The fall used to mean longer-than-usual TV spots to introduce the next year's models and their features.

Come on in for a rarity that introduced viewers to the "New" 1958 De Sotos, with none other than Groucho Marx....

 De Soto (and the De Soto-Plymouth Dealers) had sponsored Groucho's "You Bet Your Life" quiz show on NBC Radio and TV for years, and this bit, filmed in '57 to introduce the '58s, likely aired at the end of one of their early-season episodes that fall.

Cut and paste this URL into your browser to see it: www.youtube.com/watch?v=f53BJ z17c&feature=related  (There's a space between the J and the z, by the way...)

A couple of notes about the spot: "George" is George Fenneman, Groucho's announcer/sidekick, and longtime TV commercial pitchman.

Take note of the '58 De Soto's new windshield...the one used on the '57 leaked like a sieve!

Also take note of the "New" De Soto engine...it's the "B" engine big block that you've known & loved for years!

Also: One of my neighbors when I was a kid in the Detroit 'burbs of the '60s, was Richard Baird, who (back then) was head of De Soto's styling studio. That studio was merged into Chrysler's --as was just about every faction of De Soto's operations--sometime following the '58 model year. Still, it's good to see what he & his crew of stylists did with the two ChryCo vehicle platforms they used (the low-end Firesweep models were based on the Dodge body & chassis, while the Firedome, Fireflite and Adventurer series  were based on the Chrysler platform).