For such a seemingly unassuming sedan, this 1950 DeSoto Deluxe Carry-All has a sweet surprise hiding within its restored Andante Green candy shell. Yes, this car has been restored, it’s not a dusty barn find. My apologies for that but once you check out the photos, we’re hoping that you’ll like what you see. It can be found here on eBay in Morgantown, Pennsylvania by a familiar seller. The current bid price is just over $3,000 but it’s most likely less than 10% of the way there.
As I mentioned above, this beautiful DeSoto has been restored and it appears that it was a nut-and-bolt restoration by looking at the dozens of great photos that the seller has provided. The underside even looks great. The colored grille insert is a telltale sign of the new 1950 DeSoto. The Deluxe was reportedly trimmed as a top-of-the-line Custom when a customer ordered a Carry-All. A what?
We’ve seen Kaiser Travelers and the higher trim-level Kaiser Vagabonds and also Frazer Vagabonds, or at least some of you have heard of them. The DeSoto Carry-All was a similar offering and this would be the one to have. Although, I ran across the seller’s Hemmings listing and they’re asking $39,900 for this car, so don’t expect to grab it for anything under $30,000 at least, I would imagine. Someone spent a ton of money on this car to restore it to this condition.
It doesn’t appear that this car has the optional back-up lights, an option on the Deluxe, but it does appear to have the lighted hood ornament showing Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto leading the way. Here’s what’s hiding in the trunk!
The interior also shows as new, as the kids say. Passengers in the rear seat have really cool armrests, as opposed to front-seat passengers who don’t get armrests at all. That back seat folds down so a person can haul a good-sized load back there or sleep in the back. Very, very cool.
The whistle-clean engine is Chrysler’s 237 cubic-inch L-head six with around 110 hp. This one has been rebuilt less than 1,000 miles ago, according to the seller, who also mentions that the car has the Gyro-Matic semi-automatic 4-speed transmission. Have any of you seen a DeSoto Carry-All?
Mr. Cunningham? Your car is ready…..
Mr. C would love this. That wood is beautiful. Yep…I said it…BEAUTIFUL WOOD!
Dealer has it listed at $39,900….yikes
That’s a collector not a seller ! I can’t even read Hemmings dealer ads any more as the prices are just so out of wack…
Why would a buyer order this car to move merchandise instead of the car I have pictured? Wouldn’t a two door wagon be a better choice?
I think its the same reason today – security. On a wagon, anything you haul is visible to any potential thieves , or just nosy people. If you only need the large space for rare occasions, it makes more sense to have a fold down rear seat.
It’s a very nice car. First off. but No matter what. I can’t help but see a die cast model with opening doors, trunk and hood. Even after looking at the car on ebay it still looks like a die cast model.
Seeing the first 2 photo in the post, that was my thinking too! I’m looking at the car and is this for real or some diecast. Eyes are playing tricks on me.
Oh good. It’s not just me. ok : ) ‘Magine. 40 grand on a die cast model -¿©
Oh come on, just put a new pinion seal in the differential housing already!
I had a 38 Desoto that was just as nice and I got $15k five years ago. Good luck with that price….
My father bought a brand new Carryall in 1950 in that same color. The laydown back seat was where my brother and I slept while parents and sister slept in the small travel trailer we towed. The finish was nice on the hardwood trunk and seatback and chrome rails made it easy to slide parcels in or out. Great car, lasted for years. Lots of foot room, like a limousine.
Man you had me! The only thing I could think of that would make this car so valuable hiding in the trunk would have been toilet paper! Surprise on me.
I had one of these. Bought it in ’85 for $2500 and used it as a driver. The steering wheel was the power steering – it was so huge. Surprisingly it got great gas mileage on the highway. It had a dyna-glide transmission. It had 3 on a tree with a clutch pedal, but you could finesse the gas pedal just right so that it would shift itself. I miss that car.
A very pretty fix up of a rare bird. A DeSoto has always been on my bucket list, but not only could I not afford this one, but looking at the pics, I don’t think I want it. The brake lines to the rear have been spliced instead of replacing the whole line and the master cylinder is leaking at the front. The pinion seal is leaking, and if the engine has been rebuilt, why the rust in all the spark plug holes? Leaky radiator? Bad hoses? If I see correctly, this is the same transmission as the Chrysler Fluid O Matic. It’s a four speed manual, 2nd and 3rd gears have the same ratio, and it’s shifted by solenoids. It can be driven like an automatic because it had a fluid coupling as well as a standard clutch. Push on the gas and when you were ready to shift, let off the gas and it would momentarily turn off the engine while the trans shifted. But if things weren’t up to par, sometimes the juice to the engine didn’t come back…… lol And sometimes when you were going down a back road it would just quit. If you got out and shook the wires going to the trans around it might fire back up.
Yeah, it’s definitely a pretty car but you can see the spots where they either cut corners or just didn’t bother. Why go to the expense of a nut and bolt restoration and not bother with some of the nuts — leaky master, pinion seal, spliced brake lines (big expense, that one!).
Otherwise, the finishes look great, and I love the faux finish on the dash.
In the early ’70s I worked as head mechanic for a used car lot that had previously been a Desoto and Plymouth dealer. Still had a lot of NOS stock on the second floor. We had one client who had three or four mid- to late-50s Desotos and a ’64 Corvair convertible w/turbo. I had owned two Corvairs to that point and loved them but that turbo was a hoot to drive. And the owner, who went along on test drives, also encouraged whoever worked on the cars to “wring it out.” Gladly.
This DeSoto is the “one to have”? IMHO the Kaiser/Frazer Vagabonds were waaay more elegant and useful. The deck was hinges above the window allowing much more http://momentcar.com/kaiser/1949/kaiser-vagabond/
MikeH, I see your point. I meant “the one to have” if a person were looking for a DeSoto Carry-All because it’s so nice.
I thought it would make a great taxi but then again if you hauled drunks and they found the rear seat folded down you would never get them out.
Like many cars across the decades….not much to look at from the exterior but a beautiful interior.
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”…….I think it’s a good looking automobile man. Just saying.