49 or 50 desoto diesel ?

[Guest will morris]

does anyone have any information about a desoto being a diesel ?

was it a true diesel or a converition

how many were produced and what years

any other information would be interesting also

[Dave@Moon]

Don Butler's book The Plymouth and DeSoto Story makes no mention of diesel drivetrains. However is does mention (with 3 photos) that medium-duty Dodge trucks were occasionally built with the DeSoto (and Fargo) nameplates for export. It's likely many of these were diesels.

[Guest RenegadeV8]

I'm not sure about years as early as 1950. But ca. mid 1960's plymouth taxi cabs were fitted with Perkins diesel engines. IIRC 4 cylinder diesels.

Note that prior to the very LATE 1950's, Diesel engines, at least in the US were extremely rare to nonexistant in ANYTHING except maybe miltitary applications. Most trains were still steam up thru 55.

[Guest RenegadeV8]

I believe it was Checker Cab Co. that orderd a fleet of Plymouths with the Perkins diesel ca 1964.

[Guest windjamer]

:DRenegade, not to highjack the post,but about 1946 or47 a new diesel locomotive was at the rail yard in my home town and the general public was allowed to tour it. I remember I was given an aluminom slip nut that I promply put on my finger as a ring. Later that night we made a trip to Gen. Hospital to have it cut off. It was not a good night.

[Rusty_OToole]

Around 1936 there was a lot of speculation that the diesel car was the coming thing. It was written about in the mechanics' magazines and elsewhere. Auburn built a few diesel powered cars in 1936 but the diesel never really got off the ground. It made slow headway in trucks tractors and railroad trains but not cars.

20 years later as described above, a few manufacturers used English Perkins diesels in taxicabs. We can add Studebaker and Checker to the list.

Then another 20 years and they had a brief vogue especially at GM, in response to the energy crisis.

[Guest Gary Hearn]

I saw my first Studebaker diesel taxi at a show in Harrisonburg, VA in 1974 or 1975. The same gentleman still owns it today. It is equipped with a Perkins diesel.

Studebaker also installed a Perkins in at least one Zip Van as there was one at Asa Hall's sale 4 years ago. They also offered diesel power in their 1-2 ton trucks in 1962-64. Here are a few pictures (note the trunk emblem is the same as on the trucks).

[Guest DeSoto Frank]

I have never seen any reference to Diesel-powered Chrysler products prior to the 1980's, the exception being Dodge trucks.

What could possibly exist might be a Diesel-engined Dodge or Fargo truck badged as "De Soto" for foreign export. This is purely speculation on my part.

Down in Cuba, and possibly in the former Soviet countries, where they've been keeping American cars going for decades, by any means possible, means that a lot of 1940's & '50s autos have been re-powered with whatever Soviet-made running gear happens to be available. There's a fair amount of Detroit running around courtesy of SKODA engines.

I was aware of Perkins Diesels in Stude trucks; had no idea they put them in Larks.

[Guest will morris]

I found a picture of a 51 desoto at alpar.com

the caption in the lower right says it is a hunter convert to perkins diesel

i will try to post a pic of it in the gallery

will

picitureof 51 desoto is in the photo gallery

it's black and white pic sorry

Edited January 11, 2010 by will morris (see edit history)

[Guest cben09]

Hi,,,Clessie Cummins put a 4 cyl boat diezel in a 1924 Packard, series 143 limo back in 1925,,,and later about 1936, enterd a car at Indy 500,,and didn't do bad at all,,Cheers Ben

[CarlLaFong]

I found a picture of a 51 desoto at alpar.com

the caption in the lower right says it is a hunter convert to perkins diesel

i will try to post a pic of it in the gallery

will

picitureof 51 desoto is in the photo gallery

it's black and white pic sorry

It seems that you've answered your own question. A Perkins Diesel is a true Diesel and if the car in question is a conversion done by Hunter Ltd., then it is safe to say that MoPar had little or nothing to do with it. The info on the Diesel MoPars is interesting, however. The correct link is Allpar has Dodge, Chrysler, Plymouth, and Jeep car, minivan, and truck information

[Guest Gary Hearn]

I was aware of Perkins Diesels in Stude trucks; had no idea they put them in Larks.

The diesels in Studebaker trucks were GM, the 3-53 in the 1 ton and the 4-53 in the 2 ton.

[Guest DeSoto Frank]

It seems that you've answered your own question. A Perkins Diesel is a true Diesel and if the car in question is a conversion done by Hunter Ltd., then it is safe to say that MoPar had little or nothing to do with it. The info on the Diesel MoPars is interesting, however. The correct link is Allpar has Dodge, Chrysler, Plymouth, and Jeep car, minivan, and truck information

Well I'll be .... it makes more sense that these were European export conversions.

Initially I was racking my brain, trying to figure out how one would convert a 250 cid "Spitfire" six to a Diesel...

These days folks like to complain about the "sluggish performance" of the flathead six and Fluid Drive with semi-auto... I'm sure these Diesels weren't barn-burners either.

Thanks for the All-Par link !

:cool:

[Guest DeSoto Frank]

The diesels in Studebaker trucks were GM, the 3-53 in the 1 ton and the 4-53 in the 2 ton.

Not surprising, given GM's early sucess with Diesels.

Stude also used Perkins in their big trucks; there's a guy up this way with a '57 Stude 2-ton with Perkins power.

[Seldenguy]

In the late '50s and early'60s there were several Jeeps with Perkins diesels retrofitted by a specialty company. These were purchased by the International Salt Co. for use in their underground salt mine. Which was located three miles from my home,and was the largest in the world. These jeeps were used for general transportation and a few of them had power takeoffs to operate Schramm air compressers.They also had exhaust scrubbers to filter out the noxious fumes?? Federal mining laws strictly prohibit gasoline underground. A few years ago the mine flooded and they are in the briny deep. ---Bob

[Guest adam_knox]

Windjamer, that story was hilarious! Coke almost came out of my nose!

[Rusty_OToole]

Well I'll be .... it makes more sense that these were European export conversions.

Initially I was racking my brain, trying to figure out how one would convert a 250 cid "Spitfire" six to a Diesel...

These days folks like to complain about the "sluggish performance" of the flathead six and Fluid Drive with semi-auto... I'm sure these Diesels weren't barn-burners either.

Thanks for the All-Par link !

:cool:

I had an 83 Mercedes 3 liter diesel sedan, the big one. In spite of its turbo it could not get out of its own way.

It had 125HP, weighed 3200 lbs and had an automatic transmission. I seriously believe a 51 DeSoto with the same weight and horsepower could take it, except possibly on top speed.

That would be some race. You could time it with a calendar lol.

[Larry Schramm]

The only slower experience in a diesel I believe is a 1982 vintage VW Vanagon/Westfalia camper. They had so little power that you could not even have air conditioning.

[Guest Gary Hearn]

Stude also used Perkins in their big trucks; there's a guy up this way with a '57 Stude 2-ton with Perkins power.

Studebaker never catalogued a Perkins diesel in their big trucks. However, in the 1957-58 time period they were experimenting with diesels. It is possible that a conversion was done for testing purposes. Chuck Naugle in Arizona has one of these trucks, but I do not know what powerplant is in it.

[BHWINCVAP]

There is a topic on these diesel mopars over on the forward look site

Viewing a thread - 1959 Plymouth with Perkins Diesel

Also more info and pictures can be found on the allpar site..

http://www.allpar.com/mopar/perkins.html

http://www.allpar.com/history/plymouth/1946-1959/diesels.html

Edited January 12, 2010 by BHWINCVAP (see edit history)

[Guest Hinckley]

Very interesting. Several years ago I was gathering research material for a book being written on Checker. I found an inner office memo from 1955 that noted the testing of Checker built taxis in four cities with International Harvester diesel engines.

[countrytravler]

A customer scored this car last week wanted to know if I be interested in buying it.

[padgett]

1934 Burlington Zephyr

[JACK M]

I was in Turkey in the nineties and clearly remember many large trucks with Desoto badging.

Also Skodas, they were small pick ups for the most part.

I may have to search for photos, I am sure I would have taken some. (pre digital)

[JACK M]

Sure enough, found a couple.

The red truck says Desoto below the grill.

 

 

 

Edited May 25, 2017 by JACK M (see edit history)

[oily rag]

Back in the late 70s I had a 55 DeSoto,

Some young kids at a local car show asked me what the engine was because they did not see any spark plugs or wires by the exhaust manifold. I told them it was the factory 250 HP diesel. 

[1939_Buick]

On 26/05/2017 at 3:43 AM, JACK M said:

Sure enough, found a couple.

The red truck says Desoto below the grill.

 

 

The Desoto brand lived on in Turkey

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Askam_(trucks)

 

The Perkins logo is well known. Used in many British vehicles

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Perkins_engines

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perkins_Engines

 

Quote

Perkins' 1.6 litre (99 cubic inch) P4C engine, producing 45 or 60 hp (45 kW), was popular in Europe and Israel for taxis and commercially driven cars during the 1950s and early 1960s; many cars, including American imports, were retrofitted with these engines for taxi use, with kits made by Hunter NV of Belgium. Perkins engines were also used as standard factory equipment in Jeeps and Dodge trucks in the United States in the 1960s. They also continued to be popular in European trucks from their original customer, Commer and other companies.^[7]

 

[countrytravler]

Cool pictures

[bobg1951chevy]

I'm betting good money the chances of finding a '50 Desoto diesel would be great in Cuba !

 

[Rusty_OToole]

For when a flathead six isn't slow enough.

[JACK M]

I was in Cuba recently.

Its a hoot standing at a crosswalk and the 57 Chevys and the 52 Buicks sound the same. Four cylinder diesel engines from Russia.

They are marine engines.

Not that there aren't any original engines down there, but over the years they get hard to find parts for as they don't allow any US parts to be sold there.

I was talking to a guy at the airport there and he said that many people travel back and forth for family visits. He said that they carry the oddest packages, like axles, cylinder heads, carburetors and many other hard parts that he didn't know what they were.