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After my aunt passed my siblings and cousins sorted through her many slides of photographs and amongst them I found this one.
It would have been the summer of '71, and in the background, you can see the '56 DeSoto Sportsman that is the 1st family car I can remember, and my memories also include sleeping on the package tray under the rear window on overnight trips.
According to my Dad, '71 was the year the car was retired, and it sat there for several years until we moved it into the barn with the idea that maybe it could become my 1st car when I got my license in about '78 or so. Of course in retrospect, it was no doubt a highly restorable car, but sadly went to scrap in '84.
Although the car never saw the road again, it was also the car that planted the seed for me to be interested in restoring old cars as a career choice.
It's supposed to be fun!
1949 De Soto Custom Convertible (project)
Tim,
What a great photo, for so many reasons. Who are those joining you making the pilgrimage to the DeSoto?
Mark
Tim,
So was it a Fireflite Sportsman? Or a Firedome Sportsman? I tried to enlarge the photo so that I could get a better look at the headlight bezels to see if they were body color (Fireflite) or chrome (Firedome), but I didn't have much luck. Just wondering.
Bill
It's a Fireflite. Sure wish we had saved that car. I think a salvage yard guy bought it for $35 at the auction my parents held when they moved from PA to FL.
Posing along with me trying to look as if we're walking while my aunt snaps the shot are my two sisters.
It's supposed to be fun!
1949 De Soto Custom Convertible (project)
This is a great story. We had a 65 datsun growing up which isn't nearly as cool.
Tim,
You should write up a small article about this and submit it along with the photo to the club's editors for them to put into a future issue of the club's magazine. I'm sure that they are always looking for articles, especially ones that can be used to fill in the rest of a page.
Bill
I can do that...!
It's supposed to be fun!
1949 De Soto Custom Convertible (project)
