Build it and they will come
- The MoparWiki is a brand new concept of having everyone in the Mopar community collaborate with building the biggest and best database of Mopar Knowledge ever assembled.
- The goal is Internet Search Engines to send to the MoparWiki those needing specific information on:
- Mopar History
- Mopar Makes
- Mopar Models
- Famous Mopar Cars
- Mopar People – Factory, Dealers, Racers, Designers…
- Mopar Vendors
- Mopar Magazines
- Mopar Clubs and Forums
- Mopar engines, transmissions, and other drive-train
- Mopar Innovations, and anything else Mopar
- Terminology used throughout MoparWiki
- New concepts, like the MoparWiki, generally take a little time to gather steam for active collaboration – but the MoparWiki is well on its way. Hundreds of Wikis have been created, and more and more people jump in and help each month. Some add facts like production numbers, others add or improve the story, and yet others dress up spelling or grammatical errors.
- Build it and they will come. As the MoparWiki grows with the help of a small group of people that have taken the lead, those sitting on the sidelines are now at least promising to jump in and help. We are looking for a group of leaders willing to roll up their sleeves and set an example for the followers, to encourage them to help on this large community project. If you have leadership qualities and would like to be on the ground floor with participating in a project like this – then please jump in.
- The MoparWiki is not a project of just one Mopar club – but of the entire Mopar community. That said, MoparStyle registered users who are currently logged in can contribute some of their knowledge on a Wiki topic. MoparStyle is able to provide a registration database, which gives the Administrator the ability to control spam and vandalism. If you would like to help contribute information to the MoparWiki – please register at www.MoparStyle.com. Besides the MoparWiki, MoparStyle registration allows posing in the MoparStyle Free Classified Ads, MoparStyle Member's Garage, and forums -- but you are not obligated to participate (or even visit) in those areas if you do not wish to.
- Please help the Mopar Community with sharing Mopar information that you might have. Don't worry about writing the entire Wiki -- just collaborate on what information you do have. For instance, if you have facts on production numbers or technical specs -- go ahead and add them and leave the pretty words to the Wordsmiths.
IMPORTANT
- To keep the credibility of the MoparWiki high, please cite the Internet site, book or magazine you posted your information from as a reference. Don’t post facts solely from your memory – back it up with a reference citation.
- Finally, while this may initially look to be overly complicated for the general Internet User, it is not. You do not need to have a lick of programming experience to learn the very simple formatting used to created a standardized look to a Wiki. The Help link in the left side-bar offers real Help that most anyone can understand. The best place to start is your own User Page -- (see the link on the left edge of the top NavBar) -- where you can practice by creating your own personal Wiki Page. While there might be an initial 15 minutes of frustration learning -- once learned you will find that it is very simple to use and remember.
Navigating MoparWiki
- You can simply enter a topic into the search box and click to GO right to the Wiki of that name, or SEARCH (preferred) for Wikis with that search phrase in it. If you click GO and the page doesn't exist, you will have the opportunity to create. Please do a search to see if the Wiki on the subject you are looking for actually exists before creating a Wiki, as it might be more appropriate to redirect the Keyword to an existing Wiki rather than duplicate the information on another Wiki.
Quick Links
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- Dodge (the below is a summary of the actual Wiki)
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 Dodge 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 long associate of the Dodge brothers, Frederick J. Haynes, to run the company. He signed a contract with Graham Brothers to power and sell their line of trucks. On April 1, 1925, the banking firm Dillon, Read & Company purchased Dodge Brothers from the Dodge widows for $146 million.
- Dillon, Read formed a new company on April 8, 1925, Dodge Brothers, Inc., under Maryland laws to assume the assets and liablities of the old company. The new firm issued non-voting stock and along with a series of bonds sold on the market raised $159 million for Dillon, Read. Dillon, Read controlled all the voting stock in the firm and Fredrick Haynes remained with the company.
- Dodge Brothers acquired complete control of Graham Brothers on May 1, 1926, and the three Graham brothers assumed management roles with Dodge Brothers. The three brothers would depart early in 1927 and acquire Paige-Detroit Motor Company to form Graham-Paige Motors Corporation, a company that would have connections with Chrysler in the 1940's.
- By 1928, with sales of Dodge Brothers vehicles dropping, Dillon, Read decided to look for a new owner of Dodge Brothers.
- Go to the Dodge wiki for more details and photos on information concerning Dodge.
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