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1892: Walter P. Chrysler working as a mechanic in a railroad roundhouse in Ellis, KS. While there, Chrysler made his own tools.
1894: Henry G. Morris and Pedro G. Salom construct and test a battery-operated car in Philadelphia, PA.
1895: Morris & Salom build 4 Electrobats, as they call their new car.
- Pope Manufacturing Co., Hartford, CT, manufacturers of the Columbia bicycle, builds an electric car, designed by Percy Maxim, son of the inventor of the Maxim gun.
1896: Morris & Salom form the Electric Carriage & Wagon Co., concentrating on electric cab production.
- A.L. Riker forms the Riker Electric Motor Co. in Brooklyn, NY. (One of the first Riker electric vehicles is in the Henry Ford Museum)
1897: Isaac L. Rice, president of Electric Storage Battery Co, and the Electric Boat Co., purchases the Electric Carriage & Wagon Co. Firm becomes part of the Electric Vehicle Co., Elizabethport, NJ.
May - Production begins on the Columbia Electric by the Pope Manufacturing Co. The vehicles are sold in the United Kingdom as City & Suburban Cars and in France as L'Electromotion.
1899: The automobile division of Pope Manufacturing Co. becomes the Columbia Automobile Co..
- The Riker Electric Motor Co. is taken over by Electric Vehicle Co. Production of the Riker car moved to Elizabethport, NJ, but the Riker Truck continues in production in Brooklyn, NY.
- Dodge brothers work for Canadian Typothetac Company in Windsor, Ontario. Organize the Evans & Dodge Bicycle Co.
Acura //// Audi //// Austin-Healey //// BMW //// Buick //// Cadillac //// Chevrolet //// Chrysler
Daihatsu //// Dodge //// Eagle //// Ford //// General Motors Corporation //// Geo //// Honda //// Hyundai //// Infiniti
Isuzu //// Jaguar //// Jeep //// Jensen-Healey //// Kia //// Lexus //// Lincoln //// Mazda //// Mercedes Benz //// Mercury //// MG //// Mini
Mitsubishi //// Nissan //// Oldsmobile //// Plymouth //// Pontiac //// Rolls-Royce //// Rover //// Saab //// Saturn //// Subaru //// Suzuki //// Toyota //// Triumph //// Volvo //// VW
The company was founded by Walter Chrysler (1875 - 1940) on June 6, 1925,[16] when the Maxwell Motor Company (est. 1904) was re-organized into the Chrysler Corporation.[17][18]
Walter Chrysler had originally arrived at the ailing Maxwell-Chalmers company in the early 1920s, having been hired to take over and overhaul the company's troubled operations (just after a similar rescue job at the Willys car company).[19]
In late 1923 production of the Chalmers automobile was ended.[20]
Then in January 1924, Walter Chrysler launched the well-received Chrysler automobile. The Chrysler was a 6-cylinder automobile, designed to provide customers with an advanced, well-engineered car, but at a more affordable price than they might expect. (Elements of this car are traceable back to a prototype which had been under development at Willys at the time that Walter Chrysler was there).[21] The original 1924 Chrysler included a carburetor air filter, high compression engine, full pressure lubrication, and an oil filter, at a time when most autos came without these features.[22] Among the innovations in its early years would be the first practical mass-produced four-wheel hydraulic brakes, a system nearly completely engineered by Chrysler with patents assigned to Lockheed, and rubber engine mounts to reduce vibration. Chrysler also developed a road wheel with a ridged rim, designed to keep a deflated tire from flying off the wheel. This safety wheel was eventually adopted by the auto industry worldwide.
Following the introduction of the Chrysler, the Maxwell was dropped after its 1925 model year run, although in truth the new line of lower-priced 4-cylinder Chryslers which were then introduced for the 1926 model year were basically Maxwells which had been re-engineered and rebranded.[23] It was during this time period of the early 1920s that Walter Chrysler assumed the presidency of Maxwell, with the company then ultimately incorporated under the Chrysler name.
- * Chrysler Passenger cars, minivan
- * Dodge Passenger cars, minivans and crossovers
- * RAM Trucks and commercial vehicles
- * Jeep SUVs and crossovers
- * Global Electric Motorcars (GEMCAR) — Battery electric low-speed vehicles