Dodge
Brief History
John and Horace Dodge got their start in the automotive business through contract work for Henry Ford and Ransom Olds. In 1914, they began their own automobile business. The Dodge brothers were pioneers in the manufacturing of cars with all steel bodies.
The title for this segment is somewhat misleading. During the eleven years the original Dodge Brothers Company built trucks they offered only one pickup - a 3/4 ton from 1924 through 1927. The Dodge Brothers built the first automobile with their name on it in 1914 as a 1915 model. Previously the brothers had built all the mechanical parts for the first 500,000 Ford Model T cars. The Dodge Brothers were well known and highly respected in the automotive industry because of the work they had done for Ford, Oldsmobile, and other leading auto manufacturers.
From the very beginning Dodge cars sold exceedingly well. The Dodge brothers positioned their car up market from Ford's Model T. It was bigger, had more features, and cost more. Late in World War I when the government asked they readily agreed to supply almost 20,000 half-ton chassis cowls, cargo trucks, light repair trucks, and ambulances.
After the war ended, as a 1918 model, the military ambulance was converted to the famous Dodge Brothers half-ton Screenside Commercial Car. The Screenside was built on a beefed up 114-inch wheelbase automobile chassis. It was rated for a maximum payload of 1,000 lbs. (half-ton) and used the auto's 212 cubic inch, 35 horsepower, four cylinder engine and the auto's three speed transmission. Approximately six months after launching the Screenside the half-ton was added to the commercial car line. Think of the panel as an enclosed screenside with double rear cargo doors.
Dodge Brothers Company entered into an agreement with the Graham Brothers Company in 1921 whereby the Grahams would manufacture one and 1 1/2-ton trucks from mechanical parts supplied by Dodge and with cabs and bodies manufactured in the Graham's plants. The Grahams were able to offer an extensive range of wheelbases, cabs, and bodies to exactly suit the buyer's specifications. These trucks were sold exclusively through Dodge Brothers dealers.
The brothers died within a year of each other in 1920. Their widows asked Frederick Haynes, manager of the Dodge plant, to run the company. Under Haynes, the company continued to grow and acquired Graham Truck in 1925, which became Dodge Truck. Joseph, Robert and Ray Graham worked for Dodge for a short time, then left to build the Graham-Paige car.
In 1925, Dodge Brothers Motor Car Co. was sold to the New York banking syndicate of Dillon, Read and Co. for $146 million. Less than three years later, the bankers sold it to Chrysler Corp. for $170 million.
