Driving DeSotos

Frank McMullen's DeSoto is not a trailer queen. It's not even a beauty queen, and he likes it that way. His 1941 S-8 Deluxe sedan is one of two older cars he uses as daily drivers (the other being a 1960 Chrysler Windsor). Re-painted and re-upholstered by some previous owner, it's otherwise unrestored and turned 100,000 miles not long ago. Frank drives it more than 3,000 miles a year.

As a driver it's kept in good mechanical condition. Frank rebuilt the braking system when he bought it eight years ago. He's currently contemplating an engine swap, as an interim measure while he rebuilds the original powerplant. Mopar heart transplants are fairly straightforward, as the four ChryCo siblings share a lot of DNA. Frank's 228 cubic inch S-8 engine is a shorter stroke version of the six used in 1940-41 Chryslers. In fact, any later Chrysler or DeSoto six through 1954 is a bolt-in, as the differences were all internal. A later engine could be as large as 264 cubic inches; engines from 1949 on have full-flow oil filters.

Frank's DeSoto is driven, but not as much as Jon Robinson's 1950 Custom Club Coupe. Jon has put 170,000 miles on it since purchase in 1990, when the odometer read 72,000. For nearly four years it was his only car. He lives in California's Mojave Desert, which means the car sees plenty of hot weather, and he's driven it to western Washington State, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Texas. The farthest east he's taken it is Albemarle, North Carolina.

Reportedly the car was a mint, low-mileage original until 1982. Thereafter it suffered both body damage and mechanical deterioration, to the point where every exterior panel was scarred. The body and paint were restored in 1993; the engine has been rebuilt three times. It's currently running a 1953 251 cid unit because, according to Jon, "it happened to be available." He's found that a 1957 Dodge rear axle, with 3.36 gears, gives his DeSoto much longer legs for distance travelling. He figures he's saved the drive train some 44 million revolutions over the years.

I can't compete with Frank or Jon. My only DeSoto, a 1940 S-7 Custom purchased for $30 in 1960, didn't get driven very much. In the process of repairing a blown head gasket, I did a much-needed valve job but discovered other internal injuries beyond my skills and my pocketbook. I retreated to the family Nash Rambler. The DeSoto became an organ donor, helping to restore cars from Massachusetts to Texas.

The windmills in the background of Jon's pix are in the Tehachapi Mountains that separate the Mojave from the San Joaquin Valley. They provide an apt simile for the DeSoto: Driven like the Wind.

Tomorrow evening will mark the first anniversary of the CarPort. I'd like to thank Joris of PreWarCar.com for inspiration, Dave of DeSotoLand for helping me get started, and my son Nick for showing me the joys of html. Happy New Year!

23 Ski-Doo

Winter officially rolls in at 1:35 PM today. In northern climes, of course, folks have been experiencing winter for some time. Northern Connecticut has plenty of snow for Chris David to try out the Ski-Doo élan that his father, popular Mustang and Tonka authority Dennis David, purchased from a neighbor who was clearing out his shed.

"Ski-Doo" is so well known that it's become almost a generic substitute for "snowmobile." That's with some justification, since Ski-Doo is made by Bombardier Recreational Products. Armand Bombardier formed L'Auto-Neige Bombardier Limitée in Quebec in 1942 to manufacture tracked vehicles for use on snow, of which the Ski-Doo is a direct descendant. The B-series Bombardier, powered by a rear-mounted Ford V8, was used extensively in the Canadian north - I came across this one in Newfoundland in 1993. The concept was also applied to farm tractors, and accessory "Bombardier tracks" were popular with Ford tractor owners who operated on wet ground. Today, Bombardier, Ltd. makes trains and boats and planes, including transit cars for cities in Europe, North America and China and regional and business jet aircraft. The latter include the well-known Learjet line. During the 1980s, they built a version of the Volkswagen Iltis for the Canadian armed forces.

Bombardier Recreational Products, purchased from Bombardier, Ltd. by the Bombardier family in 2003, includes not only Ski-Doo but also Sea-Doo personal watercraft and sport boats, and Johnson and Evinrude outboard motors. The latter two nameplates were acquired when Bombarder purchased Outboard Marine Corporation in 2001.

The élan, built from 1971 to 1996, is a lightweight machine, very popular in the snowmobile boom of the early 1970s and with sufficient following to stay in production for 25 years. The engine is an Austrian-built single-cylinder unit by Rotax, another Bombardier company. The controls are simple, and the seating is roomy enough for two.

Is the Ski-Doo an automobile? Well, it's a self-propelled land vehicle and it does have wheels, although they don't actually touch the ground. I consider it an automobile, but it remains to be seen if Dennis will add snowmobile appraisals to his lines of business.

Lincoln, Lincoln, I Been Thinkin'

I've always been glad that, in several erratic attempts to market a little Lincoln, Ford Motor Company has not wasted the name "Zephyr." Both the Versailles and the more recent LS seemed a little too commonplace to claim the name of the revolutionary low-priced Lincoln introduced for 1936. The Versailles was a Ford Granada with a bustle; the LS an S-Type Jaguar masquerading as a Mazda. Thankfully the Mercury Zephyr, a Fairmont with gills, was eminently forgettable. But now there is a new Lincoln Zephyr. Does it deserve the mantle?

The first Zephyr was right from outer space. Based on John Tjaarda's streamlined "Sterkenberg" studies of the 1920s, it was given edgy lines from E.T. Gregorie's pen. "Bob" Gregorie, the former yacht designer hired in 1932 by Edsel Ford, formed Ford's first styling studio and was responsible for the Model Y Ford for Britain, scaled up for the 1933-1934 Model 40. Gregorie's cues for the Zephyr were applied to the 1937 Ford, and of course from the Zephyr sprang Edsel Ford's immortal Continental.

The 1936 Lincoln-Zephyr (FoMoCo hypenated it - usually) is the purest form of the design, with its pointed prow and sloping tail. The spare tire hides just inside the trunk, just waiting to burst forth, Continental style (which, in fact, it must if one is to stow any luggage). The interior is Ford gone ultra art deco, to the extent of Aiflow-like chomed seat frames. To be a Lincoln in 1936 meant V-12 power, and the Zephyr got a 267 cubic inch unit owing much to the Ford V8. The little 12 had a reputation for frailty, but driven hard with frequent oil changes it gave good service.

The new Zephyr draws mixed reviews. Based on the Ford Fusion, which is in turn derived from the Mazda6, it's hardly revolutionary. AutoWeek summed it up as a kinder, gentler Fusion. Automobile magazine (January 2006) panned it, saying the Fusion and its cousin, the Mercury Milan, are "better deals for buyers of any age."

Which leads us to ask: What Would Gregorie Do? For one thing, he'd put a point on it. No faceless blobs for Bob Gregorie, let alone a caricature of the '41 Lincoln grille made to resemble a cowcatcher. No corporate Duratec V6, either. The car should have an aluminum V-12 with lots of camshafts, though perhaps not the 4.3 liters of its ancestor. Even a small V-12 is probably impractical for transverse front-wheel drive, so make it a rear-driver, through six-speed automatic. Put the spare tire in a pointed tail, and make sure the seats have chrome frames. And do it all without making it look "retro." A tall order? Let's ask Robert Cumberford.

The Heart of the Lion

Peugeots and I go back a long way. The year I graduated from elementary school, my parents bought a new Peugeot 403, one of the first imported to the USA. When I got my driver's license almost three years later, I was allowed to drive it on special occasions (my everyday wheels being either the Nash Rambler or DeSoto you've seen in earlier CarPort installments). The 403 remained in the family until it rusted voraciously away.

The French have a way with car design: utterly unconventional by American standards, but resulting in excellent handling with a very comfortable ride. This has been true of all our subsequent Peugeots, a 1979 504 diesel sedan that my wife Jill bought in 1986 and the 1985 505STI and 1987 505STX that succeeded it (the latter with the bulletproof Peugeot-Renault-Volvo V6 engine). These later Peugeots have been reliable, too, the 505s recording over 200,000 miles each. Peugeot's rearing lion mascot is well chosen.

I have not, however, had much experience with prewar Peugeots, so I was anxious to sample the 402 berline owned by my friend Victor Lane. Victor, an American living in Wales, is an eclectic collector, the inhabitants of whose garage are constantly changing, and a person who enjoys sharing his treasures with his friends. An afternoon with Victor is a car person's delight.

The Peugeot 402 was manufactured from 1935 until production halted during World War II, nearly 80,000 cars in all. Looking akin to a small Chrysler Airflow, the 402 is streamlined and distinctive, one of its hallmarks being behind-the-grille headlamps. It turns out to be, interestingly, the comsummate car for touring in Europe. Nimble on its Michelin shoes, it also boasts the French standard for comfort. A 2-liter engine provides plenty of forward movement, through gears stirred with another French innovation, the push-pull-and-twist shifter. This odd-looking device is nowhere near as clumsy as it looks.

The ultimate Peugeot 402 is the Eclipse Décapotable, a retractable hardtop anticipating the Ford Skyliner by over two decades (here's a similar body on the 1934 601 chassis). Eclipses are understandably rare, but "ordinary" 402s are frequently available and for less than a king's ransom.

Not all Peugeots are wonderful. I suffered a long year with a notoriously unreliable 405, the model that pretty well ended Peugeot's presence in North America. In a way I miss it. Though underpowered and inappropriately geared, it, too, had nimble handling and the most comfortable seats of any automobile I've ever owned.