1942 DeSoto DeLuxe Coupe

[plymouthcranbrook]

From Hemmings website. Beautiful car priced way beyond my means.  No cut for me if it sells.

 

https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/cars-for-sale/desoto/deluxe/2584021.html?itm_source=homepage&itm_medium=Classifieds&itm_campaign=Recirculation

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 21, 2022 by plymouthcranbrook (see edit history)

[Guest]

Yes, a real beauty!

[Guest]

Seller says in his listing that this was an original "black out" car so does that mean that all the chrome and bright trim on the car now would have been painted originally?

Just curious, I think the chrome looks terrific.

[m-mman]

37 minutes ago, GregLaR said:

Seller says in his listing that this was an original "black out" car so does that mean that all the chrome and bright trim on the car now would have been painted originally?

Uhhhhh. . . . .yeah. . . . . .The last production month for the 1942 model year was basically just to use up parts that were on hand so that they did not have to be disposed of. (wasted). Between Pearl Harbor (12/7/1941) and the end of January 1942 there was a lot of discussion about whether production of SOME TYPE of civilian car would continue during the war?   

Perhaps a single model and body style from a single manufacture? 

Perhaps a single model and body style from EACH manufacture? 

In any event, the use of all superfluous chrome was going to be forbidden. 

 

The War Production Board (WPB) and the Office of Price Administration (OPA) did not want to give a marketing/sales edge to any manufacture that had stocked up on chrome parts very early in the production year. (read GM) So they ruled that NO chrome (or stainless) TRIM was going to be allowed. (Note: Bumpers were always chromed) 

 

So, in the last weeks of production - Some makes used paint over bare diecast. Some used paint OVER previously chromed diecast.

Some used mild steel stampings that were painted. Some painted over previously produced stainless. (The few original blackout cars I have inspected sometimes have combinations of paint over chrome and paint over bare metal indicative of using up parts on hand) 

Again this was all with the idea that there would be a full 1942 (and 1943, 1944. . . ) model years. 

 

60+ days of scrambling, and quotas, and rulemaking, after Pearl Harbor and the bureaucrats decided to just pull the plug on everyone. Impounding and rationing all the new cars on hand. 

 

FYI - "Black out" cars were NOT ugly! The manufactures devised wonderful combinations of light body colors with contrasting dark (painted) trim and Dark body colors with light colored trim. High contrast and all beautifully coordinated.  Commonly with extra pinstriping.

 

However it seems that perhaps during a restoration it is easier to just chrome everything and then tell people that it WAS a rare blackout 1942, than it is to research and restore it authentically.   

 

Whitewalls on a 1942 always look out of place. 

The upholstery doesn't look correct to me, but I don't know Mopars

Edited May 21, 2022 by m-mman (see edit history)

[neil morse]

It seems to me that much of what the seller has to say is highly suspect.  Take, for example, the horrible interior on this $59K car.  He says it's made with "NOS fabric" that was still on the roll from the factory.  From a factory in the 60's maybe.  Check out the door panels, tufted with buttons covered with the same odd fabric.  I'm no DeSoto expert, but I have a very hard time believing that this is a correct interior.  And the interesting part is that the seller actually seems to pick his words very carefully -- he doesn't actually say that it's correct, only that it was stitched from "NOS" fabric on a roll from "the factory."  The black out part is also quite confusing, as noted above.  My BS meter is pretty much pegged from reading his copy!

 

(However, I have to say that the '42 Chrysler he's offering as part of a "package deal" looks very nice from the few photos he shares.)

[George Smolinski]

1 hour ago, neil morse said:

Take, for example, the horrible interior on this $59K car.

The only thing I noticed was the buttons on the seat bottom did not "blend" in with the material pattern on the seat, and the pattern on the buttons was cockeyed. Once noticed, it will bug you every time you see it.

[Guest]

Ugh!  I went back and looked at the seat buttons, now that's all I can see.

 

[B Jake Moran]

Total BS on the upholstery.  We all know 1940s cars had broadcloth- leather - etc. some combination thereof.  Not shiny  fabric.  
 

 

[Fossil]

You need a button eating chicken. No more problems. 

 

 

 

Edited May 22, 2022 by Fossil (see edit history)

[Guest]

BINGO!

[marty14]

nice, rare car with seats and door panels from hell  

 

and a 1942 Chrysler Business coupe in there too..........

Edited May 22, 2022 by marty14 (see edit history)

[John_S_in_Penna]

Are we REALLY sure that the seat fabric is wrong?

It doesn't look like the typical striped broadcloth,

but none of us knows 1942 DeSotos.

 

Nicola Bulgari has a '42 DeSoto sedan.  We could ask

him or some other knowledgeable owner.

[SparkEE]

There are online pictures of the solid cloth and two tone “sportsman” leather interiors offered in 1942 in the DeSoto Prestige brochure located here (for now):  https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/1942-desoto-custom-deluxe-large-3824624314

[plymouthcranbrook]

Here is another view of the interiors from a DeSoto brochure:

 

http://www.oldcarbrochures.com/static/NA/DeSoto/1942 DeSoto/1942 DeSoto Personalized Interiors Folder/image2.html

[B Jake Moran]

I still say the upholstery including door panels - is wrong.  

[suchan]

Door panels are definitely wrong.

I'm sure the owner believes the seat fabric is period, but it just looks wrong for prewar, and for the asking price, there should be documentation.

I'm liking that Chrysler in the photo. No cool hideaway lights, but the rest looks pretty good.

 

[58L-Y8]

Here are the 1942 DeSoto interior option pages from the prestige brochure.  This coupe's interior is not even close.

[John_S_in_Penna]

I tend to agree with you all.  And the onus is on the

seller to document that his car is correct.

 

Some carmakers, though, offered more than one

interior fabric.  This was especially true of luxury

marques, such as Cadillac and Lincoln.  In the case

of Cadillac in the 1970's, for example, the catalogues

didn't come close to showing all the interior possibilities.

[SparkEE]

I’ve never seen an original 1940’s Chrysler built car with an original door panel with the pattern pictured on the subject car.  I’ve seen many with patterns that match the brochure.

[The 55er]

If green 1942 Desotos would have had an unusual green striped interior like that, would blue 1942 Desotos have had blue striped seats or red 1942 DeSotos red striped seats? That would have been pretty wild for the early 40s and especially for a vehicle from rather conservative Chrysler Corporation. If there actually had been interiors like that available in 1942 collectors & afficionados would still be talking about them today just like they are still pointing out Chrysler's famous Highlander interiors. 

[5219]

The upholstery cloth looks kind of like the cloth on the 1961 Plymouth that just was posted here. It may be NOS Chrysler cloth, but a generation or two misapplied.