The Meaning of "Mopar"

Short for the Chrysler Motor Parts Corporation, Mopar made its first appearance in the late 1920s and became its own brand in 1937. The name Mopar was created by a committee to market cans of "Chrysler Motor Parts" antifreeze. From there, the Mopar catalog expanded to include waxes, cleaners, filters, engine parts and more.

Now, in its 85th year, Mopar encompasses the full line of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles parts, accessories, and customer service, including Fiat and Alfa Romeo brands along with Chrysler, Dodge and Ram trucks.

Mopar parts, identified by the iconic big blue M, are original equipment (OEM) manufactured parts for FCA US LLC vehicles. The term "Mopar" has passed into broader usage among car enthusiasts as a reference to current and past Dodge, Chrysler, Plymouth, Jeep, Imperial and DeSota cars, as well as Dodge trucks.



In Canada, Chrysler parts were sold under the Chryco and AutoPar brands, until the Mopar brand was phased into that nation's market, starting in the late 1970s.

Mopar has its own dedicated assembly lines. There are 13 Mopar Custom Shops that install customer chosen accessories on their vehicles before delivery.

Over the years, Mopar has been involved in sprint car racing, drag racing (NHRA and IHRA) and stock car racing (NASCAR).












There are also limited-edition Mopar versions of FCA vehicles. These feature custom paint and equipped with numerous Mopar performance and cosmetic modifications. An example was the 2013 Dodge Dart, finished in black with an offset Mopar Blue racing stripe and featuring sport-tuned steering, exhaust, premium brakes with slotted rotors, lowered sport suspension, gloss black 18-inch aluminum wheels with 225/40R18 performance tires.



Two others were the 2010 “354 Drag Pak” and the 2017 special edition Challenger. This model was unveiled at the 2017 Chicago Auto Show as part of 80th anniversary of the Mopar brand. A total of 160 were built- half were finished in contusion blue with pitch black effects and the second half in billet silver with pitch black accents. All came with special badging.









The following images depict how the Mopar logo has changed over the years.


















Here are some examples of Mopar parts (air filter, cold air intake, oil filter and spark plugs) packaging with the trademark big blue “M”:









Here is a dealer display, of Mopar logo magnets from 1999.