For all you MOPAR fans out there this is a great article by Auto Enthusiast. I’m not going to repeat it all here. Grab the link at the bottom of this post.
Mopar is a commonly used word in today’s motorsports and high-performance car scenes, but the origins of the term Mopar had absolutely nothing to do with high horsepower or checkered flags.
Chrysler was a young and growing company in the 1920s. It had bought out the Dodge car company in 1928 and the need for a dedicated parts supplier led to the formation of the Chrysler Motor Parts Division.
As the company continued to grow, Motor Parts Division featured a simple logo with the letters C, D, D and P (Chrysler, Dodge, De Soto and Plymouth) from the years 1933 to 1937.
Nelson L. Farley, a sales promotion manager, decided there had to be a better way of promoting the replacement parts. An “Activities Council” was created. Company records show the results of the Activities Council came to light in the spring of 1937. The group came up with “MoPar,” (a simple contraction of the words MOtor and PARts). The first order of business was coming up with a logo to put the name on cans of antifreeze.
The first MoPar logo was oval and used yellow and red. The new logo and the new name were a big move forward in communicating to the customers. If you needed something for a Chrysler product and got it from the garage that sells the vehicles, it came marked as a MoPar item.
The original brand and trademark logo remained the same from 1937 to 1947. It was slightly changed in 1948. The second logo did not change for six years. MoPar parts were still factory replacement items, nothing more and nothing less.
We are going to start of with a well-meant attempt by Chrysler to meet the oil crises from 1973 to 1980. Introducing the Cricket!!!!
1973 Cricket
This car was actually a US spec’ed Hillman Avenger.
It featured the Avenger’s 1.6 liter pushrod engine. This car’s top speed was 84 mph and took a merely 19.8 seconds to get to 60 mph (I bet you were thinking 100 mph!!).
The car was horrible slow and because it was detuned for as part of the US requirements it ran poorly.
It is 1922 and the car industry is moving right along. Small start-up car companies pop up here and there in the 1920’s.
Here is how they stacked up for 1922.
Top spot was Ford producing 1,147,028 cars.
Dodge was a very distant second with 152,653 car rolling off their assembly line.
Chevrolet ran in third place with 138,932 cars made.
And finish up the list were Buick with 123,152; Studebaker with 105,005; Williys-Overland with 95,410; Durant with 55,300 and finally Maxwell/Chalmers 44,811.
Total passenger cars produced were 2,274,185 with 269,991 truck being made.
Rickenbacker was a new upstart beginning production in 1922.
Durant produce a car priced at $319 . Ford reduced prices to $298.
Balloon tires were introduced.
Hey fuel gauges began being installed in dash in 1922.
1922 Durant Star - An attempt to undercut Ford's prices
One of my readers sent me the video below. It’s the second in a series of 3 of a California K-Car club, headed out for car-a-van. Now generally the Chrysler K-Car was and is a but of many jokes. It wasn’t their best plan but these cars have a following.
I’ve gone on similar runs with my Vette and Mustang, same amount of planning, etc, ( we just get there a ‘bit’ faster – :^P). This video show that it’s true…It doesn’t matter what you drive…if you love it. 425px;margin:0 auto;”> [vodpod id=Video.15330551&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26]
Folks seem to like this segment so let’s continue with 1950.
19 major car makers existed back then and Chevy topped the production totals with 1,498,590 units followed closely by Ford with 1, 208,912. The rest of the field were all less than have that.
From Michael Woodword – hey, I just got a 1993 thunderbird with a 5.0 HO. every time I come to a stop, the oil pressure drops dramatically. I was wanting to know if you would have any idea what could cause this. Thank You
But when I get back up to speed its fine.
It would be nice to get an opinion from an expert which ar
nt easy to find
ANSWER: Michael. The pressure should drop when you stop, dramatic swings in the gauge could be a problem with the gauge or you need replace your oil sending unit.
For the Mustang the studs pass through the track and the nuts are under the car so a little space is need. Since most average guy’s don’t have a lift in their home garage, so I pull out the trusty 2 ton floor jack and a jack stand.
As most Mustang owners know, they were built with subframes. When jacking up the car with a floor jack place it on the frame, or use the standard scissor jack that attached to the seam at the rocker panel. Either way once it’s in the air, DO NOT FORGET to put the jack stand under the car. Yes it actually takes longer to do the set up then to remove the bolts…but take the time to be save.
2 Ton Floor Jack
Floor pan plug that protect the bolts and studs.
These plugs pry out very easily. I was able to get them out with just my fingers. Once they are removed you’ll have access to the nut. The distance between the opening and the nut requires an extension and the length of the stud requires a deep socket. These were 1/2″. The Mustang was raised in Arizona (get it? First reader to drop a comment explaining “get it” wins a DVD.) and all the plugs are in place. This kept all the road grime and what not off the studs and nuts, they separated easily.
When you are done you should have this many parts.
When I purchased the Mustang I was told that the upholstery was replaced at some point. (Keep that in mind for later as well.)
As you can see in the video I wasn’t able to get the seat out of the car. I initially I figured it was because I couldn’t pull out level enough for the studs to clear the holes due to the fact that I was holding the camera. However, after putting it down I still shouldn’t get the seat out. So I climbed back under the car and found that there was a second nut on the right rear stud. I’m guess it was doubled up, when the last installer wasn’t sure whether they already but one on? And of course you can see by the previous picture that those two nuts not the same as the others.
Part III will be coming up in a day or so.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
This one was in the parking lot of the a local auto parts store Checker’s or O’Rielly’s….or….all those mergers are making hard to have common name that everyone can related too (remember when there was just NAPA….can’t find them very often).
1969 Chevelle 454 Restored shell
This 1969 Chevelle was merely as shell…oh but is extremely well done restoration. The paint was excellent (makes ya wonder why it was being dragged round uncovered), the inside of the shell had been as expertly sprayed as the exterior..it was almost a shame to put in the interior in there.
Reproduction gauges and not much in the way of interior yet.
The badge on the car shows that this car housed or will house 454. But however, the 454 didn’t show up on the scene until until 1970 so this must be a retro fit.
You can see the big power plant is missing.
It looks absolutely ready to for dropping that monster engine back in and hitting the strip. Hey I don’t even mind the wheels!!!
Didn’t find the owner (or driver) , part store was crowded.
Of course this isn’t a 1970, I’ll update the data a bit later.
Some 1970 Chevelle facts:
– The 454 was produced between 1970 thru 1976.
– It produced 450 hp configured with 4bbl carb
– It was designated the LS6 with 475 ftlbs of torque and 9.0:1 compression ratio
The majority of the Chevelle’s (approx. 13,000) had V8 in 1970 and approx. 10,000 had 6 cylinders.
The last tangible evidence of one of Detroit’s iconic brands was rapidly disappearing this week as demolition contractors tore down the last of the DeSoto plant, 50 years after Chrysler Corporation discontinued the car line.
Moreover, the Albert-Kahn-designed DeSoto plant on Wyoming Avenue between McGraw Avenue and Ford Road at the western border of Detroit, was the only automobile assembly plant erected in America during the Great Depression. Chrysler also built a truck plant in the period—but that was it for new auto assembly plants during those tough years.
Until its demise, the DeSoto plant’s huge billboard stood as a nagging competitive symbol above the Ford Freeway (later I-94) that Ford and especially Mercury executives could not help seeing as they headed back and forth from their nearby Dearborn offices to downtown Detroit or their eastside homes.
DeSoto was conceived by Walter P. Chrysler a couple of years after the 1924 introduction of the Chrysler brand, a modernized Maxwell. Walter P, a former Buick executive, had observed the success of Alfred P. Sloan’s reborn General Motors with its array of medium-priced cars based on “step-up” features. So he set out to add to the new Chrysler Corporation a low-priced Plymouth to compete with Ford and Chevrolet and a medium-priced DeSoto, matched against Oldsmobile, Buick and the host of successful independents headed by Hudson, Nash, Studebaker and, well, Dodge.
An early rendering of the sprawling DeSoto plant.
DeSoto would be just a cut below the Chrysler, which already was adding larger engines and other features. In the meantime, New York and Boston bankers were trying to find a buyer for the Dodge Brothers company–acquired from the estate after death of the brothers in 1920–which had a line of cars and light trucks.
Some historians have argued that Chrysler announced the DeSoto to drive down the bankers’ price and willingness to deal for Dodge Brothers. But eminent academic historian Dr. Charles K. Hyde points out in his 2003 “Riding the Roller Coaster” that DeSoto was already in the works before the bankers appeared in Walter P’s crystal ball.
In any event, in the 12 months after the 1929 DeSoto was put on sale in early August 1928, its sales of 81,065 were the greatest for any new model until the 1960 Ford Falcon came along, even better than the 1938-39 first year of Mercury.
DeSoto almost bit the dust in 1934 when it was saddled with Chrysler’s advanced but unpopular Airflow design. Conventional Airstream models, rushed into production, saved both brands.
And in 1936, DeSoto essentially became “America’s taxicab” for a decade and a half with a mammoth sale of Skyline (opening roof) models for New York City. That no doubt helped finance the new plant, announced in 1936 and completed in 1938. Although all four (or five if you count the on-and-off Imperial) Chrysler Corp. cars could be ordered in long-wheelbase models that made roomy taxis, DeSoto was the notable cab for New York, Washington and Los Angeles until the early 1950s. (The independent Checker with its Chevrolet components “owned” the Chicago taxi fleet.)
All that remains of the DeSoto plant, which was designed by Albert Kahn, who also designed the vast Ford Rouge assembly complex.
After negotiating acquisition of Dodge in the summer of 1928, Walter P found himself with one too many medium-priced brands. His main objectives in Dodge were its truck line and manufacturing facilities at Dodge Main in Hamtramck, so the corporate line-up had to be rationalized. What resulted was three dealer networks: Chrysler-Plymouth, DeSoto-Plymouth and Dodge-Plymouth. This helped Plymouth compete handily with Ford and Chevy, and slotted DeSoto as a step-up from Dodge in the medium price field.
This stood Chrysler Corporation in good stead in the rush to supply pent-up demand for new cars after World War II.
I fondly remember my father’s shiny new 1948 gunmetal-grey DeSoto Custom four-door sedan with soft green interior trim. The listed price, not including such options as radio, heater, shiny wheel covers and white-sidewall tires, was $1,892. Also optional at $121 was the two-pedal “Fluid Drive with Tip Toe shift,” and it became the first automatic (well, really, semi-automatic) transmission car I drove.
You pushed the clutch pedal down to engage the transmission and after that, needed the clutch only to, say, go from reverse to forward or vice versa. Upshifting from “low” to “high” was accomplished by lifting your foot off the accelerator pedal briefly.
There was a push button starter button in the lower center of the instrument panel, next to the key slot for the ignition lock. Unlike manual transmission cars, this DeSoto (and Chryslers) had no “first” position; the “H” pattern instead was like an upside down lower-case “h.” In those days, all American passenger cars had column-mounted shifters.
However, as a high schooler, I soon discovered—or learned from my peers—that the DeSoto could be started in gear without pushing in the clutch, and that if you put the transmission lever in the bottom upper, or “second” position, it engaged a sort of extra low gear which provided startling (for the time) acceleration from a dead stop. Then you could upshift by lifting your foot briefly off the accelerator. Despite a modest 236.6-cid, 109-hp flathead Six, it flew, surprising many an ambitious amateur street drag-racer thinking he was facing off against a slush-o-matic Fluid Drive. This was all well and good for my reputation until the family doctor spotted me challenging a Terraplane and ratted me out to my father, ending in my clipped wings.
So I have a soft spot in my heart for DeSoto, though I never owned one.
The 1948 DeSoto owned by author Mike Davis’ father.
DeSoto’s best sales year was 1953, when new registrations totaled 122,342, or 2.13% of the US market. Ultimately it became another victim of the intense sales battle between Ford and General Motors in the mid 1950s. Buick 1955 sales actually edged out Plymouth for Number Three position. 1952’s DeSoto Firedome hemi V-8 and 1957’s Forward Look briefly boosted DeSoto fortunes but sales declined rapidly through 1958 (a slump year for the industry) and 1959 until DeSoto’s final 1960 tally of a mere 23,063 cars. Edsel had folded its short life in November 1959 right after its 1960 models went on sale.
Chrysler management had read the smoke signals and decided to pull the plug on DeSoto. This involved ending both the DeSoto-Plymouth and Dodge-Plymouth franchises, dualing Plymouth only with Chrysler, and reconstituting bottom series Dodges as low-priced competitors to Ford, Chevy and — Plymouth.
Over its 32 years in the marketplace, more than 2,000,000 DeSotos had been produced, a big number considering the modest size of the American auto market of the time. The last DeSoto built, on December 30, 1960, was a $3,100 1961 Adventurer two-door hardtop with 361-cid, 265-hp V8 and a 122-inch wheelbase.
But that was also the year the Big Three introduced their new compacts—Falcon, Corvair and Valiant, and the previously well-ordered domestic auto market was never the same again.
And now the newly cleared 29-acre one-time DeSoto plant site is on sale for a measly $2,150,000. Complete with rail siding and a view of I-94, once known as the Detroit Industrial Highway. Such a deal.
