From the Chrysler Corporation, here’s a beautifully made video biography of Walter P. Chrysler, one of the original automotive tycoons.

When former Buick executive Walter P. Chrysler took the remains of the old Maxwell and Chalmers companies in 1924 and founded the Chrysler Corporation, he created an auto industry powerhouse. A few years later he repeated the feat with the Plymouth, starting from scratch in 1928 and driving the upstart brand straight up the sales charts in the midst of an economic crash. In just a few short years, Plymouth joined Ford and Chevrolet as the final member of the low-priced three.

But the fascinating personal story of Walt Chrysler begins well before that. The son of a German-Canadian railroad engineer,  Chrysler grew up on the Kansas prairie and became an expert locomotive mechanic while he was still a teenager. Entirely self-taught in both engineering and business, he shot up through the ranks of rail men to become works manager of the mighty Alco locomotive factory in Pittsburgh. There he met wealthy banker James J. Storrow, a director at both Alco and General Motors, a fast-growing but troubled young carmaker in need of strong leaders. In 1911, Chrysler became the production manager at Buick and launched a second career.

This little five-minute film, produced for the Chrysler Corporation circa 2009, tells the story in beautiful pictures and prose. If you have six minutes, have we got a story for you. Video below.

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