American automobile
manufacturer founded in 1925 by Walter Chrysler. The orginal Chrysler Corporation existed from 1925 to 1998, when it was taken over (excused me, "merged") by Daimler, a German company. In the 1960s and early 70s, Chrysler was known for their sporty models through their 3 divisions: Chrysler, Dodge, and Plymouth. By the late 1970s however, Chrysler was falling on
hard times as gas prices rose, and nearly went out of business. The subcompacts Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon changed that in 1978, and 3 years later The famous "K"-cars restored Chrysler completely. In 2007, Cerubus Management bought Chrysler from Daimler, and it seems that Chrysler is finally restoring itself to its pre-Daimler days.
Chrysler suffered extensive quality problems throughout the 1980s and 90s, the most notorious being the switchover to low-quality "uniprime" 2-coat paint in 1985, which peeled off in sheets. Defective transmissions and poorly applied trim pieces were also a problem. With the Daimler takeover, the quality of Chrysler vehicles improved dramatically, but
unfortunately the reputation has not. To this day, many people still see Chrysler vehicles as those POS throwaway cars that fall apart in 5 years.
From 1963 to 1997, the Pentastar, a pentagon with a star
in the middle, was Chrysler's logo, and appeared as badging on all cars from 1981 to 1993. The pentastar was retired in 1998 because Daimler
thought it was too similar to their own logo, although it can still be found on the windows of all Chryslers and Chrysler parts, as well as dealer signage. As of 2007, Chrysler is apparently going to revive the pentastar, although it is not yet known if it will be used as car badging like it was in the 1980s and 90s, or just as
the corporate logo, as it was until the takeover.
My Aunt's '87 Plymouth Voyager was rusted with hubcaps and door handles missing and
the paint peeling off, but it still ran for 12 years before it died. Gotta love those 80s Chryslers.
Look at that POS Dodge Neon with the fogged-up
headlights and front bumber missing...isnt that thing only a few years old???
80s-90s Chrysler products are always the first to die in Demolition Derbies.