But What if You Never Get Past the Beginning Again?

The 1960 DeSoto line exhibited a fresh, new look. The second generation of the "Forward Look" cars, dramatic when introduced in 1957, had get fussier in the grade of being freshened for 1958 and 1959. The 1960 model year brought "Unibody" construction to all domestic Chrysler Corporation cars except Im­perials.

Despite signs that the marque was on the manner out,
DeSoto had a fresh redesign for 1960.

Virgil Exner'due south styling for the unit-body senior 1960 Mopars had sweeping, outwardly canting fins, ascent from a signal midway on the front door and ending in "boom­erang" taillights. A wide-rima oris grille incorporating triangular parking lights at its lower far corners looked a bit like information technology had merely visited the orthodontist, simply the overall effect was harmonious, only a bit flashier than that of the similarly shaped Chryslers.

Break connected to consist of front torsion confined and rear leaf springs. Menstruation magazine reports generally liked the consequence the combination of the new body construction and "Tor­sion-Aire" suspension had on ride. "The springing seems to be a expert compromise which is not also soft to cause objectionable swaying on the open up route nor also harsh for condolement in town," Motor Life reported.

Motor Trend's Walt Woron said the 'threescore Adven­turer "acted fine" at highway speeds, but added, "[A] few times we felt that the forepart end had a rotating motion, instead of just the normal up-and-downward motion that most cars have after they come out of a dip."

For the showtime time since 1948, there were no DeSoto station wagons. Neither were in that location whatever convertibles, leaving only a hardtop coupe, four-door sedan, and pillarless hardtop sedan in each series. The market segment was compressed, too, with the lowest-priced DeSoto, the Fireflite four-door sedan, selling for $iii,017 and the nearly expensive, the Charlatan 4-door hardtop, for $3,727.

Both series used the Chrysler B-series engine, Fireflites the 361-cubic-inch version, Adventurers the 383. Both had 10:1 pinch and Carter BBD ii-barrel carburetion, rendering 295 horsepower for Fireflites and 305 for Adventurers. Either series could be ordered with a 4-butt 383, skillful for 325 horsepower.

A version of Chrysler's ram induction system, using tuned, extended manifolds mounted with dual quads, was available on the Adventurer. Information technology yielded a scant five bhp more the unmarried-quad job, but produced a hefty 460 pound-feet of torque. (The parcel also included dual exhausts and, quite wisely, larger 12-inch-bore brakes.) Published route tests found that this "Ram Accuse" engine served the machine well across a wide rpm range. Motor Life and Motor Trend both cited eight.8-second 0-60-mph times for a two-door hardtop with the dual-quad engine; Motor Trend covered the quarter-mile in 17.2 seconds at 85.v mph.

The bones transmission on Fireflites was, at to the lowest degree theoretically, a three-speed transmission, though probably few cars were so equipped. The three-speed Torque­Flite automated was standard on Adven­turers and a $227 pick on Fireflites. The 2-speed PowerFlite automatic, inbound its final yr of service, could be ordered on Fireflites for a mere $189.

Among the quirkier factory options was the "Ultra-Fi." Fifty-2 dollars would add this RCA-developed record player to the AM radio, itself an $89 extra. In contrast to the earlier Highway Hi-Fi, which required special 16²/3-rpm records, the new unit played standard 45s. Another $106 would fetch front end seats that swiveled to the side automatically when the doors were opened to ease entry and exit.

In a year that saw auto production rise to half-dozen.6 million cars -- better than 1957's pretty-good six.i million, though no friction match for the 7.9 one thousand thousand of 1955 -- DeSoto suffered. Just 26,081 cars came off the line in the 1960 model year, for a very disappointing 14th place. DeSoto's market share was barely one-3rd of 1 percentage. Merely Regal, Lincoln, Checker, and the euthanized Edsel fared worse. (One consequence of DeSoto's slide was that its Warren Artery constitute was taken over by Imperial at the end of 1958; DeSoto production was moved to Jeffer­son Artery, mixed with Chryslers and Dodges.)

Poor performance rarely goes unpunished, and when the 1961 model year began, it was obvious that DeSoto had been to the woodshed. The production line was pared nonetheless over again. Gone were the Charlatan and Fireflite. There was just a single series with no name, though it was roughly equivalent to the 1960 Burn­flite. In it were a hardtop coupe and a hardtop sedan.

The marque's precarious position didn't go unremarked. In its '61 new-car previews, Motor Trend could hard­ly incorporate its surprise. "Many observ­ers seriously doubted whether DeSoto would innovate whatever motorcar, let lonely a new motorcar for 1961," information technology said. "Generally speaking, most persons thought that if the auto did come out, it would exist a luxury compact."

Powertrains began with a single engine pick, a two-barrel 361. Thanks to total-point pinch-ratio reduction to 9.0:one, power output was downwardly to 265 horsepower. The carburetor was improved and intake valves were enlarged, nevertheless. A manual manual, Chrysler's new heavy-duty 3-speed unit, was listed equally standard, simply most, if non all, cars were equipped with the optional TorqueFlite.

The styling had become arresting, Motor Tendency complaining that the front and rear looked similar they had "come from different styling studios." While only the taillights and trim had changed on the rear, the front bore canted headlamps and a two-section grille with a cyclopslike upper section that was widely considered unattractive.

Chrysler vehicles all made a switch in '61 from DC generators to Air conditioning alternators for ameliorate electric-electric current output at low engine speeds -- all the better for operating power convenience features. There were still options aplenty for DeSotos: air conditioning (for $501), power brakes, power steering, 6-way ability seat, and a couple of convenience and manner groups. The Ultra-Fi tape player returned, called simply "RCA Automatic Tape Histrion" in the catalogs. The pivoting seats were no longer offered, though.

It's tempting to contrast the seemingly sudden death of DeSoto with the slow, excruciating demise recently doled out to Plymouth and Oldsmobile by starvation of new-product evolution. With 20/20 retrospect, even so, nosotros can see that the terminate of DeSoto, from the time of the conclusion to the assembly of the last automobile, was annihilation but swift. The knell had been sounded by the time the 1960 product plans were hatched, and canny observers of the industry could accept seen the signs: overt pruning of the DeSoto production line and gerrymandering of the Chrysler catalog to have upwardly the slack.

If the condensed 1960 DeSoto lineup did not catch their attending, surely the expanded Chrysler line for 1961 did. The Windsor, for a decade the entry-level Chrysler, was pushed upmarket by half a notch. Below it appeared a new series, the Chrysler Newport, with a full line of body styles from iv-door sedan to hardtops, to station wagons, to a convertible, at prices from $2,964 to $3,622, nearly where the DeSoto Firesweep had been in 1959. DeSoto was existence replaced by a new Chrysler.

The DeSoto production line had non been the only casualty. DeSoto management also felt the ax. In June 1959, Chrysler Corporation's DeSoto Division was rolled into a new Plymouth-DeSoto Segmentation, under Plymouth full general managing director Harry Cheseborough. In Nov, this exist­came Plymouth-DeSoto-Valiant with the add-on of the new meaty car, which was sold initially as a separate make.

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Source: https://auto.howstuffworks.com/1960-1961-desoto.htm

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