291 cid hemi V8.
Rated 200 hp.

This was the first car I owned...a hand-me-down that my father gave me. I had more fun in that car screaming through the meadows, getting dust and dirt all over and inside of that thing. Sometimes there would even be a cornstalk hung on the bumper. It had an oil-bath air filter and a shift lever on the dash. Holes in the floor and trunk. It never had detergent oil in it until I had it. From then on it seemed to never stop smoking.

The Forward Look:
Bolder, fully up to date Exner styling and a more powerfull engine for 1955. Firedome now played "second banana" to a new Fireflight line. Both rode a 126-inch wheelbase and had a Hemi V-8 bored out to 291 cid (3.72 x 3.44). Rated at 200 horsepower. No 1955 Chrysler product was sedate, but DeSoto was possibily the shiniest of all--though still attractive, with a much lower silhouette, wrapped windshield, the ever-toothy front end, "gullwing" dash, and broad, optional two-toning. This package greatly appealed to buyers, boosting division output to nearly 115,000 units. Still, that was only good for 13th in a year when most Detroit makers did very well.

  1937 Plymouth P4
  1952 Plymouth Cambridge
  1959 Dodge Royal
  1961 Chrysler Newport
  1964 Chrysler Newport

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