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His Manhattan skyscraper, all but circled about with half-vacant pinnacles of the same vintage, by shrewd management actually increased its rent roll during Depression. The millions he had spent in plugging his cars out of season came back like waterborne bread. The day before Franklin Roosevelt became President, Chrysler stock sold for $7.75 a share, but in the next six months the company made nearly $15,000,000. By November Chrysler stock had multiplied nearly seven times in value, touched $52.87 a share, and on Dec. 31, Walter Chrysler was able to celebrate the fact that he had for the first time sold more cars in one year than Henry Ford. More than any other individual manufacturer he had come to personify his industry in its forward march.
Next Lap, Three new things in the automobile world were visible on 1934's New Year's Day: 1) slightly higher prices for the lowest priced cars to offset, in part, the rising cost of automobile materials; 2) independent front wheel suspension ("knees")—old to Europe—to make cars of General Motors, Chrysler and others "easier riding"; 3) streamlining in a big way—Walter Chrysler's bid to claim the distinction that he made the buggy a bugaboo. A few years ago a 22-year-old graduate of the University of Texas named Byron Cecil Foy began selling Fords in Dallas. Norval A. Hawkins, Ford's salesmanager, was staging a nation-wide sales contest and to everyone's surprise the young Texan won it. Soon he was working directly for Ford. Next he became head of Reo's sales in California. Then he moved to Manhattan as partner in a firm of Metropolitan Chrysler distributors. From there he moved into Chrysler Motors & the Chrysler family, by marrying Walter Chrysler's eldest daughter, Thelma. In 1932 as president of the company he took hold of De Soto, gave it a new round radiator grill and many another feature that he, an expert salesman, wanted on the car he sold. Now he is trying to take De Soto over its highest hurdle by stream lining it like an airplane.