| DeSoto Automobile Brand Info
DeSoto was named after the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto. DeSoto was founded by Walter P. Chrysler on August 4, 1928, and introduced for the 1929 model year. Chrysler wanted a mid-price class line to compete with rivals General Motors, Studebaker and Willys-Knight. Chrysler soon after completed its purchase of the Dodge Brothers, giving the company two mid-priced makes, DeSoto being the lower priced. DeSoto kept pace with Dodge, even during economic hardship, until 1933 when Chrysler modernized the DeSoto margue and elevated its price in order to sell more Dodges. The streamlined 1934 Airflow bodies on the shorter DeSoto wheelbase was a disaster and DeSoto was hobbled by the Airflow design until the 1935 Airstream arrived. Until 1953, DeSoto used Deluxe and Custom as its model designations. The 1958 recession hit DeSoto sales particularly hard, and they failed to recover in 1959 and 1960. DeSoto's final model year was 1961 made in November of 1960 and these cars lacked any model name, simply being marketed under the DeSoto brand.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeSoto_(automobile)
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