1924 Chrysler 'Six' Sedan

Description

Founded by Walter P Chrysler in 1924 and first unveiled to the public at the New York Auto Show held at the Commodore Hotel in January that year, the new marque was America's first mid-priced automobile to combine excellent performance and features like all-wheel hydraulic brakes, a tubular front axle and full-pressure lubrication. Powered by a relatively small capacity L-head six (displacing 201.5 cubic inches), the new engine boasted aluminium pistons and higher than normal 4.7:1 compression ratio to generate 68 horsepower, a figure normally reserved for much more expensive luxury cars and the Chrysler's top speed of 70-75 mph was only marginally slower than a Packard Eight. With more than 32,000 sold in the first year of production, the Chrysler proved a genuine success story and the company continued refining what was already an excellent product throughout the 1920s, adding a four-cylinder line and a luxury Imperial model in 1927. The original 1924 Model B was built on a 112 ¾-inch wheelbase frame equipped with steel disc or wooden-spoke wheels and a range of factory coachwork was listed, including roadster, phaeton, touring, sedan and brougham styles. Ralph de Palma used a 1924 Chrysler to set numerous stock car records at the Fresno board track and drove the same car to win the Mt Wilson hill climb, gaining valuable publicity for the new brand.