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Making Light of the Lotus EliteThe Unique ‘50s Flair of the DeSoto Adventurer
This 1959 DeSoto Adventurer is among the finest and best-preserved examples from the pinnacle of the chrome and fins era.
DeSoto’s Grand Adventur(er)
When you think of great but now defunct carmakers, you may recall Pontiac, AMC, or Packard. It’s unlikely that DeSoto, once a thriving part of Chrysler’s brand portfolio, springs to mind. And yet, DeSoto has its share of memorable vehicles, especially the 1959 DeSoto Adventurer, a stunning example of which we’ve located on Carsforsale.com and will spotlight below.
Looking at the timeline of automotive history, it’s not too hard to identify watershed moments. 1908’s debut of the Ford Model T or perhaps as significantly, the Model T’s transition into full-on assembly line production in 1914, when more Model Ts were built than all other American cars combined. Or take the dawning of the muscle car era in 1963 and ‘64 with the twin arrivals of the Pontiac GTO and Ford Mustang. Less than a decade later, the combination of a revised Clean Air Act (1970) and a global Oil Crisis (1973) marked the transition away from thirsty V8s under every hood, leaded gas, and smog.
1959 is one such year. The 1950s chrome and fins stylings of Harley Earl of GM, Virgil Exner of Chrysler, and George Walker of Ford were reaching their zenith. The 1950s were a highly competitive time for Detroit’s Big Three automakers and each attempted to one-up the other with ever more elaborate designs. Grilles had grown larger and more ornate, fins more flamboyant, and taillights ever gaudier. The 1959 Cadillac, with its bullet taillights and 15-inch-tall fins, was perhaps the era’s most vibrant example but was by no means an outlier. The ’59 Ford Galaxie 500, the ’59 Chevy, ’59 Chrysler 300, and ’59 DeSoto took the era’s design mainstays to their logical extremes.
What Happened to DeSoto?
The DeSoto marque was created by Walter Chrysler in 1928 as a mid-market brand to compete with the likes of Pontiac and Studebaker (its name taken from the Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto). During the 1950s, DeSoto’s offerings centered on the 276 “FireDome” Hemi V8 with each car in the lineup boasting a “fire” based name, including the Firesweep, Fireflite, and Firedome models. In 1956, a DeSoto Fireflite was that year’s Indy 500 pace car, added to their top-end offerings with the introduction of the Adventurer, and hit a new record for sales.
Unfortunately, the fall from such heights was swift. The 1958 recession cut deeply into automotive sales with brands like Ford’s newly minted Edsel brand and Chrysler’s DeSoto struggling amid a saturated mid-level market. As sales for DeSoto plummeted, Chrysler looked to cut its losses and officially folded the brand in November of 1960.
The DeSoto Adventurer
The DeSoto Adventurer was first introduced in 1956 as a variant of the top-of-the-line Fireflite. The new two-door hardtop featured a 341 cu.-in. Hemi V8 making 320 horsepower and came equipped with top-end features like dual exhaust, power seats, power windows, and power brakes. A convertible option was added for 1957, as were large fins and a V8 bored out to 345 cu.-in. and making 345 horsepower. Additional cosmetic revisions for 1958 coincided with the advent of optional fuel injection and a new wedge head 361 cu.-in. V8. Despite perhaps being the finest Adventurer to date in 1958, sales began a steady and in hindsight inexorable decline for DeSoto.
The 1959 DeSoto Adventurer was given another restyling that gave it an even larger grille and chrome front bumper. A new engine was also in the offing, the 383 V8 was the Adventurer’s most potent yet, making 350 horsepower. Among the ’59 Adventurer’s signature features were new swivel-out front seats for easy ingress/egress and a ribbon-style speedometer that would change from green to red as miles per hour climbed. The 1960 model year would be the Adventurer’s final and saw the addition of a four-door hard top and sedan to the choice of body styles.
Museum Quality ’59 DeSoto Adventurer
The 1959 Desoto Adventurer we’re spotlighting today, finished in black with gold accenting, is an exceptional example of late ‘50s design. The car sports, in some fashion or another, nearly all of the era’s defining flourishes. The combination of the golden side spear and enormous rear fins provide the requisite “looks fast sitting still” aesthetic. Then there are the quad headlights and highly distinctive triple cylindrical taillights. Front and back carry colossal chrome bumpers which are then complimented by the smaller bits of chrome trim like the fin beveling, strakes on the trunk lid, the Jet Age-style side mirrors, and the gold and chrome-trimmed turbine wheels.
The interior similarly dazzles with its gold-flecked carpeting, an Adventurer styling motif going back to the original ’56 model, and the tri-toned color scheme. Note the swivel-out front seats, fully functional on both sides. The gold accenting even extends into the engine bay with the dual air-cleaners and head covers gleaming brightly. The 383 cu.-in. V8 is paired with a Torqueflite push-button automatic.
This 1959 Desoto Adventurer is one of as few as 602 built that year (numbers vary up to roughly 680, depending on your source). The odometer reads a scant 10,713 original miles and the restoration and current condition make this example among the best museum-quality DeSoto Adventurers you’re likely to ever encounter. It’s listed for $89,900.
