From: Self
I remember well, grandpa's 1953 Desoto. It was the first car I was allowed
to drive and then only in the early morning hours, on that long trip to some
remote location with a wonderful and new trout stream.
His '53 had that great speedometer that changed colors, green in town and under 35 mph,
changing to orange as the speed limit was approched, then turning to red on those
long stretches of highway where, when no one else was about, you could open her up,
I liked red.
My father followed in his footsteps, until 1955 when he bought a 4 dr
Belvedere, V8, 3sp OD, (it would do 105mph in 2nd over) and gave me
my first car, a 37 Desoto 4dr. I literally drove the wheels of this
car.
The first car I bought was a '33 Ply coupe for $50 w/o engine. I
started with a '41 Chrysler, 241ci, 2bbl Stromberg, dual exhaust and
began racing at the various tracks in my area. As the racing fever
set in, the engine grew to 254ci then 264ci and sprouted a 3x1 bbl
manifold, dual coil ign, 12lb flywheel and hyd clutch to handle the
12 spring pressure plate. But I digress.
In '57 I bought my first and "only", off the showroom floor, NEW car,
a Belevedere 2dr ht, V8 3sp auto and found the joy of "pushbuttons".
After the new wore off I installed a 318 crank and started racing
again. The 318 became 334, (3.91 +.100) and it too began sprouting
carburators. The '57 became history when "it" failed to negotiate a
30mph, 90 deg. turn, @ 70mph. :-((
The 334ci was transplanted into a '58 Fury and racing continued, but
the heaver Fury needed more umph. I discovered B engines, first a
350, but it was too small, 361, 383 followed, still not enough and then the
413 was released, just right I thought. Oh oh, this sounds more like
a history lesson, so I'll stop here. I think I'll expand on this and
post it on my home page as, "My life with Mopars" or some such title.
To: Mopar Maniacs Lair
Subject: What got me started
Send reply to: rhuish@goldrush.com
Date sent: Wed, 13 Nov 1996 18:59:41 -0800
What got me started
My grandfather was a traveling saleman and liking his "creature
comforts", but being some what frugel, insisted on driving a Desoto
in lue of the higher priced Chrysler. He insisted the Desoto rode as well
as the Chrysler, cost less and was just as reliable as the bigger car, which
he always asserted "Was the best d..mn car on the highway".
Copyright 1996 by Robert Huish