Some time ago, while I’ve been looking through a local classified advertisement website, an ad caught my eye immediately. The seller stated the car to be an Opel “built before 1960s”, but to me it seemed quite obvious – even with whatever little information I could extract from the ad – that actually a large prewar American car was for sale, and for a relatively reasonable price, considering the condition of the parts shown on the photos.
By that time, I’d been in a passive search for an affordable American classic car for quite some time, with a specific interest for something built before WWII, so it was only natural that the ad sparked my interest. Unfortunately, I was unable to properly contact the seller at the time, and later the course of events completely distracted me from this issue.
Recently, the same car resurfaced on the same website (strangely enough in “Off-road vehicles / SUVs” category, again as an Opel – it seems that the people who are selling it have no idea what it really is; which is not surprising considering that the seller specifically states that it lacks the serial number tag) – but with a new seller, new photos and a new price, which I no longer consider reasonable, so I’m not interested in purchasing it anymore (update: the second ad was rejected by the website’s moderators, no reasons specified).
However, I am nevertheless interested in identifying it, which I found myself shamefully at a loss to implement, even with all the help from Mr. Google. As you can see for yourselves, the car has been more than a little “Cubanized”, but I have no doubt that a person with an in-depth knowledge of American prewar car building – which I regrettably lack – will find that an easy task.
Having only the photos from the first ad to look at, I was almost sure that it was a GM product from the early 1940s, most likely a Pontiac. It was difficult to judge anyway, because only the windshield and part of the hood were clearly visible on those photos.
However, a closer look revealed that many small details just don’t fit this theory, and the photos from the latter ad debunked it completely. E.g., the shape of the hood is wrong for a Pontiac, and the hood side vents, clustered into three groups, while superficially similar to that of the ’40 Pontiac, still seem to be different. Four small horizontal slots right below the center of the hood also don’t seem to be present on any Pontiac model I could find a picture of.
The rear-end shape says “Chrysler product” to me, however the car overall does not fit any Plymouth or Dodge model from this era I recall. Knowing Chrysler’s history, probably that’s some relatively obscure export model built for Europe ? Just a theory…
Headlight and taillight seem to be not original, the taillights obviously coming from a late-1950s Moskvitch. The strange assortment of different wheel disks suggests that the car’s chassis also could be modified. Rear wheels arguably seem to still have the original hubcaps, but the design of the hubcap is not too specific to be used for identification.
I am going with 1940 DeSoto. Final answer.
The wipers that sweep to the middle screamed Mopar at me, and I think the details all work out to the 40 DeSoto, right down to those hood-side pieces that I had never noticed before. It looks like the headlights have been changed out, but otherwise fairly original.
Nice, I was going to go with 40 Dodge but it didn’t look quite right.
..
+1
It looks like some sort of Pontiac, at least the hood and grill are. 1940 Pontiac below.
I think the wipers rule out a GM car. This car lacks the chrome wiper mountings on the Pontiac and the wiper sweep is different, with the wipers resting towards the outside and sweeping towards the middle, which was Chrysler’s wiper system all through the split windshield era.
Interesting how the rear passenger’s side door has a fixed triangular window with a chrome divider strip, while the driver’s side doesn’t.
Also interesting is how much these cars relied on their distinctive headlight treatment for their identity. With plain round frames around the round headlights on this example, so much is lost.
Oh yes, those ornate headlight bezels really made the front styling of this car.
On the divider strip in the window – probably the window regulator broke down on the right side and had to be replaced, complete with the window itself.
’40 DeSoto front clip, but most of the body is ’41. The ’41 Dodge/DeSoto/Chrysler had a slight bustle, while the ’40s had a smooth back. This one is bustly.
There are other oddities. The vent window in the rear door isn’t standard, and the gas filler door on the rear fender is not standard. All Chrysler products had a plain unhidden filler. Despite that, the fender itself looks right and the filler door looks factory-made! The taillights are obviously MUCH newer, but again they seem to fit nicely. Was this a later version made by one of Chrysler’s Euro or Turkish branches?
It seems that I was so used to waterfall/toothed grilles on DeSotos of 1940s and 50s that did not even consider this as an option…
Gas filler door & door handles came from a Volga GAZ-24, and the taillights belong to a late 1950s Moskvitch, that much I can say without a doubt.
By the way, it seems to me that the ’40 DeSoto had the same tail-end shape as this car, with a bustle on the trunk lid
http://www.roadkillontheweb.com/binder/1940desoto.html
Or a Russian reverse-engineered copy? ZIM copied from a mix of mostly Chrysler engines and bodies, but I’ve never seen a DeSoto-ish ZIM. They look more Dodgy.
The engine that is currently installed in this car could pretty much be a ZIM engine, which in turn is indeed a reverse-engineered (and somewhat modified) Dodge flathead six. More likely a GAZ truck engine, though (they are very similar externally, but have different crankshafts and piston rods – symmetric rods on the ZIM engine, asymmetric on trucks).
The body, on the other side, is clearly American made; GAZ/ZIM never made any cars of this size with separate fenders, although I can see the styling similarities between the ZIM/GAZ-12 and Dodge limos of late 1940s – early 1950s as well. Still, this car is clearly pre-war (late 1930-s style grille, etc.).
Anybody already mentioned the door handles? They are push-button…look quite newer. You can always change those, but nervertheless…
Well spotted, those are Volga GAZ-24 door handles.
Guys, thank you all for the answers !
It really looks very much like a 1940 DeSoto (I always forget about this make)
I have to add that the car resurfaced again, now with an outrageously high price ($25000 anyone ?) and with new photos, too.
At least, now the engine bay is shown, and it has a flathead straight-six (Soviet-made I presume; GAZ flathead sixes were essentially clones of Dodge/DeSoto 211 or 217 c.i. (accounts differ) flathead, so no wonder)
Also the title is shown, and it says… surprise surprise… 1937 Opel Super 6 (!)
It seems someone got very clever with it.
There is still one problem with the “1940 DeSoto” theory. On all ’40 DeSotos I’ve found photos of, the lower edge of the hood is clearly curved where it meets the grille – on this photo the division line between the hood and the fender/grille is shown in red:
On this car, it seems to be straight… (red line on the photo)
Also, there is a clearly visible seam on the fender itself (blue), but it is possible that it was present from the factory, but originally filled with lead and therefore not visible.
On the other hand, it seems that the 1940 Plymouth had the same shape of the hood ! More to that, the seam is also present.
On the car from the ad, there is even a round hole on the side of hood, where the hood release handle would’ve been if it was a Plymouth hood… not present on the De Soto, which seems to have a lever-type hood release, not a rotating handle.
All in all, I still find the version that this is some Europe-only DeSoto model – a Plymouth body with DeSoto-like trim – probable.
Those big chrome panels indicate some fabrication of some kind, could this have been someone’s way of fixing collision damage? Those chrome panels are curious, are they there for security (to shield the latch from pry tools) or to cover a gap between pieces that didn’t quite fit?
I dont think the rest of the car is a Plymouth, because Plymouth kept the old body in 1940 while the other Divisions updated, and this is clearly the newer body. I’m now guessing that some Plymouth pieces were used as replacements. A real Mopar Mashup.
Further looks tell me that those are Plymouth fenders (double crease) and that the gap between the fender and the grille is much narrower than on a real DeSoto. My guess would be that this is a DeSoto grille on a 40 Plymouth doghouse that is on a DeSoto sedan. The main body is either DeSoto or Chrysler based on the way the pressed ridge bends down to meet the bright molding where it terminates at the back of the body.
Thanks for the insight. It only gets more interesting ! )
After all, considering that at some point it got married to a ’37 Opel title – no wonder that the car itself is a hodgepodge of various prewar MoPars…
Is this the same DrSoto? And does seeing a picture count as an example of the CC Effect? If yes, check out what I saw in the Museo Ciudad in Quito, Ecuador a few hours ago. And, a good reminder not to play futbol in the street. From a 1943 road safety booklet from the Quito city government.
This one looks like a 41 Studebaker to me.
“Cars all look the same nowadays” said the old-timer in 1942. “Not like when I was young, I could spot the difference between a REO and a Duryea from a block away”.