Today in Automotive History
1928 DeSoto Also Rises
Chrysler introduced the DeSoto as the corporation's new brand. The DeSoto Six was Chrysler's answer to the market demand for a car that fit between its large cars and its popular four-cylinder models.
Marketed in the moderate price class, the DeSoto offered features that no car within comparable price range had ever offered, such as improved insulation, a reinforced frame, and chrome alloy steel transmission gears. Introduced not long after Chrysler purchased Dodge, the DeSoto label sold 80,000 cars its first year, forcing Chrysler to increase its production facilities.
In the fall of 1936, after having moved between various Chrysler plants, DeSoto moved to a production facility of its own on the west side of Detroit. The new state-of-the-art facility became one of Detroit's showcases for automobile production and one of the city's most heavily visited tourist sites. The interest in the DeSoto plant was partially a response to the company's innovative 1934 release, the DeSoto Airflow.
The Airflow created a new standard for weight distribution in the automotive industry, reducing vibration to a frequency that, for the first time, was comfortable for passengers. Engineers moved the DeSoto's engine forward over the front axle and increased the gauge of the front springs. Moving the engine forward allowed the designers to move the back seat in front of the rear axle, thereby reducing the shock inflicted on passengers sitting there. The Airflow was also equipped with smaller wheels that used larger tires, and a unibody design that made the car safer and stronger.
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