Desoto vs Kaiser

[checker]

Went to a local meet today and saw a 51 Desoto that I found looked a lot like a pre 51 Kaiser...mechanically speaking too...

Here's some pics... (and one of my car beside a beast !)

[rialto]

That's a 53 Desoto Powermaster.

[Logan]

That Desoto's a nice looking car.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

6 cylinder DeSotos with 6 volt ignition systems are positive ground and use just slightly different Auto-Lite electrical components; several types of the Chrysler Corporation electrical components (such as generators) will work on A-L equipped Kaiser and Frazer cars.  Also, early postwar DeSotos have been found with the same Dana rear axle assembly that Kaisers of same vintage used. 

And there's the overdrive units with many of the same mechanical parts. 

Now that you found a 1953 Powermaster 6, try to find a Desoto with the optional factory installed air conditioning.  I have a TV commercial showing how the unit works; it goes on the back shelf area of the trunk and the vents are on the package shelf.

[checker]

At the same meet I saw a 48 Olds with an HYDRA-MATIC emblem on it. The owner was saying that it was the first year for that tranny on Olds... is that the same transmission that can be found as an option on Kaisers ? 

[joefrazer]

Essentially, yes. There are minor differences between the the Olds and 1951 Kaiser units, mostly with shift points and mounts, but they are basically the same.

[checker]

There was this guy too, a rare one with again a similar engine... I leave it to you guys to tell what it is !!! 

[kaiserkid]

It's a Divco milk truck. I remember seeing one deliver milk to my house when I was a wee little lass.

[joefrazer]

My father ran a dairy for 30 years. We had several dozen Divco, Flxible, and GM delivery trucks. When they decided to stop retail home delivery, the trucks just sat in the lot and rotted away. Who knew they'd have value someday? After all, something most folks don't know, is that most home delivery trucks were not refrigerated so they had to be heavily insulated to keep the product cold. That meant your average 1950s Divco weighed in at well over four tons so moving a nonrunner took a heavy duty tow truck. No wonder no one wanted one of them...

One bit of trivia about the Divco model U was that it could be driven while standing up. As a kid, I always thought that was so cool!

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

Actually Hydra-Matic first appeared in Oldsmobiles before World War II; the division helped finance development of the unit.  It went into Pontiac for the first time in 1948 and was also sold to Nash, Hudson and Kaiser along with the Lincoln-Mercury division of Ford Motor Company for use in Lincolns from 1949 through 1955 model years

I have 5 test commercials for the 1942 Oldsmobile in my old TV show collection including one specific to the Hydra-Matic and how it saves woman drivers a lot of time and work compared to a manual transmission.

[Gordie]

Buick and Oldsmobile shared an automatic transmission as early as 1938 but Olds. alone featured Hydramatic in 1940. Cadillac got it in 1941.  You had to come to a complete stop in order to put the transmission in low or reverse.  Buick got Dynaflow in 1948.

[Logan]

Which automatic was that?  It was my understanding that Oldsmobile was the first to receive Hydramtic, and that was in 1939 (1940 model year), but correct me if I am wrong.

[boatingbill]

A lot of customizers used that toothy Desoto grille. It was very popular in the fifty's.

[rialto]

In 1938 and 1939 Olds offered the Safety Transmission or Safetymatic or something. This was an earlier simpler version of Hydramatic Drive. There was no clutch but you had to shift it manually.

[Gordie]

The automatic transmission was called the automatic safety transmission and it was an option in 1938 only.  You seldom see them at old car shows.  Lincoln and Mercury's automatic transmission was called Liquimatic in 1942 and they were so bad that they all were recalled and L.M. had to replace both the engines and transmissions in the Mercury's as the engines had special bell housings.  The original engines must have all been destroyed as only one example seems to have survived.