Chrysler cars over the years

Walter P Chrysler and the first Plymouth that was built in 1928. After his first car was denied entry at the 1924 New York Auto Show, he parked his prototype for the 1924 Chrysler Six in the lobby. It became the first affordable car with a six-cylinder engine, the most powerful of its time. He founded the Chrysler Corporation on 6 June 1925 Photograph: Baldwin Ward/Getty

A showroom display photograph of an early Chrysler sedan car, an Airflow four door in 1934. Inspired by fighter planes, the Airflow was created in 1934. The car was a financial failure - despite setting new speed records on Utah’s salt flats and publicity stunts including driving the Airflow to the brink of a Pennsylvania cliff Photograph: Bettmann/Corbis

Company vice president BE Hutchinson shakes hands with founder Walter P Chrysler in Detroit to celebrate the production of the millionth Plymouth in 1934. Innovations like 'Fluid drive', a forerunner of automatic transmission, helped Chrysler turn a profit in 1934 and maintain growth throughout the 1930s Photograph: Bettmann/Corbis

Rows of army ambulances sit in a parking lot at a Chrysler Dodge Dodge truck plant in Detroit, Michigan. Sometime after the company's founder died in 1940, the luxury-oriented 'Town and Country' model was launched. But in 1942 car production was halted and factory resources were diverted towards the war effort. Chrysler supplied the Allied forces with goods ranging from tanks to aircraft engines and trailer-mounted anti-aircraft guns Photograph: Arthur Siegel/Getty Images

Two women admire a 1947 Town and Country convertible car in Marseille, France. After the war, the 'Woody' became a popular convertible Photograph: Maurice Ambler/Getty Images

A 300 Sports Coupe from 1955. In the 1950s, the carmaker ran an advertising campaign entitled 'Beautiful Chrysler'. Innovations included air-cooled brakes, the 'Hemi-head' V8 engine and 'Hydraglide', the industry’s first power steering unit Photograph: Car Culture/Corbis

Chrysler cars in the Beach and Road Course race in Daytona Beach, Florida, 1956. The C-300’s engine was so powerful that the car was banned from racing Photograph: Dozier Mobley/Getty Images

A 1963 Chrysler Turbine concept car. America's third-largest car manufacturer, Chrysler, has declared itself bankrupt after a handful of creditors withstood pressure from the Obama administration to forgive billions of dollars in debt, casting a cloud of uncertainty over tens of thousands of jobs at factories, suppliers and dealers. After round-the-clock negotiations broke down, the 83-year-old Detroit ­carmaker put its future in the hands of the courts, despite an 11th-hour deal with Italy's Fiat to pool ­technology in building new vehicles Photograph: Transtock/Corbis

Chrysler chairman Lee Iacocca shows Republican presidential nominee Ronald Reagan the company's Jefferson Assembly Plant 9/2, as both men look into the frame of a Chrysler 'K-Car' on the line in Detroit, September 1980. Lee Iacocca rekindled sales and became the manufacturer’s face through a highly successful series of 'New Chrysler' print and TV ads. Photograph: Tom Gralish/ Bettmann/Corbis

A Chrysler PT Cruiser car in 2000. In the 1990s, the company merged with Daimler-Benz to form Daimler Chrysler Photograph: Roger Tooth/Guardian

Smart cars on display on six floors in a glass exhibition tower at the Smart Centre in Dresden, Germany, 1998. The 'Smart City' two-seater car was designed by DaimlerChrysler and the Swatch group Photograph: Matthias Hiekel/EPA

A prototype of a Chrysler Imperial car on display at the 76th Geneva Motor Show in 2006. Photograph: Stefan Wermuth/Reuters

Robert Nardelli, CEO of Chrysler, departs at the conclusion of a hearing on the US car industry in Washington, December 2008. CEOs of the big three American carmakers were in Washington to seek federal assistance and rescue their companies from bankruptcy Photograph: Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images