Category: Car Makes

Chrysler is owned by the Italian automaker, Fiat, but it wasn’t always so. Chrysler has a rich history, like so many other carmakers that began in the early twentieth century. Today it is still considered one of the Big Three automakers in the U.S., next to Ford and General Motors and it’s going strong.

Before it became the Chrysler Corporation it was the Maxwell Motor Company. That company existed from 1904 until 1925. They made affordable cars and began having financial difficulties when they couldn’t sell very many cars during the 1920 recession. Walter Chrysler, who was a troubleshooter and apparently knew a lot about the car business, decided to help the Maxwell Company out. He came in and tinkered with it and then took a controlling interest in the company and ultimately, absorbed all of Maxwell’s assets and stamped his name on the product. From 1925 on, the company was known as the Chrysler Corporation.

In 1928, Chrysler created the Plymouth and DeSoto brands of cars and also bought the Dodge brand. 1928 was a pretty good year for Chrysler. Walter Chrysler was not only a troubleshooter, but he was an innovator, also. His cars were the first to use an air filter and an oil filter. The Chrysler brand also had full pressure lubrication and had high compression engines. In order to decrease engine vibration, Chrysler implemented the use of rubber motor mounts. Another specialty feature that Chrysler thought of and put into use was the rigid rimmed wheel. This kept flat tires from flying off the wheel. Safety and efficiency seemed to be their underlying drive and the Chrysler Corporation was willing to spend time and money on research and development of these and many other standard features.

These things are all taken for granted today, but in Walter Chrysler’s time, no other carmaker was doing it. No one bothered to be innovative or to make their cars safer for the driver and passengers and nearby pedestrians.

Chrysler is generally known for their luxury cars and their reputation is well deserved. Their luxury brands are indeed, luxurious. In the 1940s they were big and opulent. In the 1950s and 60s you could see a Chrysler coming from blocks away. And in the 1970s, the early seventies, they seemed to get even bigger and more opulent. The oil crisis in the early seventies changed all that. Chrysler developed smaller, more fuel-efficient cars but still kept their luxury brands available. They are still available today and they are beautiful and good sized. They’re powerful and comfortable. They are efficient and luxurious. Yes, Chrysler has maintained a wonderful line of cars; and they’re still thinking of safety and efficiency and they still have a lot of style. There are now thousands of Chrysler dealerships like Arrigo Palm Beach that can offer you the luxury of a Chrysler.