1931 DeSoto Series SA

On August 4th, 1928, the DeSoto marque was founded by Walter Chrysler and introduced for the 1929 model. Mr. Chrysler had attempted to acquire the Dodge Brothers, but after that failed, he introduced a competitor of his own. The DeSoto quickly became successful, leading to Chrysler acquiring Dodge a year later. During its first twelve months of production, over 81,000 DeSoto's were built.

The company was named after the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto.

The DeSoto was positioned in the mid-priced class, serving as a lower-priced version of Chrysler productions. After Chrysler acquired the Dodge Brothers company, they were left with two mid-priced makes. The two-make strategy was initially successful, with the DeSoto vehicles priced below the Dodge models. In 1933, Chrysler reversed the market position of Dodge and Desoto in hopes of increasing Dodge sales.

DeSoto vehicles were produced until November 30th, 1960.

DeSoto introduced the Series SA at the New York Automobile Show in January 1931. Power was from an L-Head six-cylinder engine displacing 205.3 cubic inches and mated to a three-speed selective sliding gear transmission. Standard equipment included hydraulic brakes, Delco-Remy ignition, hydraulic shock absorbers, and a double drop frame.

by Daniel Vaughan | Jan 2020