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This was taken from
the inside covers of the boxed gift drink glasses which dealers were given in the 90's
From 1933 to 1937 Chrysler Motor Parts featured
a logo with the letters D, C, P and D, for
Dodge Chrysler, Plymouth, and Desoto. (This
was not Daimler-Chrysler Parts Department as one person has commented to me!)
This led to the Mopar trademark becoming one of
the most familiar trademarks in automotive history. However, we'll bet you didn't know that it evolved from a group
of unlikely characters that included a genius, a camel and a robot.
The genius was Nelson L Farley, Chrysler Division's sales promotional manager in the 1930s. Farley had established
a "think tank" called the Activities Council, whose purpose was to brainstorm new merchandising ideas
and report back to him.
In the spring of 1937, this activities council was working on the creation of a product name to put on cans of
Chrysler Motor Parts antifreeze that was being used in their cars. The group, after many suggestions, came up with
a simple name that would be easy to remember: a combination of the words motors and parts hence the word... MOPAR.
Now Chrysler needed a logotype for the trade name. The first attempt, created by a man named Burke Bartlett, was
a bright purple logo arranged in a vertical arrow. Farley immediately rejected it because he didn't like the downward
pointing arrow or the use of the color purple.
The next design became one of the most famous and distinctive trademarks of the century, the unique signpost of
the Chrysler Parts Division.
The Activities Council then came up with a way to introduce the new acronym to the public. They created a character
named "Mr. Mopar" who made his first debut in the form of a camel.
In 1937 the Shriners national convention came to Detroit, and Chrysler Corporation's Parts Division was creating
a corporate float for the opening parade. A camel seemed to fit right in. The float was made up of piston rings,
cylinders, push rods, oil pans, etc. Of course, the camel needed someone to lead it.
A year or two earlier, a man named Vern Dupuis had made a small "mechanical man" fashioned out of parts.
The group found this mechanical man, named him 'ACCY, " an abbreviation for accessory, and put him in front
of the camel. An employee in full Moslem dress sat atop the camel and the float was a big hit
Eleven years later when Dupuis was in the Merchandising and Development Department he modified "ACCY"
into a moving and speaking robot and renamed him "Mr. Mopar " A later version of this robot made television
appearances from coast to coast
Today, the familiar Pentastar and Mopar signature in process blue is seen on the package designs and labeling of
more than 40,000 quality-engineered original equipment replacement parts.
So what 's in a name? An entire history. If the name is "Mopar, " it stands for "Motor" and
"Parts" and quality engineering. The color of the name, like Chrysler, is always blue.
You know that the term Mopar came about by combining the words motor and parts, but what you may not know, is that
the development and growth of Mopar is quite a story.
1959-1963 Prior to 1960, Chrysler had very little involvement in what has been termed "the aftermarket,"
which is the overproduction of parts for sale to the independent parts distributors. Toward the end of the 1950s,
Chrysler began to see the advantages of the aftermarket, and the opportunities it could provide. The aftermarket
had a great profit capability, as well as market stability. Chrysler knew that during bad times, auto owners tended
to spend more money to keep their older cars running, as opposed to buying new vehicles.
Along with penetrating the automotive aftermarket, in November of 1963, Chrysler announced plans for the elimination
of all of its wholesalers. At this time, the Mopar logo continued to display the Chrysler models available.
1964-1971 The biggest problem at the time was that Chrysler dealers could not compete with the wholesalers because
the wholesalers were beating their prices. The solution for Chrysler was to go back to the depot system used in
earlier years. In July of 1964, a depot network was set up consisting of Area Depots, Regional Depots and National
Depots, eighteen in all. By 1965, Chrysler parts were being distributed by two separate systems. The Dealer Parts
Sales Group supplied Chrysler parts through Chrysler dealers and wholesalers, and the Independent Aftermarket Parts
Sales Group distributed Mopar parts through franchised warehouse distributors, or WDs. The Mopar logo no longer
displayed the model designations, and took on the Omega M that we see today.
1972-1984 Chrysler developed newer methods of distribution, inventory control and tracking systems, to name a few.
With the widespread advancements happening In technology, Chrysler was able to meet supply and demand at a greater
rate than that in earlier years. Wholesalers were out of the picture, and Chrysler only dealt with aftermarket
parts through the dealer network. At this time, the Mopar Logo began featuring the well-known pentastar In addition,
the colors were updated to red, white and blue.
1985-1990 Chrysler continued to flourish, with the addition of American Motors Corporation (AMC), and expanded
their parts operations. Also, Chryslersponsored events such as drag racing presented an ideal form of recognition
for Mopar. "Chrysler Corporation Genuine Parts" was incorporated into the Mopar logo, so as to differentiate
genuine Chrysler parts from aftermarket and counterfeit parts
Today, Mopar represents quality replacement parts for Chrysler, Plymouth, Dodge, Jeep, and Eagle products. The
tag line "Get Real. Get Mopar tells customers that Mopar is designed to fit and work the best for all Chrysler
Corporation Products.
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