When the DeSoto rolled out with bold new Forward Look styling for 1957, the ad writers were fired up enough to call it “the most exciting new car in the world today.”
1957 DeSoto fiberglass studio model under construction
When Virgil Exner’s new Forward look cars for all five Chrysler divisions for 1957 were introduced to the public in the final days of October in 1956, they were a remarkable departure in auto styling. So much of a departure, in fact, that many people today assume the Forward Look began in 1957 rather than in 1955, when Exner’s new design language actually made its debut.
Fireflite Explorer 9-Passenger Station Wagon
While all five Chrysler divisions shared the same general design theme in ’57 (and Chrysler and senior DeSoto shared the same greenhouse and body shell) each brand was given its own distinct identity. The DeSoto’s new look was as flamboyant as any in the Chrysler camp, with a stacked six-lamp rear end treatment the division called “signal tower.” Here the tail, turn/brake, and backup lamps illuminated separately, creating a semaphore effect. Stylists at Chrysler and elsewhere called the setup the “Christmas tree.”
Adventurer Convertible
As the Motor City was navigating the transition to quad headlamps in ’57, some DeSotos have two headlamps while others have four. (The fenders were designed to accommodate either one.) It’s a complicated matter, but according to the National Desoto Club, when the Adventurer was introduced in January of 1957 they were all equipped with quad lamps, and they were phased into production from that point on the Firedome and Fireflight models as well. The junior Firesweep models stuck with two headlamps for the duration of the ’57 production run.
New for ’57, the Firesweep represented a significant expansion of the DeSoto product line. (See our feature on the Firesweep here.) While the Firedome, Fireflite, and Adventurer shared Chrysler’s 126-in wheelbase platform, the Firesweep was based on the smaller 122-in Dodge package. Additionally, the senior DeSotos were powered by Fire Dome hemi V8s, with the high-performance Adventurer treated to a 345 cubic-inch version with 345 hp, or one hp per cubic inch. However, the Firesweep was limited to a Dodge-sourced 325 CID poly-head V8.
Fireflite Sportsman Hardtop Sedan at The Henry Ford
Thanks to the reduced content, the Firesweep was priced around $200 less than the Firedome and nearly $800 less than the Fireflite. That was an attractive proposition for DeSoto shoppers, since the Fireflite shared the same styling and most of the features. But with its lower profit margins and reduced revenue, it wasn’t much of a bargain for the DeSoto division or the parent corporation—not that the Firesweep was entirely to blame for the brand’s fading fortunes.
In a good year, DeSoto volume traditionally ran somewhere near the 100,000 mark, and ’57 was better than most at 117,000 cars. However, the lower-priced Firesweep took a third of the total, robbing sales of the senior DeSoto and siphoning off Dodge buyers as well. In the following year DeSoto sales fell 50 percent, and another 50 percent in 1960. Barely 3,000 DeSotos were produced for 1961, and the division was officially cancelled on November 30, 1960.
Before NHTSA and that mean ol’ FMVSS existed, automotive lighting standards in the United States were regulated entirely at the individual state level, with some technical guidance coming from SAE. There was no federal agency oversight of vehicle lighting until FMVSS mandates for 1968.
Plop-plop-fizz-fizz quad headlamps were not legal everywhere in 1957. Some states like South Dakota, Nebraska, Tennessee and Oklahoma were late holdouts. In 1957, Chrysler offered both dual and quad configurations, but most manufacturers built to the strictest states’ rules to ensure nationwide legality.
Old JC Whitney catalogs list quad light conversion kits for ’57 Fords and Chevrolets. These kits pushed the quads out and down a bit for that untra-modern ’58 Packardbaker cross-eyed styling. $26.95 primed, 33.95 chromed C.O.D.+ shipping in 1957 money, that’s roughly $300.00-$375.00 in 2026 dollars…
By the time the 1957 quad headlight frenzy hit, JC Whitney was uniquely positioned to capitalize on it. Their entire business model relied on selling the “dream” of the latest automotive luxury gimmicks to the everyday driver. Whenever Detroit introduced a high-end styling element, Whitney immediately manufactured a cheap aftermarket clone so people driving older cars could mimic the look- Continental Kits to give a cheap Ford the silhouette of a Lincoln, fake hood ornaments- Cadillac Eldorado- chrome flying lady wings meant to be bolted onto a Plymouth, and whitewall tire paint- a cheap compound brushed onto blackwalls to impress the ladies. They also offered bolt‑on tailfins, clip‑on fender skirts, stainless steel fin extensions, rocket‑style fin caps, fender spears, lowering blocks and dual fin anntenna toppers too.
The JC Whitney company started in 1915 on the South Side of Chicago by Israel Warshawsky. It began as The Warshawsky Company, a scrap metal salvage yard. Israel’s son, Roy Warshawsky, joined the business and had the idea to expand nationwide via mail order. He placed a $60 ad in Popular Mechanics in 1934, offering a giant parts catalog for 25 cents. The response was massive and the rest is history.
JC Whitney was a large part of my teen years. Seemed like a new catalog arrived every month. I look through it and see what was possible. It was especially valuable to Model T, Jeep, and Volkswagen owners. Everyone of a certain age remembers it as the Sears catalog for cars.
The only thing I remember buying was a wood dash kit for my Beetle to copy those seen on thrilling British roadsters. It was junk and I was very disappointed but installed it anyway. You could tell that most of this stuff was junk from looking at the crude drawings but it was the cheapest way to fulfill your dreams.
The middle child in any family often gets the hand-me-downs from its older siblings while–all too often–wanting the special treatment given its younger brothers and sisters. The first ’57 DeSotos were on the Chrysler platform, but the Firesweep was introduced to give low-priced buyers a car “priced just above the lowest.” The Firesweep was a Dodge Royal with a few DeSoto goodies added on (sort of a hand-me-up in this case). While it added a few sales to the DeSoto tally, all four DeSoto series suffered from the usual first-year teething problems as well as poor build quality (leaks, premature rusting, etc.). Couple that with the flash recession of 1957-58 and the import car invasion at the same time, and it’s no surprise that “the most exciting car in the world today” fizzled after 1957. Not even Groucho Marx could save DeSoto after that!