[Closed] Pics: Photo Essay - Conquest 55 Desoto Fireflite

John, your excellent photography has captured this fine model. Thank you for posting.

The CON '55 DeSoto is one of my favorites, too. Great pics!

That '55 DeSoto looks amazing and it stands out especially well in your images of it. I've said it before and I'll say it again : You can't have too many model DeSotos !

Which ones do you have Mike?

Wonderful snaps, John.... I'd get me one if that was in 1/18 :))

Well fortunately it isn't.

I presently have 3 DeSotos in my collection. 2 different color schemes of the final 1961 DeSoto 2 door coupe by Yat Ming in 1/18th and one additional version which I converted to a "what-if" 1961 Adventurer, as in this following picture. The windshield and convertible boot are from a 1960 Chrysler 300 F.

Yat Ming has several times done models in both their 1/43 and 1/18th range, so I am hopeful to see a reasonably priced 1961 coupe in a new color scheme for their 1/43rd range.

I am also looking at, among other terrific DeSoto models, (as in John's images) perhaps obtaining the Franklin Mint 1952 Firedome in 1/43, Brooklin's '59 Adventurer, a Dinky '48 4 door sedan, or even a '47 DeSoto Custom long-WB 4 door sedan by Sun Motor.

In 1/24th, Danbury Mint made a beautiful '56 Sportsman coupe, but these (like the Sun Motor 1/43 '47 DeSoto) seem to be getting pretty expensive.

DeSoto made a number of really interesting and good-looking cars in a 30 year history and they make for a fascinating model display.

Mike, my first job when I got out of the Army was at DeSoto.

It was the summer of 1959 and it was actually the Plymouth-De Soto Regional Office in Centerline, Michigan. As a clerk/trainee I drove a 1959 Fireflite convertible in the Labor Day parade that year. In those days of carbureted cars driving in a parade at a very slow pace faced the danger of vapor lock. However, I was lucky and it didn't happen. In the Fall of 1959 the Detroit newspapers announced the demise of Edsel, the sub-heading was: "Is De Soto next?". One year later that sadly came true. Why was there ever a 1961 model? We never did hear.

Really expert photos of a wonderful new unit in very rare LE custom color scheme for a small dealer that I think is located outside of the US? France, perhaps?

Those photos provide a very strong incentive to get my CON DeSoto out of the
box and on display!

Fabulous work, JK!!

Behave yourself Tom, I'll sic Howie on you.

Ooh! Ooh! Can I be on probation too, like our own Photographer, Pastor K???

I haven't heard from Howie in over a year..............

Besides, regardless of source, that DeSoto is indeed a very limited edition (6 I
believe) color scheme, reversed from the standard red/white, that does
photograph fabulously.

The Photographer, regardless of probationary status, is doing awesome work
and is seemingly outdoing himself with each series posting.

Chrysler Corp certainly must have been an interesting place in those years, even if some of the people and divisions seemed to be at odds with one another at times ! Curtis Redgap's fascinating on-line essays on Plymouth/Desoto/Dodge and Chrysler in the Fifties and Sixties is great reading at :

http://www.pentastars.com/inside/index.shtml

I recall seeing something (I believe) in "Collectible Automobile" from a Chrysler insider who indicated that the decision to axe DeSoto kept being delayed and put off until, at some point, they had already received certain trim and body parts for the 1961 DeSoto. Since they didn't want to lose the few million already put towards the car, they went ahead with production until the parts were used up by the end of November, 1960.

There may also have been some similiarities to the Edsel failure in which, although apparently doomed by the end of the 1959 model year, CEO Ford had assured dealers that a 1960 Edsel was on the schedule for release the following year. For that reason, and supposedly to avoid breaking dealer contracts (at least too badly) a 1960 Edsel (and maybe the 1961 DeSoto) were brought to market.

Additionally, I recall the 1960 Comet was actually an Edsel nearly right up until release date. In a slightly different manner, the frantically developed full-size 1962 Dodge Custom 880, although made up of a '61 Dodge front clip and a '62 Chrysler Newport rear section, virtually reproduced the old DeSoto mid-range/full-size market, and if a regular full-size DeSoto had been available in 1962 when Dodge and Plymouth shrunken S-Class cars had flopped, perhaps DeSoto may have seen a partial comeback or a sort.

Thanks for the input and support, folks

In spite of my ongoing and well deserved (he said, humbly)probationary status, I'm having a great time with my camera and my little cars.

This Desoto is indeed one of (I believe) 6 made in this color scheme.

Thanks Mike for this interesting history ................

on these US manufacturers.

You have certainly increased my awareness on the state of play in the late '50's and very early '60's concerning these companies.

Cheers Chris