Chrysler By The Decade

The 1950's and 1960's

The 1950's were a time for Chrysler to begin rejuvenating itself - with a new president, and newly freed divisions, Chrysler began expanding into the global market.

One of Chrysler's innovations in the 1950's was Hydraguide - and early version of power steering.

Other innovations in the early 1950's were air-cooled breaks and the development of the world famous Hemi-head V8 engine.

By the late 1950's, Chrysler introduced the new "Forward Look" which borrowed from aircraft design and introduced the tail-fin.

In the 1960's, partially as a response to strong financial earnings, Chrysler began to expand its global reach in earnest, acquiring controlling interests of Simca in France and Rootes Group of Great Britain, as well as a partial interest in Cummins Diesel.

In similar moves, Chrysler's Canadian Subsidiary changed its name from Chrysler Corporation of Canada to Chrysler Canada Ltd.

In 1963, Chrysler introduced the first-ever production turbine engine. 50 turbine-engined cars were manufactured, featuring a rotary-blade motif on the tail-lights to emphasize the turbine engine.

In the middle and the late 1960's muscle cars were all the rage - and Chrysler led the pack. Muscle cars refer to the unassuming, small-bodied sedans that features high-displacement V8 engines. With such famous names as Charger, Fury, Road Runner and Barracuda, Chrysler's 300 cubic-inch-plus Hemi-head engines were the most well-muscled of them all.