To compete in this important segment, Walter Chrysler would need something new and exciting. But Maxwell, with its diminished reputation for quality and style, was a car in decline. Big plans were in store for the new Plymouth. The Chrysler brand was viewed by many as the “car of the future.” Imperials were winning endurance races around the world. Chrysler took over a languishing Maxwell-Chalmers Company. This left the fast-growing lower-medium range to be covered by the old Maxwell line, a remnant of the days before Mr. A new car called the Plymouth was being readied to do battle with Chevrolet and Ford in the low-priced arena. The Chrysler and Imperial lines, with their growing reputation for performance and engineering excellence, had staked their claims in the medium and upper price ranges. Chrysler’s eponymously named corporation was just 4 years old and itching to expand. For his trouble, Hernando de Soto was credited with the discovery of North America’s greatest river.įrom the promise of riches, to lost in the swaps, and finally buried in the mud, it could be said that the man and the automobile named after him shared a similar tale.įour centuries after Hernando de Soto’s demise, Walter P. It did however open the way for the kingdom’s claim on the entire of America’s Gulf Coast. Back in Spain, his mission was deemed a failure. Somewhere in the bottom of the Big Muddy lay his remains. Almost three years after they had set out, the much decimated party reached the banks of the lower Mississippi River, where de Soto himself succumbed to the ravages of his journey. They battled hostile native warriors and the fevers of countless swaps. They found no cities, only savage lands inhabited by fierce peoples. Landing at Tampa Bay, Hernando and his army of 700 men made their way north to the Savanna River before pushing westward into the interior of the continent. De Soto’s objective was to find Native American civilizations with which to trade: Failing that, to pillage. Soon he was using his Incan gold to finance another expedition to the New World, this time to explore what is now the southeastern United States. Alas, gentility and ease did not suit Hernando. He returned home to Spain and the easy life of a rich nobleman. For the next 20 years, de Soto became fabulously wealthy plundering Central America, and later Peru, where he was a major force in the conquest of the Incan Empire. Hernando de Soto was a Spanish conquistador who first came to the New World in 1512. Chrysler picked up an American history encyclopedia in search of nomenclatural inspiration for a stylish new mid-priced car he would introduce later that year, the spirit of adventure associated with the name De Soto was irresistible. But in a time when Old Glory had barely received its 48th star, the name of the European who discovered the mighty Mississippi river sparked images of romantic exploration and adventure, two of the early automobile’s greatest selling points. Viewed through the lens today’s society, we can’t even imagine a brand of any kind named after a brutal colonial conqueror. After that, the marque is mostly remembered in B&W images of 1940s taxicabs from old movies on the late show. Such was DeSoto’s lot in life a middle child forever fighting for its rightful place within the Chrysler family of cars. We know the stunning 1957 Adventurer, of course, with its graceful soaring lines and mighty Hemi engine, representing arguably the apex of 1950s American automotive design. DeSoto’s anonymity is especially true for those of us born after 1960, the marque’s final year. But to the average car buff, the name is but a blip on the screen of automobile awareness. Ask any DeSoto devote’ about their beloved brand and they will rattle off half a dozen delightful models. Throughout its 33-year history, DeSoto struggled for recognition. Through a series of events, DeSoto was also wedged, sometimes awkwardly, alongside a newly acquired and well-established Dodge. Conceived to do battle in the fast growing mid-priced range, DeSoto‘s position in the price/prestige strata was between the budget-minded Plymouth and the luxurious Chrysler. The DeSoto automobile was launched in 1928, a part of a new and rapidly expanding Chrysler Corporation.
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