I'VE GOT MAIL #71 and #72 March 29, 2021

All of these DANBURY MINT Brochures and Flyers delivered to my mailbox brought smiles to my face and fluttering butterflies to my stomach.  They always made any day, a better day from a hobby standpoint.  There were some however, that really made my day, and these two were those.  I loved DESOTO'S from little kid on!  My Dad owned a '56 DeSoto 4-door Sedan in two-tone Green in 1963 and I dreamed of how cool it would be to drive it, but hey, I was only 12 years old, so that's all could do was dream.  

I thought that Chrysler Corporations cars for 1956 were the styling kings of their decade, with the DeSoto being the leader of the pack.  Seeing this Brochure excited me to the core and the color combo was different from any car on my shelf.  I had to have it!  Danbury's marketing was superior too, as they also released a Convertible of this '56 in the same color combo, but the colors were reversed.  And to add to the drama (read that as excitement), they advised us that only the buyers of the '56 DeSoto Hardtop were eligible to buy the Convertible.  It was the biggest no-brainer ever for me, after all, one without the other just wasn't going to cut.  So they were each ordered.  I wasn't disappointed!  

The Limited Edition 1956 DESOTO SPORTSMAN COUPE and The Limited Edition 1956 DESOTO FIREDOME CONVERTILBE!

Some REAL DESOTO Facts:

The 1956 DeSoto's got splashier two-toning, and the 1955's "toothy-grille" gave way to a glittery "mesh" affair.  A pillarless four-door Hardtop was a new body style for '56 as well.  FIREFLITE interiors were trimmed in leather and "Sculptured Faille" fabric, which DeSoto described as "a new satin-finished material flecked with threads of twinkling brightness".  The Hemi V-8 was enlarged to 330,4 cubic inches, lifting FIREDOME to 230 horsepower and FIREFLITE to 255.  Larger fins appeared on the rear fenders of the 1956 models, as they did on all Chrysler cars that year.  The new tailfins carried distinctive "tri-tower" taillamps with stacked pairs of round red lenses separated by a matching back-up light, which would be a constant through 1959.