Vintage Cars: Unknown 1940s car, chrysler corporation, production car

Question

First Car Jeff, attached if photo of car in my father's (deceased) files. On back he wrote "First Car." I would like to identify it. Any ideas?

Thanks, Jim

Answer
Trust me: you wish you still had that car today! The hidden headlights mean it can only be a 1942 DeSoto.  Production numbers are hard to find for any pre-war Chrysler Corporation product, but with '42 being a shortened year due to the U.S. entry into WWII, these were rare when new, and very hard to find today.  This was the first full-production car in this country to have hidden headlights, or as DeSoto described them in their advertising, "out of sight, except at night!"