Why Did Chrysler Kill DESOTO 35 Days After Launch?

DeSoto was Chrysler's mid-priced car, the one Groucho Marx sold at the end of every You Bet Your Life, though a single Pontiac or Mercury line outsold all of DeSoto. On November 18, 1960, an 81-word telegram told DeSoto dealers the new car was discontinued, 35 days after it reached their showrooms, and on November 30 the last one, a turquoise-and-white hardtop, left the Jefferson Avenue plant in Detroit. This film follows Walter Chrysler's bargaining chip from the 1934 Airflow to the cheaper Plymouth parked beside it in its own showroom.