Chrysler The Rise Fall and Rise Again 1920-1970

The Chrysler motor company was founded in 1925constructed the first wind tunnel in the automotive
by Mr Walter P Chrysler, the formation occurredindustry to do this, this required a significant
when the Maxwell motor company was restructuredinvestment. Sadly for Chrysler the investment
into the Chrysler Corporation.although ground breaking failed to pay off. It appears
Walter Chrysler had been hired by the Maxwell Motorthe public were not keen on the new aero dynamic
Company to sort out what was widely recognised asstyling of the Chrylser and so turned away form the
a company in crisis. Chrysler had a reputation as a nocars on mass. This significant reduction in revenues
nonsense hard noised businessman which he earnedleft the Chrysler Company unable to continue is
when he turned around the fortunes of the severelyinvestment in new technology at the same rate that
ailing Willys car company.it had previously, in fact it was sales of Dodge and
Having firmly established himself in the hot seat atPlymouth which kept the company going in the 1930s.
Chrysler, Walter Chrysler oversaw the production ofA Slow Recovery through the 1940s and 1950s
the first automobile under the new Chrysler name.The disaster of the aero dynamic cars produced in
The new 6-cylinder Chrysler was generally wellthe 1930s had a big effect on the overall psyche of
received by the press and public. The new ChryslerChrysler with the cars released in the 1940s and 50s
had been designed to give customers a welldistinctly conservative in design. Sales did grow in this
engineered car for a good price. It has beenperiod however as the company began to recover
suggested by several people that many of thefrom the disastrous 1930s.
design elements of the new Chrysler had in fact1960s Chrysler Returns to Innovation
been under development when Walter Chrysler wasHaving made its recovery over the 1940s and 1950s
at the Willys car company. This suggestion hasChrysler was now ready to start innovation again and
proved hard to substantiate.the 60s kicked off with a significant innovation for
Under the stewardship of Walter Chrysler theChrysler. In 1960 Chrysler became the first of the big
Chrysler motor company continued to innovate andthree US automotive manufacturers to use Unibody
to invest significant time and resources into researchconstruction. This construction technique, now a
and development. This was an investment which paidworldwide standard improved handling and safety
off for Chrysler with the company becoming theduring a crash. Throughout the 60s Chrysler increased
second most prominent car company in the USits market share and continued to innovate producing
market. Some of the many innovations of Chryslerthe first car to use an alternator as standard. It has
included; the first mast produced four wheel drivebeen pointed out by many automotive historians that
hydraulic braking system, rubber engine mounts and awhile the Chrysler brand returned to the place of
carburetor air filter.industry leading innovator during the sixties and its
Chryslers Dark Years the 1930sfinancial fortunes certainly improved, Chrylser had
During the 1930 Chrysler continued to innovate andbegan to neglect the Dodge and Plymouth brands
actually produced the first range of cars widelywhich had guided it through the treacherous decade
available to the public constructed using the principlesof the 1930s.
of air flow and aero dynamics. Chrysler even