Chrysler centennial celebrated in new book

Chrysler did not celebrate its first anniversary in January, though the marque’s first cars found happy customers in January 1924. FCA US is likely to officially celebrate Chrysler’s anniversary in 2025, when it has a wider variety of cars to sell. That’s also the year Chryslers at Carlisle has chosen.

The founder of the first all-Mopar web site, David Zatz, started writing a history of Chrysler this year, and has now made it available as an ebook, paperback, and hardcover. At 124 pages plus contents and such, the book mainly covers American Chrysler history, but does have a quick overview of some other key regions.

As Chrysler history is revealed, the nature of the marque becomes clearer; so does the time when the Chrysler name lost much of its power to command a premium. However, Chrysler is being set up for a comeback now, and may have good reason to celebrate next year, anniversary or not.

The printed book is sold on Amazon; the writer will make signed copies available via Allpar, as well.  Given the timeframe, the book is being self-published; otherwise it would likely be available in November 2025, according to one publisher. The softcover Century of Chrysler is $33, with the hardcover is $39 and the ebook, currently only at Apple Books, is $8.99.

Zatz’s most popular books to date have been Veloce’s Dodge Viper, which covers all generations of the V10 sports car, and Mopar Minivans.

David Zatz

David Zatz started what was to become the world’s biggest, most comprehensive Mopar site in 1994 as he pursued a career in organizational research and change. After a chemo-induced break, during which he wrote car books covering Vipers, minivans, and Jeeps, he returned with Patrick Rall to create StellPower.com for daily news, and to set up MoTales for mo’ tales.

David Zatz has around 30 years of experience in covering Chrysler/Mopar news and history, and most recently wrote Century of Chrysler, a 100-year retrospective on the Chrysler marque.