DeSoto

US, 1913 – 1916

DeSoto Motro Car Co, Auburn, Ind.

The DeSoto appears to have succeeded the Zimmerman. This was a large car with a 55hp, 6-cylinder engine, which was furnished with a compressed-air starter. The DeSoto model Six-55 five-seater touring car sold for $2185.

US, 1928 – 1960

Chrysler Motors Corp, Detroit, Mich.

The DeSoto was launched in 1928 as a 3.2-litre side valve six to compete with Oldsmobile, Pontiac and the cheaper Nashes. Styling and general design of the DeSoto were in line with the 1929 Chryslers, and at $885 for a DeSoto sedan 90.000 were sold in the first twelve months. A 3.4-litre straight-8 DeSoto on a 9ft 6in wheelbase was announced for 1930 as the world’s cheapest 8-cylinder car. However, DeSoto suffered badly in the Depression, and in 1932, when flexible rubber engine mountings and free wheels were made available, sales dropped to 26.000 DeSoto cars.
The DeSoto disappeared from the British market about this time, though certain ‘Chrysler’ models listed in England (the Mortlake, Croydon, and some of the Richmonds) were in fact DeSoto cars in all but name. A 6-cylinder version of Chrysler’s advanced unitary-construction Airflow, the SE-type with a 4-litre engine, was brought out in 1934, but was an unsuccessful as its bigger sister. Later DeSotos followed regular Chrysler lines closely though in later years there was a tendency for DeSoto to move into a higher price class than Dodge; by 1952 DeSotos started $300 higher than the companion make.
By 1939 the DeSoto cars for sale were being made with independent front suspension, hypoid back axles and column change. There was a choice at DeSoto of two 6-cylinder engines and three wheelbase lengths, the longest of these being reserved for seven-seater bodywork – DeSoto continued to offer a really roomy family car right up to 1954. A 4-speed semi-automatic Vacumatic transmission became an option in 1941, but DeSoto’s big post-war change of models did not take place until 1952, when the division followed Chrysler’s lead in adopting the oversquare ohv V8; the DeSoto version was of 4½-litre capcity and developed 16-bhp. With the advent of Chrysler’s ‘flight sweep’ styling in 1955, the side-valve sixes were dropped and the standard engine in a DeSoto was now a 4.8-litre eight, giving 185bhp in Firedome guise, and 200bhp in Fireflite form. Though this redesigning saved Chrysler sales generally, the slump in the medium-price class had an adverse effect on DeSoto and in 1959 the DeSoto division was merged with Plymouth. Last of the DeSotos were the 1961 models, unitary-construction cars with a choice of three engines: Plymouth’s 145bhp ohv ‘slant six’ as used in the Valiant, and V8s of 230 and 265bhp, the two former only in Canadian DeSotos. Production of DeSoto cars ceased in November 1960 after only a few had been delivered.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS
The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com

Graham Paige

US, 1927 – 1941

Graham Paige Motors Corp, Detroit, Mich.

The Graham brothers, Joseph, Robert and Ray, acquired the old Paige concern in 1927. Their Graham Paige cars were conventional machines noted for their internal-expanding hydraulic front wheel brakes and 4-speed ‘twin-top’ gearboxes, and 78.000 Graham Paige cars were sold in their first year of production. The range embraced three sixes and two eights, the biggest of these being the ‘Graham Paige 835’ with an 11ft 5in wheelbase and a 5.3-litre engine. One of these straight-8 Graham Paige cars won the last race ever held on the Brooklands Motor Course in August 1939. The name of the Graham Paige make was simplified to Graham for the 1931 season, though design underwent little alteration until the arrival of the 1932 Graham Blue Streaks, headed by a 4-litre eight which introduced skirted front wings to the American market and was immortalized in the ‘Tootsie Toys’ found in many a nursery of the 1930s. 1934 8-cylinder Graham Paige cars were available with a centrifugal supercharger rotating at 5¾ times the engine speed, which gave them a top speed of 95mph. After 1935 only sixes were made by the Graham Paige car factory, the 3½-litre Graham Cavalier being listed in 80bhp unblown and 112bhp blown versions, both with aluminium cylinder heads – this chassis of this Graham Paige car formed the basis of the Anglo-American Lammas. Despite an attempt to compete in the lowest-priced field with the 2.8-litre Graham Crusader at $595 (it cost less than £300 in England), Graham Paige achieved little beyond three successive outright wins in the Gilmore-Yosemite Ecoonmy Run, though these small Graham Paige sixes were copied by Nissan of Japan. An ugly concave nose and spatted rear wheels characterized the 1938 and 1939 Graham Paige cars, which were 3½-litre Graham cars available with or without superchargers. The Graham Paige company’s final fling was the 1940 Hollywood, which made use of the body dies from Cord’s 810/812 series. Like Hupmobile’s very similar Skylark, this was not a commercial success, and after World War 2 Graham-Paige joined forces with Henry J. Kaiser to build the Kaiser and Frazer cars: the latter were named after Graham-Paige’s President Joseph W. Frazer.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS
The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com