How Walter Chrysler Turned Failing Maxwell Into America's Chrysler Corporation In 1925

Walter P. Chrysler didn't start making cars from scratch. He established the Chrysler Corporation by being in the right place at the right time. He also had the money, which he earned by solving problems and having a knack for streamlining the assembly line for making cars. 

Fueled by Chrysler's sterling reputation in the railroad industry, the then-president of Buick at General Motors, Charles W. Nash, hired Chrysler in 1911 to streamline Buick's manufacturing and quality control. Chrysler got so good at it that when company founder William Durant regained control of General Motors in 1916, he promoted Chrysler to Buick president and general manager. The boss made the right move, as it didn't take long for Buick production to increase from 45 cars a day to over 200. 

However, Chrysler and Durant often clashed on cost-cutting and expenditures, which led to Chrysler leaving Buick over trivial matters related to frame manufacturing. In 1919 he sold his GM stock, pocketed $10 million — $192.5 million in today's money — and never looked back.

It was during that time that what we know as Chrysler (now part of the Stellantis global umbrella) began to take shape. Less than a year after leaving Buick as a very rich man, Chrysler was hired by the creditors of Willys-Overland, a successful automaker and military contractor that began losing money after World War I. And soon after that, in 1921, the Maxwell Motor Company came running for help. Chrysler, ever the shrewd tactician, managed to turn both companies around, with one leading to the birth of the Chrysler Corp.

Maxwell may not be as prestigious as old-school American automakers like Cadillac or Duesenberg, but its heyday from the early 1900s to the 1920s was marked by innovation and quality. At one time, it was one of the top three American automakers behind General Motors and Ford. Maxwell was also one of the first to introduce a front-engine layout, three-point suspension, and thermosiphon cooling. Its first car, the Maxwell Runabout, debuted in 1904, and it later changed its name from Maxwell-Briscoe, also becoming known as the Maxwell Motor Company and Maxwell Motor Corporation throughout its rather short lifespan.

Maxwell vehicles were among the best racing cars of the era, and by 1909, Maxwell had sold more than 9,000 cars; it was making 100,000 chassis a year by 1917. But trouble began during the postwar recession of 1920. Maxwell was left with an overstocked inventory of new cars it couldn't sell as bills piled up, and it ended with insurmountable debt. Walter P. Chrysler took a controlling stake in Maxwell in 1921 with plans to revitalize the ailing carmaker.

Not long after acquiring Maxwell, Chrysler hired ex-Studebaker engineers Carl Breer, Owen Skelton, and Fred Zeder to build an entirely new car, one that would lead the industry in innovation. Chrysler unveiled the Chrysler Six in 1924, and it debuted with four-wheel hydraulic brakes and a high-compression six-cylinder engine, the first in a passenger car. Moreover, the Chrysler Six had aluminum pistons, full-pressure lubrication, replaceable oil and air filters, tubular front axles, and standard shock absorbers.

As expected from the revolutionary Chrysler Six's sub-$2,000 base price, it became a massive hit, and Chrysler sold more than 32,000 during its first year of production. Inspired by his first car's success, Walter P. Chrysler reorganized Maxwell into the Chrysler Corp. in 1925, with Chrysler absorbing all Maxwell assets during the transition. 

But Maxwell's cars lived on as the 1925 Chrysler 58 four-cylinder model and Series 50 and 52 produced in 1927 and '28, which were essentially reskinned Maxwells with new names and affordable price tags. The Chrysler Series 52 eventually formed the basis for the first Plymouth, the Model Q, that appeared in 1928, so it's safe to say that Plymouth's sporting roots are as genuine as Maxwell's racing pedigree.

Today the only Chrysler you can buy is the facelifted Pacifica minivan, and the automaker is a far cry from its days of game-changing innovations. Plymouth folded in 2001, but iconic vehicles like its "Gentleman's Muscle Car" GTX and Hemi Cuda have earned a loyal cult following that still persists.