Great-Grandson of Chrysler’s Founder Wants to Rescue Walter’s Dream

Frank B. Rhodes, Jr.YouTube

As we approach the centennial anniversary of Walter P. Chrysler's eponymous car company next year, an open letter to "investors and workers" from Walter's great-grandson has gotten a lot of attention. In the letter, which was accompanied by a video shown below and posted to Mopar Insiders, Frank B. Rhodes Jr. announced that he wants to revitalize Chrysler and its related brands, Dodge, Ram, and Jeep, under new "American" ownership.

Recent comments from Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis, the conglomerate that owns Chrysler and its related brands, have raised questions about the future of the Chrysler brand, which currently has rather scant offerings in dealer showrooms. (It's the Pacifica minivan.) Rhodes' plan calls for equity stakes for the company's employees, including, presumably, autoworkers who are members of the UAW.

His ties to the Chrysler brand are more than familial. He has been a Chrysler brand ambassador for over 40 years and owns the very last 300C made (production of the sedan ended last year). His letter takes issues with Stellantis' "mismanagement" of the Chrysler brand, Tavares' $39.5 million salary, and Stellantis' investment in an aviation company. However, Rhodes' major focus is on the Chrysler brand's lack of attention and resources from Stellantis, which manages a jumble of 15 different automotive brands, including Citroën, Peugeot, Vauxall, Fiat, and Maserati. He also expresses concern about BYD possibly flooding the American market with cheap cars made in China.

"The Chrysler brand, once a symbol of innovation and American ingenuity, is now at risk of fading into obscurity due to what I believe are poor decisions and mismanagement by its current owners, Stellantis," Rhodes said in his missive.

A general view of the building of the main headquarters of the FCA factory in Mirafiori on January 18, 2021 in Turin, Italy. The Stellantis logo is installed on a crane at the main entrance of the FCA Mirafiori plant in Turin, Italy. Stellantis is the fourth largest carmaker in the world to start trading in Milan and Paris after Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot maker PSA finalized their merger.Stefano Guidi/Getty Images

The letter includes few actual details of his plan other than the fact that Rhodes is willing to head a revived Chrysler corporation himself. He also submitted a 17-page proposal to Tavares and the CEO of Chrysler, Christine Feuell, in which he examined Chrysler's role as a major innovator in engineering and shared his "deep disappointment" with the brand's current status. He rather ambitiously invited Stellantis executives to a "confidential discussion" where he would present details of his plan.

Regardless of the outcome of Rhodes' proposal, his pride in his ancestor is well-placed. Walter Percy Chrysler (April 2, 1875 - August 18, 1940) was arguably the most capable automotive executive ever. Interestingly, he got his start in another form of wheeled transportation, the railroad industry. Born and raised in Kansas, Chrysler got a job working as a railroad mechanic and machinist before earning a mechanical degree from a correspondence school based in Pennsylvania. (Before the proliferation of colleges and universities across America, many people got advanced education by mail.) Chrysler married Della Forker, his childhood sweetheart, in 1901.

A replica of Walter Chrysler's railroad-era workshop with his actual toolchest at the now-closed Walter P. Chrysler Museum.Ronnie Schreiber

Said to be restless as a young man, Chrysler apparently spent a number of years as an itinerant railroad mechanic, gaining skills and working his way up from mechanic to foreman, superintendent, and division master mechanic. Ultimately, he gained the position of general master mechanic, with Della providing relational stability and support throughout their moves. Eventually, Chrysler ended up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania when he was hired by the American Locomotive Company (Alco) to manage their locomotive factory there.

In 1911, James Storrow, a banker and one of the directors of Alco, arranged a meeting between Chrysler and Charles Nash, then president of Buick, who would later found his own car company. Nash was looking for a production manager to run Buick's factory in Flint, Michigan. Chrysler had already caught the car bug, having been an auto enthusiast for years. Storrow was a good matchmaker: Chrysler's reputation already was such that his starting salary at Buick was $6000 a year, almost $200,000 in 1924 dollars.

Buick and Weston-Mott factories, Flint, Michigan, 1910.Flickr/Don Harrison/Guy A. Gaines

Chrysler's reputation as a capable manufacturing executive only grew in his years at Buick, where he reduced the cost of production while maintaining the brand's premium image.

Buick had been the foundation of William C. Durant's establishment of General Motors, though in time, Durant lost control of the corporation to New York-based financiers. When Durant reasserted control of GM in 1916, because of Chrysler's ties to bankers he submitted his resignation to Durant, also based in NYC.

Durant valued Walter Chrysler so much that he got on the first train to Flint and made Chrysler the prototypical offer that he couldn't refuse to stay on at Buick. Durant offered Chrysler a three-year contract at a salary of $10,000 a month (the 2024 equivalent of about $3.5 million a year) plus annual bonuses of half a million dollars (about $14 million in today's currency) in either cash or GM stock. Not believing what he heard, Chrysler asked Durant to repeat the offer. When he did, Chrysler accepted it on the spot.

Mr. and Mrs. Walter P. Chrysler seen as they arrived to attend the formal opening of Radio City Music Hall, New York on December 27, 1916. 6200 persons, many prominent in the theatrical world, business and public life, thronged the Mammoth theater, the world's largest (original caption).Bettmann Archive

Chrysler's time at Buick was successful, but he disagreed with Durant's plans for the future of the giant automaker and resigned as president of Buick in 1919, cashing out his GM stock to the tune of $10 million (approximately $180 million in 1924 dollars). The bankers in control of Willys-Overland approached Chrysler about managing that Toledo-based firm, which had been struggling. Though Chrysler ended up taking a pay cut to run Willys, the $1 million annual salary he demanded was still remarkable for the era. His time at Willys, though, ended with his first contract after he unsuccessfully tried to take control of the automaker from John Willys. After working for other people for his entire adult life, Walter Chrysler wanted to run his own car company.

With his own personal wealth and support from financiers, Chrysler turned his attention to the struggling Maxwell Motor Company and took a controlling interest in that firm. In a process that would probably raise eyebrows at today's Securities and Exchange Commission, Walter Chrysler used the resources of Maxwell to develop the first Chrysler-branded automobile in 1924 and incorporated the Chrysler Corporation in Detroit in 1925, absorbing and then discontinuing the Maxwell brand. Chrysler was positioned as a premium brand.

Walter P. Chrysler with the original Chrysler Six in 1924.Chrysler

Three years later, in a whirlwind of activity, Chrysler launched the low-priced Plymouth brand, the mid-priced DeSoto line, and purchased the entire Dodge Brothers company from the bankers who had acquired it from the brothers' widows, giving the Chrysler Corp. a line of trucks as well as the Dodge automobiles. In the space of one year, 1928, Chrysler had assembled a collection of brands to rival his first employer in the automotive industry, GM. In a few short years, he'd be selling more cars than Henry Ford.

Chrysler Building under construction, view from under El, New York, New York, 1929.Irving Browning/The New York Historical Society/Getty Images

In 1928, he also started construction on the Chrysler Building, one of the iconic structures of the New York City skyline and an Art Deco masterpiece. Small wonder that Time named Walter Chrysler 1928's Man of the Year, one of three times that the industrialist appeared on the cover of the magazine. The Great Depression started the following year, causing many to question Chrysler's acumen in expanding the Chrysler Corp., but that company ended up leading an industry-wide recovery in 1933, with total sales exceeding those of Ford Motor Company.

Executives of the auto industry called on President Roosevelt at the White House, Washington, DC, June 5, 1934, for a conference in an effort to avert the proposed steel strike. Photo shows, left to right: Roy Chapin of Hudson Motors; Alfred P. Sloan, President of General Motors; Walter Chrysler, President of Chrysler Motors; Alvin Macauley, President of Packard Motors and Donaldson Brown, Vice-President of General Motors.Bettmann Archive

One of America's wealthiest and most successful industrialists, at the age of 61 in 1936 Walter Chrysler stepped away from running the day-to-day operations of the Chrysler Corporation, preferring to retire to his estate in Kings Point, New York. Two years later, Della Chrysler died. Crushed by the death of his childhood sweetheart and biggest supporter, Chrysler suffered his first stroke. He never recovered his formerly robust health, and Walter P. Chrysler died at the Kings Point estate of another cerebral hemorrhage in August of 1940.

You can read his great-grandson's letter, reproduced below, and watch the video here:

To Investors and Workers:

I am writing to you today not just as a concerned citizen but as someone with a deep, personal connection to one of our nation's most iconic brands. My great-grandfather, Walter P. Chrysler, founded the Chrysler Corporation in 1925, a company that has since become a cornerstone of American automotive history. As we approach the 100th anniversary of Chrysler, with plans for what could be the largest gathering of Chrysler products ever seen in North America at next year's Chrysler Carlisle event, I believe the time for change is now. And I am ready to lead that change.

For the past 45 years, I have proudly served as a Brand Ambassador for Chrysler. I've seen the highs and lows, the triumphs and challenges. But today, I believe we are at a critical juncture. The Chrysler brand, once a symbol of innovation and American ingenuity, is now at risk of fading into obscurity due to what I believe are poor decisions and mismanagement by its current owners, Stellantis.

Stellantis, a company that seems out of touch with the American market, has allowed sales to decline, delayed new product launches, and put the livelihoods of our dealers and workers in jeopardy. Prices are soaring, layoffs are looming, and the future of the brand hangs in the balance. Meanwhile, Stellantis' CEO, Carlos Tavares, earns a staggering $39.5 million salary, a figure that seems grossly out of proportion given the struggles facing the company.

My great-grandfather was hired by General Motors (GM) in 1911 to save the failing Buick brand. Within a few years, he turned Buick into GM's most profitable division. But even back then, poor management decisions, like investing in impractical projects, threatened to derail his efforts. This mirrors the situation today, where Stellantis's investments in ventures like Archer Aviation seem to distract from the core business of building great cars. These funds would be better spent on revitalizing the Chrysler brand.

The current management at Stellantis, overseeing more than 15 different brands, cannot give Chrysler the necessary attention. The result? Mediocrity at best. And now, with the potential entry of Chinese automaker BYD into the U.S. market, our industry faces an even greater threat. The influx of cheap cars could devastate our manufacturing base, and this is not just a possibility-it is a fact.

I was hopeful when Christine Feuell was appointed to lead the Chrysler brand. But year after year, we see Chrysler's products being pushed further down the priority list while slow-selling brands like Fiat, Alfa Romeo, and Maserati receive more attention. Chrysler has deep roots in the American market, serving as a reliable and accessible option for the middle class. Does Stellantis understand this? Chrysler needs new products now, not tomorrow, not next year-now.

Recently, United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain criticized Stellantis and Carlos Tavares for failing to honor contracts. I stand with our workers, but it's clear that the current approach is not working. Stellantis and GM are pricing themselves out of the market, and layoffs seem inevitable. This is a situation that cannot continue.

But I am not without hope. I am confident that investors will see the potential in resurrecting this historic brand. My vision is to bring Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep®, and Ram back as an American-owned company that focuses not only on profits but also on the people who build these cars. I propose creating a new Chrysler Corporation, with workers as part-owners of the company. This would give them a stake in the success of the company and ensure that their jobs are secure.

This plan would also allow Stellantis to save face by exploring all options while offloading Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep®, and Ram to a company that truly cares about their future. This is not just a business opportunity but a chance to restore pride in an American icon and secure the future for thousands of workers.

The situation is dire, but with the right leadership and a clear vision, I believe we can turn things around. The time for action is now, and I am ready to step up and save the brand that my great-grandfather built. With the support of investors and the commitment of our workers, we can ensure that the Chrysler name lives on for another 100 years.

Sincerely,
Frank B. Rhodes, Jr.Frank B. Rhodes' 2023 Chrysler 300C, the last one made.Ronnie Schreiber

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