After the disastrous Airflow period, 1934-1936, the 1937 model range there was only one DeSoto series – the S-3. Conventionally styled by Chrysler Corp’s new Chief Designer, Ray Dietrich, the S-3 was powered by a new shorter-stroke ‘six’ displacing 228.1cu in (3.7 liters). An innovation was the advanced, ‘safety styled’ interior, which incorporated many ideas that would become standard features after the war including flush-mounted gauges, recessed instrument panel knobs and padded front seat back tops. Model year production reached 82,000 units and a DeSoto Convertible Sedan was used as an ‘Official Car’ at that year’s Indianapolis 500.
DeSoto’s 1938 range comprised no fewer than ten models on the standard 119” wheelbase chassis, plus a further three on the long-wheelbase 136” frame, each powered by the 228.1cu in ‘flat head’ six, producing 93 BHP. The major styling alterations were a magnificent new die-cast front grille and bullet-shaped headlamps now recessed into the fenders. Outwardly the S-5 could be also recognised from the chevron shaped little grille underneath the main vertical grille.Standard equipment included hydraulic brakes and independent front suspension, while a high-compression aluminum cylinder head was one of the options, which upped the power to 100 BHP
In 2006 we came across this unique, coachbuilt DeSoto Series 5, a four-door Convertible Sedan bodied by Tüscher of Zürich, almost certainly on the longer chassis as the body has a division between the driver and passenger compartments. How it came into being is not known, although a commission from an American executive or diplomat stationed in Switzerland seems the most likely explanation. It may however also have been a direct import as the Swiss government some time before WWII introduced a much lower import tax on cars, but with the caveat that a large part of the car would be fitted with Swiss produced parts, in this case the full body.
The car was offered at the 2006 Bonhams Auction at the Quail Lodge..
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