1946 DeSoto Diplomat - today's tempter
Export Chrysler
Chrysler’s DeSoto brand produced some spectacular cars over time, perhaps none more so than the 1959 Adventurer at the peak of the fin era.
The Diplomat however was a somewhat more humble offering, and was specifically intended as an export model – Diplomats were not sold in the most of the USA or Canada.
They were however exported to Europe, South Africa, South America, Australia, New Zealand and, oddly enough, Hawaii
The 1946 model was the start of this exercise and the cars brought here were built in Canada, which enjoyed special tariff status as part of the British Commonwealth.
Chrysler Australia was to build DeSotos from 1953.
Based on a Plymouth, the 1946 car runs a 3.2lt straight six and three-speed transmission.
This example in Kelso, NSW, oddly enough was imported from the USA in the 1960s. It claims to have undergone a restoration and is on the market for $38,500.
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