Dust and Google

<p>If you struggled with DOS and computers with 640k of RAM, you are likely as amazed by The Internet and Google as I am.<br /> <a href="http://westfordcomp.com/foundfilm/six20desoto/index.html">Kodacolor -X Found film.</a></p>

<p>Hey, a Frosted Defuncto Flibbertigibbet.</p>

<p>Don't knock it, Lex. I learned to drive on one of those Desoto yachts....the shift (it was automatic) was on the left side and pretty much on the dash. Wicked!!!</p>

<p>Les</p>

My father had a '56 or '57 Desoto. Wasn't shifting just down with push buttons on the left side of the dash?

<p>Nice piece of detective work, <strong>Gene</strong>. De Sotos were a rare breed, downunder. From my childhood I recall our neighbours had a Firedome, though I seem to recall it had a different grille, sort of loaded with toothy, bulging chrome. A later (or earlier) model, perhaps.</p>

Nice find, Gene. Maybe in a few decades if someone is still finding film they'll find a lost roll with some car lines that were discontinued not so long ago (like Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Plymouth). Maybe I have a forgotten roll with images of my 1989 Olds Cutlass, which had an appetite for alternators. BTW, don't think I've ever seen more than one or two running Desoto's in my lifetime.

Yep, the DeSoto had the push button automatic transmission.

 

http://jdainis.com/desoto.jpg

 

I think other cars at that time may have had it also. DeSoto sponsored Groucho Marx and "You Bet Your Life" in the 1950s. Groucho would sign off with, "And when you see your DeSoto dealer, tell him Groucho sent you".

 

If you took your driving test with an automatic transmission car you would get a restricted driver's license good only for driving cars with auto transmissions.

<p>Nice work recovering those images Gene. We had a light dusting of snow here in Memphis last week. Probably less than what was in those pictures. Final tally was over 140 auto accidents, 3 deaths, and 2 interstates shut down. We don't do snow very well down here.</p>

<p>In the snow, go slow.</p>

<p>old cars old cameras but modern film.<br>

Maybe I am too old. but the price of cars is 10x what it was " back then"<br>

and some get good mileage. but nOT that much better.<br>

with a few tweaks an old 1950's car<br>

would be a vbery useful think to own and use.<br>

old cameras? Kodak s and the aim of many others was to appeal to the "dumb" masses<br>

beaning box cameras with f8 and f11 lenses.<br>

made in the 1950's copied from the 1920's<br>

NOW do not take this a slam against Gene M.<br>

I really love what he does. after all he just finds and uses film aND OLD CAMERAS ans shows us what uised to be.<br>

with considerable skill and effort. I really enjoy his presenmtations.<br>

I am "sort of" retro myself but not as skilled as gene m./</p>

<p>i remember the bad old days. , trouble som, nicads<br>

an e-f that lied about the guide number.<br>

the old slow film was excellent I am amazed that<br>

w<br>

with asa 10 Kodachrome I got so many properly exposed slides on a roll with a meterless camera like my c-3 and $14.00 fujica classic IV. <br>

I still have dos disks and copies or 1980's software.<br>

but when I set up a md 90's system see how obsolete it is.</p>

 

<p>I was going to say great detective work on figuring out the car but Rick beat me to it.</p>

<p>Does anyone know what waterfall that is? I can just hear the roar. We are so dry out west that it would be fun to visit.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I personally learned to drive in my freshman high-school year on a Plymouth (or Dodge?) of the same "finnéd" vintage.<br /> Later I owned a Dodge Dart with the push-button gear shift discussed above.<br /> Anthropologists call the cultures in East Africa the 'cattle cultures' because they really, truly like cows a lot. I think America certainly was, to the same degree, a 'car culture' in the 1950s.<br /> They indicated status, mobility, and all the other virtues and failings of the American Way of Life.<br /> Great Work, Gene.</p>

<p>The photos do the old Firedome proud, as does the added moons and beauty rings on those 15 inch tires.</p>

<p>Hopefully, the heater and defroster worked well.</p>

<p>Good save. I saw a DeSoto in a wrecking yard once, and we keep all our snow fenced in on the Snowy Mountains.</p>

<p>Interesting thing about manual and automatic transmissions: An elderly couple that lived near my family during my college years had a 56' Plymouth (3 speed manual) and a 68' full size Plymouth with Torqueflite automatic). The lady drove the older of the two cars. When her husband had a stroke and could no longer drive it was decided to part with the older car. She had to have someone come and give her driving lessons for the 68' model. </p>

<p>What a wonderful little presentation. I really enjoyed it, thanks :-)</p>

<p>[[Does anyone know what waterfall that is? I can just hear the roar. We are so dry out west that it would be fun to visit.]]</p>

<p>The photo is of the Upper Falls of the Yellowstone River in Yellowstone National Park. The bridge in the background is the Chittenden Memorial Bridge. </p>

What you don't say @Mike. HEre in Europe they don'T let you ahve automatic transmission when renting a

car unless you "know" how to drive an automatic. Too many people stripped the transmissions shifting, ...

go figure.

Thanks for sharing that post. I thankl you for your resarch too.. I really liked that mirror out on the front

fender. These models weren't plentiful enough to keep the company up apparently!