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 their second attempt (hence the Model B), and the two years between a planned Chrysler made by Willys and one made by Maxwell brought a much-improved engine (hence the 70 mph advertised top speed—actually 74 mph) and four-wheel hydraulic brakes.
Fiat and then Stellantis moved the Chrysler founding date to June 6, 1925. Walter Chrysler and his financiers had created a dummy corporation to take over Maxwell and Chalmers, the idea being to consolidate all the parts of the company, rearrange the stock privileges, effectively refinance the debt, and change the company’s name along the way. Thus, nothing that affected the cars actually changed on June 6, when the Chrysler Corporation holding company purchased Maxwell and Chalmers.
This corporation did not last one hundred years; it ended ignominiously in 1998, swallowed up by Daimler-Benz AG, which changed its name to DaimlerChrysler. That ended with the sale of the former Chrysler—minus New Venture Gear, Huntsville Electronics, and other assets—to Cerberus, which lasted nearly two years before the company was put into receivership and acquired by Fiat and debtors. Eventually Fiat bought the remaining parts of the company, and then merged with Stellantis. All these events, from Maxwell’s creation to 2025, are detailed in the only full book on Chrysler marque history, Century of Chrysler.
Chrysler was quite a small company before buying Dodge Brothers in 1928; this photo shows the entire outfit, including the dining room staff.
Many believe Fiat moved its date to 1925 because it wanted to celebrate its 90th birthday with new products that were not ready in 2014, but would be in 2015. The same motivation appears to still be in play, with new products predicted for 2025 but not available in 2024. Ironically, delays appear to be pushing the first new Chrysler car back to 2026, a year after the anniversary celebration; instead, Chrysler is doing a centennial edition of its Pacifica minivan. (Chrysler itself was born in 1924, regardless of when the Chrysler Corporation started operations, but the company tends to conflate the two events.)
The color photo above includes over 1,500 employees at the Chrysler Technical Center (CTC), part of their Century of Innovation celebration, placed inside a time capsule which is shaped as a replica of Walter Chrysler’s toolbox (it had over 60 tools, mostly made by Chrysler himself in his early days). The time capsule also includes a letter from Christine Feuell, brand leader.
Chrysler will have an event at Chryslers at Carlisle (Pennsylvania) on July 10-13; those attending can register with Allpar as their club, or sign up with the main sponsor of the centennial event, the Walter P. Chrysler Club. The Plymouth Owners Club is also helping with the festivities. The company is also participating in the Woodward Cruise on August 16, and has published a video series.
David Zatz started what was to become the world’s biggest Mopar site (Allpar) in 1994. After a chemo-induced 2007-2010 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 (Chrysler history and “permanent” car and truck pages). He most recently wrote Century of Chrysler, a 100-year retrospective on the marque.
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