Media post: How one man built a leader in the Auto industry
Walter P. Chrysler. Picture courtesy caranddriver.com
Most people are familiar with the name Chrysler but do they really know where it came from? There are Chrysler automobiles and how about the famous Chrysler Building in the heart of New York City? These are both named after one man, Walter Chrysler, Walter Percy Chrysler, to be more precise.
He was born in 1875 in a very small town in Kansas and then he and his family moved to an even smaller town, probably to get away from all fast paced wheat and dairy farmers. You know how they are. When Walter got to be old enough he took correspondent courses and earned a mechanical degree and started working as a machinist and railroad mechanic. It doesn’t sound all that romantic, but wait a bit the interesting stuff is coming up soon.
We’ll skip the years of hard work on the railroad and jump right into the place where Walter, at 36 years of age, through a railroad connection, met the president of Buick, who offered him a job as head of production for the car company. Well, Walter jumped at that idea and headed to Flint, Michigan, and started impressing everyone with his ability to cut costs and increase production, which, of course, meant that profits were increased also. The big guys at Buick loved the idea of making more moolah and they loved Walter for being able to do it.
Chrysler’s bosses were so enamored of him that they gave him the unheard of salary of $10,000 a month (equal to $165,000 now) and a half a million dollars in a year end bonus, along with another half million in stock. Apparently, this guy could really get the job done right!
He stayed for three years, sold his stock for $10 million and was hired to turn around the Willys-Overland Motor Company at $1 million a year and left a couple of years later and took control of the Maxwell Motor Company. He started the Chrysler Corporation in 1925, which absorbed Maxwell and then he purchased the Plymouth and DeSoto brands and then he bought Dodge in 1928. Okay, here’s where the Chrysler Building comes in to play. He started to build the Chrysler Building the same year (1928) that he took over the Dodge Company. That’s all you get about the Chrysler Building. You can get more information on the Internet.
Walter Chrysler was one of the real automobile manufacturing titans in the United States. Every car that bears his name is built with the highest quality materials and craftsmanship, just like Walter would have wanted. Come see his beautiful cars at Texan Dodge Chrysler.
