In a recent speech, Bob Nardelli said: “I often wonder if Walter P. Chrysler came back today, would he feel at home? … I believe he would recognize the company by its focus on customers, its commitment to quality, its edgy design, devotion to engineering and its ability to take smart risks. He would know us by the dedication that Chrysler people bring to work every day. He would understand that we are building on our uniquely American strengths: ingenuity, boldness, creativity and an entrepreneurial spirit as owner/operators.”

It’s important to realize that Walter P. Chrysler was a real person, and one who generally worked at corporations - even Chrysler Corporation, which he probably could have made into a private company when he converted it from Maxwell-Chalmers. He was also a very successful businessman who commanded massive (for the time) salaries largely based on his performance and his reluctance, after some time in the business, to take on other companies’ problems knowing he would not be able to realize his own ambition of running his own car company. Ironically, he did not run Chrysler Corporation for all that long - Walter P. apparently tended to get bored if he stayed in the same place to long, so he moved on. Wherever he went, he left his mark - and, to borrow from GM’s old slogan, it was a mark of excellence.

The real Walter Chrysler ignored styling for the most part, and paid serious attention to engineering. Edgy design never entered into Walter P. Chrysler’s statements or actions, despite the Airflow - which was meant to have real aerodynamic advantages (though those were not nearly as strong as one might think). Engineers ruled, and investment was the order of the day. In the depths of the Depression, quite unlike Chrysler’s current executives, he gave up considerable personal income in order to keep the company afloat and all hands on deck, and continued to invest heavily in engineering and design. Indeed, the engineering department barely was touched by the Depression, in terms of manpower, at least. That propelled Chrysler to the #2 position in sales, taking it from Ford, the original bottom-chasing mass producer.

Perhaps if Bob Nardelli were to publicly renounce massive, unnecessary salaries and bonuses until Chrysler had regained its place - we’ll be less ambitious and say its place in 1997, rather than its place in the 1924-1950 era - get that AMT factory back up to speed, and spread the AMTs throughout the product line rather than cutting back, he might be able to more credibly invoke the name of Walter P. Chrysler, a man who revitalized numerous companies in his time - including Buick, Nash, and Maxwell-Chalmers. … all publicly traded. As it is, it takes more than words, and certainly more than words that ring falsely in the ears of anyone who knows Chrysler’s history beyond the name of its founder, to earn credibility.

We’ve been talking about adding to our single staffer for a long time, and we’re finally doing it. Amusingly, the impetus is not as much the workload as medical costs - to get any sort of “real” insurance (as in “insurance that actually covers you in case of catastrophe”, versus the more common “no-actual-payments” plans) we need to form a group, and a group can be a husband-and-wife team. Therefore, my wife has started working 25 hours a week at Allpar, starting with working on the 1994-2001 Ram 1500 pages, and, incidentally, including coverage of the Washington, DC Auto Show. Hopefully, eventually, we’ll be able to clear out some of our massive backlog now - especially since I’ll be done with my own radiation treatments on Wednesday, and should be fully recovered and back to my usual long work-day by the start of February.

Those of you who frequent the forums may have noticed the new banner ads, courtesy of AdsDAQ. I’m still of mixed mind about those, but they do pay fairly well; the allpar ads are backups and we’ll be adding to those in an attempt to get people to new or underviewed sections.

We’ve now technically passed 1,400 pages but I’m still holding the counter at 1,383 to account for “doorway” pages — that is, pages that don’t really have information but list other pages that do (e.g. the main engines page).

Coming up soon is an excellent series on squad car ownership and collecting - I think you’ll find it fascinating even if you don’t own one. It’s something I’ve always thought of doing, but never actually did.

Anyway, stay tuned this afternoon or this evening (I’m not quite sure when coverage will start) for the Washington DC Auto Show!

The new Dodge Ram is here, and we (along with the New York Times and a bunch of others) have the information and photos. One big difference between Allpar and many others, of course, is that we actually read the reports, condensed (without dropping information) and edited them, added an engineer’s analysis of the new rear suspension and showed where it came from (not Mercedes!), and basically tried to make it something that will be looked at in 2018, which will, if we’re still around, be our twentieth anniversary.

Here’s the link - spread it around! - to the most advanced, nicest-looking pickup you can almost buy:
http://www.allpar.com/model/ram/2009-ram.html

We’ve come a long way in ten years - longer in fourteen, which is the length of time some of Allpar’s content has been posted on the Web:
1994, started at cyberwar.com/valiant/
1995, moved to mordor.com/~valiant/
1996(?), moved to z.simplenet.com/cc/
1998, moved to allpar.com and valiant.org; hosting moved to Esosoft
1999, moved to Esosoft VPS, which turned out to be Verio in reality
2001 (?), moved to dedicated server at Hostrocket in New York
2007, moved to a new dedicated server in Michigan

I still remember the excitement of our first advertiser paying $20 per month for the right to a banner ad on the home page; that covered the costs of running the site! Then, eventually, Year One started paying enough to cover the costs of the size and an odd dinner out every month, and I basked in the warmth of a small profit and a well-known, reputable advertiser.

Not long after registering Allpar.com, it passed 10,000 visitors in a month, and I was thrilled to have finally equalled the success of my old college newspaper! The viewers kept coming, fortunately, along with numerous people who contributed greatly in those early years - Daniel Stern; Bohdan Bodnar; Gene Poon; and many others.

Along with allpar, I also sponsored and led the creation of the rec.autos.makers.chrysler newsgroup, which took more argument than one would think; it was one of the first, though not THE first, specific-brand auto newsgroups. As a part of that, I started the Chrysler FAQ. All three are still around. Thanks to everyone who supported all of these efforts with your help, your words, your information, your photos, your referrals to friends, your links, and your visits.

This year, let’s celebrate.

Based on input from the forums, here’s what’s certain to happen:

1) Special logos celebrating ten years
2) Cake at Carlisle
3) Focus on the information and articles from 10 years ago.

Likely to happen:

1) 10 most influential vehicles, 10 most influential figures, 10 most popular threads, or maybe the 10 most interesting events that have occurred at Chrysler during allpar’s existence.

2) Guesses for the future of Chrysler in the next 10 months and the next 10 years (10 months will be easy to check and that person will become the leader for what might happen in the next 10 years)

3) Anniversary mugs and/or reusable coffee-cups (nonspill variety)

4) A biography brief in which everyone can be involved

5) Allpar 10th Anniversary clothing

6) Celebration at the WPC Museum (we have to settle on a range of dates and then contact the Museum)

Do you have more ideas? Let us know!