The first comprehensive history of the Chrysler Corporation, this book is intended for readers interested in the history of automobiles and of American business, and for fans and critics of Chrysler’s products. From the Chrysler Six of 1924 to the front-wheel-drive vehicles of the 70s and 80s to the minivan, Chrysler boasts an impressive list of technological "firsts." But even though the company has catered well to a variety of consumers, it has come to the brink of financial ruin more than once in its seventy-five-year history. How Chrysler has achieved monumental success and then managed colossal failure and sharp recovery is explained in Riding the Roller Coaster, a lively, unprecedented look at a major force in the American automobile industry since 1925. Charles Hyde tells the intriguing story behind Chrysler-its products, people, and performance over time-with particular focus on the company's management. He offers a lens through which the reader can view the U.S. auto industry from the perspective of the smallest of the automakers who, along with Ford and General Motors, make up the "Big Three." The book covers Walter P. Chrysler's life and automotive career before 1925, when he founded the Chrysler Corporation, to 1998, when it merged with Daimler-Benz. Chrysler made a late entrance into the industry in 1925 when it emerged from Chalmers and Maxwell, and further grew when it absorbed Dodge Brothers and American Motors Corporation. The author traces this journey, explaining the company's leadership in automotive engineering, its styling successes and failures, its changing management, and its activities from auto racing to defense production to real estate. Throughout, the colorful personalities of its leaders-including Chrysler himself and Lee Iacocca-emerge as strong forces in the company's development, imparting a risk-taking mentality that gave the company its verve.

Biography of John and Horace Dodge and the history of their company. At the start of the Ford Motor Company in 1903, the Dodge Brothers supplied nearly every car part needed by the up-and-coming auto giant. After fifteen years of operating a successful automotive supplier company, John and Horace Dodge again changed the face of the automotive market in 1914 by introducing their own car. The Dodge Brothers automobile carried on their names even after their untimely deaths in 1920, which led to its sale in 1925 to New York bankers and subsequent purchase in 1928 by Walter Chrysler. Hyde not only details the brothers’ lives and influence on automotive manufacturing and marketing trends in the early part of the twentieth century but also their civic contributions to Detroit, their hiring of African Americans and women, and their often anonymous charitable contributions to local organizations. Despite their achievements and their critical role in the early success of Henry Ford, John and Horace Dodge are usually overlooked in histories of the early automotive industry, but Hyde has put them front and center again to appropriately credit their lasting legacy.

For the first time in one volume, Phil Edmonston, Canada’s automotive “Dr. Phil,” covers all used vehicles, packing this guide with insider tips to help the consumer make the safest and cheapest choice possible from cars and trucks of the past 25 years.

Author Steve Magnante is well known for his encyclopedia-like knowledge of automotive facts. The details he regularly puts forth, both on the pages of national magazines and as a contributing host and tech expert at the popular Barrett-Jackson Auctions on television, are the kinds of things muscle car fanatics love to hear. There are 1001 well-researched muscle car facts in this book that even some of the most esteemed experts would be surprised to learn. Covered are all the popular GM makes including Chevy, Buick, Oldsmobile and Pontiac, Ford and Mercury cars, Chrysler, Plymouth and Dodge cars, and even facts about AMC and Studebaker as well. Fans of these collectible cars will appreciate the technical and entertaining information shared on every page about all of the great American muscle cars. Whether you're an avid collector of multiple American muscle cars, the owner of one shining example, a trivia buff who wants to stump your friends, or just a fan of the big and powerful rear-wheel-drive rides of the 1960s and 1970s, this book is an informative and entertaining collection of facts from one of the industry's most beloved and respected sources.