Car Wallpaper Blog!

Maxwell-Chalmers was an automobile company that had been experiencing a series of troubles. In an effort to save it, a gentleman in the person of Walter P. Chrysler, was called to intervene. Walter Chrysler, who also did a rescue job at Willy’s Car Company, reorganized Maxwell, thus the Chrysler Company was born. Chrysler assumed a logo designed as a round medallion with a ribbon on which is inscribed the name Chrysler in capital letters. Chrysler has been a household name for many decades now, and many thanks to a Walter P. Chrysler, the company has been producing American automobiles since 1925.

For roughly 10 years, beginning in 1998, to be exact, Chrysler and its subsidiaries became part of the DaimlerChrysler AG (formerly known as DaimlerChrysler), a German-based company. Then, sometime in August 2007, Chrysler assumed a new name, Chrysler LLC, after an American private equity firm, Cerberus.

Capital Management, L.P., bought at least 80% of the DaimlerChrysler AG. This led to the unveiling of a new company logo, as well as a new website.

The first Chrysler automobile was launched to the public in 1924. This first model had 6 cylinders and was a major improvement of the other cars during that time. It had a carburetor air filter, a high compression engine, an oil filter, and a pressure lubrication, which were not at all present in the other cars. Despite the seemingly advanced features, Chrysler was not an expensive car. In 1926, Chrysler came up with 4-cylinder cars, which were no less than improved versions of the Maxwell cars. In fact, those familiar with Maxwell cars would easily recognize the similarities between them.

Chrysler Corporation became very popular around this time. Sales of Chrysler cars ballooned considerably, and this was largely because of engineering advancements, such as the four-wheel hydraulic brakes and the rubber engine mounts which ultimately stopped vibration. Because of advancements like this, Chrysler placed second in US car sales for a period of thirteen years, that’s from 1936 to 1949!

In 1928, Chrysler began classifying their automobiles according to price and function. The cheapest was the Plymouth brand, while cars carrying the DeSoto brand were medium-priced. After Chrysler bought Dodge Brothers Automobile and Truck Company, other brands came to existence. One of these was the Fargo brand of trucks. Much later on, other brands came along, such as the Valiant. Initially, Valiant was offered as a separate brand. A particular feature of the Valiant was the presence of an alternator instead of an electrical generator.

Beginning in 1960, Chrysler used Unibody construction for all its passenger cars, except the Imperials. By doing so, squeak and rattle development were greatly reduced. Chrysler was the only major automobile maker to have done this.

After a considerable time, Chrysler invaded Europe, attracting the likes of the British Rootes Group, composed of Simca of France and Barreiros of Spain, eventually forming Chrysler Europe. This resulted to the unveiling of the Hillman Avenger in 1970. The Rootes Group, however, soon underwent financial problems that Chrysler had to sell its assets to PSA Peugeot Citroen in 1978. The PSA Peugeot Citroen sold British and Spanish truck lines to France’s Renault. It was, perhaps, a difficult decision for Chrysler, considering that it had just designed the new Plymouth Horizon and the Dodge Omni in the hope of a financial turn-around. In addition to Chrysler’s financial woes, Chrysler Australia, too, had to be sold to Mitsubishi Motors.

At about this time, too, Chrysler went into production of the street version of its Hemi racing engine. The Company also introduced vehicles, like the Plymouth GTX, Plymouth Road Runner, and Dodge Charger. These vehicles were all high-performance vehicles, but surprisingly, they were affordable. These measures led to the creation of the muscle car market in the United States, and markedly improved the reputation of the company in the field of engineering.

From these developments, it could be said that the 1970s was a period of trials and success for the Company. Moreover, the demand was huge for smaller cars, as a result of the gasoline crisis. The Company suffered severe losses with the collapse of the sales of large cars. Moreover, the Company saw the end of its Barracuda in 1974 after being in the market for a few years. Fortunately, 1976 proved to be a better year for the company. The Chrysler Cordoba, a personal luxury car, and the Dodge Aspen/Plymouth Volare twins were a success. Still, they were not enough to lift the Chrysler Corporation from eventual financial meltdown. So, on September 7, 1979, the Corporation asked for a US$1.5 billion loan from the United States government. Reluctantly, the United States Congress passed the Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee Act of 1979 some three months later. This, and with much help from the military who bought thousands of Dodge pickup trucks, saved Chrysler from going bankrupt. Not only that, Chrysler, in fact, gradually recovered. It was able to repay its loans and it was also able to come out with new models based on the K-car platform which were making good in the market. Further, it joined forces with Mitsubishi’s Diamond Star Motors, and this significantly bolstered its position in the small car market.

During that time, too, Lee Iacoccca, the former executive of Ford, took over as Chief Executive Officer. Iacocca did wonders for the Corporation. Gifted with public speaking skills, he was very convincing in his marketing and advertisements of the company’s products. Often, he would advise potential customers, “If you find a better car, buy it.”

Eventually, Chrysler found its way again in Europe, producing cars in Austria and Jeep models in the United Kingdom. The Jeep became very popular, strongly reestablishing Chrysler’s position in the market.

At present, the Chrysler Company has three brands of automobiles to its name, and these are the Dodge, Jeep, and Chrysler. Chrysler LLC, also referred to as the New Chrysler, is headed by Robert Nardelli, and is now known as the largest private automobile maker in North America.