A vertical-bar grille was retained, similar to the 1942-forty eight design, however the lady mascot was replaced by a bust of Hernando DeSoto. Emphasizing them was a grille placed entirely on the decrease half of the car's "face." A sculpted lady was launched as a hood mascot. Like every "correct" hood ornament of the time, it glowed when the parking lamps or headlights had been on. A more-in depth restyle for 1942 introduced "Airfoil" hidden headlamps that have been "out of sight, except at night time." Though not an business first (the 1936-37 Cord 810/812 had one thing related), they were Detroit's only hidden lamps that 12 months, and imparted a cleaner look. DeSoto bowed its first hardtop coupe, the Custom Sportsman, at $2489, and moved the DeLuxe woody wagon up to Custom trim before changing it with a barely cheaper all-steel model at midyear. As with all Chrysler makes, the 1947-48 DeSotos had been largely the same because the '46s; serial numbers are the one information to mannequin years. Reflecting Chrysler Corporation's 1954 gross sales nightmare, DeSoto's mannequin-year output dropped below 77,000 and the make fell back to twelfth place in the business. Gold costs additionally climbed again above $1,600 an ounce.

The plush Coronado sedan, a mid-1954 addition to the Firedome line, returned as a 1955 "spring particular" Fireflite at $one hundred above the $2800 regular sedan. Not surprisingly, the Suburban was the costliest '46 DeSoto at $2093, a wholesome $200 above the seven-seat sedan. Model-year quantity jumped back to 130,000 and DeSoto moved as much as 11th, its best finish since banner '41. All wore a mild facelift of prewar styling with headlamps reexposed, fenders extended back into the front doors, a wider and heavier-looking grille, and reshuffled medallions and parking lights. Standard wheelbase was four inches longer at 125.5, but boxy, upright styling hid the very fact. Standard-chassis models misplaced an inch in wheelbase but measured 5.5 inches longer total than the '40s; they have been lower and wider, too. Much bolder, fully up-to-date new Exner styling and extra-highly effective engines stood to turn issues round for 1955. Firedome (the "d" no longer capitalized) now played "second banana" to a new uplevel Fireflite line.

This Fireflite is now a minor collector's item, primarily for having one of the industry's first three-tone paint jobs (turquoise, black, and white). From an early age, the 20-12 months-previous has proven herself as one of the world’s rising pop stars. Finally, gold price seems to grudgingly admit that I'm an intensive journalist (or one who "blogs," as she insists on referring to my occupation - as if writing online has much less validity than writing in print). Gold is wealth and prosperity, strength and power, and those that hold all the trumps are those that possess usd gold price. The number eight represents prosperity, and every candy has symbolic significance. There wasn't much time for specials in that battle-shortened model yr, but DeSoto managed a plush Custom Town Sedan known as "Fifth Avenue" (a name much later resurrected at Chrysler). Model selections held firm for '42, however there was a "squarer" six, bored out to 236.6 cid. Besides "civilian" cars, DeSoto built 11,600 taxicabs in these years -- its fifth finest-promoting mannequin. Though model-yr output rose some 11,000 units, DeSoto once more positioned thirteenth. Like other Chrysler makes, it might need performed better had the agency not suffered a crippling strike firstly of 1940 manufacturing.

DeSoto was fully redesigned for '49, as have been different Chrysler makes that year. Convertibles have been available in each 'fifty five DeSoto sequence but saw minuscule gross sales: just 625 Firedomes and 775 Fireflites. For 1953, remaining Custom/DeLuxe models were mixed into a brand new Powermaster Six collection that nonetheless lagged behind FireDome in gross sales, this time by a margin of 2-1. Both traces included Sportsman hardtops. Following GM's lead in '55, DeSoto introduced three 4-door hardtops for '56: a Sportsman in every sequence and a low-priced Firedome Seville. Production was low everywhere in Detroit for '42, and DeSoto was no exception at lower than 25,000 -- fewer than 1000 of some particular person models. Suburban production was also quite satisfactory: 7500 for the period. Painted deep red and lacking bumpers, it was very sleek but not fairly as integrated as Adventurer I, and wasn't significantly considered for production. Adventurer II followed in '55, a standard-chassis 4-seat fastback shaped extra by Ghia than Exner. A midseason highlight was the restricted-version Adventurer hardtop coupe, a supercar awash in gold-anodized aluminum trim.