Monday, June 20, 2011

Detroit Loses Automotive Momenta with DeSoto Plant Demolition ...

The battle between car brands now is nothing like it was in the early 1900s. Back when major car manufacturers were introduced and struggling to make names for themselves, Detroit came to be known as the center hub for the creation of American cars. Recently, one of the many acclaimed manufacturer warehouses was torn down to make room for a new generation.

As the only American car assembly plant erected during the great depression, the DeSoto plant put in many good years for Chrysler.Even though the plant had not been occupied for numerous years and was already partially torn down, it stood as a reminder of a Chrysler that disappeared long ago. Thanks to Jalopnik for bringing us the news.

For those of you who don?t know, the Chrysler DeSoto made its debut in August of 1928 for the 1929 model year, four years after the Chrysler Corporation was born. In the late ?20s, General Motors introduced a range of cars based on ?step-up? features.

Walter P. Chrysler wanted to have a similar ?step-up? program, introducing a Plymouth at the base level and the DeSoto on a higher rung.? Introduced as the medium-priced car in the ?step-up? group of cars, the DeSoto was meant to compete with Oldsmobile, Buick and higher end independent companies such as Hudson and Studebaker.

In its first year, the DeSoto had sale numbers of 81,065. The DeSoto held the record for most sales on a new model car until the Ford Falcon was released in 1960. While there is much speculation that the DeSoto was released to drive the price down for the Dodge Brothers company that was being sold after the brothers died, the DeSoto was actually in the works before the Chrysler was made aware of the company?s sale.

The DeSoto was produced at the DeSoto Assembly Plant in Detroit, Michigan until December 30, 1960. The last car to come off the assembly line at the DeSoto plant was a ?61 Adventurer equipped with a 361cui V8 engine that produced 265hp. After the closure, DeSoto?s once antagonizing billboard, looming over the Ford Freeway (now the I-94), merely stood as a symbol of what used to be.

In May, the remains of the DeSoto plant were torn down. The now vacant lot lays in wait, for sale for $2,150,000. While Detroit will never be the car metropolis that it once was, it is nice to be able to look back and think of those times. Unfortunately, things change and these days, an assembly plant from the 1920s has very few uses, if any at all, for changing cities.

Source: http://www.rodauthority.com/news/detroit-loses-automotive-momenta-with-desoto-plant-demolition/

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