The DeSoto Diplomat is an automobile produced by DeSoto from 1946 to 1962 for sale in export markets other than the United States and Canada. The export DeSoto based on the Plymouth was first introduced in 1937 and was built in Detroit. Chrysler Corporation of Canada, which before 1947 enjoyed "

Imperial Preference Imperial Preference was a system of mutual tariff reduction enacted throughout the British Empire following the Ottawa Conference of 1932. As Commonwealth Preference, the proposal was later revived in regard to the members of the Commonwealth of N ...

" (reduced tariff barriers in

British empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

markets) and did not start building export DeSotos until late in the 1939 model year. In 1946, the export DeSoto became the DeSoto Diplomat. They were exported to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, and Australia. In 1955, Chrysler of Canada did not export any cars and all 1955 Diplomats came from Detroit. In the late 1950s, some European taxicab drivers preferred to have a Perkins P4C

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-ca ...

in the Diplomat; these diesel engines were installed on a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

assembly line. From 1938 to 1956, the export DeSoto used Plymouth bodies with a grille that looked similar to the regular DeSoto but fit the Plymouth grille opening. From 1957 to 1959, the DeSoto Diplomat used the

DeSoto Firesweep The DeSoto Firesweep is an automobile that was produced by DeSoto from 1957 through 1959. Interior and exterior description The Firesweep was a lower-priced entry that combined a Dodge shell and chassis (which featured a 122-inch wheelbase, four ...

front clip with Plymouth body. The 1960 and 1961 DeSoto Diplomats were based on the full-size

Dodge Dart Dodge Dart is a line of automobiles marketed by Dodge from the 1959 to 1976 model years in North America, with production extended to later years in various other markets. The Dart name originally appeared on a 1956 Chrysler show car featuring ...

. Although 1960 was the last year for DeSoto in Canada and 1961 for the United States and export markets, Chrysler South Africa built a number of 1962 DeSoto Diplomats based on the Dodge Dart 440 sedan. After 1962, the Diplomat name was retired and the Dodge Dart was marketed under its own name in South Africa. 16 years after DeSoto ended production, Chrysler would revive the Diplomat name for an M-body Dodge. File:1946 DeSoto SP15 Diplomat Special Deluxe Coupe (12650219283).jpg, 1946 Australian DeSoto Diplomat Special Deluxe Coupe (SP15) File:1954 DeSoto Diplomat pic1.JPG, 1954 DeSoto Diplomat 4-Door Sedan File:Bruxelles Autoworld American Dreams 12.jpg, 1956 DeSoto Diplomat Custom Convertible File:1958 De Soto Diplomat (15587747371).jpg, 1958 DeSoto Diplomat 4-Door Wagon File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F010479-0004, Bonn, Bundeshaus mit Fahnen.jpg, 1959 DeSoto Diplomat 4-Door Wagon File:Desoto Diplomat (1960).jpg, 1960 DeSoto Diplomat 4-Door Sedan File:DeSoto Diplomat 1961.jpg, 1961 DeSoto Diplomat 4-Door Sedan

Australian production

Chrysler Australia Fiat Chrysler Australia, officially FCA Australia, is the official Stellantis subsidiary in that country, operating as distributor of Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Abarth, Alfa Romeo and Fiat vehicles. However, there had previously been a "Chrys ...

introduced a locally produced SP24 series DeSoto Diplomat, based on the 1953 US Plymouth P24 in 1953. This was followed by the SP25 series Diplomat which was based on the 1954 US Plymouth P25

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

/ Cranbrook, and was built from 1954 to 1957. The Diplomat was available in "Custom", "Regent" and "Plaza" trim. An Australian developed Coupe Utility version of the Sedan was introduced in 1956. The Diplomat models were an alternative to the

Plymouth Savoy The Plymouth Savoy is an automobile model produced from the 1954 through 1964 model years by Plymouth. Early history Plymouth used the name Savoy on several automobiles. From 1951-1953, the Savoy name was used on a station wagon, upgrading th ...

and

Plymouth Belvedere Plymouth Belvedere is a series of American automobile models made by Plymouth from 1954 until 1970. The Belvedere name was first used for a new hardtop body style in the Plymouth Cranbrook line for the 1951 model year. In 1954 the Belvedere re ...

or the

Dodge Kingsway The Dodge Kingsway is an automobile built by Dodge for export markets. The Kingsway name was adopted for the 1940 models. Before that, the export models based on Plymouth models had no unique model names. Kingsways were rebadged Plymouth vehicles, ...

which, aside from differences in grilles and badging, were essentially the same vehicle. All used the same basic body and all models combined managed to take only 5% of the Australian market in 1955. The Diplomat was replaced by the Australian-built

Chrysler Royal Chrysler Eight For production year 1931, Chrysler introduced their first straight eight engine for the Chrysler Imperial, and offered it in the Chrysler Eight Series CD. It borrowed appearance influences from the Cord L-29. The engine used had ...

, which was derived from the Australian-built P25 Plymouth and was built from 1957 to 1963. File:De Soto Diplomat 1955.JPG, 1955 DeSoto SP25 Diplomat sedan File:1955 Desoto Diplomat SP25 Plaza Sedan (16090718509).jpg, 1955 DeSoto SP25 Diplomat Plaza sedan File:1956-57 DeSoto SP25 Diplomat Plaza coupe utility (1).jpg, 1956-57 DeSoto SP25 Diplomat Plaza coupe utility File:1956-57 DeSoto SP25 Diplomat Plaza coupe utility (2).jpg, 1956-57 DeSoto SP25 Diplomat Plaza coupe utility

References

{{DeSoto (automobile) Cars of Canada DeSoto vehicles Cars introduced in 1946 1950s cars 1960s cars