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- Опубликовано: 1 окт 2024
- Chrysler Corporation’s “Flight Sweep” styling triggered panic attacks at GM and Ford in 1957. But is it true this massive finned behemoth was styled by the same guy behind the Volkswagen Karman-Ghia? You bet your Exner it was!
30 years ago, I just got my drivers license and while driving into town, noticed what looked like a '57 Chrysler at the end of a long row of cars behind a farmhouse. Being a lifelong Mopar kid, I built up the courage to knock the door to ask about the ol' gal in the field and was abruptly ran off of the place. 30 years of watching those cars in silent slumber as I drive by. Well, last summer there was a change, and the row of cars were being dragged out into the open field. There was Packard, Olds, Cadillac, and the one lone Mopar was a '57 Desoto Firedome. Long story short, I now own that car and took it on its maiden voyage within two weeks of bringing it home.
One of the greatest car ads of all time was the 3/4 rear view of a '57 DeSoto with the caption "This baby can flick it's tail at anything on the road" Congrats on getting a legend! 👍
Congrats and that's a great story!
Congratulations. I can only imagine the feeling of driving her after a 30 year wait.
Cool story !!!! Wish there were more like it. I have a few, but with different endings 😞
Only 30 years "good things come to those who are patient"
And we finally have an ending!
… weird hu,, twice a 1/2 way stop
And I thought it was just me🤷🏻♂️
@@anthonymeyer4475 me too lol.
I agree too! The last two where cut off!
"Cancelled!!!???????? Whadda ya mean cancelled.....?!!!!!!!! (Their loss).
Motortrend done fucked up. They've been doing that a lot lately. TV is dead anyway.
Steve never misses a trick. Saw this car in the background of the Olds ragtop video the other day and was hoping Steve would get to it and sure enough.... Steve never disappoints!
Love the Exner cars.
7:00 Those poly- spheric chambers looks roughly similar to BBC heads.
Did GM maybe get some inspiration from these?
A great profile of the '58 Windsor. These were beautiful cars. I certainly enjoy the addition of the Jo-Han promo model, brochures and magazine articles. Thank you @Steve for all of your work putting each of these videos together.
A quick torsion bar story. A coworker brought in a broken torsion bar off of his Dart and welded it back together. We told him that it was high carbon spring steel and wouldn't work. The next day he said "It broke as soon as we lowered the jack!" A used one was like $15 at the time! 🙄
Here’s another torsion bar story , a junkyard owner had a customer come in needing a lower control arm for a fifty five Packard , the kid working in the junkyard, went to a car to remove a control arm. The kid was lucky, when he freed the lower control arm with a length of pipe, it only broke three of his fingers, and sent the pipe straight through two doors of another junk car.
Great video! Thanks for being so detail oriented. I learn something new every time I watch one of your videos.
That starter became known as the "Highland Park Humming Bird." You could never mistake a Chrysler product while it was starting.
Ya, that unique starter sound was known as gear reduction and is used across the board today.
I hear a dolphin 🐬.
I have a Johan Edsel friction promo. 63 Galaxy as well
These were beautiful cars. Too bad as you said, they rusted so fast.
That was a beauty back in the day 😍
My brother in law ( big sisters boyfriend at the time) had on of those, remember his was jacked up in the back with dual exhaust and had a rumble! I thought it was so cool!! He went to Murray Wright high school in Detroit which was a mechanical vocational school at the time. He became jet fighter mechanic and was off to Thailand and Vietnam
Where were the Lesbians or the mixed race couple in that Chrysler brochure…….???
Oops - wrong era……..😂
The cause of the problems for the rust in 1957/1958 @ Chrysler was that the dual headlights pods that captured pools of rain water and could never be released, thus rusting out the front fenders within months. Also added was the front windshield posts that collected water and did not drain properly, so the door frames became rusty. Ditto the rear window rubber seal, the water collected in the hinge area and dripped onto luggage and the trunk floor. ln 1958 they added rubber hoses and holes to redirect the rain water accumulation, but it never was correctly done.
Chevy struggled with rusting fenders as well, but I don't think it happened that quick
I think most headlight eyebrows were a popular destination for rust, back in the late '50s and '60s...
@@DanEBoyd As a kid in the rust belt, I remember lots of cars with coat hangers wired up to hold the headlights somewhat in place! The more mechanically inclined owners used scraps of metal (like old licence plates 😁) and sheet metal screws or 'pop rivets' to hold them in place. I had to do that to a '61 Comet. A $50 special in 1971.
Some years ago I found a '58 in a yard that was up on blocks.
If you stood on the left rear bumper the whole rear would twist and the rear window (which I pulled and sold) would start to come away from the roof. it was rotted that badly.
Can't forget Christine was part of this family based on a 58' Plymouth Fury.
We need the canceled bit back! That Non trendy motor magazine that made a bad decision by canceling a great writer! Maybe we wouldn't have this awesome channel?
Thanks for the kind words. The hassle with the end of my old Roadkill's Junkyard Gold show happened after the Knuckle Heads from Velocity Channel "merged" with the former "Motor Trend On Demand" (MTOD) about 4 years ago. You might remember that MTOD was all online and hoped to create an automotive destination - for a modest subscription fee, a.k.a. "pay wall". Well it was doing pretty well and my old Roadkill's Junkyard Gold ran for 31 episodes (3 seasons). Then came Velocity Channel. These guys were my "bosses" for several years as they produced the Barrett-Jackson collector car auction TV shows - on Velocity Channel. I pitched these Know Nothings a "junkyard treasure hunt" show TEN TIMES over 5 years and they'd say things like "you are TOO technical" as they shot down my show pitches. Well, they "merged" with MTOD and within a year, changed the format back to cable-dying TV and killed off a bunch of highly rated shows including Fred Smith's Dirt Every day and my little show as well. Anyhoo, I'd NEVER go back to trend Motor Backwards after experiencing the freedom of RUclips! And THANK YOU for watching and writing. -Steve Magnante
@@SteveMagnante You're definitely be better being your own Boss. It's fun, we laugh,we learn. Even with the diecast cars in the model kits and it's just a great channel. And trust me any idea you have is probably a pretty dang good one! Keep up the great work!
@@SteveMagnanteit's a shame that the idiots in charge killed your show. In my opinion all of the roadkill variants, were, and some still are, the best automotive shows out there. Now they give shows to hillbilly's that do stupid things like raise trucks six feet off the ground.
It seems like Chrysler products from this era were forgotten and the 57 Chevy Bel air got all the attention, until Christine. I have often wondered why the poly engines didn't have a bigger legacy. Making 290 HP from a 354 ci engine with a two barrel carb is pretty good power. If I remember correctly the 318 poly made more power than the LA 318 as well.
The "polyspherical" combustion chamber concept is good buy the hassle is that Chrysler (and the other Poly offshoots used in Dodge, DeSoto and Plymouth) were cast in a way that places the internal coolant passages quite close to the inner sides of the intake and exhaust ports. As they are, the ports are large enough to support 354 cubes but cannot be enlarged to allow more flow volume for larger engines or serious hot rodding. As "peppy people movers" the Poly family is good. But again their "curse" is how you "hit water" if you make the ports as large as they'd need to be for Hemi-league breathing potential. But they do have a menacing exhaust rumble. Thanks for watching and writing. -Steve Magnante
The BBC and later canted valve engines build off the poly design. It has better flow than wedge heads of the time even with the same valve sizes.
Loved the time for tutorials on benefits of polyspherical combustion chambers and leaf springs
I've been watching car videos for the last couple years, daydreaming about finding an old one for myself and getting it spiffied up and on the road. 🤣 Yesterday I changed the oil, the trans fluid, filter and shift solenoids on my 97 mustang😂 today I feel like a gang of thugs took turns beating me with a burlap bag full of rocks. 😮 Muscles that I wasn't aware that I had are aching. 🤣 My bald head is sunburned and I have a rash on my back and posterior from sliding and rolling around in the concrete. 😂 Nope, not the 23 year old that used to crawl around and under these old cars.
Lol I'll need to get into better shape if I'm to restore an old American classic.
Wow! Congratulations made it to the outro 😳 😝😂 ✌️🤙
What a great Monday morning when you can wake up with Steve! Look like it's going to be a great week folks
Hey Steve - It should be noted that the brake booster seen on this car was actually a dealer-addition for a car ordered with manual brakes. If the car had factory power brakes, it would have had the Bendix canister or Kelsey-Hayes accordion on the firewall.
Those lower priced Chryslers kind of squeezed DeSoto out of business.
But DeSotos were in the mid-price field, right?
@@UberLummox Upper end of it, like Oldsmobile. But so was the Chrysler Windsor, which shared its chassis with the DeSoto Firesweep and top line Dodges.
Forward look is the best. But I don’t think Chrysler ever recovered fully from the poor quality rap from this era. Mid sixties Mopars are pretty stout, but the fuselage era took another nose dive.
Steve is such a contrast to the gold chains and pointy shoes of other car channels. Never fearing to hand scoop out rat crap, pulling greasy starters, or crawling in the dirt to explain something important. I’ll take Steve’s dirty t-shirt and fingernails over polish any day…a true car guy
Hello steve s, GREAT NAME! Thanks for watching and writing. We're probably a lot alike in our junkyard attitude. I have a functional immune system so there isn't really much to be worried about - as long as we're careful not to slice ourselves on jagged glass / metal. The only thing I do treat with great respect is WASP / HORNET NESTS! As we get into the warmer months, these little surprises can "kill" a video if we discover a basketball sized nest in a vehicle or van or trunk. I'll work near flying wasps - and NEVER swat at them. That gets them going and an attack force soon follows. But if the wasps are just being curious you can often make the video as long as a few feet are kept between skin and wasp. All that said, in 2021 I did 150 Junkyard Crawl videos at the Great Texas Mopar Hoard Auction Event where RATTLE SNAKES were a very real factor. We wore fiberglass "gators" to prevent shin-to-fang contact but happily never had a scare. But rattlers are NOT common to Massachusetts so we can make these videos with minimal hassle from Mom Nature. Thanks again for watching and writing. -Steve Magnante
Good morning.
I love these cars! Myself and a few others have been waiting for this car's turn in the lineup, having seen it in the background. And Steve's fact-filled presentation was worth the wait. The rust over the headlights was common on all car makes back then, with Chrysler probably being the worst.😒 Schott Company, in Akron, Ohio stamped out repair panels for these and many other cars.
And as a footnote, the old promotional model cars were made in acetate plastic, which warped with age. The styrene plastic, also called ABS ( the stuff of black plastic drain pipes) was much more stable.
My Dad's '70 Coronet was parked in the driveway when the driver's side torsion bar broke. It sounded like a gun shot. I think we were watching "All in the Family" when that happened. My dad loved Archie Bunker.
Yes.....All you GM lovers owe a debt of gratitude to Virgil Exner and his entire 1957 lineup......Without the "57 Chryslers you wouldn't have the "59 Cadillac, Oldsmobile,Buick....No batwing "59 Chevy's....None of that...If you love any "59 GM products then deep down in your subconscious you love all "57 Chrysler product whether you want to admit it or not.....And a little bit of useless trivia here but the "59 Cadillac does not have the tallest fins ever from Detroit.....It was the "61 Imperial that had the tallest fins ever to come out of Detroit..... Cadillac thought they outdid Virgil Exner but he had one up his sleeve and trumped them all once again.
~
I really miss those Chrysler “nagging wife” starters. 😂
If you've ever watched the old TV show "Crime Story" Dennis Farina's character's personal car was a 1958 Chrysler 300 convertible. When you compared it to all the other period cars used in the TV series all the others looked like slugs. Interesting to see Chrysler was using an integral power steering box in 1957 when everyone else was still using the add on hydraulic slave cylinder systems that were complicated, heavy and always leaked when the seals got a year or two old. Ford used the slave cylinder systems right up to the 1970's.
Yes, watched that show when it was new episodes, mostly for the set design/cars
Prestolite made that starter for Chrysler and they are still around today. They are related to Leece-Neville who makes alternators for large truck applications, one of the more popular being the "4800" and "4900" Series units. There was a white and blue 1958 Windsor in my neighborhood up until about three years ago. The guy has a changing fleet of hoopties. I think it was owned by a guy for years that used to talk to my dad all the time when he was working on the 1941 Plymouth. My dad would say, "Nice chatting but it is dinner time. My wife is calling me." That was the only way to shed the guy. He was goofy and nerdy and rode a bike around the neighborhood and had "Nader was Wrong" shirts on all the time. No offense but he actually looked like Mr. Magnante. Lol. I showed the 1937 Desoto video to my uncle who is my dad's older brother. He had the Plymouth for years after my dad passed.
No VIN, can't win, but can be figured out, no doubt: L for 1958 model year, C for Chrysler, 1 for V8 equipped, then an additional "L" if it was made at the Maywood, CA assembly plant (Los Angeles, which operated from 1932 to 1971), and without that additional "L" if it was assembled at the Jefferson Ave, Detroit, MI plant. However, some literature states that the second "L" is for "Low price class" which would be something that future Chrysler VINs would use. The Jefferson plant that may have made this car operated under Chrysler from 1925 to 1990 and then closed, with a "new" Jefferson plant opening in 1991 and still operating today under Stellantis. The Maywood plant was located at 5800 Slauson Blvd in Maywood. The starting production number at both plants was 1001 in 1958.
Chrysler's west coast parts plant was located at 1950 Davis Street in San Leandro, CA which was down the block from the San Leandro plant at 1933 Davis Street and served as their west coast parts plant after closing in 1954 as an assembly plant. IHC had it for a time and then sold it to Caterpillar in 1975. Today, it's the Westgate Shopping Center. Ford's Maywood plant was across the street and that closed in 1957 when Ford's Los Angeles, CA plant was opened that summer (which was also called Pico Rivera and operated until 1980). They had several other parts plants, including one at 1150 Murphy Ave in Atlanta, GA which appears now to be a graffiti covered long range of buildings with many bay doors that you could envision could have been a parts plant.
Chrysler had a "telegram" service for ordering parts that was a coded message system used by dealers to communicate and order parts. It was surely styled after some sort of military system following WWII with its coded messages and delivery instructions.
No tag, can't brag, but this is code "A" Raven Black exterior paint. This is a case where showing the VIN and any other tags could have helped out. It was a bit out of reach from Mr. Richardson's filming to make it out, but I thought I (barely) spotted an "L" for the first digit, which is surely the 1958 model year.
Comparing the brochure to the Motor Trend article, the fonts/graphics in the brochure look ten years ahead of the late '50's
Hey Google User GP, do you know what Auto-Lite made in Syracuse, NY? I found some unused tags that look like they'd go on a generator, starter or distributor, gold and black, all they say is Auto-Lite Syracuse NY. Was mixed in with model RR stuff in a box lot from an auction.
@@CR7659 Auto parts. They are still in Arcade, NY so call them and ask.
I work at the mack Ave plant as a repairman making the jeep grand cherokee L and the overflow regular grand Cherokee from the Jefferson north Assembly I love seeing all the old cars my family built im a 4th gen autoworker I used to work at Mcgraw glass next to Wyoming assembly where the desotos were made before going to the jefferson Ave plant it neat to see all the history
@@larrykirk9825 Yes, if those buildings could talk.
Man that car is beautiful. A '57 Fury of Belvedere 2 door hardtop is on my bucket list but a Newport, Windsor or New Yorker in the same style would be a great backup plan. I currently own a '57 Imperial 2 door hardtop. The styling is good but a little busy compared with the other cars. I also own a 61 Catalina bubble top. I think Steve and I have very similar tastes in cars.
The movie “Christine” comes to mind when I see the quad headlights….that movie sold me on how cool Chrysler was back then!
Nice. Complete. Video.
Mr. B. Here ! Morning to all late 50’s NY for a kid was car show everyday ! Dad had 1957 Olds it was cool , my buddy’s dad had one just like that one Steve , both cars were two doors, both black . Great video Steve !
Morning
@@tomwesley7884 Sorry am late ! Thing to do , today ! So to you Tom 🍸🍸 good evening 🌆
Guys I was thing think on colors ; dad’s car was black on out side with a red stripe , interior, black - ivory - gold ! My buddy’s his dad’s car was black - tan & gold trim , these vehicles to a youngster were out of this world 🌎. Many of you baby boomers know what am talking about ! Todays vehicles are about as exciting as having a hang nail . 🥂 🍸🍸
Forward look started in 1955..
Make sparks on your vertebrae, I almost had coffee coming out my nose! 🤣
It is a very good-looking car.
A shame it's that far gone, it would be an amazing car to be driving around. Never knew what a poly was, but your always there to teach us. Thanks Steve. What, no reindeer today?
Wonder how much they lost on engineering a convert they only sold 2 of.
Look at a Mercedes CL Coupe, C215 Chassis, roofline from 2006. Coincidence from when they owned Chrysler?
Hey could ya do a look at the Freightliner classic xl behind you, the white big rig.
Steve,
I love your informative videos. I can remember a time when I (as a child) would see many of the cars you highlight on the road. Thank you…
Exner , Got BETTER with Age , In my opinion ring .
Steve Magnante once ordered a big Mac at a burger king and he got it!
I've learned a lot of things from this guy watching the auctions.
Nice looking car
The Windsor series used Dodge front fenders and hood IIRC.
In 1958, nearly all car manufacturers went to quad headlights.
Christine wouldn't have been the same with just single lights lol
Speaking of body parts, in Chicago in the 79s, my dad went looking for a part for his Monte Carlo, in the glove box of a Marauder, he found an ear
Happy Monday Steve Good video again
What kind of bugs do you have up there in Massachusetts that swarm around you this early?
@@SayWhut276 oh that sucks, they look annoying
I was waiting for this car. I kept seeing it in the background.
I do Love you Steve....Like a BROTHER111
Four eyes gave designers a whole new license! These full figured rides looked much better now along with the aircraft-type styling.
I don't know about the styling of the Chrysler. But I do know my grandparents had a 57 Olds 88. I remember it till this day. It was absolutely beautiful inside and out.
Complete presentation... niiiiiiiiiiiiiice
I have watched Steve for a long time.and I make his video's part of my day, at least once a day everyday
😊
Build quality poor...figures..... Another case of putting Lipstick-on-a-Pig........LOL
whats the refference with "self important whining sound?"
It was supposed to go with my usual "Cancelled...whaddayamean we're cancelled"? bit any time I use a Motor Trend magazine as a prop. But somehow the "bit" didn't make the cut. Anyhoo, THANKS for watching and writing. -Steve Magnante
Beautiful car
Love ❤️ Mopars 👍🏻🇦🇺💯⛽️
😊
What great cars! Its a shame that one is suffering that fate....
If I was closer I would buy that rig. The thing is beautiful.
Be prepared to cart it out in pieces.
It's really good they went away from the "Rib Raker Rear View" so that after you were decapitated by putting your head through the windshield your ribs wouldn't be damaged.🤣
Beautiful vehicle, should be saved. I love the Exner products .
I'm surprised you didn't mention hemi heads swap on poly engines. But only in 57 I've heard. I just googled it. There's some references to that. I recall the 354. Would swap but to what gain.
I've inherited my Dad's 1958 Chrysler Saratoga. 354 poly with factory 4 barrel. It's been sitting in the same spot since the mid 70's on our property. "One Day".....I want to pull the motor and do some forensic mechanicin' to see if Dad's stories about the engine are correct. He said it's been bored to a 411 CI and has some factory experimental camshaft/timing set. Even if those were tall tales, I would still like to get it cleaned up, running and put it in a hot rod. And yes....the body of that 4 door is trash. Frame is completely rusted.
57 Chrysler Windsor brings back memories from me as the youngest of 3 sons riding in the back seat from Dayton, OH to Houston, TX where we moved permanently in the Summer of 58. Our 57 Windsor 4 door sedan was later model with the dual headlights dark metallic blue with a white top and white side trim and yes with push button drive. I sat in the middle of the back seat between my 2 older brothers. My parents traded a 51 light green 2 door Dodge with an early automatic at a Chrysler Dealership in MIamisburg, OH for the 57 Chrysler which was a dream car for my mother with 4 doors better for a growing family. On the way to Houston we broke down in Texarkana and needed a new fan belt and water pump and I remember it was at least 100 degrees and my mother was crying and told my father he brought her to hell. Most cars in the late 50s didn't have air conditioning and when we arrived in Houston in was midnight and well into the 90s with humidity to match. That fall the Chrysler got traded for a white 59 9 passenger Plymouth Sport Suburban with factory air conditioning. The trip to Houston was enough with 3 bored and unsettled boys in the back seat and no air to cool things off so the Plymouth fit the bill. I rode in the rear facing seat on the new Suburban and loved having my own seat and watching the people in the cars from behind. From then on my father always had a station wagon even when all of us were grown and left home. My mother had my little sister when I was 14 and my father had a flat tire in the family 64 Impala 9 passenger wagon on the way to the hospital. I drove that Impala when I got my driver's license and loved that 327 with the Rochester quad 4 carb and despite the Powerglide that car would move.
My dad bought a new 57 Plymouth wagon (great memories)
Why is that Chrysler in the junkyard for who knows how long?
How many poly engine platforms did Mopar produce? Just the A series or were there others? Earlier ones vary in appearance from the final 318 that they built for several years, but of course that doesn’t necessarily mean anything.
Steve must have quite a library of brochures 😉
I would love to have that car restored. Exner style was the best in my opinion.
Heck that Windsor except for the drivers door clearly being gone... doesn't look all that rotted away. Surprising to see, of course if I were there in person I might feel differently
The smallest Windsor got the big 392 Hemi to help create the 300C. That's how a muscle car is made.
my dad bought a new '57 plymouth plaza 4 door, 6 cly, flat head, 3 speed on the tree, flat red it wa s kept for 11 years, learned how to drive in this car. lots of memories and many miles
That silver dodge charger from the 80's in the background is pretty cool.
Thank you Steve nobody has ever explained the poly spherical cylinders before love you contact love your classroom room buddy
Hey, just do you know…
Seeing the clip of you in the chef hat Never got old!!! 😂
Look at the roofline of the 1958 Studebaker Starlight. Seem familiar?
Was that a record player at the bottom middle of the dash
I spotted that too hoping it was the Hi-Way Hi-Fi record player but it was "just" the heater. So far I've only seen ONE Hi-Way Hi-Fi in a junkyard setting and that was at the Great Texas Mopar Hoard Auction Event of 2021. If you go to the Channel Playlist for this channel, look up the 25-minute video where I check out the garage full of parts". That's where the Hi-Way Hi-Fi is discussed! Thanks for watching and writing. -Steve Magnante
You could do an entire series on the cars in the background. Crazy. Get well Steve!
It’s amazing that Chrysler went to the effort of designing and building a convertible and only sell two!
only two for the Windsor which was the same platform for the others
Sad to see such a sweetheart rotting away. Looks to be pretty much passed saving. But, hey, at least you made it to the end of this one Steve. Lol!
I'm more of a GM guy, but these things were sleek and beautiful, and the engines were strong for their day.
my parents had a 57 new yorker convertable and a 58 windsor station wagon at the same time. early 60s. they were awesomev looking
The reason the 57 Chevy looked the way that it did was because of the quad lamp fiasco.
WOW, suddenly it feels like 1960! 😊
Sweet car. Looks like an 80's Charger in the background.
Cancelled? What do you mean we're cancelled?
Since it didn't make the edit I thought I should add it.
Great video you hardly ever see winners even at the Mopar Nationals you just don't see them cars this is not many around have a great day I guess I guess if money was endless you could restore that Windsor but that's crazy
New Yorkers were the hemispheric engines dual points twin pipes 4Vcarb
Steve, you are the best thing since sliced bread. Man, I love your shows.
I once read that Chrysler could be equipped with optional double headlights in 1957, but most had single headlights.
Damn shame the build quality wasn't there with the engineering innovations and styling.
My favorite old Chrysler will always be the 1957 New Yorker
Is that a shelby k car in the back?
these junkyard videos are better than the same exact same presentation would be with a restored or nice original car.