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Nice article in the latest issue of Hemmings Classic Cars by Bill Noble about DeSotas. 
Maybe->
"One De Soto-Many DeSotas!" ??
Just sayin'
I received the mag today. Very nice article. I never knew their was a space between the letters. Good job Bill.
Paul
Can that be re-published in the Adventures? (With permission, of course...)
FYI - When the Buckeye DeSoto Club was formed in May of 1984 (which grew into the NDC), Greg Walters spelled the name without the space between the e and the S on purpose. He did this in hopes of not having to deal with Chrysler and their copyright on the name De Soto. No luck. We still have to acknowledge that the name DeSoto, however we spell it, is a Chrysler trademark. (But perhaps if we spelled it DeSota...??)
It's my understanding that this article will be in an upcoming issue of our club's magazine.
Bill
Looking forward to seeing the article as well, Bill! Thank you for your work to keep folks informed and interested in our beloved, old cars!
Most of the original Chrysler Corp. ads that I've seen regarding De Sotos, did leave that space between the De and the Soto, but I've also seen some that did not. No wonder folks got confused. 
And just to add to that confusion, most of the original badges/scripts that I've seen on these old cars show DeSoto written without the space. There's likely several exceptions to this though, such as the 1942 nose badge that does show a space between the De and the Soto.
Of course, good old Hernando's name was written with the space before and after the "de", back in the day. But I'm not sure just how much the manufacturers meant for his real name (and bad rep.) to relate to their name brand. BTW...just for the sake of interest: apparently he could write his name with the "de" capitalized or not, and each was seen as being "proper". In his day, the most likely use of the "de" was to indicate that he was a conquistador, perhaps of "noble" birth, and/or that he was of Spanish decent (not a Moore, nor of Jewish decent). I guess they worried about such stuff back then.
And...I found this interesting...I've also read that since the fifties, Spain has not allowed the use of "de" when it comes to naming children, unless it's needed to denote a first name from a last name in situations where the child is going to end up with a long name that is made up of several first names, and multiple surnames. Whaddyaknow?
Anyway, I write "DeSoto", just 'cause it's faster and it kind of matches the script on my car.
How about you guys? We should have a poll. LOL
Any way you write it, it is still a wonderful car to own!!!
Geez, do not know what happened. My 53 Firedome has Firedome in a few locations but DESOTO only across the face of the trunk in capital letters and equally spaced - no where else.
I need to see what the Owners manual has and the shop manual.
Hola Yo'll
Start with this:
http://www.lov2xlr8.no/broch1.html
http://www.lov2xlr8.no/desoto.html
http://www.lov2xlr8.no/brochures/mopar/53des/53des.html
Rodger & Gabby
Colo Spgs
FltSgt@outlook.com
funny thing, but on my 31 Desoto, all the hubcaps have is "DeS" on them. guess you are supposed to know the rest. This is after the Desoto was introduced just four years prior.
Why wouldn't one go back in history to see how Hernando's last name was written? All of the Spanish historical writings I have seen for many years would indicate it to be "DeSoto". What do you think?
Bill,
Nice article! A fellow AACA chapter member shared a copy of the article with me. With all I learned from the article I'll be better versed when showing folks the 392 "Hemmings" motor in my DeSota
Mark
