For Sale 1960 DeSoto Adventurer 2-door Coupe project - $6900 (North Chicago)

[78Brougham]

To me 57 Chevys are like assholes.... everyone has one! LOL ....not to mention that they copied the fins from the 56 Plymouth!

 

[polara66hardtop]

Very true!

 

[thrashingcows]

As far as this one goes...he's nuts... $1000 Tops! These cars need lots of TLC to become worth any kind of money. They have lots of issues! Floors, trunks, brakes,frame rot, etc etc you better get a really good deal on one, or one that has been gone through. I'll share my experiences if anyone gets close to buying one.. always here to help

I agree that his asking price seems a bit unrealistic. The amount of work required to bring that one back...and some of the specific parts and pieces for the desoto are missing as well. $2K tops I'd say.

 

[1978 NYB]

When I was in high school you could buy 55, 56, 57 running Chevy's for $50-$100 all day long.

 

[1978 NYB]

And I never ever wanted one! Still don't!

 

[thrashingcows]

When I was in high school you could buy 55, 56, 57 running Chevy's for $50-$100 all day long.

And I never ever wanted one! Still don't!

Give me a Buick, or preferably an Oldsmobile in those years any day. ;)

 

[commando1]

I always wanted to take a '54 Buick Special 2 dr. sedan and build a car that would kick any tri-5 Chevy's ***.
The '54 Buick chassis preceded the same chassis of the '55 Chevy by one year.
All the trick stuff out there for the Chevy can be used covertly on the Buick. Bwaaahahahaaaaa...

Note the longer WB on the Buick. More room for an LS9

A '54 Olds will work, too.

Ever stop and compare the '54 Caddy to the '55 Chevy?

 

[detmatt]

I'd take that Caddy!

 

[70bigblockdodge]

Good eye there Stan nice thinking.

 

[1978 NYB]

The Cadillac looks nice!

 

[saforwardlook]

I owned a 60 Fireflite Coupe... paid $250 for it... bought an Adventurer for parts ($100), painted it, and converted it to the Adventurer. Sold it for $1800. This was 1979 money were talking about here. Was a great car, wish I had it back! I posted a pic of it here a while ago. One of those you wish you never got rid of deals.

As far as this one goes...he's nuts... $1000 Tops! These cars need lots of TLC to become worth any kind of money. They have lots of issues! Floors, trunks, brakes,frame rot, etc etc you better get a really good deal on one, or one that has been gone through. I'll share my experiences if anyone gets close to buying one.. always here to help

I noticed that it has an old black and yellow California plate on it, and judging from the photos, it looks like it has had a good amount of sun exposure. It probably does not have a lot of rust in it. But an inspection would be warranted or at least some photos of the underneath to be more certain. And is appears to be pretty complete. If someone restored it, then it would probably only one of a few left in existence.

 

[78Brougham]

Not necessarily... saw a couple at Carlisle, 2 and 4 doors and I also saw a pristine one this weekend at Watkins Glen vintage gp. They're out there just gotta keep looking. This one though, doesn't even offer up what parts are with it. Can you imagine trying to find the original tail lights for it? Are they in those containers? Those lights are huge! Where are the door panels? Look at that steering wheel! Most bright work has been redone??? Most bright work hasn't even been touched is more like it! Everything is still bolted to the car! The bright work should all be in a pile wrapped in paper and ready to be put on....not taken off! Imagine what it would cost to have those massive bumpers re chromed, they weigh like 300 lbs apiece. That thing is a mess for 6900...And that's just what we can see from the few photos he posted. I'm sorry, but I'm sticking to my price with this one. Imho

 

[b5rt]

The bumpers size makes them look heavy but they're really not that bad. The tail light lenses along with the chrome chevrons are being reproduced at $380/pair. SMS is reproducing the door panels (mine are ordered) but there's at least a 6 month wait. Steering wheel reod will be expensive, at least $1200 but more likely to be $1500 to get the translucent colors right. Most common problem area is the lower trunk opening lip. The design flaw has a flat surface where rain water puddles and rests against the gasket, rust is the outcome. The factory offered a dual drain hose fix but most cars didn't get it. Gary Goers offers many of the small items for putting these cars back on the road. Mine's at 2 years on the resto and 2 to go if all goes as planned. I don't have a current picture to load but it's getting the trunk floor fitted, and ready to be epoxy primed. I'd be happy to answer any questions about the 1960 DeSoto's.

 

[b5rt]

Here's one to show some progress.

 

[saforwardlook]

Very nice Desoto. The 60 models were really neat looking I thought, much like the big Chryslers. Are you adding a set of dual rear antennas? I was wondering whether that is a special piece of trim adjacent to the roof troughs? From the license plate numbers, it looks like you acquired it maybe a few years ago. Was it an original California car, or did it come from out of state? Judging from the snow, you probably live in northern California? I live in the southern San Bernardino area. It would be nice to see your car when you have completed it. Good luck with it!

 

[bluefury361]

Most forward look cars are sleepers. As long as you start with a pretty decent one, (minimal rust and complete), you won't get upside down as quickly as a C body.

A 60 2dr hardtop is worth 35k Plus in 1-2 condition. Do most of the work yourself and you can get one to that shape for 20k plus the purchase price.
If you just sign checks to have it done, then money isn't an object anyways.

 

[78Brougham]

B5rt.. that's gonna be an awesome car when its done.. keep us posted on your progress. What color are you gonna do her in?

 

[detmatt]

Agreed, that's going to be a real beauty!

 

[commando1]

You are really putting some heavy dough into this.
This is gonna be a killer.
I can't wait.

 

[b5rt]

Very nice Desoto. The 60 models were really neat looking I thought, much like the big Chryslers. Are you adding a set of dual rear antennas? I was wondering whether that is a special piece of trim adjacent to the roof troughs? From the license plate numbers, it looks like you acquired it maybe a few years ago. Was it an original California car, or did it come from out of state? Judging from the snow, you probably live in northern California? I live in the southern San Bernardino area. It would be nice to see your car when you have completed it. Good luck with it!

I've had a 126" wheelbase 59 and prefer the shorter 122" for driving. Those are the trunk hinges sticking up, all panels are removed, rust removed, dents repaired and now epoxy primed. The dual antenna's on the 60's weren't angled, they went straight up and don't appeal to me so I'll put the original RF fender single back in.

I owned a 60 Fireflite sedan in the late 80's as a daily driver for 3 years. Kids came and I needed A/C so it went to my brother who drove it around Chicago for several years before he sold it. I bought this hardtop/coupe from California in Jan. 2012 and had it shipped to central IL. Originally it was sold in South Carolina by some unknown dealer (possibly and auction house) and migrated to CA. sometime in its life. The story I got was some older gent had it for 20 years and left it outside for most of those under some trees. The dirt and tree sediment caused some rust problems in the trunk. Half the floor was gone but I found a nice, quality hand made piece and it's being fitted this week. Good news is the rest of the car is remarkably solid. Little rust bottom of one fender and bottom of one quarter, that's it.