Old DeSoto

An old DeSoto - photo taken with cell phone camera

Last week I pulled into the parking lot of the new Best Buy store in Parker and saw this rare sight. It is a late 1950s DeSoto, a now defunct brand of Chrysler (which has been joined in extinction by its sibling, Plymouth). This is either a '56, '57, or '58 model, but I don't know for sure, since there were subtle differences that I am not aware of. Also, that was the era when huge tail fins were all in vogue. In any case, this one is a little rusty, but is a prime candidate for a restoration. Given how it is parked in several spaces, I imagine the owner has that very thing in mind.

DeSoto always reminds me of the old TV show, You Bet Your Life, starring the late Groucho Marx. One of its sponsors was DeSoto, as seen in the clip below.



So many brands of that era are gone. Studebaker, Rambler, and more recently Plymouth and Oldsmobile. With Toyota passing Ford as the #2 brand in the U.S. you have to wonder how many more will be gone soon. Prime candidates would seem to be Mercury, Pontiac, and perhaps even Buick and Dodge. Time will tell.