134745 / 1957 DeSoto Fireflite Sportsman
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- Опубліковано 26 сер 2024
- For more information on this vehicle visit tinyurl.com/mae...
I know a lot of you are in love with the '57 Chevy, but one look across the street at what was going on at Chrysler might change your allegiances. Park this heart-stopping 1957 Desoto Fireflite Sportsman next to a '57 Chevy and the Chevy starts to look positively ordinary in comparison. With long, sweeping lines, those killer fins, and a robust 341 cubic inch Hemi under the hood, Chrysler was most definitely at the top of their game with this car.
We probably wouldn't have the "Big Three" today without Virgil Exner's work at Chrysler. The "Forward Look" cars that he penned for 1955 were revolutionary and instantly made everything else on the market look like yesterday's news. Just one look at the spectacular Fiesta Red flanks on this Fireflite Sportsman will convince you that while excess was still in fashion, it was knowing where to put it that was important. This Desoto has received a frame-off restoration that is absolutely breathtaking in person. The bodywork is exceptionally well done (and it has to be with those giant fins, there's nowhere for inferior work to hide), and the car is magnificently presented.
In 1957, the horsepower races had already started, and Chrysler was at the head of the pack with their Hemi powerplants. In the Desoto Fireflite, it was a 341 cubic inch Hemi that used a single 4-barrel carburetor to make a very stout 295 horsepower, enough to push these gorgeous cars to more than 125 MPH. The engine bay in this Fireflite is beautifully restored and finished to concours standards throughout. The engine is correctly finished in corporate silver with red lettering on the unique Hemi valve covers. The massive air cleaner assembly dominates the engine bay, which was necessary thanks to the Hemi's improved breathing. And correct finishes, materials, and decals have been used throughout, from the heater housing on the firewall, to the hoses and clamps, to the reproduction battery.
The standard transmission in the Fireflite Sportsman is a 3-speed TorqueFlite feeding a 3.36-geared rear end. The rest of the chassis is spectacularly detailed, from the Fiesta Red floors to the satin black frame and all the correctly finished parts in between. Up front, you'll find Chrysler's familiar torsion-bar front suspension, which has been fully rebuilt and rides like a hovercraft. True-dual exhaust was part of the program for the Fireflite, and a complete system has been fabricated to factory specifications on this car, giving it a subtle, yet authoritative voice. The rear end rides on restored leaf springs and damped by new shocks that match the originals in color and function. And the wheels are comprised of gorgeous chrome wires that spin 15-inch wide whitewall radials.
The eye candy doesn't stop at the exterior. Chrysler stylists fine-tuned every aspect of the car to match the Forward Look styling, and that meant the interior had to be exceptional. It is. With two-tone red and gray seating front and back, it ties in brilliantly with the exterior color scheme. Everything inside this car is new, from the subtle gray carpets to the gorgeous headliner accented by chrome top bows. The dashboard incorporates a lot of pure 1950s style, from the massive steering wheel to the textured metal panel that surrounds the gauge cluster. And, although the original AM radio still lives in the dash, a powerful modern JVC head unit has been hidden in the glove box.
Desoto died in 1961, but they enjoy a very strong support network and with their Chrysler connection, parts are plentiful and easy to find. They're also considerably harder to find than their Dodge and Plymouth siblings, which will make this Fireflite the hit of any show, even the Mopar Nationals. Call, click or visit RKMotorsCharlot... for more information.
My Dad had one of these. Beautiful car!
just stunning what an automobile.
After I die, I want to meet Virgil Exner.
I love these cars from the late '50s. They had personality. Each make had its own look about it. These days you can't tell a Ford from a Honda. They're all generic lookalikes.
Beautiful car! Love those old hemis!
Great story, you are so right, those cars were something to be proud to own, but nowadays, they push crap on us. If "everyone" just refused to buy this modern crap, they'd soon change to what people wanted again, believe me.
My Dad had the Air of a KING and my Mom lived and breathed excellence driving our family of 8 children to church and other family outings in the 57 hardtop 4 dr Fireflite,,. fiesta red with white where the dirt would show 1st ,,. so my mother had us washing the rural gravel road dust and mud from the DESOTO at least once a week,, the carpet was black ,as well as the dash pad ,,with white supports for the radio ,clock glove box ect.. white doors and prism gold inlays ,at the arm rests . , gold and black cloth inlays stitched into vinyl leather outboards of the seats,, I think the the front seats were split bench ,, a white headliner with small gold intricate specs and chrome bows smiled down on the spacious seats ,, how can I recall all the detail of this car , you ask ? I mentioned I was on cleaning detail with my bros and sisters , , we kept theDESOTO spotless ., YES, 10 persons rode comfortably . up front the 2 youngest and the baby Donna, in Moms arms and lap ,, and 5 of us in the back ,, my 2 oldest sisters were in hi school .i , recall Dad teaching them all to drive ,, they would feed the gas pedal and throw gravel ,,.That Car Would Fly , my 3 oldest sisters and MOm each got speeding tickets in that car ,and neither of them ever did get a ticket again except for heavy ft ed RUTH ,,. LOL . one of the motorcycle cops was sweet on my sister ruth,. and stopt dad one nite thinking he would see sweet Ruth again , justed wanted to tell her one of the tailites stopt working .. Dad told him ,, why Hale , the thing has plenty lites back there ,, why in the Hale do they all need to be workin ,,.. and also told him that his daughter was engaged to be married and the cop best not stop her again or he would talk to the sheriff he served in the army with ,,.. I . was with Dad when we broke the speedometer on ind state rd 111 along the ohio river,, and remember seeing the horizontal thermometer style red line stretch easily to the far rite and peg ,, the roar of the air about to suck this 5yr old kid off the seats and out the open windows !,, lol !,,.boy ,oh BOY that DESOTO would follow the road as graceful as any car built ,, Dad always claimed it was the wings that made it fly so well .. he was the envy of many, because we had until about 1972, a 1960 black Adventurer ,. 2 DESOTOS in the drive ,.. Dad surprised Mom on her birthday with the black one ,..but She preferred the elegance and beauty of the 57 most of all , ,. so Dad drove the black one ,,though a very nice car . it seemed cut from a different bolt of clothe so to speak ,,just did not have the royal elegance the red 57 had ,,.. sadly the 57 rusted terribly and by 1972 dad sold it to the same fella he bought it used from in 1959 ,.. the gravel rds took its toll on the belly of the DESOTO it needed so much repair to the front end ,,. Dad got 85 bux for this once elegant lady ,. within a month the motor was running at the Jeffersonville ind sportsdrome ,. it makes me sad to think whatever became of the rest . , dad was certain the car had well over 200,000 miles when he traded , but we will never know because he broke the speedometer..
Thank you for sharing, Very interesting
Awesome, man.
É um carro fascinante.
how did we go from that to cars nowadays? greed, less car more money and profit from cheap materials and mass production costs.
+Gud Dergo
If greed and profit were the
motivation, we'd have fierce competition and diversity in vehicle
design. What we have is extreme homogeneity, which is a consequence of a lack of true
competition. This has been in the works for many years; see the
film “Tucker: The Man and His Dream” for example. Intense
government regulations have crippled the automakers' ability to
innovate. Take the airbag as an example: Surely there is a better
technology for keeping people safe in a crash besides a bomb-in-a-bag
from the 1970's (search YT for videos of GM testing the airbag as
early as 1972), but we can't have it because the government requires
all cars to have airbags as standard equipment. Where is the
incentive to innovate if the competition is bound to the same
standard as you are?
I mean, modern cars are more reliable, have better performance, have way more features, and are much much much safer. Really the only measures by which vintage cars were better were that they were more stylish and could survive a wreck better, but the only reason they could survive a wreck better was that they were built to transfer the energy of a collision to the driver instead of the car which would kill the driver! I get the frustration with modern cars not putting any emphasis on style and originality, but by every practical measure you do get way more car for your money these days.
Agreed
She is beautiful !
that great big car and only single line manual brakes!
Yes, why do the modern cars have to look like a half used bar of soap ??"
Better safty and fuel economy but really ugly
btw ,, I am JIM H posting on my Sara 's addy
Perfect! Drop a twin turbo 5.9l in there with a hood stack.
Millennials... smh
B.E.L.E.Z.A .
E.S.T.I.L.O .
L.U.X.O .
U.M C.A.R.R.O D.E I.N.C.R.I.V.E.L P.E.R.F.O.R.M.A.N.C.E .
OLIVAL LIMA .
VERDADEIRAMENTE .
UM .
MITO .