History of Chrysler, Plymouth, Dodge, Jeep, DeSoto, AMC, and Others
If you are interested in the history of a particular car, please see the vehicles page.
Chronologies
- See our new Chrysler and its cars and trucks, by year section
- Pictorial histories through 1966: Chrysler | DeSoto | Dodge | Plymouth | Imperial
Full-brand histories
- Airtemp
- American Motors (AMC), Nash, Hudson, and Jeep
- Boats and Chrysler Marine
- Chrysler outside the US
- Chrysler en espanol
- DeSoto History
- Dodge pickup trucks
- Dodge UK commercial trucks
- Eagle
- Fargo Truck: the Plymouth truck division
- Hudson: one of the companies that was to become AMC
- Jeep from an Austin reconnaissance vehicle to Bantam to the final Willys design
- Karrier/Dodge trucks in the UK
- Maxwell: the company Walter Chrysler took over and turned into Chrysler and Plymouth
- Mitsubishi and Diamond-Star Motors: the company Chrysler almost took over, and the joint venture
- Nash: another company that was to become AMC
- Perkins, which supplied diesel engines to Commer, Rootes, and Dodge
- Simca, makers of the best-selling car in France (in its time), and a part of Chrysler
- Willys-Overland (and John North Willys)
- Rootes Group cars: Hillman, Humber, Singer, Sunbeam
Technologies
- Alternative fuels and energy efficiency: turbines, hybrids, electric cars, on-board computers, Lean Burn, aerodynamics, and other interesting projects
- Chrysler technological innovations: interesting work in transmissions, engines, and more.
- Chrysler’s new technology lab at the CTC (1998)
- Electrojector: world’s first electronic-fuel-injection car
- Torsion bar / leaf spring suspensions
Vehicle types
- Fleet and squad cars: police cars, fire trucks, ambulances, and postal vehicles
- Boats and marine engines
- Campers and motor homes
- School buses
- Front-drive performance 1983-1993
- Minivan including development information.
- Plymouth convertibles 1928-1971: concentrating on 1928-1955
- Plymouth delivery vehicles: sedan deliveries and panel trucks
- Plymouth wagons 1934-1954: from the woodies to the steel-bodies Suburban wagons
- Taxis and jitneys: Tough cars for tough duty
Historically significant vehicles and projects
- Racing: Some excellent articles on Chrysler's racing history, covering the Pettys, NASCAR, and much more
- LH series: innovations in the engineering and involvement process
- Cab forward: definition, how it was developed, and why it was important
- Valiant: details on the development and history of the Valiant and other A-bodies (Dart, Duster, Demon, etc.) in the United States, Australia, and elsewhere. Fascinating!
- Military work: Chrysler helps build the arsenal of democracy
- Slant six: the famous, efficient, durable engine, with development stories from the engineers who created it.
- Plymouth Commercial Vehicles: a detailed article covering vans, fleets, and trucks.
- Aerodynamics: from the beginning to the Superbird.
- Plymocoupe ("the flying Plymouth") airplane.
- Little Red Wagon: hemi-powered pickup, the first wheelstander
- Scat Pack and Rapid Transit System: muscle car collections
Chrysler military and space flight work
- Origin of the Jeep from an Austin reconnaissance vehicle to Bantam to the final Willys design
- Chrysler and radar: SCR584 radar-guided anti-aircraft guns - delivered at 20% of the Army’s (and GE’s) estimated cost, in 1 trailer instead of 7, these innovative radar/gun units were part of a crash program that saved many soldiers’ lives.
- B-29 Superfortress bomber: Chrysler's role in redesigning the Wright Cyclone engine so it would be durable and could be mass-produced; in cutting the cost of the engines in half while saving energy in testing and metal in production; and in producing aircraft components
- Preparing for war, 1940-1942: Chrysler dedicates its massive resources to tanks, military vehicles, guns, and airplanes
- Building tanks and the “arsenal of democracy:” Chrysler builds and helps to engineer the M3, Sherman, and Pershing tanks, voluntarily giving up all profits
- Missiles and Space Flight: the Redstone missiles; the Saturn missiles and NASA
- Chrylser and the atomic bomb: it’s quite possible that, had Chrysler not been called in, the United States may not have had the atomic bomb for a year or two longer - at the cost of all the nickel in the country. A full history of the development of the first atomic bomb, and Chrysler’s role in building it and the facility that refined all of the United States’ weapons-grade uranium through 1985.
- Wartime cars: sales and production of Chrysler and other vehicles during World War II.
The Walter P. Chrysler Museum
- Interview with the leaders of the museum
- Review of the Walter P. Chrysler Museum
- Allpar meet at the museum, 2006
Fame
- Mopars in movies
- Christine, the reason why non-Mopar folk know the 1958 Plymouth Fury
- Celebrities' Chrysler, Plymouth, Dodge, and Jeep vehicles
- Johnny Cash's Plymouth, and the Johnny Cash Plymouth contest
- Franklin D. Roosevelt's Plymouths
- Mopars on television
- Mopars in music
- Biographies of famous Chrysler folk, racers, etc.
- Pioneers of the American Auto Industry
Factories and manufacturing
- The Dodge Main plant, with photos and operational details
- Assembly plant and factory list, 1924-1980 and 2005-2007
- Empowered work teams and quality in the manufacturing plants (2005)
- Flexible manufacturing
- The last St. Louis Chrysler Lebaron being built (Richard Benner)
- Preparing the Windsor factory for the 2008 minivans: flexible manufacturing, work teams, and more
- What it was like to work at Chrysler (through 2002): personal recollections (also see this 2003 opinion)
Engineering and design
- Styling and coloring cars in 1955
- Performance Vehicles Operations team (PVO)
- Vehicle Excitement Team (VXT)
- The platform team system: as described by Francois Castaing and Glenn Gardner; also see "Design of the LH series" below and the LH page itself
- Auto development notes
- Using technology to engineer cars and trucks: see our technology page for more links
- Arizona Proving Grounds (2008) — both Wittman and Yucca
- Chrysler and the environment, 1993
- Why Chrysler switched side marker light designs each year for three years
Engineering and design notes for specific cars
- Neon: innovations in engineering, assembly setup, and employee involvement
- LH series: innovations in engineering and employee involvement (see "the platform team system")
- Durango: Teamwork | Supplier partnerships | Simultaneous design and engineering
Suppliers
- The SCORE program - saving money by involving suppliers
- Extended Enterprise: Chrysler's highly successful supply-chain cost-reduction and innovation system, begun in the early 1990s and still surviving; examples from design of the Neon
- Durango supplier partnerships - $74 million saved before production
Branding and sales
- Logos: a detailed history of the logos used on all major Chrysler brands
- How Plymouth got its name
- How Chrysler calculates sales figures
- eEngineering and DealerConnect - Web-based corporate communication portals
- Creation of the Dodge Ram symbol and other hood ornaments
Corporate information
- Airtemp
- Chronology of Chrysler: year by year, from before the company was actually created
- Cerberus and Chrysler LLC (ongoing)
- Biographies of key Chrysler and related folk
- Chrysler corporate culture
- Chrysler outside the US - organized by nation and by model.
- DaimlerChrysler era
- Dodge Brothers: how Chrysler gained the successful Dodge Brothers company
- Factories as of 2007 | Plant closings - which facilities were closed or sold (1990s-2007)
Memories and stories
- Willem Weertman, engine architect and primary designer of the slant six, 2.2, and other engines, talks about the slant six, Australian Hemi, LA V8s, B and RB V8s, 426 Hemi, 3.3 and 3.9 V6, and 2.2/2.5 engines
- Pete Hagenbuch, engine development engineer, talks about the slant six, Australian Hemi, LA V8s, B and RB V8s, and 2.2/2.5 engines
- Burton Bouwkamp talks being Dodge’s chief product planner, developing the Charger, and more
- Insider's History of Plymouth (and Chrysler): the 1950-1964 period of Chrysler Corporation, including not only Plymouth but also Dodge, Chrysler, and Imperial. There is a lot of information in this well-written series, much of it not readily available anywhere else.
- Running amok with a borrowed Hemi Satellite: Rick Ehrenberg tells what it was like to race a Street Hemi when the muscle car was still in its prime
- Chrysler's George Scott talks about the slant six and other engines
- Washer bags (short)
- Cannonball Run Duster: One Lap of America in a Plymouth (1989)
- Christmas in May: putting a 1949 Plymouth into emergency action
- Stories centering around particular cars:
Bits and pieces
- Car shows from CEMA to the Washington DC Auto Show
- Allpar meets
- Chrysler auction scene, 2007
- Chrysler history books
- The first and oldest Plymouth
- Models and promos: model kits and promotional car replicas including reviews and assembly tips.
- 200 miles per gallon: The California Carburetor
- Toyota history in case you were curious about how much they “borrowed” from Dodge, Chevrolet, and Willys ... or about how the US Army gave them their basic quality system
- Pre-production Lebarons (Richard Benner)
- Valiants, Darts, Dusters, Pacers, Chargers, and other A-Bodies are at valiant.org
