Chrysler might have the most complicated family tree of any automobile manufacturer. Here are just a few of the tangled branches. The Lost Marques of Chrysler | Mac's Motor City Garage.com
Chrylser bought Maxwell in the early 20's and the last one was produced in 1925. In 1924 Chrysler started to convert the facility to build the "low end" Chrysler Model 52. In 1928 the Model 52 was again changed and re-badged as the Plymouth.
great read, got me thinking about the Dodge Bros. and their relationship with Ford, who knew. http://www.allpar.com/corporate/bios/dodge-brothers.html
Quite so. Many today are not aware that the Dodge Brothers manufactured the engine, drivetrain, and chassis for Ford's first production cars. On many early Ford parts you will find the letters DB back to back, signifying Dodge Brothers. By the way, the building that housed the Dodge Brothers' original machine shop is still in use. Niki's Pizza on Beaubien in Greektown, across the street from the casino.
I dig the video of the Oil Field Dodge on the next page of that link. http://www.macsmotorcitygarage.com/2013/12/03/video-the-legendary-oil-field-dodge-film/
If you knew the history of GM, it makes perfect sense as to which companies are left. They are the companies that MADE GM what it is today. Olds was a money-losing company with a large factory when incorporated into GM. Buick was a leading producer of both cars AND money. The Buick Model 10 outsold nearly everything, and put Buick into the top tier of producers straightaway. Pontiac was the companion car of Oakland, quite late into the game. Cadillac brought both quality, and high production to the GM brand. Not many know, but Cadillac was number one in sales in the early years. And H.M. Leland was THE patriarch of close tolerance production. And, lastly, Louis Chevrolet. He who built the car that allowed Billy Durant BACK into the leadership of GM (Billy built GM out of thin air, then lost it). Chevrolet is also the car that brought GM back into sales leadership, but this time, almost never to be outsold again. Knowing your history, allows you to know why the current GM lineup makes perfect sense. And, really, historically, could be no other way. Cosmo
Walter P. & Ford were friends. In '27 Walter brought his newest Model over for Henry to check it out. After seeing it Henry pulled the plug on the T. Plymouth was the #3 Brand for a number of decades & they pissed it away. Imperial was spun off into a seperate brand for a while.
damn Cosmo's.....well let's not talk about the Studebaker Bros - you know they all died broke....or was that Louis - or Ransom or.... lawrence
Yes, indeed. Chrysler went through phenomenal growth in the first few years -- buying out Dodge and launching Plymouth and DeSoto. And Walter P. built the Chrysler Building, too. He was the mogul of his time.
It's a bit brief to think that the current GM lineup makes sense for the reasons listed above. It's like taking 70 years of history and ignoring it. Olds was a money loser when it joined GM? So what? What about the interim decades in which it made gobs of money for GM? In the 70's and 80's you couldn't walk down the street without bumping into 10 Cutlasses. Cadillac was a sales leader in the early years? So what? It nearly killed GM in the 80's with the 4-6-8 and other fiascos. I'll bet if one were inclined, one could argue that Caddy was propped up for ages by the other divisions of GM, Olds included. I'm not a GM guy by any means but even I can recognize your 'history lesson' is paper thin. How about this? The current lineup of GM (which let's not forget was propped up the the US taxpayer not long ago) is what some bean counters determined would make them the most money. Bean counters who don't give a crap about history. The current lineup of GM will change again, once they determine a better way to drag more money out of it all.
There were a few companies left out of the Chrysler list. I know of at least the early Graham company cars and trucks were bought by Chrysler and fazed into their production within a few years.
sorry Bill....and sorry Cosmos..... like my Studes....my Mopars are kinda dear....anytime you start talking about family trees....your sure to find a decaying or dead branch somewhere... one little history book I read about Andy and the Granatelli's -that hurts -talks about the Novi's and their efforts to bring one back to the "500" history is tuff stuff.... lawrence
The Cutlass for a decade or so, untill it went FWD, it was the best selling car in the south east US.
When Chrysler got the Roots group it included the Sunbeam tiger that was Ford powered and the sb Chrysler was to wide to fit so the line was droped.
Though they still had to do warranty work on the Ford engines untill the warranty expired, another annoyance to them.
Yes, indeed. Chrysler at that time also bought Simca in France, which had a military division that manufactured Ford flathead V8s -- the famed "French Flatheads." There's plenty of material for sequels.
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