These dealer sales training film strips are fun to watch. 1958 was a tough market for the medium price brands. The economy was in recession- fewer buyers. Also the Big 3 was getting lots of competition from the smaller, more economical and lower priced Ramblers and British and European cars.
Love it. My dream car is a 1958 DeSoto Fireflight 2-door or convertible, fully loaded with A/C, and in a stunning paint scheme (probably the spring edition in that special new Heather Blue paint).
I was a fan of Oldsmobile through the years, but the 1958 didn't do a thing for me. While not a fan of Mopar quality at that point in time, I'd still go with the DeSoto,.
My stepfather had a Firesweep convertable, just loved that car. Wish I could have gotten it when he died but he had already promised it to one of his nephews. Just as well, I never had the money to restore it, the whole floor pan was rusted out as well as the rear fenders, we lived in Mn. and it was his daily driver for over 20 yrs.
Narrated by Lyle Talbot. I owned a 1958 DeSoto Firedome Sportsman in 1968. I really enjoyed driving it. Smooth ride, great acceleration and performance with push-button Torqueflite and the 361-V8 engine. And beautiful flight-sweep Exner Forward Look styling and design.
The late 50s (57, 58) was the only time Chrysler soared over everyone else is design style. Styling changed so radically over the next 3 years. Suddenly, the fins were gone, and it was a race for who could get rid of them first.
The Firesweep uses the Dodge front clip with a DeSoto styled grille and bumper section. From the cowl back it shared bodies with Chrysler. The big DeSotos used the Chrysler front clip. The Cars tested at 7:36 are a 58 Olds and a 57 DeSoto, all 58 DeSotos had the newly legal quad headlights. Fifties cars are all so different, not like now. I like them both.
Actually the Desoto Firesweep’s front clip is almost the same as the Chrysler Windsor. Yes, the styling on both are similar to Dodge but zero front clip parts are interchangeable.
@@creativeloafer9792 That's interesting. They used the Dodge 122" wheelbase and engine in the Firesweep, and front end that used Dodge styling but not the parts. Curious. Thanks for your answer.
That nice little ding you hear is the 'ADVANCE' cue for a slide projector or filmstrip operator running the showing. The voice recording would be on a vinyl record and play on a turntable. More advanced filmstrip machines or slide machines, would advance themselves automatically with the cue, otherwise it was manually advanced.
I’m not a fan of either car, but I remember gm fans telling me that Oldsmobile was gm’s experimental car. The funny thing is not long after this there were no more Desotos.
The '58 GM cars looked way too similiar across the board basically relying on trim bits to differentiate the cars....indeed, I thought for an instant during the presentation that somehow a Pontiac was the car crossing the tracks, not an 88. Indeed, the cars were generally frunmpy unlike Chrysler Corporation's Forward Look. Suddenly, It's 1960, and Desoto is on its way out the door with the last model year introduced. The "Quality Styling" that the dealer film focuses on at the beginning does not carry over where the term "quality" is more appropriately measured: the production line. The inconsistent build quality was not in line with the "quality styling", sales were down this year (albeit as sales were down across the industry mainly due to a recession), and the brisk sales of the all new '57 design that essentially took Desoto to its final model year were not repeated. Olds obviously had the last laugh with a significantly longer life.
I never realized that the build quality of an automobile can be determined by the size and shape of the windshield and rear window. And all the time I wasted by test driving cars. Silly me!
The Chrysler Corp had some of the best styled cars from the mid 50s thru the early 70s over most brands..and I like all the old American cars..but Chrysler takes the cake. Yup
The only choices we have now is a SUV or some electric ugly or boring car. Tesla's or Range Rover's. All the SUVs look just alike and all the Tesla's are big fat ugly looking. Today the auto industry is no fun or either only for the rich. They need to bring back all the affordable muscle cars and a variety of models we had to chose from in those days.
I preferred the 55 / 56 Desotos. Not a fan of later tailfins on Desotos. Have always been a fan of Oldsmobiles until they became " not your father's Oldsmobile "
It would also be a real pain in the ass if one really did spend 200+Dollars on the 58 Oldsmobile if he came out in the morning one day and saw that his flashy 58 Olds couldn't be driven cuz that air suspension leaked out all all it's air and had to pump itself back up,A problem with all GM air suspensions in those years, I had a friend of mine who had not olny a slew of 1958 Chevrolets and every time he latched on to one made sure that it was converted to regular coil springs, This same guy also had a 57 Cadillac Eldoradro Brougham and did the same thing Converted it to Coil springs And many people did back in the day!!!!.
yeah that was technology that was before its time... like fuel injection in 57... they reached and failed... They recalled the FI on the Chryslers and everyone ditched the FI on the GM cars for carbs... I saw the one guy had a HUGE collection of GM fuel injection systems sitting on the shelves...
Well this comparison did it for me. I'm going to run right down this very minute and buy a DeSoto. Oh wait.... Well, the Oldsmobile doesn't look too bad Maybe I'll just go for that one. I'm going to run and buy one right now. Oh wait ... I actually really love these old videos. Where my car is better than your car comes down to a matter of inches. Just ask any woman inches matter!
Love to know the sales figures for these cars. By 1958 Desoto was in the wind down phase, only a couple of model years left (not counting the very strange 1961 parts bin cars).
Only 49,445 DeSotos produced for 1958 against 296,375 Oldsmobiles I would love to go back and test drive these beauties...alas I was only 2 years old in 1958
would be interesting to see an "original" comparison... Alas you can't find many "like new" cars that are 70 years old... Even sitting untouched... things age and fail... The magazine comparisons were backing up what this film says though... They LOVED the handling on the Forward look cars... They called it revolutionary...
I would've only imagine what Desoto would've been like during the Muscle car era had Chrysler done a better job with the Desoto brand, imagine Desoto building a Muscle car to compete with the Oldsmobile 442 for instance?
Mr. B. Here ! ☕️🍩👀😎👍. At this point in time I could care less it’s history, these vehicles both had class . I love both , think the SUV’s of today will be around . I own 58 Super 88 no post , I think of both vehicles as fine paintings and time that had short comings. Who has a DeSoto all the power to you .🍸🍸🍸🍸
Nah i love all the 50s cars, the Chrome mobiles are seriously a statement when you actually see one... same with a desoto :) Both are rare as hen's teeth... I don't think I have ever seen a 58 olds in the wild... and I think i saw a Desoto sedan at a show once...
Mr. B. Here ! 🍩☕️👀😎👍. I grew up in that time , unlike today were , all drive the same vehicles, colors & most important they keep throwing American manufacturers under the bus , what most people forget business most turn a profit, yes manufacturers had many short comings just like our nation, everyone drive the same looking vehicle no style but they go to cars and fall in love with these vehicle ! I have been throw under the bus for stating what is right front of us ( history ) ! ✏️📓🎓🍎🍸🍸🍸🍸
The show started with Fords, then they did go to Desoto... then GM paid up to have mostly Buicks and Chevys at the end :) But Howard's car was a 46 Desoto DeLuxe :)
You can tell who made the video and did the tests. Why no transmission comparison ? The 1958 Oldsmobile has a 4 speed automatic. I will go with the chrome instead of the fins.
I dunno man :) I think I would have to go with Desoto... Lol it was "cleaner"... people always complain about GM "trowling" on the trim and emblems... but wow they did. I might shoot for the 58 Buick over the olds for 58 though, looks like an angry dinosaur :)
Ugly cars. Wow 4 gallons in cooling system. Gas milage who cared at 31 cents a gallon back then. Chrysler cars were the best. GM transmissions were junk.
Gas mileage was huge back in the day and mattered, 31 cents mattered a lot back in 57-58... 31 cents in 1958 is like 3.50$ a gallon in todays money....
all cars rusted out pretty quick... but the 57's were supposed to be rust proofed at the dealership... Also realize these cars were affordable... people simply bought a new car 2-3-4 years... Because they only had a 2 year loan. In today's $'s these top end cars were 25k... Could you imagine how fast people would "upgrade" if the nice cars were only 25k? You would constantly have a new ride... Cars and houses were affordable... The CEO's didn't want 100 million in pay and stock options :)
These dealer sales training film strips are fun to watch. 1958 was a tough market for the medium price brands. The economy was in recession- fewer buyers. Also the Big 3 was getting lots of competition from the smaller, more economical and lower priced Ramblers and British and European cars.
Love it. My dream car is a 1958 DeSoto Fireflight 2-door or convertible, fully loaded with A/C, and in a stunning paint scheme (probably the spring edition in that special new Heather Blue paint).
I was a fan of Oldsmobile through the years, but the 1958 didn't do a thing for me. While not a fan of Mopar quality at that point in time, I'd still go with the DeSoto,.
57 Olds was the best looking.
My stepfather had a Firesweep convertable, just loved that car. Wish I could have gotten it when he died but he had already promised it to one of his nephews. Just as well, I never had the money to restore it, the whole floor pan was rusted out as well as the rear fenders, we lived in Mn. and it was his daily driver for over 20 yrs.
Narrated by Lyle Talbot. I owned a 1958 DeSoto Firedome Sportsman in 1968. I really enjoyed driving it. Smooth ride, great acceleration and performance with push-button Torqueflite and the 361-V8 engine. And beautiful flight-sweep Exner Forward Look styling and design.
The late 50s (57, 58) was the only time Chrysler soared over everyone else is design style. Styling changed so radically over the next 3 years. Suddenly, the fins were gone, and it was a race for who could get rid of them first.
Let alone Virgil Exer fantastic design. but mid to late 60's Chryslers are a work of art too.
That Desoto is just plain swell...
I love both of these cars, but if i really had to pick one itd have to be the desoto. The biggest fins always wins for me!
I agree!
The Firesweep uses the Dodge front clip with a DeSoto styled grille and bumper section. From the cowl back it shared bodies with Chrysler. The big DeSotos used the Chrysler front clip. The Cars tested at 7:36 are a 58 Olds and a 57 DeSoto, all 58 DeSotos had the newly legal quad headlights. Fifties cars are all so different, not like now. I like them both.
that is a 58 firesweep, its got dual headlights and the correct bumper
Actually the Desoto Firesweep’s front clip is almost the same as the Chrysler Windsor. Yes, the styling on both are similar to Dodge but zero front clip parts are interchangeable.
@@creativeloafer9792 That's interesting. They used the Dodge 122" wheelbase and engine in the Firesweep, and front end that used Dodge styling but not the parts. Curious. Thanks for your answer.
@@autochronicles8667 I stand corrected. Later I see the side trim is correct for 58. Thanks.
Both hoods interchangeable with Dodge, fenders interchangeable between Chrysler and Desoto (modified Dodge).@@creativeloafer9792
1958 I Like the Desoto.
That nice little ding you hear is the 'ADVANCE' cue for a slide projector or filmstrip operator running the showing. The voice recording would be on a vinyl record and play on a turntable. More advanced filmstrip machines or slide machines, would advance themselves automatically with the cue, otherwise it was manually advanced.
Yeah, i know in the late 60s GM had the auto advancer... I havent seen any in the 50s
I’m not a fan of either car, but I remember gm fans telling me that Oldsmobile was gm’s experimental car. The funny thing is not long after this there were no more Desotos.
The 58 cars were covered in drippy chrome, Even the 58 Corvette had gaudy chrome. Look at the Edsels 58 was a bad year for style all oround.
Love and miss Oldsmobile!
Cmon Desoto was pretty cool also... and missed
The '58 GM cars looked way too similiar across the board basically relying on trim bits to differentiate the cars....indeed, I thought for an instant during the presentation that somehow a Pontiac was the car crossing the tracks, not an 88. Indeed, the cars were generally frunmpy unlike Chrysler Corporation's Forward Look. Suddenly, It's 1960, and Desoto is on its way out the door with the last model year introduced. The "Quality Styling" that the dealer film focuses on at the beginning does not carry over where the term "quality" is more appropriately measured: the production line. The inconsistent build quality was not in line with the "quality styling", sales were down this year (albeit as sales were down across the industry mainly due to a recession), and the brisk sales of the all new '57 design that essentially took Desoto to its final model year were not repeated. Olds obviously had the last laugh with a significantly longer life.
The DeSoto is a nicer looking car...❤
I never realized that the build quality of an automobile can be determined by the size and shape of the windshield and rear window. And all the time I wasted by test driving cars. Silly me!
The Chrysler Corp had some of the best styled cars from the mid 50s thru the early 70s over most brands..and I like all the old American cars..but Chrysler takes the cake. Yup
mercury is also in the lower medium priced field
Yep go that video already :) th-cam.com/video/w1jNOqHmte4/w-d-xo.html
Mercury was also Ford's Oldsmobile competitor as well.
Oldsmobile sells you Chromemobile.
Desoto sells you Beautymobile.
Now we have only two American car makers left. When Will you people, Americans stand up against our Companies taken over by Foreign Countries!
The only choices we have now is a SUV or some electric ugly or boring car. Tesla's or Range Rover's. All the SUVs look just alike and all the Tesla's are big fat ugly looking. Today the auto industry is no fun or either only for the rich. They need to bring back all the affordable muscle cars and a variety of models we had to chose from in those days.
@@wiiambarnarx8485Exactly mate
I preferred the 55 / 56 Desotos. Not a fan of later tailfins on Desotos. Have always been a fan of Oldsmobiles until they became " not your father's Oldsmobile "
lots of 58 olds still around, they are the winner
I haven't seen one, they def made more though. The 58 Desoto is super rare though.
see them at every car show, never saw the desoto coupes ever@@autochronicles8667
It would also be a real pain in the ass if one really did spend 200+Dollars on the 58 Oldsmobile if he came out in the morning one day and saw that his flashy 58 Olds couldn't be driven cuz that air suspension leaked out all all it's air and had to pump itself back up,A problem with all GM air suspensions in those years, I had a friend of mine who had not olny a slew of 1958 Chevrolets and every time he latched on to one made sure that it was converted to regular coil springs, This same guy also had a 57 Cadillac Eldoradro Brougham and did the same thing Converted it to Coil springs And many people did back in the day!!!!.
yeah that was technology that was before its time... like fuel injection in 57... they reached and failed... They recalled the FI on the Chryslers and everyone ditched the FI on the GM cars for carbs... I saw the one guy had a HUGE collection of GM fuel injection systems sitting on the shelves...
I think the chrysler styling of the day was at least 5 years ahead of GM and especially Ford and set the look of the big 3 for the next decade.
Well this comparison did it for me. I'm going to run right down this very minute and buy a DeSoto. Oh wait....
Well, the Oldsmobile doesn't look too bad Maybe I'll just go for that one. I'm going to run and buy one right now. Oh wait ...
I actually really love these old videos. Where my car is better than your car comes down to a matter of inches. Just ask any woman inches matter!
lol yeah 1958 was a long time ago :) RIP Olds... RIP Desoto...
'58 DeS style was far superior IMO. Both had equally excellent engines
The narrator sounds like George Fenneman.
The rocket 88 Oldsmobile may have been very merry but the DeSoto was purely delightful and delovely!
Love to know the sales figures for these cars. By 1958 Desoto was in the wind down phase, only a couple of model years left (not counting the very strange 1961 parts bin cars).
Only 49,445 DeSotos produced for 1958 against 296,375 Oldsmobiles I would love to go back and test drive these beauties...alas I was only 2 years old in 1958
would be interesting to see an "original" comparison... Alas you can't find many "like new" cars that are 70 years old... Even sitting untouched... things age and fail... The magazine comparisons were backing up what this film says though... They LOVED the handling on the Forward look cars... They called it revolutionary...
I would've only imagine what Desoto would've been like during the Muscle car era had Chrysler done a better job with the Desoto brand, imagine Desoto building a Muscle car to compete with the Oldsmobile 442 for instance?
I'd rather have an Edsel 😂
1960 Edsel was a good Looking car. I Wish I had one.❤❤
I'll take the Mopar!
Great vid!!! 👍👍
Mopar quality was a problem
In 58 they were fixing them... but the reputation was hurt and the recession hit...
I'll take one of each, please.
In either car, you must Stop, Look & Listen at any railroad crossing without signal devices such as flashing lights and automatic gates.
Desoto was basically Chrysler's Oldsmobile competitor.
Both brands sadly long-gone ....
Mr. B. Here ! ☕️🍩👀😎👍. At this point in time I could care less it’s history, these vehicles both had class . I love both , think the SUV’s of today will be around . I own 58 Super 88 no post , I think of both vehicles as fine paintings and time that had short comings. Who has a DeSoto all the power to you .🍸🍸🍸🍸
Nah i love all the 50s cars, the Chrome mobiles are seriously a statement when you actually see one... same with a desoto :) Both are rare as hen's teeth... I don't think I have ever seen a 58 olds in the wild... and I think i saw a Desoto sedan at a show once...
Mr. B. Here ! 🍩☕️👀😎👍. I grew up in that time , unlike today were , all drive the same vehicles, colors & most important they keep throwing American manufacturers under the bus , what most people forget business most turn a profit, yes manufacturers had many short comings just like our nation, everyone drive the same looking vehicle no style but they go to cars and fall in love with these vehicle ! I have been throw under the bus for stating what is right front of us ( history ) ! ✏️📓🎓🍎🍸🍸🍸🍸
Wish Chrysler could finally push past GM, with their arrogant "We are better" Arrogance.
I think I'll wait for the '59s. I hear they're going to have bigger fins.
So if i decide to start jumping railroad tracks i will definitely choose the desoto. Bo duke liked this video.
Just the extreme case :) what about speed bumps or potholes? :)
Your Videos are amazing. I really like it. I am a new subscriber to your channel. Can I talk with you Auto Chronicles?
Oldsmobile for me Please!
Even though I love the styling of these old boats, technology wise, the worst car today is a 1000 times better than these ‘50’s cars.
The Desoto wins hands down, sorry GM
1958 was a recession year, especially for cars, and the ugliness of these two models gave buyers an easy excuse to say "Forget it!"
Howard Cunningham drove a Desoto!
The show started with Fords, then they did go to Desoto... then GM paid up to have mostly Buicks and Chevys at the end :) But Howard's car was a 46 Desoto DeLuxe :)
You can tell who made the video and did the tests. Why no transmission comparison ? The 1958 Oldsmobile has a 4 speed automatic. I will go with the chrome instead of the fins.
Yeah I'm having a hard time finding Olds videos...
@autochronicles8667 There aren't a lot to find. I own one of these Eighty-Eights and pickin's are relatively slim for 58's.
The three speed TorqueFlite automatic transmission was exceptional--almost bulletproof.
Desoto styling all the way. Quality & reliability I'm not so sure
They had a lot of the bugs worked out in 58... So they weren't bad. The magazines commended the fixes... but the recession hit Chrysler hard.
IMO, the Oldsmobile is a much better looking car
These 2 cars look identical to my eyes. I would swear they are badge-engineered twins.
I would take the olds over desoto.
I dunno man :) I think I would have to go with Desoto... Lol it was "cleaner"... people always complain about GM "trowling" on the trim and emblems... but wow they did. I might shoot for the 58 Buick over the olds for 58 though, looks like an angry dinosaur :)
The Oldsmobiles of the period were referred to as 'Jew Canoes'.
Ugly cars. Wow 4 gallons in cooling system. Gas milage who cared at 31 cents a gallon back then. Chrysler cars were the best. GM transmissions were junk.
Gas mileage was huge back in the day and mattered, 31 cents mattered a lot back in 57-58... 31 cents in 1958 is like 3.50$ a gallon in todays money....
So gas is still 31 cents a gallon no matter what year.@@autochronicles8667
Chrysler junk
Chrysler cars looked good back then but I heard that they Rusted out In just a few years.😮
all cars rusted out pretty quick... but the 57's were supposed to be rust proofed at the dealership... Also realize these cars were affordable... people simply bought a new car 2-3-4 years... Because they only had a 2 year loan. In today's $'s these top end cars were 25k... Could you imagine how fast people would "upgrade" if the nice cars were only 25k? You would constantly have a new ride... Cars and houses were affordable... The CEO's didn't want 100 million in pay and stock options :)
The terrible colorization of this black-and-white filmstrip is super-distracting. Ugh.
it didn't do great this week, but the AI went with the blue so i stuck with it and it was pretty subtle, not sure how it was distracting.
@@autochronicles8667I thought it came out pretty good
Chrysler was always more advanced in quality than G.M.