Prices of classic cars are going completely insane. Just last week a man spent 14.20 million Euros (16.05 million USD) buying an extremely deteriorated Ferrari 250GT California. Fortunately for the classic-car enthusiast that does not buy his cars as a simple investment to be kept in a climate-controlled garage until they appreciate enough to give a 30 % profit to the owner, there are still plenty of interesting vehicles to be found. This, for example.
DeSoto started sliding towards its eventual doom during the fifties. But when this car was launched nothing could possibly go wrong with DeSoto. It was 1950, the war was starting to become a sepia-toned memory, and America was still raking in the benefits of pent-up demand and plenty of production capacity thanks to the war. The middle class was getting ever more affluent and upwardly mobile, the key word being ‘mobile’. It’d be a couple more years for this peace and prosperity to reach its zenith and for cars to become stylish chariots that reflected this prosperity; for now, they were considerably more sedate.
Now I know that it’s very hard to call something with that “Inspired by Shavemaster” grille sedate, but let’s consider its 1960 sibling and you’ll see what I am on about. Our featured model is a 1950 Custom, the top-line model. One of 72,664 built that year, and this one even has the very desirable two-speed windshield wipers. Power is provided by a 112 hp, 250 cid six through a three-on-the-tree manual transmission. The odometer shows 81,456 miles, and a DeSoto shop manual is included in the $11,900 (OBO) price.
There’s an enormous problem regarding the interior pictures, though–specifically, there are none. Oh, the (admittedly photogenic) dashboard is very well documented, but we can see only seat edges in the listing. On the one hand, they show the upholstery in pretty good nick; on the other, it could be that only those parts of the upholstery are in pretty good nick. It’s also missing a hubcap, but a replacement is just a Google search away (starting at $9.95 on eBay).
So if you want to own a driveable piece of history that will not break the bank, and you can tolerate having to explain to everyone what a DeSoto is, the listing is here. What could possibly go wrong?
Pretty sweet looking old bus but you’d think the seller could pop for a new steering wheel cover to replace those ragged pieces of foam pipe insulation.
And of course it’s not a simple three-on-the-tree but a Fluid Drive.
It may be a three-on-the-tree. If you notice the clutch pedal — with the fluid drive the rubbe cover on the clutch pedal should say “Safety Clutch.”
I suspect only the seller knows for sure, Paul. A 1950 DeSoto brochure states that “Tip-Toe Hydraulic Shift with Gyrol Fluid Drive is standard on Custom models.” And since this is touted as a Custom, I just assumed it was used.
My First Series 1949 Dodge Custom Coupe has Fluid Drive and a plain pedal pad. 😀
Thanks for the clarification. If I ahd one of these cars, I’d certainly want it to have whatever version of fluid drive was current at the time!
Sweet looking car. I’ve always liked Mopar cars of the late 1940s to the early 1950s.
That is a cool old car, I’d drive it and happily explain to everybody what a Desoto is.
The steering wheel is a shame, and why do so many people insist on wearing out their ignition switches with 8 pounds of keys and junk!?
I would actually rather have one of these than the “14.20 million Euros (16.05 million USD) … extremely deteriorated Ferrari 250GT California.”
For one thing, I could actually DRIVE it, not just brag about it or hide it away. It’s a CAR, not an idol.
Oh believe you me, if I had the money to buy something like a 250 GTO or something the first thing I’d do after taking ownerships is do what the young people call “A sweet burnout” and watch the monocles pop.
Rowan Atkinson is very good at that. He drove his McLaren F1 for 41,000 miles.
That electric razor style grille gives this car a mean look, but I like it!
Certainly much nicer than Buick’s interpretation of the same theme for that year!
The image is great! What could go wrong? I think there was a posting about a Suburban just the other day that can give you a hint! (tho’ I’d still drive one of these over that Suburban any day)
I’d start with the asking price myself. Knock it down by half and then you’d be reasonably in business.
Even tho’ I spent many years driving cars without AC, or rear defrosters, or even a right side mirror (my ’53 Studebaker didn’t even have the left-side mirror from the factory!), these are things that are quite handy in daily driving these days.
Actually I think that overall collector car prices are coming down. I can’t complain too much about Ferrari pricing, my father couldn’t afford on in the 1960’s and I can’t afford one now, so no change there.
This on the other hand remains affordable. Very nice car, lower tier collectibles like this don’t warrant complete restoration, but preserving this one looks very worthwhile.
Fun to be had at all price points in the collector car hobby…
You are right, and even 308 GTB’s aren’t too bad, 20k for a good one and most have meticulous histories and are surprising stout, and they are true Enzo era Ferraris- and there are many interesting Jags, non popular old Detroit Iron, 240Z’s, old BMW’s, 928’s, 914’s & 944/962’s, and pre 73 Benzes that are even more reasonable. If you don’t use them as daily drivers, the maintenance won’t kill you, a lot you can do yourself (You tube videos are so much better the Hayne’s) and you can get cheap special collector insurance based on just enough miles for Sunday drives, and of course the car must be garaged.
More feasible than a boat, this is from personal experience. My not yet classic SC300 is a very interesting car, and cheap to even drive daily, except for her thirst for premium- but that’s gotten better 😉 The LS 430 gets better mpg’s, especially on the interstate.
How the mighty fall. In 1950 a Custom is the top of a trim “tree” and by 1960 a Custom is the bottom.
$12,000 for a 4 door sedan of a long dead car brand…..talk about ambitious. At least the colors look decent.
My family owned 3 or 4 Chrysler products from the 50s, but no Desotos. Loved our 49 Plymouth but when I look at that Desoto’s grille all I see is a grin with a massive number of gaps or cavities.
I like these, and if the right one ever plopped itself down in front of me, I might be tempted. If I actually set out to find a Fluid-driven flathead Mopar, I would stick to the 1946-48 cars that seemed to have so much more style than these. From a collector standpoint, these don’t really say 40s and they don’t really say 50s.
Two nice old green Mopars today. I like this DeSoto, but wow, that back 3/4 view of the greenhouse really shows how stodgy the new design post war Mopars were. They mostly got away with this in 1950, because as noted the post war economy was still heating up, but things started to get really rough for Ma Mopar and her not so glamorous children by 1952.
This one looks pretty good to me, and I’m sure it’s darn comfortable. If only it really were a 3 on the tree. A forgotten source suggested that Fluid Drive combined the worst features of a manual and automatic (perhaps inconvenience and inefficiency, respectively?).
It’s a popular misconception that the term Fluid Drive refers to the transmission, Mr. F. It actually refers to the fluid coupling that was substituted for the flywheel. It’s a heavy casting that contains a turbine wheel driven by the engine and another that was connected to the driveline. These ran in a light oil and operated like a torque converter, but without the third element of that device. There was just enough slip built into it that a driver could leave the transmission in gear when coming to a stop without releasing the clutch and then pull away without having to shift. However, the clutch had to be used when changing gears.
Chrysler used this fluid flywheel in front of a variety of transmissions. When used in conjunction with a conventional three speed gearbox (like in my 1st Series ’49 Dodge) it is trouble free, albeit not the most efficient ever devised. Problems arose on some DeSotos and Chryslers of the same era, however, when used with the M6 transmission. This arrangement amounted to a dual range two speed with two forward gears in low and high ranges. It used a number of vacuum controls and relays to allow for an automatic upshift in either range when the driver lifted off the accelerator. It still had to be shifted from low to high range manually.
It was these components and not the fluid coupling or transmission itself that eventually caused problems. Vacuum leaks, bad electrical connections and component failure developed as these cars aged. It was also not the easiest system to set up properly and keep in spec.
From the owner’s manual…
Probably copied from the Daimler system,
Thanks for the information. Looks like I need to get back to studying Ate Up with Motor’s remarkable materials. Those 40s/50s ChryCorp cars sure are solid. Room for a hat, too!
You’re very welcome, MrF. And yes, those chair high seats are very comfortable and allow you wear your fedora. Shoot me a link to the aforementioned Ate Up With Motor material if you would, please.
Just looked in my reference book and 1950 would be 1 of Desoto’s best years for sales. Nearly 73,000 of these Custom 4 door sedans would be produced, THE most popular model by a more than 3 to 1 margin. They accounted for more than 1/2 of Desoto sales. But there were more than 12 car brands that year that posted more sales in 1950.
I’d prefer the Desoto to a Ferrari at least when the Desoto dies I can fix it and source parts, My current classic is in climate controlled storage, if it rains it gets wet if it cold it gets cold if its fine and warm so is the car. Doesnt seem to have hurt it yet.
This was the first postwar member of our family Mopar tree. I was thinking of it when there was a QOTD about grandma cars. Mine learned on the ’50 DeSoto with Fluid Drive.
I bought this car in 2015. Love it