Suburbans aren’t an uncommon sight in recreation areas, but they’re usually of the more recent, Chevrolet variety. But here’s a DeSoto Suburban which pulled into an almost empty lakeside parking area in Custer State Park, South Dakota last month, early in the morning as we were preparing to leave the campground. It was a weekday, and I saw no significant number of older cars in the area so I don’t think it was part of a show or meetup.
Just a handy rig to carry a long standup paddleboard. The driver looked like he was born in the K-Car era, long after Desoto had disappeared from the market. And this was the first DeSoto I’ve seen in decades. I believe it’s a 1948, first year of the S10 series (another designation appropriated by GM) but will welcome corrections.
Oooooh, but I love these. My vote would be somewhere from 1946 to “early” 1949 (before the switch to the true 49 models, which continued the long wheelbase body). I have never developed the ability to distinguish between years in this generation of Mopar.
I have always like the DeSoto grille better than the Chrysler grilles on these, as I always thought the Chrysler version was a little fussy. And as I recall, these would seat 8 or 8 passengers, so like a Modern (Chevy) Suburban. Only slower.
Wow, that’s pretty. So stately too, it looks like it’s wafting along even while just parked.
So, Chrysler used the Suburban name on long wheelbase DeSoto sedan and Plymouth station wagon. A bit confusing branding. This is the first time I was aware of this DeSoto model.
The name “Suburban” has also been used by Nash, Plymouth, Dodge, and Chevy.
A terrific find.
DeSoto was big in the taxi business back then, with many of these long wheelbase sedans seeing taxi duty. So finding a long wheelbase sedan not having endured such a life is quite remarkable.
And where, within hundreds of miles of South Dakota, would someone use a longboard? This one is all very nice, but it looks so staged…
Just what I was thinking..Surf South Dakota says the foxy Governor. Had a short wheelbase ’47 in 1972. Lived in Breckenridge Colorado in a cabin on the edge of town. Parked the beast out on the roadside in front of the cabin. One day it disappeared. Found out Summit County decided it was in the right of way and towed it away without even a by your leave. Being just a kid and not a clue about how to go about retrieving it much less figure out who took it…I let it go. I like to think it got boxed into a cube and sent to china and is now putting around as a pos Chinese mobile
This Allpar article on these still blows my mind https://www.allpar.com/threads/the-1951-desoto-suburban-long-term-owners-report-of-a-truly-noble-motor-car.236556/
Great picture — I’d love to know the story behind this car… I’m sure it’s an interesting one.
I was in South Dakota last month, and also had a looong car sighting… this one being a 1975 Imperial filling up at a Pierre gas station.
That’s majestic!
I can’t imagine there’s much of a wave surfing scene in South Dakota but a paddleboard makes more sense.
River surfing on the Missouri, maybe?
The term(?)/designation ” S-10X ” was for 1942 only, according to The Encyclopedia of American Cars. The X used by me since these were either S-10S or S-10C (S was the Deluxe and C was the Custom, with pretty much all bodystyles available in each series.)
From 1946 through the first series of 1949 models, DeSotos were ” S-11X “. Again, with X replaced by S or C. However, after the war there were fewer Deluxe models. Deluxes being limited to 2 door sedans/coupes and just 1 4 door sedan.
1951 and 1952 saw Desoto using the S-15 designation.
So, no this is not an S-10.
Although I remember DeSoto’s running around when I was a kid, I admittedly know nothing about them, and got the S10 info from Wikipedia. And we know that’s not always right. Thanks for setting the record straight.
between 46,47,48 all hard to tell apart the years on any Chryco product.I learned on a 47 Fluid Drive Dodge with suicide rear doors.0-60 in about 35 seconds! Unless you shifted!
This one looks great .
I wonder where it is to – day ? .
-Nate
What a monster, and a beautiful one at that. Great colour too. Over the years I’ve really come to appreciate late 40’s / early 50’s car design, an era that as a kid seemed to epitomize ‘dowdiness’. What was I thinking?
The picture reminds me of the drawings they used in the ads of the day, and you’re thinking ‘It can’t possibly be that long really…”.
Nominated for CC shot of the year.
Thanks for the compliment. Someone else said this looks staged; all I can say is that it pulled in a few stalls away from me and the driver got out and headed into the woods. I snapped a few shots and went into the restroom. When I came out, the driver was just getting in, fired it up, and drove off.
There’s something so very elegant about the contours of the doors, the way the sheetmetal flares out near the bottom suggesting running boards without including them (something found on several modern cars, though now it suggests ground-effects aero aids) and how the front pontoon fender gracefully blends into the door (something not found on recent cars except overtly retro ones like the PT Cruiser). I remain fascinated at how separate fenders slowly got swallowed up by the main part of the body until they disappeared into the bodywork over the course of about 25 years. The front a few years before the rear.
Totally agree about those front doors. It’s handled very elegantly.
The front doors of the Suburban, to my eyes look like the same doors of the Deluxe Club Coupe mated to a stretched rear door. A very nice car. When Mustangs and Camaros were the hot thing, I dreamed of cars like this.
Goodness, that paint! The car seems very well preserved, or it had a loving, respectful restoration. I noticed, though, that the vertical trim bars on the front bumper seem lower than the top of the (presumably) standard concrete parking barrier. Was that common on these models? How often were they damaged by parking too close to the barrier? Seems like it would be a constant annoyance for the owner. ~ I also noticed how the front fender’s style line does extend well past the front edge of the front door and blends into the side. I agree the front fenders are well proportioned and that they look good. However, the same cannot be said of the rear fenders (IMHO). Perhaps it is the angle of the photograph? But they look bulbous and tacked on, as if stolen off another car. And the wheel opening is so large as to exaggerate the small size of the wheel and tire. Or, maybe it’s just me. 😜
I think it’s the angle of the photo and the light coming in from under the rear bumper. Perhaps there was a valance panel missing, or that’s just the way they were built, but I don’t recall anything odd when I walked around it. Overall the car looked just right to me; very clean and straight, but not a concours specimen. And when it drove away, it purred off with little mechanical noise, no smoke or rich fuel smell.
Ooh, pretty! Whoever put this car together added recent front seats. Perhaps they picked ones with inbuilt seat belts.
And with enough headroom to wear a fedora, just as Walter P. Chrysler intended
@ Bryan ;
I *think* I was Keller who mandated the hat clearance .
To me, these cars are the pinnacle of Chrysler engineering .
Good looking too .
-Nate
My wife and I saw one of these, clearly in worse off condition,
just this week in a yard/ collection/ take-over-my-failed-project
sort of place.
It was right next to a Chrysler of similar age so I could point out the benefits of
corporate twinning and the like.
Nice find! In my youth, I had a 1947 Plymouth 4 door. Not as big as this Desoto, but boy, did my Plymouth have a big back seat!
1948 Desoto coupe