Confidential Report on the 1957 Desoto Firesweep Dealer Promo Film

Confidential Report on the 1957 Desoto Firesweep
Mopar is a registered trademark of Chrysler Group LLC. Master Tech series training materials are the property of Chrysler Group LLC and are used with permission.

[@jamesschrom317]

My dad was a Fire Flight man. He had 52', 55' 57' and '59.

[@ImForwardlook]

Nice to see photos of the Leo Adler dealership. My buddy in Finland has a 1960 Adventurer 4dHT which was sold there. I have a 1957 Firesweep 2dHT myself, gorgeous vehicles!

[@jetsons101]

This really made me thing of Leave It To Beaver as from season 3 to 6 all you saw were Dodge's, Plymouth's and De Soto's, season 1 and 2 only had Ford's. RIP Tony Dow.....

[@robertguttman1487]

My father owned a '57 De Soto for a while. Although 1957 was pretty near the end of the line for the company, it was actually a very nice car. Many people still consider it was the best-looking of the Chrysler cars produced during that time. The De Soto was Chrysler's mid-range model, the counterpart to Ford's Mercury and GM's Buick, Oldsmobile or Pontiac. Unfortunately, the country hit a recession in 1958, which resulted in falling sales, so that Chrysler terminated the entire De Soto line after 1960. It is interesting to reflect on how the people are dressed in this film, compared with today. People actually used to dress that formally in the late 50s, in suits and ties, and wearing hard leather shoes. One rarely sees people dressed like that nowadays.

[@mauryd3444]

It's true that most men dressed that way any time they left home with the family. Women dressed like women and were proud to do so. I remember my first 7 years in Catholic school beginning in 1961, we weren't allowed to wear anything but slacks and button-down shirts. Denim wasn't allowed. It encouraged us to take pride in our appearance and ourselves. Nowadays jeans that look like rags sell for hundreds of dollars. I'm glad I lived during that time.

[@mexicanspec]

That was so neat to see the inner workings of some dealerships and how they marketed the cars.

[@intuitive7274]

My father and mother owned a station wagon. I remember it well. A great family 👪 car. Really could hold alot of people and baggage 🧳 for a trip

[@THROTTLEPOWER]

I remember our wagon too when when I was a kid!

[@ramongonzalez2112]

I love the stacked taillights. The dual headlamps were govt approved in late ‘57.👏

[@cjr3559]

Seemed to give off a feel of desperation and market validity for DeSoto, and can understand better why the make was discontinued shortly after. Tough business, car sales. Based solely on appearance I would have gone with the Plymouth in ‘57..

[@streeturchin349]

The first car I ever bought was a 1957 Desoto Fireflite. I paid $100 for it in 1964, and believe me, that's all it was worth! I drove it for about a year before getting rid of it.

[@garyschulz7768]

Sort of amused by some of the comments I see here. My dad was a mechanical engineer working in the automotive supplier industry and had a Fireflite. He used to mention a thousand reasons why cars such as these Desotos were superior to the rest of the mediocre stuff coming from the other members of the big 3. Things like torsion bars for an amazingly well controlled ride for a larger car. Opened up space in the engine compartment and provided adjustability in ride height. They had a proprietary ant-dive geometry which caused the car to compensate the front-end dropping like a rock during hard braking. The rear axle was located in the optimal location on the rear leaf springs to eliminate tramping during hard acceleration/wheelspin. Also gave the best ride in the industry over rough terrain. The products from GM especially were absolute mush and would bottom out and scrape bumpers etc... The engineering was second to none. And then of course there was the hemi which became legendary in its own right and is another story... These were probably the best cars available for their time. Wish I could visit one of those dealers shown in the film and still buy one of these things!

[@donaldlerner8822]

8

[@charles1964]

@Gary Schultz Thanks for your dads input. I always wondered why Chrysler didn't use Torsion Bars all around like Packard did, and that's a logical explanation. The '57 Adventurer is my dream car, although I like the '56 too

[@Sturminfantrist]

What a beauty looks perfect from every angle but i like the double headlights look of the 57 Plymouth Fury much more

[@hebneh]

Best-looking cars ever made, to my mind.

[@kevinblevins2612]

Nice to see we’ll dressed neatly groomed men at work- what a great era!

[@charles1964]

Most of those guys were WWII vets

[@MrTrack412]

In those days, there was too much intercompetition within companies. The DeSoto fought against itself and other Chryslers when they should have focused on Ford and GM!

[@arnepianocanada]

So sad, by 4 years later it was but a memory.

[@manhoot]

This sure was keen

[@modelrestorations]

Just found you, Subd. Great channel and content. Currently building a 70 GTX for the USACC build off. 1st Mopar was a 68 dart 270 with the 318, then stepped up (in power) to a 76 Aspen with a semi built 360, 4 speed and Cordoba interior. That's the one car I never should have sold. Not a particular special model or year but it was just fun as hell to drive.,

[@seanmcgivney7631]

I am going all the way with Desoto for 58!

[@behemothpowersports5958]

Great channel. Keep up the content!

[@johnellis2347]

With the new low profile air cleaners were moved off to the side too allow for a lower hood. Unfortunately if you drove at city speeds without a thorough warmup first carb ice would form and created stalling and stumbling. We had that in our 58 and the dealers still didn't know what it was. By 59 a new carb heater design solved it.

[@bill90405]

Great use of Cole Porter song , “It’s De-Lovely”. A DeSoto standby for years.

[@THROTTLEPOWER]

Really enjoyed!!

[@ricardorodrigues7304]

maravilhoso ,parabéns.

[@gcfifthgear]

Impressive, except the quality control of the 1957 DeSoto (and all other Chrysler products) was so poor that DeSoto went into a fatal tailspin in 1958--a spin from which it never recovered

[@dennisleporte2327]

Yeah too bad they weren't as good to their employees in Detroit as their customers. my grandfather had a 57' Firesweep. The door handles fell off.

[@hcombs0104]

It was rushed to market, not unlike the 1949 Ford. They both had a lot of mechanical issues. For a few months my father drove a '57 Dodge but wound up getting rid of it because of its issues.

[@58fins]

Truth be told, the Firesweep was indeed a Dodge Coronet with DeSoto tail fins and deck lid added on. The quality control also happened in other Mopar car lines, but DeSoto got the bad reputation. Also, the Chrysler line introduced the Windsor which was basically a Coronet with Chrysler fins and deck lid and it was priced just a tad above the DeSoto. So, many buyers payed that little extra money and bought a Chrysler. That strategy pretty much wiped out DeSoto's place in the market, and they faded away. My dad told me stories about those '57-'59 Mopars and their rust issues. One rumor was they used cheap recycled steel from Japan. Just a rumor, right? 😉

[@gcfifthgear]

@@58fins Not quite. I have read the Firesweep and the post-58 Windsor were based on the Dodge Royal, but it could be just a matter of semantics. It is true that Dodge (reaching upward) and Chrysler (reaching downward) squeezed DeSoto out of its markeplace. Not unilike what happened with Mercury, Edsel, Pontiac and Oldsmobile

[@58fins]

@@gcfifthgear I have owned two '58 Firesweeps, and a '58 Coronet, and the front fenders and hood are nearly identical. The main stampings are the same, then they have a small added on piece in the area where the bumper wraps around. This reduced costs, naturally. Also, the '57 and '58 Plymouth bodies were sold in Canada with the DeSoto or Dodge front clips. Enthusiasts affectionately call the Dodge version "Plodges" 😉

[@christopherrobins8963]

Best channel ever.

[@barneygilewitz1064]

Didn’t see any seatbelts present. I bought a low mileage 1957 Chrysler Windsor that didn’t have them. First thing I had installed.

[@AnthonyEvelyn]

I wonder how rust affected these forward look De Sotos? Chrysler started to cheap out on their build quality back in 57.

[@dennisleporte2327]

Not very well up here during NE winters lol

[@timbrown9731]

The typewriter in the background. ..awesomeness

[@z978ady]

They were doomed and didn't know what direction to go in, despite bean counting exercises. Weird gasoline grades back then. DeSotos would cough and sputter with around town driving, had to have overhauled carbs, and clean the jets to make them function. The push button had a bizarre park feature that would haunt some MoPar motorists, if the driver didn't release parking braket just right, it would burn out the transmission, and drive the owner over to GM. There also may have been a bad run or two of automatic transmissions at Chrysler before there were recalls.

[@oscarwalton1188]

Gm automatic transmission s of that Era were absolute junk

[@johnnieguitar5724]

Good info!! Rarely hear about 50s car problems

[@oscarwalton1188]

@@johnnieguitar5724 if you were buying a a car in the 50s the most reliable transmission s you could get were manuals big 3 or otherwise the most reliable and capable early automatic transmission Chrysler torkflites but they really didn't come into there own until the later 50s and 60s none of them early on were that great in fact most drag racers would convert there non Chrysler cars to torkflites.

[@tommywatterson5276]

Didn't find the late 50's desoto's tailfin cars nearly as nice looking as the 55 range. The 55 DeSoto was very nice looking body wise. No tailfins sticking way up.

[@tommywatterson5276]

Tailfins on this car looked like ski jumps off the backend. Lol.

[@spooky3120]

They were so great that DeSoto was history after 61.

[@georgewetzel4380]

The sad thing about Chrysler was it had great designs with terrible quality control. If you got one built with good quality it was DELIGHTFUL, but that was not as common as should have been.

[@danielstephens3805]

Your right, I think if they had kept on with Briggs building all Chrysler bodies for 2-3 more years it would have been really good. Briggs deserved the contract they made really good car bodies. Both companies would have benefited greatly.

[@dennisleporte2327]

Amazing styling and many innovative ideas. Workmanship not so good.

[@johnellis2347]

Great Design. 57 DeSoto is featured in museum of modern art. GM tried to put Chrysler out of business by arranging for steel to be sold to them by middle of 56 that was from the nuclear blasts in Japan which had all the carbon burned out of it causing it rust prematurely. They also arranged a UAW strike for Chrysler in 58 nearly bankrupting Chrysler. Fortunately the public recognized the superb engineering and style and with the new unibody in 60 and quality control in 59 and 60 they survived.

[@charles1964]

I read somewhere that the UAW tried to Sabotage the assembly line by "Forgetting" fasteners and window moldings and putting loose nuts and bolts in the rockers, etc. Which caused a lot of quality complaints from dealer pre-delivery costs

[@58fins]

Interesting that at 22:21 they mention the Buick Century, but the car pictured is a Special....

[@thomasdollard7971]

4 commercials before the video even starts?!

[@fairfaxcat1312]

The Confidential Report on the Desoto Firesweep is a dealer information presentation. The idea is to help the dealer sell the automobile. The automobile the dealer will be selling is the Desoto Firesweep automobile. Desoto is a mid-priced automobile division of the Chrysler motor company. The more of these Desoto Firesweep automobiles the dealer sells the more money he and the motor company will make.

[@DMBall]

Any Detroiter of that era remembers the yodeling radio ads "Get it at Leo-leo-leo-leo Aaaadlerrrr!" What they don't remember is the Desoto.

[@richardfranklin5405]

My dad had a new one 👍👍

[@loveisall5520]

Unfortunately, I think that this lowest priced De Soto simply cannibalized sales of the higher priced ones, the same way the Newport did in the early 60s with Chrysler. I don’t know what the solution to that problem would have been, though.

[@samiam9008]

friend had a 1956 Dodge when it rained it wouldn't start. He said if a dog pissed on his tire the car wouldn't start.

[@dennisleporte2327]

Some of those Chrysler product were HORRIBLE in the wet weather. Something to do with the distrubutor caps. Also They put shit Champion spark plugs in. Another brand of spark plugs could fix many of the issues.

[@yodoglover400]

My dad had Plymouths. I had Dodges. We never had any starting trouble. We kept ours tuned up and maintained religiously. We both could do that work.

[@fairfaxcat1312]

@@dennisleporte2327 The reason the sparkplugs were s___ is that someone went into the sparkplug factory and let loose with such a powerful fart that he crapped the sparkplugs, clogging them up with stink.

[@chrisbrown3925]

I get the impression that the Plymouth belvedere was the popular car in 57, even had a waiting list?

[@MisterMikeTexas]

I thought it would be the Plymouth Fury.

[@Richard_K1630]

Dad should have bought one of these instead of the POS '57 Chevy.

[@MisterMikeTexas]

57 Chevies lasted for decades. How many 57 Plymouths or DeSotos remained after 10 years?

[@T-41]

I wonder how much this model cannibalized Dodge and DeSoto Firedome sales.

[@BIGLOVE4TRUTH]

I still want a Fireflite.

[@killerontheloose80]

For the love of God will someone finally do a review of the 1962 through 1965 Dodge 880s and custom-880s thank you

[@Pisti846]

Firesweep, built by Dodge.

[@toddbob55]

Grandpa told me the build quality of those Chryslers were garbage..... Told me Ford and Chevy vehicles were better

[@kens.213]

Well, they all rusted, Chrysler products fastest of all.

[@dennisleporte2327]

I think 57' was the year grand dad gave up on his Firesweep and bought a Studebaker Roadhawk lol

[@yodoglover400]

It's too bad those cars rusted so soon. They were the best, sharpest cars ever.

[@wearegame777]

How do I contact you?

[@benpluta6187]

You sold me I would like one in red please!

[@stephenvelden295]

A lot of ventriloquists in this film!

[@edbarker8636]

And when you had the signal seek radio it used to constantly short out the ignition and leave you stranded

[@mikes2460]

stop hammering the commercials... cant even watch it..

[@pl5624]

A dodge with a desoto body...id go with it over the dodge styling.

[@95blahblahhaha]

This seems like a last ditch effort to push these things. This film screams 'we know these things aren't special and are basically just a dodge but we gotta get these things out of here' wasn't too long after this they discontinued DeSoto.

[@srercrcr]

"Workmanship is improved". WHAT????? 57 was the first year of horrible workmanship, the cars would rust before you drove off the lot!!! 😊

[@dennisleporte2327]

See above . My grandfather had one within a month the door handles fell off lol

[@srercrcr]

@@dennisleporte2327 Pretty sad....

[@clarkgriswold5903]

That's hilarious!

[@tede.kulhawik7614]

Those hideous beasts were eaten alive by Ramblers.

[@rhett2036]

ｐｒｏｍｏｓｍ 😻

[@P.Galore]

What an obnoxious annoying "film" - just a collection of stills with an annoying "bong" every slide change. A quarter of the way in this presentation not a word specifically about any features of this car.

[@samsharp8539]

My dad was a Chrysler engineer for the Plymouth Division in the 1950s. He would bring home slide projectors with the promo slides to let us see the new cars before model introduction. The tone was a signal for the presenter to manually activate the slide mechanism. The projector screens (as were the drive-in screens) back then were glass-bead covered for more definition of the slides.

[@redtra236]

This is for dealers so I guess they expect them to already know the features