Cars, trucks, and Chrysler-Plymouth-Dodge-Jeep histories for various years

This is a new chronological arrangement — you can also visit the old “by brand or topic” page.

The pre-Chrysler years

• Dodge Brothers starts up in 1914
• John Willys starts selling cars in 1900
• Repeating a historic cross-country trip in a 1909 Maxwell
• Maxwell: the company that turned into Chrysler
• Chronology: 1864 - 1911 * 1912 - 1919

Chrysler begins: “extra care in engineering” for revolutionary cars

• Plymouth cars, 1929-32 — ahead of the pack
• Chronology: 1920 - 1939
• 1928-1957 Model / Serial Number Guide
• Chrysler cars, 1924-1966
• Dodge cars of 1939
• Imperial, 1937-38
• Plymouth of 1930: the Model 30U
• Plymouths of 1931-32: the revolutionary new Plymouth PA
• Plymouth of 1932: the PB
• Plymouths of 1933: the PC, PD, and PCXX
• Plymouths of 1934: more innovations in the PE, PF, PG, and PFXX
  • Comparison test: 1934 Chevrolet, Ford, and Plymouth
  • Plymouth pickup trucks: 1934 only...
• Plymouths of 1935: The PJ and others, first commercial van, and innovation; comparison to 1935 Ford. Plymouth when it clearly smoked the competition.
• Plymouths of 1937: see the many advantages of Plymouth in a record sales year
• Plymouths of 1938: many improvements but sales fall - albeit less than competitors. Includes the PT57.
• Plymouths of 1940: the best new Plymouth ever? Advanced styling and engineering threatened Ford's #2 position.
• Fargo Truck
• Hudson: reliable and upscale
• Nash: small and sophisticated

The war years

• Chrysler during the War Years
• Chronology: 1940 - 1949
• Military work: Chrysler helps build the arsenal of democracy

Postwar: filling the demand for cars

• Kaiser jumps the gun
• Chrysler 1946-49
• Dodge cars of 1946
• Plymouth 1946-1959: the full book
• Growing up with the post-war Mopars

The high-style body-on-frame cars, 1940s-1959

• Christmas in May: putting a 1949 Plymouth into emergency action
• Chrysler Corporation, 1957
• Insider's History of Plymouth (and Chrysler): the 1950-1964 period of Chrysler Corporation, including not only Plymouth but also Dodge, Chrysler, and Imperial. There is a lot of information in this well-written series, much of it not readily available anywhere else.
• Chronology 1950 - 1963
• Dodge cars of 1954: Meadowbrook, Coronet, Royal
• Dodge cars of 1955: the Coronet, Royal, and Custom Royal, with the Hemi Red Ram and PowerFlite transmissions.
• Plymouth 1946-1959: the full book
• Styling and coloring cars in 1955
• Read Jim Benjaminson’s book Plymouth 1946-1959 free of charge! (Reprinted by permission)
• Plymouths of 1949-1952: the Deluxe, Special Deluxe, Cranbrook, Cambridge, and Concord
  • Plymouths of 1953-1954: the Belvedere, Savoy, and Plaza with new automatic transmissions.
  • Plymouths of 1955: the Belvedere, Savoy, and Plaza with the first Plymouth V8
  • Plymouths of 1957: the Bevledere, Savoy, Plaza, and Fury with TorqueFlite, torsion bars, and more
• Electrojector: world’s first electronic-fuel-injection car ... from 1958
• Christine, the reason why non-Mopar folk know the 1958 Plymouth Fury

Unit-body to muscle: the 1960s

Chrysler had several major technological transitions through the years; arguably, the first was the move from body-on-frame to unit-body, and they handled it with startling speed. Instead of switching one model or body size at a time, they moved just about every car at once, only leaving behind models with very small sales. Amazingly, they managed the change almost flawlessly.

• Chrysler Corporation cars, 1966
• Chrysler Corporation cars, 1967
• 1969 car prices
• Chronology: 1964 - 1971
• Why Chrysler used different side marker lights in 1968, 1969, and 1970
• Chrysler boats - 1966 | 1969
• Imperial, 1969-1973 (the other Chrysler boats)
• Jeep 1958-61 - Jeep 1965
• Dodge cars of 1960: the Dart, Polara, and Matador (in progress)
• Dodge trucks 1960
• Dodge cars of 1966: Polara, Monaco, Coronet, Charger, Dart, Sportsman vans
• Plymouths of 1960: the Belvedere, Fury, Savoy, and Valiant; unit-body; TorqueFlite; SonoRamic engines; and more
• Plymouths of 1962: Fury, Sport Fury, Valiant, restyling, unit-body, and more
  • Plymouth Sport Fury and styling for 1961-1962
• Plymouths of 1963: Chrysler's ill-timed downsizing and other details, including the Fury Super Sport.
• Plymouths of 1964: the Fury, Savoy, Belvedere, Valiant, and Barracuda; the Hemi; Canada; and racing.
• Plymouths of 1965: the Fury, Belvedere, Valiant, and the rest; Canada; racing. Lots of details and photos.
• Plymouths of 1966: the Belvedere, Fury, and Valiant, the Street Hemi, and racing
• Plymouths of 1967: the Belvedere, Fury, Satellite, GTX, and Valiant
• Plymouths of 1968: the Barracuda, Fury, GTX, Belvedere, and others.
• Dodge Charger - by Burton Bouwkamp, Manager of Dodge Passenger Car Product Planning
• Running amok with a borrowed Hemi Satellite: Rick Ehrenberg tells what it was like to race a Street Hemi when the muscle car was still in its prime
• Boats and Chrysler Marine

The 1970s: downsizing and depowering

• Chrysler Corporation 1970
• Chrysler cars of 1971: Imperial Lebaron, New Yorker, Town & Country, Newport
• Dodge cars of 1973: Polara, Monaco, Challenger, Charger, and Dart
• Plymouth cars of 1973: the Barracuda, Duster, Valiant, Fury, GTX, Satellite, and Road Runner meet the Colt and Cricket
• Chryslers of 1974 - 1975: New Yorker, Newport, Town & Country
• Jeep for 1975-76
• Plymouths of 1975: the Valiant, Fury, and Road Runner in transitional years.
• 1977 Dodge cars
• Chrysler Corporation 1978
• Plymouths of 1978: a bunch of imports and a bunch of stalwarts

Front wheel driven, electronically controlled: the 1980s

• Chrysler Corporation snapshots: 1981 - 1984 - 1986 - 1988
• Chrysler front-drive performance 1983-1993
• Jeep 1987-89
• Dodge cars of 1983: rebadged Mitsubishis, Daytona, K-cars and EEKs, Omni, Omni Charger, Mirada, Diplomat
• Dodge trucks of 1983
• Plymouths of 1986: want variety? Mitsubishis, EEKs, Gran Fury, Horizon/Turismo, and Voyager!
• Cannonball Run Duster: One Lap of America in a Plymouth (1989)

The roller coaster 1990s

• Chrysler Corporation 1992 • 1998
• Model year changes: 1995 • 1998 • 1999
• Fast Facts, 1997 shows the pride of accomplishment just before the takeover.
• Chrysler and the environment, 1993
• 1998 was the final year of Chrysler Corporation.

Under the thumb of Daimler: 1999-2007

• 2000: from global success story to impending disaster
• Model year changes for: 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2007
• Car prices: - 2000 - 2002 - 2003 - 2003/04 

Back in the U.S.: Cerberus and Beyond

• Model year changes 2008 - 2009 - 2010
• 2008 Recovery Plan
• 2009 Recovery Plan
• Five year plan (2009-2014)

---

---