On 18 August 1940, Walter P. Chrysler, founder of Chrysler Corporation and one of America's most influential automotive industrialists, died aged 65. Born in Kansas in 1875, Chrysler began his career in the railroad industry before entering automobile manufacturing. In 1912, he joined Buick as works manager and later became its president and general manager, dramatically increasing production while maintaining quality.
Chrysler's greatest automotive achievement came in 1925, when he reorganised the struggling Maxwell Motor Company and established Chrysler Corporation. His first Chrysler automobile, the Chrysler Six, introduced advanced engineering including a high-compression engine and four-wheel hydraulic brakes.
The ambitious entrepreneur expanded rapidly. In 1928, Chrysler introduced Plymouth and DeSoto and acquired Dodge Brothers, transforming the company into America's third major automotive force. That same year, he commissioned the iconic Chrysler Building in New York, completed in 1930.
Chrysler retired from active management in 1935 but remained chairman until his death in 1940. His legacy lives on in the automotive empire and engineering culture he helped create.
