The first Chrysler was shown at the New York Auto Show in January 1924—the same month the first buyer walked into the dealership and bought their own six-cylinder Chrysler B-70. Made by Maxwell Motors (chaired by Walter P. Chrysler), the Chrysler lineup had been designed by Fred Zeder, Own Skelton, and Carl Breer. It was … Read more
Today, Chrysler released two videos on its past and future, around 101 years and six months after the first Chryslers were made, unveiled at the New York Auto Show, and sold to customers. The first Chrysler was an almost revolutionary car in two ways: its surprisingly powerful six-cylinder engine, which produced enough power to run … Read more
The first Chrysler engine to be called a Hemi was the 426 cubic inch marriage of the wedge-head “B” engines and the company’s 1951 V8 head design, but long before that was the first series of engines Chrysler made with hemispherical heads. Produced in 1944, the six V-16 Hemi engines were made for the military … Read more
The company that celebrates the 1924 Chrysler’s 100th anniversary in 2025 has already started Hemi Day celebrations. Hemi Day is 4-26, which spells out the 1960s/1970s “elephant engine” displacement of 426 cubic inches. That engine was rated conservatively at 425 brake horsepower, so this 4-25 announcement also works. The net horsepower rating, closer to today’s … Read more
Former factory man David Van Buren told Motales about how they tested and fixed aluminum engine blocks to prevent oil and antifreeze leaks. He also pointed out why so many engines continued to have freeze plugs, and shared other factory stories, in a new Motales feature. Motales is a companion site to Stellpower, with less … Read more
Dodge brought back its fratzog symbol for the electric Dodge Charger, in an odd mix of the old and the new. Given that the fratzog was originally created when the Dodge Division was part of a corporation responsible for Moon rockets and soon to bid on the Space Shuttle, perhaps it isn’t that odd after … Read more
When Helen Helwig gave me this dealership banner, which her husband had gotten with a vintage 1953 Plymouth, I was surprised both by her generosity and by the slogan. What on Earth did they mean by a fully balanced ride, in 1953? If it was a 1924 banner, I’d understand it better. And the slogan… … Read more
Traditionally, Chrysler Corporation, Maxwell Motors, and the other incarnations that are part of Stellantis today have had a surefire way to save the company: bringing in a savior from the outside. Before a single decade was up, Maxwell Motors was saved by Walter Flanders, who bought the company and brought it back to life. Then … Read more
Richard Petty’s Plymouth Superbird is coming up for auction on January 18 in Kissimmee, Florida, courtesy of Mecum Auctions. The 440-powered car has an automatic transmission; it’s white outside and black inside, and does not appear to have actually been raced. The car was owned by Richard petty from 1982-2013, and was shown at his … Read more
A former Chrysler engineer has posted a five-part series on different aspects of Chrysler’s quality program of the 1980s—the parts he was personally involved in. Each part is around five minutes long, and feature the supporting Chrysler instructional materials. These are the videos, in order: 1: Introduction: building up quality to meet or beat the … Read more
Over the course of the past 15 years, I have been fortunate to have tested every trim level of the modern Dodge Charger. Growing up a Dodge drag racer and diehard fan of the brand, the most exciting aspect of writing new vehicle reviews was that I might get to drive the latest and greatest … Read more
Back in the 1980s, as Chrysler was working on its second-generation minivans, the company acquired AMC—and Lee Iacocca created a new brand, Eagle, to sell Renaults, Mitsubishis, and such. Eagle was designated as a pricier, sportier brand than Dodge or Plymouth—and hence it nearly got a pricier, sportier minivan before cooler heads prevailed. Motales featured … Read more
It’s been a few years now since Tulsa, Oklahoma dredged up a Plymouth-shaped block of rust which had once been a proud 1957 Belvedere, a snazzy car that turned heads back then (more than the same-year Chevrolet which is better remembered). At the time, the Plymouth represented an optimistic future for a state celebrating its … Read more
Chrysler seems to be traveling to a future without V8 engines in its light duty cars and trucks. Some hate the idea, but it’s all in the Mopar tradition. The Dodge brothers never made a car with an eight cylinder; they stuck with four-cylinders. When Walter P. Chrysler was President of Maxwell and then of … Read more
Trenton Engine was built in 1951 to make high-volume V8s; today, it makes V6 engines and motor parts. Nearly a quarter of a century ago, the plant was just about at its capacity, as Chrysler had been building up its sales through the 1990s and dropping imported Mitsubishi fours and sixes. They made aluminum-block V6 … Read more
The minivan famously arrived in 1983, for the 1984 model year, starting with a Mitsubishi-engined Plymouth Voyager which was followed by a Dodge Caravan*. But it could have started by 1976 or 1977. According to artist Dennis Kline, minivan work started around 1972…