A quick-tempered railroad man who worked his way up from an apprentice to the works manager of Allegheny Locomotive, Chrysler was recruited by Buick chief Charles Nash to oversee production at the company's Flint, Mich. , plant.

He was so successful at reducing costs and increasing efficiency that, when he attempted to resign, General Motors founder and CEO Charles Durant offered Chrysler a three-year contract that paid him today's equivalent of $170,000 a month, and a yearly bonus of $500,000 in GM stock. When he left GM in 1919, Chrysler was one of the richest men in America.

Investors in Willys-Overland asked Chrysler to turn around their struggling company, which he did. And two years later, he moved to the Maxwell-Chalmers company.

He killed Chalmers and replace it with a six-cylinder car that wore the Chrysler badge. It featured items like an air filter, full-pressure lubrication system, and oil filter at a time when most cars didn't.

This reputation for advanced engineering would see Chrysler, which by the late 1920s included the Chrysler, Plymouth, Desoto, and Dodge brands, move into second place behind GM. Even the ungainly but aerodynamic Airflow models of 1934 weren't enough to harm its reputation, though it would cause Chrysler to build conservative-looking cars until chief stylist Virgil Exner introduced the "Forward Look" cars in 1955 to make better use of the powerful Hemi V-8.

By 1960, the Dodge lineup began to encroach on the other brands, leading to the death of Desoto in 1961, and the eventual demise of Plymouth in 2001. In 1979, the U.

S. government extended $1.

5 billion in loan guarantees to the company which were paid off, with interest, in 1983 by company chairman Lee Iacocca. Flush with cash from the success of its small front-wheel-drive K-cars and the creation of the minivan, Chrysler bought American Motors in 1987 and came nearly full-circle: Jeep started out as part of Willys-Overland.

A large front-drive platform (codename: LH) also was part of the deal, and combined with adventuresome styling, it helped Chrysler become one of the most profitable American automakers of the period and attract the attention of Daimler-Benz. Post-merger, Chrysler, once again in a financial downturn, drew from the Mercedes parts bin to produce the LX-based Chrysler 300, Dodge Magnum, and Dodge Charger sedans.

The Hemi-powered LX cars, Ram pickup, Jeeps, and Dodge Durango/Chrysler Aspen SUVs helped Daimler through its own restructuring, but by 2007 it was over. Daimler wanted out, and sold a majority stake in Chrysler to Cerberus Capital Management for $7.

4 billion, less than one-fourth what it had spent to buy it a decade before. Like all auto companies, but especially the American ones, Chrysler has suffered mightily through the recent financial crisis.

The Auburn Hills, Mich. -based automaker remains independent, but the question is for how long.

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