Who was Walter Chrysler?

You’ve heard the name Chrysler before, but who was the man behind the brand? Here’s a chance to learn about his beginnings, inspiration, and legacy. 

The Man Behind the Car 

Walter P. Chrysler - chrysler.com
Walter P. Chrysler - chrysler.com

Walter Percy Chrysler was, as you probably already know, the founder of the Chrysler Corporation. His name can be found on the Chrysler 300, the Chrysler Newport, the Chrysler New Yorker, and the Chrysler Town & Country station wagon and minivan. Most of those ideas weren’t even an idea by the time Walter P. Chrysler died, but he’s more than just a namesake. He laid the foundation for Chrysler. He also worked to make Buick a competitor at a time when Ford was dominant.

Who was the man behind the nameplate, though? How did he end up starting Chrysler? What inspired him to turn to car manufacturing? How did a boy born in Wamego, Kansas in 1875 become one of the richest men in the United States of America? That’s exactly what you’re about to find out.

A Railroad Worker from the Start 

Union Pacific Railroad on facebook.com
Union Pacific Railroad on facebook.com

Born to Henry and Anna Maria, Walter Chrysler was the third of four children. When Walter was two years old, the family moved further west to an even more desolate Ellis, Kansas. Henry Chrysler was a lifelong railroad engineer, so he was located wherever the work was. There was work to be done on the Kansas Pacific Railway and the Union Pacific Railroad in Ellis.

Growing up, Walter watched his father work on the railroads with great interest. Walter started tinkering with machines as a child. That intrigue didn’t go away with age. Instead, it intensified. At 17 years old, Walter defied his father’s wishes. Instead of going to college, Walter began an apprenticeship at a railroad machine shop.

Chrysler family - chrysler.org
Chrysler family - chrysler.org

From the age of 17 on, Walter spent the next 20 years working his way up in railroad engineering. His career took him all over the U.S., including other parts of Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Texas, Iowa, and Utah. It was in Utah, in 1901, that Walter married Della Forker and moved to Salt Lake City, Utah. The couple had four children, including Thelma Chrysler, Bernice Chrysler, Walter Chrysler Jr., and John Chrysler.

The Chrysler didn’t stay in Utah long, though. Even with newborn baby Thelma having just arrived, the family picked up and moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where Walter was a manager for the Allegheny Locomotive Company making $12,000 a year. It was around that time that Walter saw a car for the very first time.

Buying His First Car 

1908 Automobile Show - chicagology.com
1908 Automobile Show - chicagology.com

Walter Chrysler saw a Locomobile at the Chicago Auto Show in 1908. He wanted to purchase it right away. There were just a couple of problems. First, Watler didn’t know how to drive. Second, the car cost $5,000. He only had $700 in his savings. Walter was undeterred and ended up borrowing $4,300 to equal the full $5,000.

The car was shipped to Walter’s home, where he spent time studying the mechanics of the vehicle, taking it apart and putting it back together. After countless hours, he knew it through and through. Walter would have potentially been content simply being one of the early car enthusiasts, but one meeting changed his career trajectory, and the trajectory of automobiles in the United States.

Getting Into the Automotive Business  

Walter P. Chrysler - digitalcollections.detroitpubliclibrary.org
Walter P. Chrysler - digitalcollections.detroitpubliclibrary.org

In 1911, at 36 years old, Walter met with an Allegheny Locomotive Company banker who asked if Walter, with all of his skills and know-how, would be interested in making a switch to the automotive industry. It would have meant a significant pay cut, but it worked out for the best because Walter made a quick rise to the top.

Charles Nash, then president of General Motors (GM), was the one who convinced Walter to join GM. With a salary of $6,000 a year (half of what he was making working for the railroad), Walter signed on as the manager of the Buick plant in Flint, Michigan. His work there was successful enough that even when the company changed ownership, Walter was a hot commodity.

Walter P. Chrysler with 1924 Chrysler automobile - digitalcollections.detroitpubliclibrary.org
Walter P. Chrysler with 1924 Chrysler automobile - digitalcollections.detroitpubliclibrary.org

William Durant, the previous owner and founder of GM, regained ownership of the company in 1915. Walter turned in his resignation, but Durant wasn’t about to let that happen. He made the trip to Walter’s home, in Flint, Michigan, to personally appeal to him. So long as Walter would remain on as the President of Buick, Durant offered him $10,000 a month for three years with a $500,000 bonus at the end of each year. In addition, Walter would be in charge. There would be no interference from anyone. Walter accepted those terms.

Under Walter’s leadership, Buick became the strongest unit under the General Motors umbrella and most successful auto brand in the U.S. at the time. While things were obviously going well, Durant and Chrysler butted heads several times, especially about expenditures. Walter was more fiscally conservative than Durant was. One plan to supply Buick with frames from an outside company would’ve saved close to $2 million a year. In contrast, Durant announced plans to build a $6 million Buick frame plant in Flint. After his contract was up in 1919, Walter resigned from his position. Durant ended up paying Walter $10 million for his GM stock.

Creating Chrysler 

Walter P. Chrysler - blog.stellantisnorthamerica.com
Walter P. Chrysler - blog.stellantisnorthamerica.com

Walter Chrysler was now out on his own. He worked with bankers in order to try to turn around Willys-Overland Motor Company for a salary of $1 million a year for two years. Chrysler teamed up with three ex-Studebaker engineers in Fred Zeder, Owen Skelton, and Carl Breer to start designs on a new car that would later be known as the Chrysler Six. It was an all-new car priced at $1,565.

Debts had to be paid, so Willys put many of its assets on the auction block. That included a Elizabeth, New Jersey manufacturing plant and the Chrysler Six prototype. William Durant purchased them and reworked the Chrysler Six into the 1923 Flint.

Chrysler and his trio of engineers shifted their focus to the failing Maxwell Motor Company. Chrysler took controlling interest of the company in 1921. By 1925, Maxwell Motor Company was reorganized into what would be known as the Chrysler Corporation.

Showroom in Chrysler Building - chryslerbuilding.com
Showroom in Chrysler Building - chryslerbuilding.com

The goal of Chrysler would be making affordable luxury vehicles. He wasn’t stopping at the Chrysler brand, though. Chrysler introduced the low-priced Plymouth brand on July 7, 1928. Less than a month later, on August 4, 1928, Walter Chrysler created the DeSoto marquee as a mid-price option. Dodge Brothers Inc, another brand at the time, had lagging sales that placed it at 13th place within the industry. Chrysler bought that up in 1928 as well, renaming it Dodge.

Chrysler wanted a brand known for innovative engineering, and that’s what he got. In less than a decade, Chrysler earned the label of Detroit’s “engineering company.” Replaceable oil filters, downdraft carburetors, one-piece curved windshields, and Floating Power (a method that involved mounting engines in order to isolate vibration) were some of Chrysler’s accomplishments.

The Imperial series, introduced in 1926, was Chrysler’s top-of-the-line vehicle. It started off with a custom built LeBaron or Briggs body, a 125-horsepower engine, and a price tag of $3,145. Stylistically similar to a Duesenberg, the Imperial didn’t cost nearly as much. The Imperial wasn’t quite as luxurious as the Duesenberg, but it also only cost a third of the price.

Chrysler’s Later Life and Legacy 

Walter P. Chrysler, Sr. and Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., ca. 1930 - chrysler.org
Walter P. Chrysler, Sr. and Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., ca. 1930 - chrysler.org

Walter Chrysler stepped down from his position as president of Chrysler in 1935 at age 61. Though he had retired from day-to-day business, Chrysler remained the chairman of the board. He kept busy by publishing a series of articles on his life story in 1937. They were later accumulated in the 1950 autobiography, Life of an American Workman.

In 1938, Chrysler’s wife died. Shortly thereafter, Chrysler had a stroke. Chrysler survived, but he didn’t fully recover from the stroke. Chrysler passed away in August 1940 after experiencing a cerebral hemorrhage. He was buried at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.

Chrysler Building
Chrysler Building

The Chrysler Corporation continued on under different leadership, making cars like the Chrysler Windsor, the Chrysler New Yorker, the Chrysler 300 series, and dozens of others. Lee Iacocca would famously come on board in the late 1970s, taking the company out of dire financial straits. Meanwhile, the man who started it all, Walter Chrysler Sr, was inducted into the 1967 class of the Automotive Hall of Fame. Chrysler, Henry Ford, Charles Kettering, and Alfred P. Sloan were actually the very first inductees into the Hall of Fame.

Chrysler left an indelible mark, not just on the automobile industry, but on New York City itself. He began financing construction for the famous Chrysler building in 1928. It was completed two years later, in 1930, and was the tallest building in the world for 11 months following construction.

Though it no longer holds that distinction, the Chrysler building is still the tallest brick building in the world with a steel framework, standing at 1,046 ft. For his efforts on the Chrysler building and in the automotive industry, Chrysler was named Time Magazine’s Man of the Year in 1928

2023 Chrysler 300 - chrysler.com
2023 Chrysler 300 - chrysler.com

While Walter Chrysler Jr. did have a hand in founding the Airtemp division at Chrysler (which was responsible for developing the first air-conditioning system in a vehicle), he didn’t remain on with the company. He did become president of the Chrysler building, a position he held until 1953.

Several buyouts later, Stellantis now owns Chrysler, which still produces vehicles like the Chrysler 300 and the Chrysler Pacifica. In fact, we have an in-depth 2023 Chrysler 300 review and 2023 Chrysler Pacifica review that go over all the highlights of each vehicle. Chrysler may not be the automotive powerhouse that it once was, but the name still means something. For a company that has been around for nearly 100 years, there are bound to be highs and lows. No matter what happens to the brand in the future, there’s no denying how much Walter Chrysler and his successors ended up contributing to the automotive industry.

Related Pop Culture Articles

Top 10 JDM Subaru Cars

The Unique ‘50s Flair of the DeSoto Adventurer

What Was the Car from the Halftime Show?

Tags:
Jesse Batson

Jesse Batson earned his journalism degree from South Dakota State University. No stranger to newsgathering and reporting, Jesse spent 13 years in TV news. 10 of those years were spent working in Charlotte, NC, home of NASCAR. A highlight of his time there was being able to take a lap around the Charlotte Motor Speedway. His interest in vehicles, starting with Matchbox cars, a Big Wheel, and the Transformers, evolved into taking photos of motocross events. Now, he puts his research skills to use on car culture, reviews, and comparisons.

  • 1

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *