The Full History of Walter Chrysler | A Classic Car Documentary

the year was 1924 and Walter Chrysler was in New York to Premiere the new Chrysler 6 that he and his team of Engineers had spent long years and a small fortune developing the six was to be the crown jewel of Maxwell Motors a floundering automaker Walt had taken control of 3 years earlier since the Takeover Walt had stretched the company's credit to the Limit developing this head turning state-of-the-art car of his dreams weeks earlier he had secured five million in funding to begin mass-producing the car but then the bank riged instead the veteran engineer and his team were relying on the 1924 New York Auto Show to be the company's salvation Walt was adamant that lenders would be lining up to give Maxwell Motors their money once they got a look at the Chrysler 6's Sleek lines plush interior and compression engine that would speed the vehicle along at the unheard of speed of 70 M an hour then came devastating news from the event sponsor because the six was only a prototype it didn't qualify for a slot in the Grand Central Palace where the New York Auto Show was being held for all intents and purposes the new Maxwell Motors was dead in the water before it ever started yet only 4 years later Walter Chrysler would begin construction on the Chrysler Building in New York City this is the story of the unlikely rise of Walter P Chrysler from Kansas farm boy to Titan of the automobile industry born in wo Kansas in 1875 Walter Percy Chrysler grew up 200 Mi east of Ellis Kansas at the time Ellis was a railroad town on the Western frontier where life was hard resources were scarce and everyone worked by age five Walt was getting up Before Dawn milking the family cow and selling the milk to neighbors door Todo at least three times a week the youngster would have to Lug into town the oil can that kept their two room house lit it was a chore that was interrupted on more than one occasion by threats of attack from Native Americans by the time he was 14 Walt was working from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. as a delivery boy for the local grer who paid him $10 a month Walt's father Hank was a Civil War veteran who ran away from home at the age of 12 to enlist in the Union Army as a drummer boy after the war young Henry joined what was then the Kansas Pacific Railway the Forerunner to the Union Pacific unlike the sod Huts that most of their neighbors in Ellis called home the Chryslers lived in wooden houses which Walt's father built with his hands and thanks to a windmill of Hank's making they even had running water while Hank may have constructed their home it was Anna Maria who ruled it with an iron fist Walt's mother was a youthful shapely bride when she married Hank in 1871 however by the time her children came along Anna Maria had transformed into a large powerful Frontier woman who worked every waking hour of her life it was a trait Walt adopted early on and a lifestyle he genuinely loved despite being an average and unenthusiastic student Walt excelled at virtually everything else he put his mind to he was a natural musician who could play any instrument he picked up as a youngster there was nothing Walt loved more than the occasions when Hank got him a permit to ride in the cab of a locomotive delivering supplies West to the edge of the frontier during these trips with his father this future Titan of Industry developed a love of machinery and Engineering that would one day influence the course of the American Auto industry after graduating high school Walt wanted to study Machinery as an apprentice for the railroad but there was a problem he needed his father Hank's permission to receive such a coveted position at the Union Pacific Railroad despite his own love of railroading Hank wanted Walt to be the first in his family to go to college so he declined to sign the papers however not to be outdone by his father's stubbornness Walt accepted the somewhat less auspicious position of a sweeper with the Union Pacific from the moment he set foot in the union Pacific's shops Walt displayed a work ethic that caught the eye of division Master Mechanic Edgar Eastbrook Eastbrook agreed to speak with Hank about making his son an apprentice to Walt surprise Hank begrudgingly signed the papers elevating his son's status from janitor to machine shop Apprentice in less than 6 months the 4-year position started at just 5 cents an hour half of what he was making as a sweeper but Walt was over the moon despite Walt's constant badgering the men loved and respected their new Apprentice the boy was brilliant and hardworking and wanted nothing more than to be one of them when the bosses weren't around Walt and his Engineers would play cards smoke cigarettes and drink beer but Walt cherished these times almost as much as he enjoyed dismantling and rebuilding massive steam engines with the shop mechanics when it came to who commanded Walt's romantic aspirations there was only won Dela Viola forer the daughter of Ellis's leading Merchant sweethearts from a young age the couple became engaged during Walt's apprenticeship however they wouldn't marry until Walt could afford to give Dela the lifestyle he believed she deserved in the final days of his Apprentice ship 22-year-old Walt shocked Everyone by taking a position as a journeyman with the Santa Fe railroad when Edgar Eastman asked him to reconsider Walt replied that there was nothing more he could learn at the Union Pacific shops in Ellis but he wasn't done learning earning determined to make his way in the World Walt packed up his silverplated tuba said goodbye to Dela and hopped on a train south from 1897 to 1900 it seemed that Walt was constantly on the Move working new jobs and playing his tuba in bands from Denver Colorado to Ogden Utah and countless towns between by his own admission Walt lacked patience and rarely stuck around long enough to show how skilled of an engineer he was if some Foreman questioned his work or his worth he simply packed up his tuba and hopped on a train to the next town in 1900 something tragic happened Walt arrived in Salt Lake City where he worked with the Denver and Rio Grand Western railroad but somewhere between Ogden and Salt Lake he had lost his trusty tuba and with its absence came a new mindset it was time to grow up and stop roving so Walt poured himself into his work and saved every penny he could to finally marry Dela with whom he had corresponded Faithfully for the last 4 years and 1901 at the age of 26 Walt wrote to Dela and asked her to set a date for the wedding Too Proud to come home to his fiance dirty and riding a box car Walt bought a suit and for the first time in his life purchased a train ticket in Ellis Walt and Del married in the Methodist Church which made his mother extremely happy that is until the newlyweds caught the next train back to Salt Lake where they began their married life with a grand sum of $60 to their name a year after settling into Salt Lake City Walt and Dela celebrated the birth of their first child Thelma along with the baby's arrival came a promotion to Road House Foreman on the advice of a boss who had taken a shine to the young engineer Walt took a job at the Colorado and Southern Railroad as a Master Mechanic with that job came the tremendous responsibility of managing a thousand men while transforming the Colorado and Southern into a first class rail operation the hours were long and the stress unending but it taught Walt how to manage a team and Advance those individuals who could improve the company by 1908 when his second daughter Bernice came along Walt was working for the Chicago Great Western Railroad and pulling in the moderate equivalent of $140,000 a year today 1908 was also the Year Walt attended an auto show in Chicago where he first laid eyes on a locom mobile one of the first lines of cars ever manufactured instantly smitten with this Sleek new machine Walton knew he had to have one but there was just one major problem the locomobile cost a small fortune the price of the car was $5,000 cash which was $ 800 more than Walt's annual salary so with only $700 in his savings Walt turned to a banker friend named Ralph Von vetchin a vice president with the Continental National Bank to Ralph the railway man's OB session seemed like insanity but to Walt the car was more than a way to get around it was a machine to be dissected and studied and Walt was adamant that the Motorcars were the transportation of the future though it felt like pulling Ralph lent Walt the money it was a risky favor to Grant a friend but one that would prove wise down the road it was also a decision that would eventually alter the course of the Auto industry forever to prepare for the arrival of his locomobile Walter began converting the barn behind his house into a workshop curious about why her husband was spending so much time working out in the barn Dela asked Walt about it when Walt explained that he had spent their entire life savings as well as another year's salary on an automobile Dela didn't yell or scream she simply returned to the house and shut the kitchen door with a bit more Vigor than usual Weeks Later Walt's locomobile arrived by Freight and was immediately moved to the barn to his relief Del's enthusiasm for the new vehicle nearly matched his own as soon as the car arrived Dela asked Walt to take her and the girls for a drive but he insisted on taking a quick peek at the car's workings first Delan new wall well enough to understand that to her husband even a quick look would be a painful long process for weeks the locomobile never left the barn as Walt took the vehicle apart piece by piece making sketches and learning the inner workings of every part during that time the closest Dela and the girls came to taking a ride was to sit in the vehicle while Walt revved the engine and listened to its throaty Roar eventually Del's patience ran out and she asked Walt what the point was in having an automobile if they were never going to ride in it after 3 months of dissecting the locom mobile Walter agreed greed to take his prized machine out for a test drive by now the entire neighborhood was familiar with the sound of the locom Mobile's engine roaring from the barn so when the car finally rolled out on the streets for its maiden voyage half the town came out to Bear witness with friends and family cheering him on Waltz fired up the engine popped a cigar in his mouth and engaged the clutch like a wild Bronco the loom mobile bucked several times and then shot forward off the road where it unceremoniously stalled in a neighbor's Garden undeterred Walt Shout Ed a promise to pay for the damage to the Garden as he raced off on foot to find a Teamster within no time Walter was back behind the wheel and racing around the neighborhood at the Breakneck speed of 20 mph when he returned the locomobile to The Barn at 6:00 that evening he was soaked with sweat and shaking from excitement in 1911 the Chryslers were living in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania where the 36-year-old railroad veteran was running the alagan plant of the American locomotive of company known as Alco then Walt was summoned to the New York offices of James J storo a lawyer and investment banker he had never heard of having never visited the country's largest city before Walt was blown away by the incredibly tall buildings that seemed to touch the heavens New York made such a deep impression on Walt that he would one day put a stamp on that impressive Skyline with his own Chrysler Building however on that day in 1911 Walt was more concerned with discovering why he was in New York than taking in the sights because James storo was on the board of Alco Walt expected he was there to talk trains he was wrong storo summoned him there to talk cars in addition to Banking and being on the board of Alco storo was chairman of the finance committee at General Motors which he had been instrumental in forming in 1908 as president of the company he had just appointed a new man named Charles Nash to run Buick Nash was a respected executive who had made his name in hwn Carriage manufacturing but he had little experience in the auto industry he needed a right-hand man with Machinery experience and Sor knew from Walt's turnaround of alagan that The Railroad Man was their best option Walt unabashedly agreed when Walt and Charlie Nash met for lunch at the Fort pit Hotel 7 Days Later it took some time for their desperate personalities to click only after the meal was through and Charlie discovered that he and Walt enjoyed the same cigars did Nash finally let his guard down by the time they had smoked a pair of panatellas down to their butts the men were on the same page age and Walt agreed to visit the Buick plant in Flint Michigan at the time Walt was making the modern equivalent of about 256,000 a year at alany his boss James mcnt was so afraid of losing him that he offered Walt a 50% raise if he changed his mind about visiting Flint unfortunately for mnon Walton knew the future of Transportation lay in automobiles and he had every intention of being at the Forefront of the industry in fact Walt was so confident that this was the right move that after touring the Buick plant in Flint a week later he accepted Charlie's offer at half of what he was making at Alco for Walter the end of his long career in the railroad game was bittersweet but the pain of moving on from something he loves so much was softened by the arrival of baby Jack his andela's fourth and final child as difficult as it was to leave the railroad business Walter struggled even more with removing his family from the comfort of the most lucrative position he had enjoyed in his profession life when Walt arrived in Flint as Buick's new production manager he quickly recognized that the company was spending too much to produce each of the 45 cars it was turning out daily so after touring the small city that was the Buick plant Walt began tracking every penny they spent from the price of a Ribbit to the labor cost of drilling a seemingly insignificant hole in a chassis more importantly he retrofitted each shop to maximize efficiency while lowering costs during Walt's first three years at Buick the Flint plants production had doubled annually so in 1915 when Flynn was turning out 200 Cars a day Walt went to storo and Nash demanding 25,000 a year the equivalent of 750,000 today staro initially bulked so Walt reminded his friend that Buick was the only General Motors division that was making money and it was due to the changes he had implemented to Walt surprise staro caved and gave him the $25,000 a year throughout his working life Walton never questioned his abilities and he nevered owed anyone else to do so because at the end of the day only one opinion mattered to him and that was his wife Del's that night when Walter told her about his new contract Dela was thrilled but not surprised she never doubted her husband so nothing could have made Walt happier than promising her that they were through moving the family he was now an upand Comer with the second largest automaker in the world and from here on out Flint was going to be home but time would tell a different story a year after Walt landed his monster salary with Buick he was approached by James storo and Charlie Nash about buying the struggling Packard Motor Company having worked his entire life for lesser men Walt agreed to go all in Not only would he be finally working for himself but Packard was headquartered in Detroit which meant he wouldn't have to uproot the family again while storo was working on the deal to acquire Packard a sea change was underway at GM where William Durant the company's co-founder had just retaken control during his previous 10 Durant overleveraged the company and was ousted by the banks in 1910 but he had the foresight to hang on to his massive block of stock 6 years later Durant leveraged that stock along with 27 million in deont family money to put himself back at the helm what of the first moves he made after regaining control was to offer Walt the presidency of the Buick Motor Company as grateful as he was for the offer though Walt was more excited at the prospects of owning his own company so he politely declined Durant's offer then the Packer deal fell through James storo had quickly devised a plan to buy another Auto plan in kosha Wisconsin but Walt was unwilling to put his family through another transplant any regrets Walt may have had however were washed away the following day when he met with Durant to take the job as president of Buick not only did GM's co-founder Grant him full autonomy in running the company but he also offered Walt a three-year contract at $120,000 a year that's $4 million in today's money more importantly for each of these three years Walt would receive annual bonuses equal to 122.5 million in cash or stock Walt took the stock over the next 3 years through the better part of World War I Walt continued to grow Buick by adapting the plant to manufacture airplane engines French helmets hospital equipment and even tanks for the most part Walt and his new boss made their often contentious relationship work but it wasn't in William Durant's nature to give complete control of Buick to his underling so when Walt's contract was up after those three years he gave Durant his resignation citing differences in the vision for the company privately however Walt had made the difficult decision to cash in his chips and spend time with the family that had always taken a back seat to his whims and Ambitions when Durant learned that Walt meant to sell his shares in GM he arranged with his backer Pierre deont to buy the stock privately in 1919 Walt accepted GM's offer of 10 million for his stock the equivalent of $177 million today meaning he retired as one of the wealthiest men in America at the rip old age of 45 to manage the fortune he had mastering his career Walt kept an office in Detroit which he drove back and forth from four or five times a week when he wasn't at his office Walt puttered around the house working in his shop and meeting with old colleagues who would stop by to seek the advice of the most talented engineer and executive most of them would ever know less than a year into retirement Dela grew fed up with her home being being treated as a smoke filled men's club and promptly told Walt to get back to work Dela knew this is what he wanted anyways so her suggestion was as much for Walt's benefit as it was for her own sanity coincidentally as soon as Walt had been permitted to start working again he received a call from Ralph Von Von the man who lent him a year salary to purchase his first car back in 1908 it was 1920 now and the Auto industry was suffering a tremendous downturn in the depression following a post-war boom what if the many automakers struggled to pay their bills was Willie's Overland company which was straddled with $50 million in debt van vecta knew that if anyone could Salvage Willies or at least recover a substantial portion of the money the company owned to the banks he represented it would be Walter Chrysler so Ralph called in the marker he had held for 13 years for his part Walt knew this was a risky proposition yet if anyone could pull off saving Willies it was him but still there was a good chance that no one could save the company and w Walt's Sterling reputation would have taken a hit if proved true never wanted to turn down a friend Walt reluctantly agreed to dedicate the next two years of his life to Turning Willies around but the banks would have to pay him a million dollars a year to take the risk as always Walt hit the ground running and in just a few short months he cut Willie's debt by millions of dollars while the restructuring and negotiating with vendors helped significantly it didn't solve Will's biggest issue they simply didn't make good cars to remedy this Walt planned to add a new model to the Willies lineup but he didn't want it to be just any car he believed the country was ready for a higher standard of automobile and he knew of an engineer firm that was itching to design such a vehicle Fred zetter Owen Skelton and Carl Breen were close friends and business partners whom Walt described as mechanical Wizards that functioned as three parts of a single extraordinary engineering intelligence they were precisely what the industry needed one of the countless liabilities plaguing Willies was a nearly completed Auto Plant in Elizabeth New Jersey where Walt had zeter Skelton and Breer set up shop after hiring them to design his new car for the first time in his life wal was working with a team that shared his talent enthusiasm and vision for the future of automobiles while Zer Skelton and Breer were keeping busy in the New Jersey plant Walt was asked by the bankers to take on another flailing automaker Maxwell Motors again Walt said yes but this time the bulk of his compensation would be a substantial block of the company's stock in 1922 when Walt's contract with Willies ended the company was put in receivership as part of the bank's agreement the plant to New Jersey was put up for auction including the plans for Walt's dream car designed by zeter Skelton and Breer at this point in his life Walt was determined to become his own boss and buying the Willies plant seemed a sure way to achieve that goal unfortunately he was busy with the Maxwell Motors reorganization ation so he sent a representative to New Jersey with an authorization to bid up to 5 million for the plant at the end of the day Walt's 5 million bid came a distance second the winning amount was 5.5 million cast by his old boss William Durant who had left GM to start his own company Durant Motors as for the dream car that zeter Skelton and Breer had been creating Durant couldn't help getting involved in the design process the resulting Flint car was a failure that only remained in production for 3 years disappointed at the missed opportunity Walt became more determined than ever to produce the best car on the planet so in 1922 he Enlisted the help of his friend be Hutchinson to leverage the largest block of stock and take control of Maxwell Motors no sooner was the ink dry on the contracts when Walt brought in zeter Skelton and Breer to finish what they had started the new car would be called the Chrysler 6 and Walt was pulling out all the stops for the next 12 months months Walt rarely saw his family as his team worked around the clock to create a car that would transform the Auto industry to keep Maxwell afloat while the Chrysler 6 prototype was designed and pieced together by hand Walt took the risk of lowering the price of the cars to Only $995 The Profit on each car was only $5 but the millions brought in by the fire sale enabled Walt to keep the banks at Bay long enough to premere the Chrysler 6 in New York the night before the big opening at the 1924 Auto Show Walt and his management team were in a suite at the hotel Commodore where every bigwig banker and Auto industry executive was staying confidence in the room was high that once the bankers got a look at the Chrysler 6 the company's Financial struggles would be over as a result the drinks were flowing the mood was jubilant but it wouldn't last with a knock at the door came devastating news the Chrysler 6 didn't qualify for a spot in the show because it it was a prototype and not a production vehicle for all intents and purposes Walter Chrysler's Maxwell Motors was dead in the water before it started Walt's heart sank Not only was he on the brink of failure for the first time in his professional career but he knew how devastating the news would be to his team especially zeter skeleton and Breer wal was on his way to give his design team the bad news when he was struck with an unorthodox idea that might keep their dream alive stepping back into the suite Wald pulled aside his top salesman Joe field Walt's idea was to rent the lobby of the hotel Commodore as their personal showroom he told Joe to speak with management and not return until he got a yes from them 3010 minutes later Joe returned to tell Walt the lobby was theirs the next morning every banker and auto executive staying at the Commodore would have to walk past Walt and the Chrysler 6 on the way to the Grand Palace and they were stopped dead in their tracks by one of the most stunning and impressive automobiles they ever laid eyes on Walt's planned work his Chrysler six stole the 1924 New York Auto Show without ever entering the building by the end of the first day Maxwell Motors had the funding to secure its future a year later it was renamed the Chrysler Corporation in 1924 when Chrysler purchased the Dodge Brothers company they became the third largest automaker in the United States trailing only Ford and GM by 1929 5 years later the big three as they came to be known were responsible for 75% of all auto sales in America Walt had not only achieved his dream of heading his own company he had created one of the largest and most lucrative businesses in America Walt's studying achievement would earn him the honor of being named Time magazine's Man of the Year in 1928 the same year he financed the construction of the Chrysler Building in New York the tallest building in the world at the time the Chrysler was built as a legacy to Walt's children and it remains one of the most stunning examples of Art Deco architecture in the New York skyline the former Railroad Road man fell in love with when he first visited in 1911 Walt would remain at the Helm of the Chrysler Corporation until stepping down in 1936 at the age of 61 sadly after his beloved Dela passed away 2 years later Walt suffered a stroke from which he never recovered in August of 1940 Walter Chrysler passed away at the forer house the Long Island estate he had named after his loving wife Dela Viola forer for his children Walt left behind a $50 million Fortune equal to just over 1 billion in today's money he was 63 years old Walter Chrysler's story is an amazing rags to Rich's tale but he wasn't the only one who created an automobile company from nothing check out these videos right here on other Titans in the industry that you can watch right now I'll see you in the next one

Channel: Classic Car Documentaries

Views: 158,336

Keywords: walter chrysler, walter p. chrysler museum, chrysler museum, walter p. chrysler, history documentary, chrysler corporation, the titans that built america, chrysler building, automotive industry, history channel cars, history channel documentaries, car history, walter chrysler family, where is walter chrysler buried?, walter chrysler mausoleum, walter percy chrysler, american automotive industry executive, chrysler automobile, chrysler, business stories, automobile documentary

Id: s8pai0oMDvs

Length: 25min 45sec (1545 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 10 2023