1. an explorer
   a king
2. a Hollywood actress
   a city in Spain

The Chrysler car was named for Hernando De Soto, the first European to cross the Mississippi River. Like "Plymouth," another Chrysler line, the name is an homage to early America.

1. the "teens"
   the 20s
2. the 30s
   the 40s

The DeSoto debuted in 1928. This was at the tail end of the Jazz Age, a time when a car symbolized the increasing "speed" of American life.

1. the 1950s
   the 1960s
2. the 1970s
   the 1980s

If you said "the 1950s," you were close. The DeSoto barely made it into the "Mad Men" era. The announcement that it was being canceled came in 1960, with the last models sold in 1961.

1. true
2. false

DeSoto was a Chrysler product from the start. There were plenty of occasions in which smaller carmakers were folded into larger companies as the 20th century went on, but this wasn't one of them.

1. the Six
   the Imperial
2. the Hernando
   the Dart

We'd like to believe that the Six was named by a prescient engineer for the sexy Cylon on 2003's "Battlestar Galactica." But it appears to have been named for the number of cylinders.

1. 10
   55
2. 85
   100

That wasn't a whole lot, considering it had to power a rather heavy and non-aerodynamic body. By comparison, a Honda Civic today gets at least 150 horsepower from its four-cylinder engine.

1. Walter Chrysler
   Lee Iacocca
2. Charles Nash
   Carl Icahn

Walter Chrysler began his career at Buick, where he was a key man. He struck out on his own in the mid-1920s.

1. Ford
   Dodge
2. Tucker
   Studebaker

Dodge was the main competitor for the mid-price DeSoto. Tuckers had their very brief day in the late 1940s, long after the early DeSotos rolled out.

1. an intertwined D and S
   an image of the explorer in a helmet
2. an image of the Mississippi River
   a fedora hat

Fans of the car suggest that Chrysler was not aware of the full extent of DeSoto's heritage. His expeditions spread smallpox and other European diseases to a native population with no immunity, causing great suffering.

1. 6,000
   10,000
2. 25,000
   more than 80,000

This first-year record stood until 1960! It's a testament to America's economic health in the Jazz Age that so many people could afford cars, which were still relatively new on the scene.

1. aerodynamic styling
   an inline engine
2. rear-engine design
   a radio

The name says it all. The Airflow moved away from the boxy, hard-edged styles that dominated cars of that day.

1. the reduction in headwind
   the engine placement
2. the type of tires
   industrial-strength shock absorbers

The Airflow moved the engine forward, between the front wheels instead of behind them. With passengers sitting over the wheelbase and not the engine, the Airflow offered a smoother ride.

1. true
2. false

The Airflow's aerodynamic design was just a little too ahead of its time. The car did well in Europe, but not in the States.

1. a bowtie
   a shark fin
2. a smile
   a waterfall

The grille of the Airflow started high on the hood and curved over the top edge to fall toward the front fender. Because it was also narrow in width, it resembled a waterfall.

1. the Airstream
   the Powermaster
2. the Firesweep
   the Firebolt

It's easy to remember this name if you think of "Airflow" + "mainstream." That's pretty much what the Airstream was: a more conventional-looking Airflow.

1. cupholders
   the horn
2. pop-up headlights
   seat belts

A prototype car had used them, but the 1942 DeSoto was the first mass-produced car to have them. By the 1970s, these were practically mandatory on sports cars.

1. Bob Barker
   Steve Dunne
2. Groucho Marx
   Richard Dawson

Of course, he didn't do this because he just loved the brand; it was part of a sponsorship deal. Marx urged viewers to take a test drive: "Tell 'em Groucho sent you."

1. 1938
   1944
2. 1953
   1957

The Firedome replaced the Custom line, which was discontinued in 1952. A Firedome would set you back about $3,000 -- a little more if you wanted the AM radio.

1. generous finance plan
   rearview mirror
2. V8 engine
   waterfall grille

DeSoto had not produced cars with a V8 engine for nearly 20 years. The Firedome's was a Hemi.

1. an ashtray
   pintucked seat stitching
2. a rear spoiler
   tail fins

Tail fins were the classic car-design flourish of the 1950s. In that, the Fireflite was right on trend.

1. 1932
   1944
2. 1951
   1957

The Adventurer was the top-line model in the late 1950s. It offered a V8 engine, gold wheel covers and an electric clock. Swanky!

1. in three days
   with Hedy Lamarr as co-pilot
2. nonstop
   backward

Incredibly, this actually happened. It was a result of Chrysler's budding realization that the car was actually more aerodynamic, and got better mileage, when driven backward. This led to radical design changes.

1. Gene Tierney
   Vivienne Leigh
2. Mary Pickford
   Ginger Rogers

Ginger Rogers was one half of the famous dancing duo, with Fred Astaire. She claimed in the ads to drive a DeSoto. Astaire, meanwhile, drove a Rolls-Royce -- evidence that the gender pay gap has been with us a long time.

1. an early power-door-lock system
   the easy-read speedometer
2. a hybrid manual-automatic transmission
   the windshield-wiper system

Full automatic transmission wasn't really a thing yet, but the "Simplimatic" transmission meant drivers didn't have to shift once the car was in motion. They still needed a clutch to get the car moving, however.

1. Walter Chrysler had died.
   Americans couldn't afford cars after the Depression.
2. The DeSoto plants were part of the war effort.
   There was backlash against the DeSoto name, because of the explorer's treatment of the natives.

DeSoto's factories were making Sherman tank parts during WWII. Chrysler wasn't the only carmaker to suspend production during the war, of course -- all domestic car production ceased.

1. Six
   Seven
2. Eight
   Nine

Sounds impressive, doesn't it? Of course, as the "again" hints at, the statistic came from a survey of DeSoto owners. Always read the fine print, people!

1. 1929
   1939
2. 1949
   1959

In 1949, DeSoto was still riding the wave of car demand that got started with the end of WWII. It made than 130,000 cars that year. Unfortunately, consumer tastes were shifting, and DeSoto's popularity had peaked.

1. an ashtray
   a light-up model of Hernando DeSoto
2. a grooved "seat" for sitting on it
   a well for windshield-cleaning fluid

We can't explain it either, but this early 1950s car had a small hood ornament of DeSoto with a little lightbulb behind the plastic face. It illuminated whenever the headlights were also on.

1. Virgil Exner
   Gian Paolo Dallara
2. Charles Spencer King
   Henry Royce

Exner was the chief stylist of Chrysler, overall. He was a fan of tail fins, which the Adventurer was known for.

1. true
2. false

Though people who look back fondly at '50s cars think of them as a design element, tail fins had a purpose. They improved stability at high speeds. So do spoilers, popular in the '80s and beyond.

1. 12
   24
2. 64
   190

We're not even sure we can *think* of 190 color combinations. If you can, please list them in the comments!

1. coupe
   convertible
2. station wagon
   The DeSoto offered all of these.

Chrysler aimed to please with the DeSoto line. Over the life of the brand, you could buy any of the above three types, as well as a sedan.

1. competition from European cars
   a late-1950s recession
2. a trend toward economy cars
   a safety issue

Economic downturns are never good for car sales, especially in the mid-price range. That's squarely where the DeSoto landed.

1. 400
   LeSabre
2. Newport
   Regal

The Newport name had been used by Chrysler before. It was reintroduced as a low-priced alternative to the mid-price DeSoto.

1. Georgia
   Iowa
2. Texas
   all of them

Ten states have DeSotos, and there are also counties and national parks with the name. This is thought to be a reason Chrysler chose it: "Plymouth," too, is a very popular municipal name. Both names are easily recognized as "American."