| Adventurer | |
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| Adventurer | |
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| The auto industry experienced a significant
sales decline in 1956 with Oldsmobile losing over 97,000 sales, Buick more than 100,000, and Pontiac nearly 150,000. At Chrysler Corporation, Dodge sales eased by 36,000 cars and Chrysler sales by 24,000.
De Soto, however, built almost as many cars in 1956 as it had in 1955.
Production totaled 110,418 units, only 4,347 fewer than 1955.
In addition, more De Sotos than Chryslers were registered that year and
De Soto climbed to 11th place in the industry. Regardless, five years later
De Soto would be gone forever, the victim of the "no place in the
market" syndrome that would also kill off the Edsel. The beginnings of De Soto's demise were already in motion. Top management at Chrysler Corporation suggested Chrysler drop its bottom line Windsor to allow more room for De Soto, but Chrysler would have no part of it. Since 1946, Chrysler had pushed its low end products and by 1956 was dependent on the 66 percent volume provided by the Windsor. To eliminate such a seller could be disastrous. Besides, Chrysler no longer had the option of moving its entire line upward. The Imperial had been eliminated in 1955 as a separate brand, and was now part of the Chrysler line. With so little difference in price range, the De Soto suddenly found itself in an economic quandary. The car sold well, but Chrysler figured that if the De Soto were eliminated entirely, its customers would buy Windsors and New Yorkers, and maybe even a 300 or two. In 1956, De Soto's line was their most formidable ever with new tailfin styling,
their first four door hardtop, and a brand new high performance two-door
model called Adventurer. Named for the Chrysler concept car of the same
name, the Adventurer was designed to fill the gap between the Plymouth
Fury and the more expensive 300B. The Adventurer had it all......it was
sporty, beautiful, fast, and a lot cheaper then the 300B. The Adventurer was a lot of car for the money. It came with more glitter, more features, comparable
performance and styling, and a better power to weight ratio than the Chrysler
300B, all for $567 less. In the six weeks following the Adventurer's February 18 introduction, all 996 examples built sold at $3,678.00
each. They shoulda built more! Adventurer achieved its stunning performance without sacrificing luxury. Standard equipment included push button Powerflite automatic, power steering, power seat, power windows, power brakes, windshield washers and electric clock. On top of these, the Adventurer delivered a custom interior with padded dash, dual rear view mirrors and
twin radio antennas atop the fins. Exteriors were available in black or
white with gold side trim and gold wheels. The interior was also limited
to one color scheme. Adventurer's powerplant was an enlarged De Soto hemi with 341.4 cubic inches. Horsepower was rated at 320, which was more than any other engine offered in
De Soto's price class. It was also perilously close to the 300B's 340
horsepower, which raised a few eyebrows at the Chrysler Division
offices. Hey! What is this, some kind of conspiracy? First Plymouth,
then Dodge, now this? What's next, a racing Imperial? In 1961, Chrysler produced the last De Sotos and eliminated the line. At that point, it was nothing more than a Chrysler with a different grille and taillamps, and wasn't selling well. The Adventurer model was now just a watered down standard coupe trading on its ancestor's name. Gone were the glitzy, beautiful convertibles of 1957-1959, now highly prized. Again, cars nobody really wanted new are now actively sought after by collectors. It seems that Chrysler produced an inordinate number of them, too. The 1956 Adventurer accomplished its mission, but it wasn't really given the chance it should have had. 996 cars in 6 weeks should have told Chrysler something, but I guess nobody was listening.
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