1941 DeSoto S8 Deluxe--SOLD (New York) - $0
1941 DeSoto S8 Deluxe Sedan For Sale or Trade
Mechanically sound survivor--fun to drive. Finished in black with original chrome and trim. Features unique DeSoto features, including red glass taillights with embossed vertical "DeSoto" letters and Hernando DeSoto explorer head cloisonné trim piece on the trunk. Interior features beige striped broadcloth upholstery and door panels, with painted woodgrain dash and trim. Odometer shows just under 45000 miles. Starts easily, idles nicely and shifts and drives effortlessly. Powered by 3.7L 228cid L6 engine. Fuel efficient but still provides a peppy drive. While the car is radio delete, there is a period correct DeSoto vertical AM radio in the trunk. Bias ply wide white tires with maroon wheels. Suicide doors.
DeSoto launched its Rocket line of bodies for 1941, longer, wider, and with a lower belt line, returning to the alligator-style hood opening first used in ’37. The hood latch was released from inside the passenger compartment to foil battery thieves, as after DeSoto moved it from under the driver’s seat where it had resided since 1929.
Carrying the same styling motif of years past, the grille was made up of 14 curved, vertical bars on either side of the center body panel, only now the bars ran vertically rather than horizontal, setting a DeSoto styling trend that would last for the next 15 years. Three short, horizontal trim strips decorated the nose of the car. Running boards were now fully concealed on all models.
Coded the S8 Deluxe trim levels were offered for both regular and long-wheelbase vehicles. Deluxe models were fitted with the familiar 100-horsepower 228 six, achieved at a 6.5-to-1 compression ratio—Custom models now boasted 105 horses, reached by raising compression to 6.8 to 1. Wheelbase was decreased by an inch, to 121.5—long-wheelbase models continued to be built on the 139.5-inch wheelbase.
The word DeSoto was prominently stamped into each rear bumper bar. Two-tone paint could be had on any closed model at slight extra cost and running boards could be deleted as a no cost option.
Fluid Drive, now coupled with Simplimatic transmission, was continued. To prove how easy a DeSoto with Fluid Drive was to operate, two young ladies—Virginia Campbell and Joselyn Reynolds—were given a car to drive cross country. Recording 13,611 miles in five months, the two women claimed they had never once had to shift the car during the entire trip.
Calendar-year figures showed a slight increase in sales, to 85,980 units—not that much higher than 1940, but enough to push DeSoto into tenth place overall for the year.
