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I think one of the coolest features of the club’s web page is the Dealer roster. My ’59 came with no history other than it’s dealer emblem. And that said only “Thunderbird Motors, Desoto-Plymouth." Thanks to this roster, I was able to locate the first purchase in Prescott AZ. That might explain the Canyon Beige color scheme.
Things I'd like to know about the Dealer page:
What do the notations in the far right column indicate?
Why did so many of the dealerships involve the word “motor,” such as Motor CO. or Motors? Was there something about how the cars were sold prior to 1960?
Why is it that many are simply a person’s name, as opposed to the name with “Desoto-Plymouth” after it? Were these actual dealerships, with pennants and strings of lights, or the territories of local salesmen?
Thanks Ted
Let me see if I can answer your questions.
I started making the list using a notebook to write down dealership names from sales literature and eventually dealer listings and magazines back in the 80s. the column on the right is source codes. Basically where the information came from.
55 list is an actual 1955 listing of every active Direct Desoto dealership in the nation many of the others are from magazines like Desoto Report, Desoto Service selling, People and places etc. literature, matchbooks and lost of other sources.
The dealership your car came from was shown in the May 1957 issue of Desoto Report and it actually had a picture of the dealership. It is currently buried in my garage or i would send you a scan. In the article it also listed the names of some of the dealership employees. I used this information to actually contact one of the dealer employees. He had worked there for 6 months in 1957 and was amazed that I was not only able to track him down but also sent him a copy of the magazine article with a picture of him at the dealership that he did not know existed.
Why did so many names contain the word Motor? That was the product they were selling and with so many makes coming and going it would not have to be changed and would tell customers what to expect when they walked in the door.
Why just names not Desoto Plymouth?
Putting Desoto Plymouth would have been redundant on the list and only in a few rare cases dealerships only sold Desoto
Were these actual dealerships? You bet some big some small, some long term some short but all were dealers.
Feel free to add to the list if you research and find more information
Thanks for the info. That cleans most of it up. And thanks for all your work on the dealer roster.
