Curtis Perry Outtakes: 1951 DeSoto and 1966 Buick Electra
– Posted on March 31, 2020
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The Buick Electra, photographed at night, makes me think, unfortunately, of Jayne Mansfield headed on towards eternity.
https://www.prweb.com/releases/2017/05/prweb14317929.htm
Ouch, I didn’t realize Mansfield’s Buick still existed. It’s in poor taste to have it on display to satisfy morbid curiosity.
I prefer to remember better times:
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2014/11/story-behind-infamous-sophia-loren-jayne-mansfield-photo
I always wondered what happened to that car. I remember it on display at a little tourist trap “museum” in St. Augustine, FL just down the street from the entrance to the Fountain of Youth archaeological park (back in the Ninties, it went from flat out tourist trap to a serious historical site).
Getting ahead of things,I see rpol35..
in modern SUVs and CUVs you sit tall like you’re in that DeSoto
“suddenly it’s 1950”
In the mid 60s my parents had some friends with a white 66 Electra 225 four door, complete with a black vinyl roof. I thought these taillights all lit up at night were the coolest thing I had ever seen in 1966, and they still are.
I also loved the wall-to-wall tail lights of the 1960s. The 1966-68 Thunderbirds, 1966-67 Buick Electras, 1966-67 Dodge Chargers, 1970 Chrysler 300, etc.
My 1967 Thunderbird tail lights, very bright and cool at night with super bright LEDs! I still think that these lights are so cool!
My dad bought a ’52 Desoto (small hemi) in ’54 to replace his Jeep just b4 we moved from WI out to NJ for 3+ l o n g years…:( All the chrome on the Desoto developed “acne” while out in NJ. It was roomy, I’ll give it that! The car took us home again to WI, and soldiered on until one of the rear springs broke.
In the Winters there was NO feeling of heat in the back seat where I rode……cold. No seat belts, heat, or fade free brakes in that old tank; sure glad we were never in any accident in it. DFO
Great photos and amazing contrast in car shapes in just 15 model years! I suppose if cars had maintained the proportions of the DeSoto, we’d still be buying sedans and wagons instead of CUVs and SUVs.
Buick was the first with “wall-to-wall” taillights in 1965 (Electra and Skylark).
My Father had a 1948 Desoto convertible followed by a 1951 Dodge Wayfarer convertible. The Wayfarer was the cheapest Dodge and was shorter than the Coronet and had no side window behind the door. Until 1950 or so, the Wayfarer did not have rollup windows, just side curtains.
In January 1956, my Father bought a 1955 Desoto Firedome 2 dr ht. Thee really different styles of automobile in just a few years.
I’m starting to warm up to post-war ‘49 Mopars. I think the Plymouth Suburban and Dodge Wayfarer would be fun to own, if they didn’t have so many safety short comings they would make nice daily drivers. I like how the De Soto is trying to look like a Buick, but it’s still ultra conservative.
I love the wall to wall taillights on some mid ‘60s Buicks and latter Buick Centurys.
If you think having Jayne Mansfield car on display is in bad taste, a realtor who lived behind my parent’s house bought Ed Gein’s property in an auction with the idea of creating a macabre tourist attraction. The townspeople of Plainsfield WI wisely burned Gein’s house to the ground. Gein was the inspiration for the movies Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Silence of the Lambs.
The DeSoto’s driver is showing the KT spirit! Makes me wonder if this was part of a parade or ‘Cruise’….
That Electra is stunning
I can’t find an attribution for the styling of the 1949-1952 Mopars, other than it is, uh, blamed on K.T. Keller’s conservative tastes. So, I’ll leave it at K.T. Keller was no Bill Mitchell.
I will never think of a GM C body as remotely stodgy again.
Great photos!