1960 – National DeSoto Club, Inc.

1960

Nothing Says Quality Like The '60 DeSoto

This was the last full model year for DeSoto and the writing was on the wall by this time for the brand. Dropped from 1959 were the wagon and convertible bodies, as well as the Firesweep and Firedome models. The Fireflite and Adventurer names essentially took the place of the what were the Firedome and Fireflite trim levels in 1959, respectively. This meant that the Adventurer could now be ordered in any color and any body style with the standard engine being a 2 bbl, whereas previously the Adventurer held the prestige of being exclusively a 2 door hardtop or convertible with special paint and interior schemes (that usually involved gold), along with a dual 4 bbl motor as standard equipment.

Though the DeSoto brand was clearly on the way out, it did see a brand new design that incorporated the first year for unibody construction. 1960 also saw the return of an under-dash record player as a factory option, this time an RCA 45 rpm player in place of the Highway Hi Fi player offered in 1956 that spun at 16 2/3 rpm. A short-lived feature at the beginning of the model year was also an automatic swivel seat that swung out when the door was opened via cable. Before the year was out, this would go back to a regular seat release like they had in 1959.

The National DeSoto Club maintains a registry for all known 1960 DeSotos. If you have one and would like it added to the list, please contact Jim Marsh at thedesotoman@yahoo.com.

Fireflite engines: 361 c.i. (Turboflash) standard, 383 4 bbl optional

Adventurer engines: 383 c.i. 2 bbl standard, 383 4 bbl (Mark I) and 383 dual 4 bbl (Ram Charged) optional

Wheelbase: 122 inches

For the 1960 model year, Chrysler continued the use of a four unit prefix made up of year/make/series/plant of manufacture, followed by a 6-digit number starting at 100001 for each make/series/plant combination.