Awake at the wheel: DeSoto brought its dream to life in 1956 with the head-turning Adventurer

The limited-production DeSoto Adventurer from the old ChryslerCorp. was a true auto child of the late 1950s, with heroic tailfins,flashy paint with gold trim and a powerful Hemi V-8.

The 1955 Chrysler 300 -- America's first mass-produced 300-horsepower car -- showed Chrysler that there was a good market forbig, sporty, prestigious autos.

DeSoto was a high-line Chrysler division, so the Adventurer wasintroduced for 1956, along with Chrysler's Dodge D-500 and PlymouthFury upscale hot rods.

The Adventurer was introduced as part of DeSoto's Fireflite linejust in time for the 1956 spring selling season. All of the 996Adventurers produced were sold within six …