1958 Desoto New Engineering Changes and Fixes Dealer Film, Colorized

Take a look at the changes and tweaks that Chrysler made in 1958 to their cars. Subscribe for more... Next up is 58 Desoto Styling... Film strip is missing...

[@carlmontney7916]

I just love these old automotive videos. Very interesting stuff. Thanks for posting this.

[@autochronicles8667]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@mikeweizer3149]

Forget the 59 Caddy, The 57-58 Chryslers and DeSotos had the best looking tail fins EVER!!!!.

[@thenov1944]

L o L > > > Cadillac " Standard of the World " ! ! !

[@somersetdc]

Can't believe that they're bragging about their 14 inch tires as opposed to the "old fashioned" 15 inch tires. DeSoto used 14 inches to lower the car's profile, but they really weren't big enough for that massive body.

[@emjayay]

They are big enough if wide enough on wider rims. 5000 pound 1961 Lincolns had 14" wheels, for example.

[@emjayay]

The big news in styling was that it was almost identical to the 1957 model with just enough little changes to identify the year.

[@autochronicles8667]

Was some engineering fixes... good things... They had recover from rushing the 57's... unfortunately their reputation would suffer. It was honestly a gamble...They didnt know they had another year to get things right. GM was putting out "slight" safe revisions each year and Ford was the king of spying :)

[@stephenholland5930]

They had all new engines and the Sure-Grip differential, so you didn't need snow tyres (!)

[@erichanson3961]

So detailed and interesting. Mom had a 58 DeSoto Firedome convertible, with the optional Torqueflite 3 speed automatic. Great car in many ways, but very thirsty (I guess the 57 would have been worse.) and it did not like to start in moist conditions. Also, either a muffler or a resonator always was rusting out in that big dual exhaust system. So, Mom's next car was a 62 Rambler Classic 6 with a 3 on the tree, and our operating and maintenance cost improved a great deal.

[@autochronicles8667]

Very cool!

[@thenov1944]

NO Fun Rambler ! !

[@erichanson3961]

@@thenov1944 Well, it was a "Cross Country" wagon, which meant that "us kids" had a built-in play area in the "way back". Also, it had a great, very useful roof rack for those family trips to our uncle's camps, up in the Maine woods on Great Moose Lake.

[@williamg2552]

SURE-GRIP- Chrysler Corporation’s version of POSITRACTION

[@johnready630]

I LOL when he said no need for snow tires.

[@darthhemi1735]

@@johnready630 yeah a bit of a stretch there :) posi does help

[@johnready630]

@@darthhemi1735 Not where I live . Fact is posi made it harder to turn , the car wanted to go forward.😁

[@orderoftheaardvark6956]

You misspelled Sure-Slip

[@thenov1944]

@@johnready630 Mountain States ? ?🤔 🤔

[@THROTTLEPOWER]

Very cool!!!!!!!!!!

[@autochronicles8667]

Thanks, glad you liked it.

[@THROTTLEPOWER]

@@autochronicles8667 👍👍

[@emjayay]

All the engine stuff is because this was the new large OHV V8 replacing the heavy and expensive hemi from 1951. Same design as big Chrysler V8s for years, like the 413 and 440. All the defensiveness about air suspensions being introduced by GM and Ford in 1958 was unnecessary since neither of them made many and they all proved problematical and were usually soon retrofitted with steel springs. The air springs didn't do anything much about handling or breake dive because they just replaced the steel springs without changing the front suspension designs. There was never any air in Torsion-aire. They just made that name up to imply that it was somehow modern like actual air suspensions. The Chrysler handling had to do with spring stiffness and front suspension design and geometry.

[@williamg2552]

What about the ADVENTURER ??

[@autochronicles8667]

yeah no mention in all of these videos... strange... maybe they were thinking of stopping the adventurer? I've noticed they never mention the 300C in the Chrysler ones also.

[@friendofdorothy9376]

@@autochronicles8667 The ‘58 brochure also doesn’t mention the Adventurer. I know the 300 had its own brochure and I bet the Adventurer did as well.

[@jonathanmorrisey5771]

​@@autochronicles8667 300D and Adventurer were mid-year releases and weren't included in the early literature.

[@thenov1944]

Ya Baby , Much Desired Today ! !

[@thenov1944]

@@friendofdorothy9376 " 300 " = Chrysler ! !

[@darthhemi1735]

Air pumps in the showroom for air springs...

[@autochronicles8667]

I have that magazine article, i may do a video on that.

[@pcno2832]

Packard had the simplest active suspension of all; from the description I read, it was just a big torsion bar with a motor and gearbox in the middle. Given all the hassles that air suspensions have created over the decades, it's a pity that no one else picked up on the idea.

[@DMBall]

The greatest single lie the auto industry ever told is repeated here again: greater speed means greater safety. And it's still being peddled today.

[@pcno2832]

350 VS. 361 Cu-in. ?? Why bother? The tiny difference in displacement could be more than offset by carburetor, timing , intake and exhaust system choices. I wonder if the 2 bores were mainly for product positioning. They could probably have fudged a difference by calling the 361 a 350 and given it a different nickname. Anyway, I think this was the year of the Bendix fuel injection option; almost none were produced, but the system was the basis for the early EFI systems (Bosch Jetronic and Bosch/Bendix) used in 1968 by VW, in 1975 by Cadillac and a bunch of European brands in between.

[@autochronicles8667]

i think the 360 was redesigned from what they say in the video... larger bearing surfaces etc... Now i am curious :)

[@Greatdome99]

The 350 was an older hemi engine discontinued that year; the 361 was brand-new and was used well into the 1960s. It was just a transition year.

[@jonathanmorrisey5771]

​@@Greatdome99 The 350 was a one-year-only B-engine, not a hemi.

[@jonathanmorrisey5771]

There were 35 performance models built with the Electrojector system. Only one is left with it's original syste intact. Even Jay Leno couldn't find parts to restore a 300-D.

[@rayfridley6649]

@8:19- You could also have a manual shift three-speed transmission, maybe with optional overdrive. This is not mentioned in this dealer film video.

[@autochronicles8667]

was that only on the 6? not sure they had that on the v8?

[@jonathanmorrisey5771]

​@@autochronicles8667 1954 was the last of the 6cyl DeSotos.

[@frankgiaquinto1571]

Probably very few '58 DeSotos were sold with a manual transmission..

[@stephenholland5930]

​@@autochronicles8667From my original 1958 De Soto brochure, only the 350 and 361 V-8s were available. The Firesweep had the 350 with a 3 speed manual as standard. The Firedome and Fireflite had the 361, with the 3 speed manual on the Firedome as standard and the 3 speed TorqueFlite standard on the Fireflite. The TorqueFlite cars had a standard 3.15 rear axle with a 3.31 optional.

[@moboutmen]

FOCUS !

[@williamg2552]

1958: The Year they got rid of the HEMI.

[@michaelbenardo5695]

A very dumb move in my opinion.

[@58sportsuburban]

@@michaelbenardo5695 the wedge was better than the Desoto hemi.

[@peterkarbowski9375]

Actually it was 1959. The Chrysler and Imperial still had the 392 hemi in 1958...I know because I owned one. Some 1959 Imperials had the 392 until they depleted their stock of the engine.

[@58sportsuburban]

@@peterkarbowski9375 the subject car is a desoto. There was no hemi for desoto in 1958.

[@peterkarbowski9375]

@@58sportsuburban That was clearly explained in the video. I assumed the comment made meant the Chrysler Corp. as a whole. Oh well, no harm done, a little more info never hurts.

[@tomservo56954]

2:10 What if I want a Firedome with a 4-barrel carburetor?

[@autochronicles8667]

The POWER package :)

[@michaelbenardo5695]

That Firesweep, which was introduced in 57, should never have seen the light of day.

[@autochronicles8667]

why do you say that?

[@michaelbenardo5695]

@@autochronicles8667 Because it was a disguised Dodge, was priced like a Dodge, making DeSoto compete with fellow Dodge division, when it was supposed to compete against Oldsmobile and the small Buick, and lastly because the 57 Dodge, like the 57 Plymouth, was a very poor quality car that damaged DeSoto's reputation badly.

[@autochronicles8667]

@@Remembering-rq6si they had serious water leaking issues.. they also had fumes coming in a bit because they didnt seal it up right... There were dealer bulletins on all these issues... Your dealer should have handled them... and yes.. rust was a huge deal... 57 Dodges are finally going up in value... super rare.

[@autochronicles8667]

@@Remembering-rq6si Here is the 57 body sealing film that was sent to dealers. kzbin.info/www/bejne/npSqgJVpo6ytbdE

[@dallasmars2]

Must not be a good car if Edsel sells more cars than you do

[@jimeditorial]

Messed with late 50s Mopars as a kid in the 70s...the cars were just garbage. Decent power trains, and not much else

[@jamesrecknor6752]

Alright, I will take a nifty fifty eight Fish Face Fin O Matic 500 with the Fire Flinger 361

[@autochronicles8667]

Sorry they closed :( how about a nice mauve 2024 electric jelly bean though?? :)

[@philojudaeusofalexandria9556]

Trust me, wait for the '59s. Thank me in a year.

[@autochronicles8667]

The 58 Desoto I think was VERY hard to beat when it come's to Desoto's..