This is the single greatest honor in the motor vehicle industry, intended to honor a career and/or lifetime achievement. To become a "Hall of Famer" the nominee must be either retired or deceased. Recipients must have significantly impacted the development of the automobile or the motor vehicle industry. Typically, four to eight individuals are inducted each year.
Owen R. Skelton began his automotive career in 1905, working for the Pope-Toledo Company. He later moved to the Packard Motor Car Company where he worked as a transmission specialist and to Studebaker, where he helped design the company's new cars.
It was during his years at Studebaker that Skelton invented a mounting arrangement for a rear-engine car, consisting of a transverse leaf spring centered on the crankshaft axis. He also is credited with developing four-wheel hydraulic brakes, all-steel body construction, and an engine mounting system that became known as "floating power".
While working at Studebaker, Skelton met Carl Breer and Fred Zeder. This dynamic team of engineers soon became known in the industry as the "Three Musketeers".
In 1920, the three left Studebaker and formed their own company, the Zeder-Skelton-Breer Engineering Company. Their engineering expertise was widely recognized and they were soon hired by Walter P. Chrysler.
When Walter P. Chrysler left Willys-Overland to join the Maxwell-Chalmers Car Company, he persuaded Skelton, Zeder and Breer to join him. Shortly thereafter, in June of 1925, the Chrysler Corporation was incorporated.
Over the next several decades, Skelton worked to redefine American automobile engineering.
Owen Skelton co-founded the Chrysler Institute of Engineering in 1933, and was given a seat on the Chrysler Corporation's board of directors in 1937 after being named Executive Engineer. He also received the U.S. Government E for Excellence Award for his leadership in heading the Chrysler Tank Plant and designing and building pilot tanks.
