While DeSoto’s cars were all-new in 1941, the threat of global war was already signaling material shortages that would become a reality in 1942. One of the many models that DeSoto built before WW2 that consumed the assembly lines was the Business Coupe in Deluxe and Custom trim. These cars had a huge trunk and no back seat, ideal for traveling salesmen. The seller’s example from 1941 is in a scrap yard, and you can either buy the whole car for $3,500 OBO or bring your own tools and part it out. The sad machine is in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and is available here on craigslist.
DeSoto was a long-standing Chrysler brand, lasting from 1928 to 1961. Too much in-house competition led to the car’s demise just as the 1960s were opening up. But things looked different 20 years earlier when the seller’s Business Coupe was built. It was a 3-window vehicle that rode on a long wheelbase (121.5 inches) and employed a semi-automatic transmission with a 228 cubic inch inline-6 (105 hp!).
In 1941, DeSoto produced 6,482 Business Coupes, split between two-thirds Deluxe and one-third Custom. Since so much of the seller’s car has already been picked or is broken, we don’t know which applies here (and does it matter now?). We’re told it’s a one-owner car that somehow found its way to the junkyard after 85 years. The body is rough and incomplete, and the bench seat is long gone. Whether there’s any life left in the 6-banger is unknown.
The seller describes this vehicle as a great project car. But also says bring your own tools and remove whatever parts you need yourself. So, the seller likely doesn’t care what the final disposition is for this once noble DeSoto; other than that, all or part of it disappears. Thanks for the way-cool tip, T.J.!
I would have to try to make it run. If I couldn’t I would repower it.
Albuquerque,,nyah, what’s up doc? Oh, if only this car could talk. Carried a lot of pamphlets and racked up the miles. Traveling salesmen, or salesPERSON, or “hawkers”, had quite a reputation. Think Newton Monroe( Don Rickles) on Andy Griffith. Other than the milkman, I don’t think there were more stories. Being a 1941, got in just under the wire, and even during the war, sales in rural areas was still big, and since it appears to be a southern car, has hundreds of thousands of miles. The fact that this car didn’t become a Powell, is equally amazing. I suppose one could still make a wicked resto-mod, if anyone still does that.
I am hoping somebody sees this post and rescues the car – how many of these exist at this point? Where the car presently resides is “Skrappit Auto Salvage,” a brutally frank name for this type of business. Save this from the crusher, I can’t do it!
I agree with you Todd J. I can imagine how sharp this one looked when new. Its a nice color too. Hopefully someone will.
The appetite for starting a project with a car from this era in this condition is rapidly evaporating. Prices for many cars from the 1940’s and earlier, except for a few highly sought after makes and models are dropping, it takes a big commitment in time and money to see a project like this through to completion, those in a position to undertake such a project rarely have a working memory of these cars, they are at least one generation removed from when cars like this were relevant. It appears the seller would is setting this up as a parts car if no buyer materializes, it might not take long to he starts selling it off in pieces.
Even at $3,500 asking price, what will shipping cost, that is often left out of the equation when considering the true acquisition cost.
Steve R