/w-d-xo.html&lc=UgxobBRORLZ1ed-nXQZ4AaABAg
Bet you can't do that nowadays...all the cars seem to take the dumbest styling cues and bond them together for that euro (ugh!) look. Many suggesting a huge horizontal Hoover vacuum cleaner. Don't get many color options anymore, either.
Awesome beauty from back when new car introductions were really exciting... tons of WOW factor!
Packard introduced torsion level suspension front and rear in 1955, and push button drive in 56, plus reversible seating, and A/C which Packard introduced in the 30's.
Packard was THE luxury up until 1956, almost the end. The problem was Packard was only Packard that was all the company had to sell. The 57-58 Packards were rebadged Studebakers and were seen as unworthy of the Packard name.
@@Disques13Swing Yes, everyone knows the sad saga of 57-58. If Packard had been bought by Ford when they had the chance, we'd still be driving Packard's. Unfortunately, they'd likely be SUV's.
Thank you for the De Soto video. My older brother-in-law and my sister bought a brand new '61' De Soto, late '60'. It was a white 2door hardtop. Powder blue interior. I can't remember any other things about it. they owned it 9 yrs. Garage kept. It sure was a nice car.
Front drum brakes were still standard on most cars at the time, that those were not servo or self adjusting was a little weird though. Chrysler was an early adopter of front disc brakes though, as they were with alternators and electronic ignition. They were leaders in design and technology back then, and they were known for it. The torsion bar front spring setup was a way to reduce unsprung weight on the suspension.
61 is not the last year of the forward look lost the fins in 62 but everything else remained. Sweet car rare to see a 61 Desoto! Thank you.
Thanks for checking out my video on the '61 Desoto and thanks for your comment too. I hope you enjoyed watching! -Chris
East Coast Classics
My pleasure enjoying the videos! 61 was the last year of Desoto that you are correct on.
Cheers
@@bondedstars you were born after 1964
Really liked my '51 DeSoto, for $ 100 was the deal of the century ( in 1959 )
Lol you can buy what’s left of my 56 Desoto for $100
there was one of these at a local car repair shop parked on the lot for years when i used to walk to school back in the 70's . it was cool then and cool now
That translucent speedometer is amazing! It reminds me of the one we had on the first gen Citröen C4
I would love to own a car like that be fun to drive!
I hope you keep enjoying your lovely and quite constructed DeSoto. I've always had enjoy DeSoto. specially 1957/1958. This one is't outstanding too!
Packard introduced torsion bars on it's 1956 line of cars, as well as push button drive.
Definitely one of kind and always a show stopper!
In 1957, it was the main sponsor for Groucho Marx's "You Bet Your Life." The commercials were very glam to highlight the bling. One of my favorite 50's cars.
Love the car and even though this represents Desoto's last gasp, it was quite a way to go out. I also appreciate learning about Chrysler's advanced Torsion Bar suspension. Laughed at watching that video. Unbelievable... but, what a great way to demonstrate it in action! Thanks for the post!
I really appreciate your passion for this Desoto. It was an interesting time for automotive design and this car certainly is unique.
This is really cool ! That front end is truly wild looking. Thanks for sharing this .
That was a great video! Beautiful car too!!!
Fantastic
Always reminded me of the car in Courageous Cat & Minnie Mouse Mobile. When we were kids back in 70's...
Was a Cool Look.
I encourage others to watch "Testing of 1958 Cars (Parts 1 & 2)' on youtoobs. Tom McCahill was the notoriously beloved car tester for Popular Mechanic Magazine. ChyCos. strength and handling got even better in 1960 when all but Imperial went to uni-body construction.
Thanks again for this vid of this precious piece of history!
Thanks for sharing this!
cool video thanks for posting.
I'd proudly own AND drive this Car over ANY Car built today!💕
Hey, awesome stuff... thanks for posting!!!
One of my favorite ChryCos. I have yet to own...NICE!!!
I own a 61 Chrysler NewYorker two door....Great cars!
Thanks for your comment and I just saw your other comment regarding the Forwardlooks at Carlisle. Thanks for checking out my videos. -Chris
All the 1960 and 1961 DeSotos were nothing but badge engineered Chrysler's. According to Collectible Automobile had the plans for a 1962 DeSoto gone forward it would have been nothing but a rebadged 1962 Chrysler Newport.
@@vintageappliguy Actually Pat, a complete redesign of the 1962 Chryslers was planned. What would've been the `62 DeSoto looked quite a bit different from the Chrysler. This was early `59. Then Chrysler MIS-heard the rumor at a cocktail party about GM downsizing their big cars, and we NOW know what happened to the `62 models.
I love DeSoto's. In '63 I learned to drive on a 1956 DeSoto Firedome my dad bought new and drove it for the road test to get my license. Dad also bought a '59 DeSoto Firedome. Unfortunately the car was a lemon. Spent more time at the dealer than in our garage. Dad got rid of it in 1960 for a Pontiac Bonneville. He didn't buy another Chrysler product until he bought a 1964 Dodge Dart. The Dodge was a very reliable car. Dad gave up on Chrysler after he bought a 1976 Plymouth Volare. It was another lemon and so was my new 1973 Plymouth Fury III. That was the last Chrysler product I ever owned.
Awesome car! Thanks for sharing
Virgil’s cars were superb!
Over here in the UK the GM subsidiary, Vauxhall were using torsion bar front suspension from the early thirties to 1951. It's quite a complex arrangement but gives a comfortable ride. The only downside is that when braking the front of the car tends to rise which does take a bit of getting used to! That's a superb Desoto. Great video.
Effects like that have to do with the suspension design and geometry, not the torsion bars.
Good job Chris...love the fins as you can tell.
That quick shot of the mid 1980's Chrysler (New Yorker? Fifth Avenue?) was a design I really liked even when I was a kid. It had an ordered yet natty appearance. I'd like to have one today.
I could see a man stopping at a body shop in one of these to use the phone booth. When he comes out of the booth, the body man is standing there looking at the front of it, and says, "Gonna cost ya 'bout 900 bucks, mister!"
THAT'S hilarious!!!
great presentation.
Great video 👍
The 61 Desoto would be one of my favorites, the weird 2 tier grill with the cantered headlights. The long sweeping fins also cantered in the back and one with the long Rams the pinnacle of motors.
Beautiful car. I love it
Great vid! I have one of those 2123 built 4d ht in my garage!
Beautiful car!!
By 61 it was getting a little weird. Still very cool though.
57 and 58 across the Mopar board was the pinnacle years for the 50s. My 55 Custom Royal with elements of the forward look but retaining the 50’s styling also a head turner.
Nice review.
My parents bought a 1961 Chrysler sedan, I was 12 years old at that time and just sort of becoming a car geek. They had it long enough that I learned to drive on it, with the pushbutton auto transmission on the dash. By the time I was in high school, they'd bought a new Oldsmobile Delta 88, the first car they ever owned with air conditioner. I don't honestly remember much about the Chrysler, although I do remember my mom never liked the color, which was a pale green. Not sure if that's why they traded it for the Olds or not.
Great video of an awesome car.
I suddenly find myself wondering why Chrysler discontinued the torsion bar suspension. Now I'll be up till 2 am researching that.
I believe the DeSoto was discontinued because it fell right between Dodge and Chrysler. The corp wanted to slim down the inventory to reduce costs. Eventually the same fate happened to the Plymouth.
Unique Looking Car's thanks For the Video best Wishes from the UK
Hey man, thanks so much for checking out my Desoto video. If you'd like to see more of this car than be sure to check out part 2 here: th-cam.com/video/2x9ArO0WEKU/w-d-xo.html&lc=UgxobBRORLZ1ed-nXQZ4AaABAg
Beautiful Car! ❤
I also have a 61 desoto. My dad had a desoto dealership and purchased the car for his father (my grandfather). We have kept the girl running over the years and still have it in my garage.
I'm absolutely in love with the Desoto brand but specifically, the '61. Soo much styling goodness oozing out of every curve, crevice, trim and piece of chrome. Thanks for watching and truly, best of luck with your car.
Very entertaining (to motorheads) and informative. Many innovations were be created here by MoPar
A couple of things.
The entire line of 1961Desotos was produced during 1960.
First off, the last of the 1961 Desotos went out the factory door late in November of 1960 so the entire 1961 model lineup was built in 1960. I'm not saying the last ones were sold in 1960 but that's when they were built.
Exner's 1957 models turned out to be a curse on Chrysler. They sold like hotcakes but they were slapped together to keep up with demand. The cars had a wide range of quality issues and many were returned to their dealers (most new cars had only a 90 day warranty back then) more than once. This cost Chrysler a huge amount of money in the form of lost future business.
My favorite Desoto was the 1956 model. It would have had been the top trim level and would have gotten a 392 hemi or maybe later a 413 with the two 4 bbl carb setup if it would fit.
I'm number 990 on the I love this video.(thumbs up)
well done and to the point without wasting time
very informative
loved it
Hey man, thanks so much for the comment and kind works. I really do appreciate that. I've got a few other Desoto videos in playlist on my channel so If you're interested and have a moment be sure to check them out! -Chris
Like the diagonal headlights!
Great car you have there. A true American treasure. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Wow! Thats the exact same 57 my dad had when I was a little kid! It had push button transmission.
Excellent video. I'm subbed
Tell 'em Groucho sent you :)
I owned a 1978 Renault 5 and it had torsion bar suspension on all four wheels. It was awesome, gobs of wheel travel and very comfortable -- in spite of it being a small car.
I didn't know Renault used torsion bars in their cars! That's cool to know and I hear ya on how great torsion bars are. Seems they do everything well!
When I was a kid my dad always bought Mopar cars. We had a 53, 55, and 57 Plymouth and then a 57, 60 and 61 DeSoto. The 60 DeSoto was a total lemon so it got traded in on the new 61. About a week later Chrysler announced they were going to stop building DeSotos and my dad had had it with Chrysler. He traded the new DeSoto in on a 61 Caddy and never bought another Chrysler car again. I later bought a 73 Plymouth Satellite which was also a massive lemon.
Ha, I drove a 55 deSoto to deliver pizza in Detroit about 63/4 pre VN.
Fantastic car!!
Great car!!
Cool,,love that car,,,,I’ve got a 68 cutlass,,,Geoff,.U.K
Hmm. I have a wheel cover like that, had it for like 20 years and never really knew what it was from. Cool car!
I had a '64 Polara with push button gear selector. In the wintertime I was always late for work and the buttons did not work. I believe it was because the fluid, or whatever it was, had to get warmed up before it got into gear.
Makes me more eager to get my '61 New Yorker on the road!
10 years before I was born... my dad use to love Desoto's
Chrysler made amazing cars then.
So true. They weren't afraid of sticking their necks out and doing something different. Sometimes it works and, well, sometimes not. Thanks for your comment and for checking out my video! -Chris
Outstanding dash boards too.
Yes "THE CHRYSLER 3OO" WAS a great car too.
Agreed I just bought a 56 Desoto parts car for my channel and the quality is top notch and I’m definitely not a Chrysler fanboy
My family used to have a 2007 Chrysler 300 back when I was a kid and though the car looked beautiful it was a gas consuming monster resulting in soon enough being sold off.
I’ve always liked cars that make a statement and your 1960 DeSoto definitely makes one. I bet when driving down the road everybody stops and looks and says, “did you that car that is one wild looking car.” Virgil Exner definitely lived up to his nickname Virgil Excess.
That was Virgil's downfall...Chrysler execs decided his engineering became too baroque in styling at the time. Exner worked at Studebaker at the time Chrysler hired him. He was part of the Studebaker moonlighting styling team that helped Ford with their new 1949 car lineups.
Very cool, love your DeSoto and Vigil Exner designs. If you're not a purist and want to make it a daily driver, not to mention, have the cash, think Wilwood Brakes. I'm sure they even have a mod to relocate the booster. Jay Leno speaks highly of them.
Nice ride
Boy I had forgotten. Thank God that I have my modern Toyota Corolla. That 61 Desoto is one bad boat.
"Rice Cooker"
Back in the early '60s whenever I saw that headlight pattern in the rear view mirror at night I knew it was either a DeSoto or a 59 lincoln.
I had a 1957 Desoto back in 1964-1965. I remember that the brakes were crap! They sometimes locked up and would loudly chirp like a big bird.
I read many years ago that the very last De Soto rolled off the line on Christmas eve 1960. The '61's only had about 3 months of production.
There are too many other places on line which agree with the idea that the last ever Desoto was built in November of 1960.
I had a 61 Windsor, great smooth car.
'58 Saratoga salmon and white 2 dr.ht. unfortunately a backfire through the 4bb and did a lot of fire and smoke damage to the under hood " plastic " .
In the states it was called Newport and in Canada it was Windsor. A '61 DeSoto and a '61 Chrysler Newport both sold for $2964 with no options
I think it's high time & long overdue that tailfins make a comeback why not ? I'd like to see the outrageous style of the '59 & '60 Chevrolets return with a vengence.
I LOVE it!!!!!
Was a little boy back when Desoto was made back in the late 1950s; they are good-looking cars. When Chrysler gets back to profitability again they should revive the Desoto brand.
So much work making al those bends in the sheetmetal and pressing all those chrome pieces!
A very nice vehicle.
the drum brakes did self adjust, and if you watch the chrysler master tech videos, (antique filmstrips) available here on youtube, you could find out how to set these brakes properly to where they operated correctly rain or shine, i love these cars, i am the proud owner of a '62 imperial crown southhampton 2 door, she is a survivor car but not as pretty as this DeSoto, ( new mexico sun) i greatly enjoyed this video, but you forgot to show us the operation of the driveshaft mounted parking brake, very nice segment on the road tests, thank you so very much, those who never saw these cars and will never get to drive one,,,, sadly will never get to know what they missed out on
Nice car Man!
Howdy. Thanks for the tour of your DeSoto. I'd like to have a 1959 Adventurer convertible (only 97 built) and an oil well to go with it. I'll bet some accountant at Chrysler said they only needed one green light to indicate the turn signals were on since the driver must know if they were going to turn right or left.....makes you wonder. You might want to upgrade your drum brakes to discs. 🤔🙂😮🚦
Sweet looking DeSoto. I've never actually seen one in person. I hope yours goes a good owner, someone who will enjoy it and drive it. :)
Jason, thanks for watching and for your comment. I appreciate you. As for the Desoto, I just started with a Craigslist ad and listed the car on a Facebook page too. We'll see who is interested in the coming week or two. Take care. -Chris
Thanks. You too. Good luck. :)
Cool car!
That awesome 1961 Lincoln is a 1963. Exactly the same body and interior, different and more normal grille.
While we're in the department of corrections, contrary to the narration, the DeSoto was not introduced in response to the Mercury, a car that was launched a decade after the DeSoto.
Nice car man.
My friend John Pimintel was a Chrysler road test engineer and made those 57 road handling films. A lotta testing was done in northern Nevada cause of the wide open spaces and no speed laws in Nevada. He told me a stock 57 Saratoga non hemi would go 128 mph. Most cars were done at about 110 even though the speedos might be showing a lot more. Corvette owners were upset as the new imperial would out run them. By the way if you forgot starting in 60 all mopars but imperial were unibody.
This car is awesome
This car is one of the best cars that was built!
3:18 Shee how the ozemobeele piches and is dificul shoo control
That's HYSTERICAL!
5:52 Point well made -- that made me jump!