Walter P. Chrysler

Biography

Walter Percy Chrysler was born in Wamego, Kansas, on 2 April 1875 and trained as a machinist. His career in cars began in 1911 as works manager at Buick in Flint, Michigan. In 1916 William C. Durant persuaded him to stay with a very large salary, and Chrysler went on to become Buick's president.

He resigned from Buick in 1919 and was hired by bankers to rescue Willys-Overland in Toledo, Ohio. After failing to take control of the company from John Willys, he left in 1921 and acquired a controlling interest in the Maxwell Motor Company. In 1925 Maxwell was absorbed into the new Chrysler Corporation, based in Detroit.

In 1928 Chrysler bought Dodge Brothers and renamed it Dodge, began financing the Chrysler Building in New York, completed in 1930, and was named Time magazine's Man of the Year. He died at Kings Point, New York, on 18 August 1940. The Automotive Hall of Fame inducted him in 1967.