Childe Harold Wills spent the years 1900-1903 working for the Boyer Machine Company and nights as a draftsman for Henry Ford’s new organization. When the Ford Motor Company was formed, Wills was made production manager and chief engineer. He gained fame from his development of the use of vanadium steel for commercial purposes, and is credited with introducing molybdenum steel in auto construction. In 1919 Wills, by then a millionaire, left Ford, and in 1920 organized his own company, Wills-St. Claire. Never particularly successful, the company went out of business in 1927. In 1933, Wills became chief metallurgist for Chrysler, a position he held until his death.