HEMMINGS CLASSIC CAR OCTOBER 2019 I Hemmings.com
CHRYSLER CLASSICS
50
Chrysler Innovations
From the beginning, progressive engineering ruled the day at Chrysler
BY TERRY SHEA • IMAGES FROM HEMMINGS ARCHIVES AND AS CREDITEDA
master of business as much as
he was of things mechanical,
Walter P. Chrysler was the
consummate engineer, so it
should have come as no surprise that the
company that bore his name was focused
on innovative engineering solutions from
the very beginning. After stints at Buick
and Willys-Overland, Chrysler took over
the Maxwell Motor Company in the
early 1920s. One of his fi rst tasks was
to assemble an engineering crew par
excellence.
Frederick Zeder, Owen Skelton, and
Carl Breer had years of experience, their
collective resumes including stints at
Allison-Chalmers, Tourist, Pope-Toledo,
Packard, E-M-F, and Studebaker, the
latter where the trio formed such ajuggernaut of engineering prowess that
they gained the nickname “The Three
Musketeers.” Chrysler hired them at Willys-
Overland, where the trio developed the
“Chrysler Six,” a car intended to be the
basis of a new Willys division. When funds
dried up and Willys was again in fi nancial
dire straits, Chrysler left, ultimately ac-
quired Maxwell, and then hired The Three
Musketeers, who would lead Chrysler
engineering for years to come.
The ZSB team, as they were also
known, had improved upon their work at
Willys, ultimately designing the Chrysler
Six, introduced in 1924. It was a car
that many believe ushered in an era of
modernity to an industry still dominated
by the far simpler Ford Model T. Early
Chrysler advertisements included boldstatements such as “Chrysler Six is un-
doubtedly the most modern and effi cient
motor car in America.”
With more than 50,000 sold the fi rst
year, the Chrysler Six was an immediate
success. Its four-wheel hydraulic brakes,
high-compression engine, and other fea-
tures proving strong selling points and help-
ing give Chrysler the additional capital he
needed to form the company that bore his
name, a company whose reputation stood
on its solid engineering and innovations for
decades.IMPROVED
HYDRAULIC BRAKES
Chrysler wasn’t the fi rst manufacturer to use
four-wheel hydraulic brakes; that distinction
belonged to Duesenberg, which used themFCA