Automotive News - September 15, 2008 - (Page 44)

General Motors Story 11/100 © GM Corp. Walter Chrysler rode the rails to GM, then started his own company Larry Edsall early a decade before he started his own car company, Walter P. Chrysler was the highest-paid employee in the U.S. automobile industry, making more than $600,000 a year at General Motors. Not bad for a guy who was sweeping floors in a Union Pacific Railroad machine shop for 4 cents an hour when he was 17. Walter Percy Chrysler was born April 2, 1875, in Wamego, Kan., to a family whose N German name was Greisler when it arrived in Canada. The family had moved to the American colonies in the 18th century. Chrysler worked hard from the time he was a kid. He went door to door in Ellis, Kan., selling milk from the family cows, plus greeting cards and silverware that he ordered from catalogs. Chrysler’s father, Hank, left home at age 12 to be a drummer boy with the 12th Kansas Regiment in the Civil War. After the war, Hank became a locomotive engineer. Walter’s older brother, Ed, was an apprentice machinist for the Union Pacific. Walter wanted to join his father and brother, but Hank wanted at least one of his sons to go to college. Walter wasn’t interested. He had wanderlust. Leaving his machine-shop broom behind but taking along his beloved tuba (his childhood hobbies included baseball and music), Walter Chrysler, circa 1924 Walter Chrysler Red Flag Compliance. Made Easy. 1875: Born in Wamego, Kan. 1901: Foreman for Denver & Rio Grand Western Railroad 1908: Bought first car at Chicago auto show — then took it apart and put it back together 1911: Became manager of Buick plant in Flint, Mich. 1916: Promoted to Buick president and executive vice president of GM manufacturing at a salary of $10,000 a month, plus $500,000 a year in GM stock 1919: Retired from Buick, then took over WillysOverland. Later ran Maxwell-Chalmers, which became Maxwell Motor and then Chrysler Corp. 1928: Bought Dodge from estates of John and Horace Dodge 1930: Chrysler Building in New York finished 1935: Retired as Chrysler president 1940: Died Aug. 18 Chrysler started riding the rails, stopping to work as a mechanic for several Western railroads, which recognized his talent for management and organization. In 1901, Chrysler was roundhouse foreman, overseeing nearly 100 workers for the Denver & Rio Grand Western Railroad. That also was the year he married his hometown sweetheart, Della Forker. Several moves later, Chrysler and his family were living in Oelwein, Iowa, where he was making $200 a week as superintendent of locomotive power for the Chicago Great Western line. That job took him to Chicago from time to time — and a visit there in 1908, during an early auto show, changed his life and got him hooked on the auto industry. Though he had never driven a car, Chrysler was fascinated by them. “I saw this Locomobile touring car,” he said of his first automobile. “It was painted ivory white, and the cushions AUTOMOTIVE NEWS The new Red Flag Solution from First Advantage CREDCO. A simple, comprehensive offering of product and reporting solutions to help satisfy your requirements under the Red Flags Rule. Identity verification OFAC screening Credit reporting services Comprehensive reporting Get Your FREE Red Flag Guide!* CREDCOservices.com/RedFlag ORDER TODAY! 866.491.4256 *Free copy of “A Dealer's Guide to the Red Flags Rule” by Michael Benoit of Hudson Cook. Limit one per dealership. Offer valid for new Red Flag Solution customers only. Must sign up for complete Red Flag Solution (credit reporting services, OFAC screening and ID verification) to qualify. Offer good while supplies last. Call for details. 44 September 15, 2008 http://www.CREDCOservices.com/RedFlag http://www.CREDCOservices.com/RedFlag

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Automotive News - September 15, 2008

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