1953 DESOTO LIMOUSINE
This Desoto came out of an estate with a well known museum in Oregon. (See pic of collection). The collectionhad over 200 cars with many being movie star cars. This was sold to themat auction16 years ago as President Truman's White House car.
The paint isactually pretty niceand the sides are straight. The doors, trunk and hood fit very well. The rubber moldings have survived well. The chrome is vintage and nothing missing. Leave it as a survivor or re-chrome the parts. This is not rusty with a solid undercarriage. The glass is in excellent condition.
The interior has held up well. Little wear and no rips or tears. The headliner, door panels, seats and dash are nice. No pitting around the chrome pieces in the dash.
The car has not been started in 15 years. It will need the gas tank drained and new fuel.A new battery and all the fluids changed.It has the heater box and heater motor removed from the firewall for some reason.That part should be found and replaced. I am not aware of anything else missing off the car.I was told, by the estate, that the car ran fine until it was parked. The 200 cars were all sold not running as he had passed away ten years ago. The other cars I purchasedwere all non- runners.
Now to the fact of whether or not its a President's car. There is no documentation. You have an 80% chance it is because 80% of the people are basically honest. The other reasonis because thisDeSoto has been so well caredfor. Itwas believed to bea veryimportant car.
Ten years ago I bought the 31st President's car under the same circumstances.No documentation.Took me 3 years of not trying tohard to hit pay dirt with that Presidential Library. Then they asked to display it in the library for 6 months. It was a nice experience.
I am backed up overa year with cars that need restoring, before I can get to this car. The price is not negotiable.There were only 225 of these cars made.It is believed to be 57,000 miles and I wouldagree considering how amazing the interior looks. This is an exceptionalsurvivor. ADDED LATER; Truman left office on January 22, 1953. This car is titled a 1953. Interestingly, the tail lights are 1952 and are factory original. The car may have been delivered as early as July, August or September of 1952 for service. In these years, there were not as many limousine's as there were in later years. It was then probably used in the early Eisenhower years. If this is a President's car, it is probably valued at$50,000 and likely much more.If you want to purchase this, I will explain how best to go aboutthis, asI have been thru this before.Please make sureYOU AREserious.
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