Dodge

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Introduction

Despite all of the ups and downs of the Chrysler Corporation -- Dodge has always been able to show an excellent mixture of both dependability and performance with both its cars and trucks. This was initially promoted by General "Black Jack" Pershing insisting on only Dodge Touring cars in his pursuits of Poncho Villa on the Mexican border.

Dodge was the first with an all metal sedan, it set the standard for durability with its WWII Power Wagons, set the standard for racing with its Max Wedge and Hemi engines, set the standard for Muscle cars with the Charger, set the standard for aerodynamics with the Daytona, set the standard for performance with the Viper, and set the standard for "Cross Over" vehicles with the Magnum. While its future with an Un-Holy Trinity of Fiat, the US Government, and the Unions running it being uncertain -- its past as a Make that merged Durability and performance cannot be denied.

Dodge Brothers

John and Horace Dodge were inseparable as children and adults. They were in fact so close, they they both died as young men in 1920 -- it said the Horace out of grief from the loss of John.

Originally they built bicycles, but in 1900 they formed Dodge Brothers to supply engine and chassis components for Detroit's automakers; with a large contract to produce transmissions for Oldsmobile. John was the Sales/Manager brother, while Horace was the tinkerer/engineer brother.

In 1903, they signed a contract to supply components exclusively to Ford, in exchange for a large share of the company. This arrangement lasted for 10 years -- until 1913 they and Ford had a major disagreement on how Ford's profits were distributed -- causing them to stop supplying Ford and to declare that they would start building cars themselves.

Before the first Dodge Brothers car was produced, they had sign up over 20,000 dealers because of their reputation for quality. It should be noted that while they had a reputation for quality, were among the richest men in Detroit, and very generous in their charitable foundations -- their crude and aggressive behavior kept them from being accepted by the by Detroit elite.

In late 1914, the first Dodge Brothers car rolled off the assembly line and was an immediate hit with the public. For about the same price as a Ford Model T -- a Dodge Brothers had an electric starter, leather interior, a windshield, near double the horsepower, and a far superior three speed transmission. They went from no where to fourth in US car sales.

In January 1920, John died of pneumonia, a complication from the Spanish Flu; and Horace died in December of the same year, also of pneumonia as a complication of the Flu -- but was already dying of Cirrhosis of the liver, rumored to be caused from excess drinking after the loss of his brother. The ownership of Dodge Brothers fell into the hands of their widows, and they chose a family friend, Frederick Haynes to temporarily run the company. He signed a contract with Graham, to power and sell their line of trucks. By 1928, the majority of the Dodge Brothers stock was owned by Manhattan financiers Dillon-Reid -- who decided to shop the sale of Dodge Brothers.

Chrysler Buys Dodge Brothers

On July 31, 1928, Walter P. Chrysler bought Dodge Brothers to fold into his tier of makes that included Chrysler, DeSoto, and newly created price leader Plymouth. By the time of the purchase, the new line had rolled out, which included Dodge Brother's first "Six" cylinder engine. Chrysler carried the Dodge Brother's name until 1929, when it was shorten to just Dodge.

In 1930, and at about the worse possible time, Chrysler gave the Dodge DC model a straight eight, which displaced 220.7 cubic inches and was rated at 75hp. Chrysler and Desoto also had models with a "Straight Eight" engine. While displacement and power increased, because of the Depression, these models sold poorly, and the "Straight Eight" was discontinued for Dodge in 1934. The sole engine was now the 217 CI "Straight Six", rated at 87hp.

In 1935, the 3,000,000th Dodge rolled off the assembly line. In 1939, Dodge was restyled as a Fastback with a V Windshield, which many claimed looked more like a 39 Ford -- than a 39 Ford. During this time, after recovering from the "Straight Eight" error in judgment, Dodge placed between 4th and 5th in US Sales.

WWII

As the case for all US Automakers, all civilian sales were pulled following Pearl Harbor and the US' entry into WWII. Dodge would produce the majority (about 500,000) of the Military trucks -- led by the G-502 3/4 Ton, which would evolve into the Power Wagons. Production of the Power Wagons lasted until 1968.

Postwar Styling

Dodges produced after the end of WWII were pre-war models with mildly updated front grills.

That changed in 1949 with a clean redesign of the car and model designations of Wayfarer, Meadowbrook, and Coronet. Dodge continued in the Top Five of US Sales during this period.

Red Ram Engines

In 1953, and after a 20 year absence of an eight cylinder motor, Dodge wasn't just given an engine -- but a First Generation Hem V-8 version of Chrysler's 331ci engine -- displacing 241.3ci and rated at 140hp. This engine was known as the Red Ram. This new engine would forever transform Dodge's image, and it's caused its entry into the world of racing. Over the next few years Dodge would offer versions of this engine for NASCAR. The first generation Hemi was discontinued in 1959 because of high production costs -- and replaced by the Poly and Wedge engines.

Forward Look Styling

Dodge received another restyling for 1953 -- but too many, Chrysler's President (J. T. Keller) requirement for a high roof line to allow men to drive with their hat on -- made the car look too stoggy.

This was to soon change when Virgil Exner left the Raymond Lowery Group (who had the Studebaker contract) to ultimately head up the design of Chrysler. Under Exner, all of the 1955 Chrysler Corporation makes acquired a longer, wider, lower look, and sprouting tail fins -- called the Forward Look. Exner's designs were very bold and futuristic -- and set the trend followed by the other US automakers. The last year of the fins was 1960. In 1961 all Chrysler makes (including Dodge) took on a very bazaar look similar to the new compact 1961 Lancer -- only larger.

In 1962, all Chrysler makes were due for a major update. When the designs were in the final stage, Chrysler executives were played by GM executives who were showing them the Chevy II (after already having a compact car -- the Corvair), and making Chrysler believe that they be the only manufacturer that wouldn't be downsizing their cars for 1962. In a panic -- Exner was immediately order to dramatically reduce the size of the 1962 model cars. Exner objected, saying that the design couldn't be made to look right while chopped up -- but it fell of deaf ears. The cars were ugly, and didn't sell well. Exner was offered up as the sacrificial lamb -- by being fired.

Elwood Engel (who had just designed the new slab sided suicide 4-door Lincoln) was hired away from Ford and put in charge of Chrysler Corporation's design studio. His designs wouldn't appear until 1965 -- and added a larger C-Body model. meanwhile, Dodge dealers screamed about not having a full size car to sell, and so prior to the release of the 1965 model year -- they were given a model called an [[880], which was basically a 62 Chrysler with a 61 Dodge front end fitted to it.

The Sixties

The Sixties saw Dodge with the Lancer, later renamed Dart as its compact car; the 330, later renamed the Coronet as the Intermediate; The Monaco as the Full Size; and the Polara as the Personal Luxury model. In 1966, a 2-door hardtop Coronet had a fastback roof grafted on, was given hidden headlights and a full length tail light, and a cool dash -- and thus the Charger was born to compete for Muscle car dollars.

Higher performance Darts were called the Dart GT and Dart GTS. Coronets that were given a 375hp 440, Six-pack 440, or 426 Hemi were the RT model. In 1968, Plymouth took a stripped Satellite and put a 383 (or 426 Hemi) in it and called it a Road Runner. It was very popular with young people. For 1969, Dodge took a Coronet and did the same -- calling it the Super Bee.

In the Sixties we saw High Impact Colors, the 426 Hemi, the six-pack, Scat Pack, White Hat Dealers, and Sheriff Joe Higgins.

Racing

For much of the 1960s, Dodge owned the race tracks across the United States.

NASCAR

Dodge had been popular in NASCAR since the mid 50s and its D-Series of engines. However, in the early 60s Ford, Mercury, and Pontiac had evened the field. That all changed in 1964 when Richard Petty threatened to leave Plymouth if they couldn't find a way to give him a dominant car. The dust was blown off the old Hemi idea -- and a new generation Hemi displacing 416 CI was created and put into enough street cars to make legal for NASCAR racing for both Plymouth and Dodge. The engines were immediately dominant, so dominant that NASCAR tried everything they could to handicap those drivers with the Hemi engines -- until many driver (including Richard Petty) boycotted NASCAR.

By 1969 most of the other manufacturers had caught up with Dodge and Plymouth, and the new style Charger had an aerodynamic flaw with the rear window cove and the grill set too far back. To fix, a model of Charger called the Charger 500 had the fenders and grill of a 68 Coronet replacing those of the Charger, and a rounded rear window plug to smooth out the back. While the car was a success -- Ford and Mercury countered with the Talledaga and Cyclone Spoiler. Dodge immediately countered that with a bullet shaped nose, extended fenders with holes and scoops for the front tires (as the nose created a lot of down force), and a huge rear wing. The car was called the Daytona, and was an instant winner. For 1970, Plymouth instead got the aero/winged design and Dodge dropped it -- as only one of Chrysler makes could afford to make enough of the loss leader to make it legal in NASCAR. Some say that Plymouth got it because there were fewer dealers (the number produced to make legal was based on the number of dealers) and some say that Richard Petty refused to drive a Dodge.

It was all for naught -- as in 1971 NASCAR penalized the winged cars by forcing them to run a 305ci small block. Another case of Dodge and Plymouth getting too good for the competition -- so they had to dumb down to the level of the competition.

In the late 70s, Dodge was in bad financial shape and not giving their drivers capable cars. Richard Petty Started off 1978 with a Dodge Magnum, but hated it and went to a Monte Carlo and later a Cutluss -- giving the Magnum top his son Kyle Petty. That car was later sold to Buddy Arrington, who cut it down to be a Mirada, then a Cordoba, and finally an Imperial. Buddy was the last to drive a Mopar for many years -- as there was no longer any factory support.

About 20 years later Dodge made a comeback to NASCAR with factory support. While it had many good drivers and a brief period of success -- the lack of factory support once Chrysler merged with Mercedes had that success short lived. It is suspected that there will not be a Mopar in Cup racing for NASCAR in 2010.

Drag Racing

In the early 60s, Dodge dominated Super Stock drag racing with the Max Wedge Engines, and their slightly smaller body styles. In 1964, they turned the wick up even more -- with the rebirth of the second generation Hemi. Drivers like Ronnie Sox, Dick Landy, Arlen Vanke, Dave Duell, and Herb McCandess became heroes of the drag strip. In 1968 and 1969 -- a very limited number of a "race only" version of the Dodge Dart Hemi and Plymouth Barracuda Hemi was sold to select Drag Racers. These cars still hold Super Stock Records today.

Super Stock evolved into Pro Stock -- and drivers chose smaller Dodge body styles like the Challenger, Dart, and Demon were the Dodges most often Chosen. FX/Altered evolved into Funny Car and the Charger was the most popular flopper. Like in NASCAR, Mopar cars were receiving too many restrictions so the other makes could compete -- and Mopar's involvement disappeared for many years. Recently a slight comeback was made by Mopar in Pro Stock and Funny car -- but factory backing is minimal and expected to dry up now that the UnHoly Trinity is running Chrysler.

The Seventies and Eighties

Merger of Equals

After Dr. Z

The Obama Gift -- the Beginning of the End

Wiki Topic References:

• Hemmings Classic Car June 2007

External Links

• MoparStyle
• Wikipedia on Horace Elgin Dodge
• Wikipedia on Dodge
• Wikipedia on John Francis Dodge