Ready To Drive: 1957 DeSoto Firesweep Sportsman
While I often talk about the joy of owning and driving smaller cars with fizzy little engines, I admit that I love big American cars from the 1950s. However, they can’t be any old car. I’m talking about vehicles where you need binoculars to see the back if you’re standing at the front. Classics with fins so high they pose a hazard to low-flying aircraft, and that drink deeply from their fuel tank. I’m talking about cars like this 1957 DeSoto Firesweep Sportsman. It is a car with a genuine presence and would seem to represent an easy restoration project. Located in Houston, Texas, you will find the DeSoto listed for sale here on eBay. The owner has set a BIN of $14,300 but will entertain reasonable offers. I have to say a big thank you to Barn Finder Larry D for referring this promising project to us.
The seller located this Firesweep in Dallas and drove it home to Houston after negotiating a sale. It appears that it has spent its life in Texas, and although some DeSotos developed a reputation for rust problems, this one isn’t bad. Starting with what we can’t see, the owner acknowledges that the front floor pan on the driver’s side has penetrating rust, and replacement would be the best option. Pans sell for around $150 per side, so addressing this would be relatively easy and inexpensive if the buyer has decent welding skills. The trunk pan requires similar attention, but the seller includes a new replacement in the sale. The frame wears a consistent coating of surface corrosion, but treating this when tackling the previously mentioned rust would be wise to ensure this classic’s long-term preservation. Externally, there is nothing major beyond surface corrosion, although I suspect that there may be some penetrating rust developing in the lower passenger side rear quarter panel. The Firesweep would benefit from a fresh coat of its original Spanish Gold and White paint, but the buyer could leave the car as-is if they wish to retain its survivor status. A couple of small badges are missing, but most of the trim looks acceptable for a survivor-grade car. There are no visible glass flaws, leaving this DeSoto to stand as a promising restoration project.
By the standard of the 1950s, the 325ci “Poly” V8 powering the DeSoto would be considered tiny. Bolted to the V8 is a three-speed TorqueFlite transmission. When you think that the combination needs to propel a car that is nearly 18-feet in total length and tips the scales at 3,920lbs, you might expect its acceleration to be positively glacial. However, a ¼-mile ET of 16.9 seconds looked pretty competitive in 1957. It seems that the Firesweep is in sound mechanical health. It runs and drives but has been sitting idle for two years. The seller recommends installing a new battery and throwing in a fuel additive. He says that the brake shoes have seen better days, and a complete service wouldn’t go astray. None of this would be complicated or expensive, so a couple of weekends spent tinkering in a home workshop should see the Sportsman prowling our streets once again.
If I were to categorize this DeSoto’s interior, I would class it as serviceable. The front seat upholstery has some significant rips, but the rear is better. Determining the state of the remaining upholstery is difficult, although some brief glimpses show promise. The buyer could throw blankets or aftermarket slipcovers on the seats as a temporary measure, but a replacement seat upholstery set would be a more permanent answer at around $800. The floor mat is past its best, but spending $210 would fix that by adding a new carpet set. It isn’t clear whether any other items will be required, but as with the exterior, the interior refurbishment could happen as time and finances allow.
In an era when the new car market is becoming dominated by smaller and more fuel-efficient vehicles, and where manufacturers are turning their attention towards hybrids and zero-emission options, there’s something almost anti-social about owning a car like this 1957 DeSoto Firesweep Sportsman. It’s big, heavy, and drinks like a fish. It possesses all of the characteristics mainstream buyers now seek to avoid, but that’s one of its attractions. I don’t believe that there’s anything wrong with occasionally swimming against the tide and showing a rebellious streak. This classic would allow its next owner to do that, but to do so in style and comfort. Seventy-seven people are watching this listing, so it appears that I’m not alone on this. I hope that one of them hits the BIN button, but it would be fascinating to know whether they would return the Firesweep to its former glory or drive it with pride as an original survivor.
Comments
$1.99 for unleaded? How old are these pictures?
Spring 2020 at the height of early-pandemic lockdowns most likely.
Might as well gas up the old beast and snap a few pics because there’s noplace else to go and nothing else to do.
What a difference a year can make !
Greg:
What about “No Politics” don’t you understand?
This is a CAR website, not a repository for right-wingnut propaganda.
And you can blame that PUTIN for the current gas prices.
…And even if that was not the case, I would rather have high gas prices than your racist, fascist-sympathizing, loudmouth, moron “real estate magnate” as the President.
I truly apologize for inserting my own politics where they don’t belong, but from past experience this is the only way to get political comments on here deleted.
Greg’s comment is to be removed, along with my own.
Hey, I remember 29 cents! Of course, I’m well into geezerhood.
I remember 17.9cents in Kittery, Maine (1971)
It was a mere 18 months ago when gas was under $1.99 in Central Iowa.
“Firesweep-Sportsman”, what an awesome name. It sure beats “X3 xDrive30i” and the like.
Make a gasser out of it. An injected Hemi, a V-Gate 4-speed, and a Dana 60. Leaf springs up front and some fat & skinny Cragars with the fattest blackwall bias-plys you could find out back…oh, and some chrome fenderwell headers and a Sun Blue Line Tach…fix the rust and leave the repairs in primer.
OK, I finally have to say something after seeing these “I’d replace the engine with…” on every old find.
IMHO: LEAVE THE DAMN THING AS IS! (Sorry, I had to get that off my chest.)
I’m with you , modifying this car would be like putting Botox on the Mona Lisa,plumped up lips,,and false eyelashes.
Thank you, Steve! I feel the same way.
Thanks for saying it out loud
every thing is big in Texas…..cool car
There is an LS or Hemi straight-line guy on every auction. They have no sense of preservation of anything unique and scarce. Just look at those rear fenders.
Nice old car. It always cracks me up to hear everyone refer to “zero emission vehicles” There’s no such thing. The emissions either come out of a tailpipe or a smokestack. Just because you disconnect yourself from your emissions doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Give me an old American V8 any day. 230 or so miles down the road I’ll be leaving you in the dust while you look for a charging station.
I love these old Chrysler products with soring fins, bumper grills and especially exhaust ports out the rear bumper. So many people though, don’t utilize them. Other than the fact they make the chrome black why don’t they use them?
Any theories?
Angel,
I’ve restored numerous 1950’s Cadillacs and other luxury makes with the tailpipes passing thru ports in the chromed bumpers. They all suffered from rear bumper corrosion problems, especially 1956 to 1958 Cadillacs. We’ve dealt with bumper ends that were basically GONE, nothing there for the plating company to repair. All because the stylists managed to prevail against the engineers, who knew what would happen after about 5 years.
So to answer your question with another question: If you spent around $2,500.00 to have your 1957 or 1958 Caddy corroded/missing rear bumper parts restored by one of the better plating companies, would you choose to re-route the tailpipe ends under the bumper, or thru the rear bumper louvers?
Hi Bill,
I understand and that’s a logical conclusion but this is 2022. After 65 years you’d think someone would come up with something to keep the exhaust from corroding the chrome bumper. Like maybe a plastic insert?
I just think it looks weird, you have these ports in the bumpers AND exhaust pipes under the bumper.
I guess it offends my sense of design.
GAS PRICES: Began to rise in Nov. 2020. There was an abrupt acceleration of that rise in Feb. & Mar. 2021, then steady continuing rises until just recently. Them’s the facts, folks.
What Joe said.
This happens to be my car, surprised to find it here on barn finds. I decided to pull the eBay ad just shy of its 7 day run as I will replace the sheet metal in the fronts, install the trunk sheet metal, repair the front bench seat, clean up the engine compartment , change the battery, fix the brakes, and of course- Increase the price. Who knows, I may even just decide to keep her. She is after all… a real beauty – Stay tuned if she re lists on eBay – A.Mauro
The car has undergone extensive restorations and upgrades recently and since it was last listed on eBay. The new eBay listing for this 1957 Desoto Firesweep 325 V8 poly Hemi with photos ,video and complete restoration details is going up this week of September 5 2024. Keep your eyes out! Drew.