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John Dodge and The Dodge Brothers

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  • John Dodge and The Dodge Brothers

    On October 25th 1864 John F Dodge, the older of the two Dodge Brothhe was born in Niles Michigan. With his brother Horace E, they founded the Dodge Brothers Company and made their first car on November 14,1914 in their assembly plant in Hamtramck Michigan, which was the first fully integrated car factory in the United Satates.
    They made all the parts except wheels, tires, glass, and instrumentation.
    The cars and later trucks (October 1917) had 12 volt electrical systems, key ignition and a starter generator that was designed to "crank" when the voltage dropped below 12 volts, to prevent the engine from stalling
    also the cars had leather seats and full instrumnetation as standard equipment.
    Most of the mechanics of that first car were designed by Horace who was a mechanical genius. There is a 1,000 hp quadruple expansion steam engine in the Smithsonian Institution that has 2 1/2, 5, 71/2, amd 10 inch pistons in it that was designed by Horace and built by the Dodge Brothers Company, that was in a yacht that Horace designed and had built. It was the fastest ship in the United States at the time it was built, it had 2 of those engine in it and could cruise at 41 mph which was faster than anything the US Navy had at the time
    I am grateful To John and Horace Dodge for founding The Dodge Brothers Company and for making cars and trucks
    I just wanted to share a little history with everyone about who is responsible for our Dodges. The original radiator badge is my avatar
    DB69

  • #2
    Well Tom,

    If its story time let me pull up my recliner and listen to the Dodge History Channel. I love old stuff, so history and Dodge definitely fall into that category. When is the next installment?
    Attached Files

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    • #3
      I Want Some More

      Please!

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      • #4
        John Dodge and the Dodge Brothers

        On this date (November 14 ) 95 years ago today the first Dodge Brothers car rolled off the assembly line in Hamtramck Michigan. The Brothers John and Horace had built the plant to manufacture parts for Henry Ford and are mainly responsible for the early success of the Ford Motor Company. They were also the owners of 10% of the stock of the Ford Motor Company (wonder what that would be worth toaday??) which they sold in 1919 for 25 million dollars
        The "basic" reason that John and Horace had decided to manufacture their own car is that they on several occassions had made suggestions to Henry Ford on how the Model T could be improved on and be made for less money. Henry Ford would get extremely ticked off when anyone would "suggest" improvements.
        The reason the Brothers built their first car with a 12 volt electrical system, leather seats, full instrumentation, a "silent starter" and a starter generator was to render the model t to be obsolete, which it did. The Dodge Brothers were all about quality and doing business honestly, many of their "contracts" were done by a handshake. Their belief was to make something quality that they wanted to own themselves
        Henry Ford was unhappy because the Brothers both drove Packards before the made their own car. They didn't like Fords!
        My favorite quote from John Dodge was given in an interview in the fall of 1914, When asked by a magazine reporter why the Dodge Brothers decided to manufacture their own car, John replied " think of all the Ford owners who will someday want to own an automobile"
        John Dodge must have been thinking of me, My dad bought fords and I drove them until age 21 when I bought my first Dodge, and have been buying them ever since
        The innovations the two Brothers made in the automotive industry before their untimely deaths (both died in 1920) were astounding.
        Their last cars are in the Gilmore Auto Museum in Hickory Corner's Michigan (about 110 miles from me) John's is a 1919 sedan and Horace's is a 1919 coupe with their monograms on them and also they have a fat man's steering wheel that is basically an early tilt steering wheel
        The picture Old Dodge posted is a Center Door Sedan which was not very popular and I believe was made for only 2 or 3 years and are pretty rare
        DB69

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        • #5
          Another oldie.
          Attached Files

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          • #6
            wow is that 41 mph nautical miles or standard either way 41 is pretty tough even by today's standards. I would have liked to have seen that yacht in action.

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            • #7
              That yacht of Horace's was the fastest ship in the United States at that time and the Government was really ticked off that it was faster than any Navy or Coast Guard vessel.The Dodge Brothers were all about quality.
              The Merchant Express truck was from around 1929 or 30 and was the first Chryler engineered Dodge truck
              DB69

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              • #8
                legend

                pancho villa evaded capture in a dodge because the feds drove fords?

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                • #9
                  Horace's Yacht

                  had a twelve foot bed.
                  Attached Files

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                  • #10
                    DB = Good

                    Another great foto, very cool yacht, long & beamy.

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                    • #11
                      Col. George Patton led the first mechanized charge of the American Cavalry in 1916 in several Dodge Touring Cars. Pancho Villa did in fact own Dodge Brothers Cars and was killed while sitting in one in 1923 I believe.
                      That first charge of the Cavalry under Patton using Dodge Brothers Cars was successful, but Pancho Villa wasn't in the location that was raided, but some of his henchmen were, and there was bloodshed but am not sure how many bought the farm.
                      The success of that charge made General Pershing request that the war Department buy only Dodge Brothers Cars bcause of their dependibility
                      (trucks weren't made until October 1917)
                      I am unsure as to whether there were any fords in the Pershing expedition to Mexico or not
                      DB69

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                      • #12
                        Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting Tom (DB69) at an auction and spending some time with him. He is a very nice guy and took the time to help me load my truck. I have a crew cab Ram and when we were done there was only barely enough room for me. The bed was full and the cab was filled from bottom to top, windshield to back window.

                        THANKS TOM!!!!

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                        • #13
                          You're welcome Kevin!
                          Kevin is a really neat guy who has a fine appreciation for Dodge history
                          We were lucky enough to participate in a liquidation auction of Michigan's oldest Dodge Dealership in Lakeview Michigan that had been in business since 1914 and what was one of the 5 charter Dodge Brother's dealerships left (there are now 3) until They and Charles Tator and Sons in South Salem New York were terminated by Chrysler about a year ago.
                          I am hoping to see you at Ron's Rally this weekend Kevin, I have some stuff to give you
                          The 3 remaining charter dealers are
                          Stetler Dodge, Chrysler, and Jeep York, Pennsylvania
                          Oliver C Joseph & Sons Belleville, Illinois
                          Coliseum Motors Casper, Wyoming
                          of those 3 charter dealers that remain, only Oliver C. Joseph and Sons is still owned by the original family. While the other 2 are still charter dealers
                          they are no longer owned by the original families that owned them originally. Also they all carry the Dodge, Chrysler, and Jeep brands
                          DB69

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by DB69 View Post
                            My favorite quote from John Dodge was given in an interview in the fall of 1914, When asked by a magazine reporter why the Dodge Brothers decided to manufacture their own car, John replied " think of all the Ford owners who will someday want to own an automobile"
                            DB69
                            This is a great quote, but in fairness to old Henry I don't think he ever intended for the Model T to be a real automobile. This caused him to butt heads not only with the Dodge brothers, but his own son, who was a lot more of a car guy than he was. Henry's forte was production and processes. Even today Ford Motor is more about plant efficiency than it is about having the latest technology or design.

                            There is one story about Henry and the Dodge brothers which I think is pretty neat. Seems the Dodges supplied him with transmissions, and Henry gave them specifications as to how they were to be crated, right down to the species of wood, drilling of holes in certain places, etc. The Dodge boys, who were glad to have the contract, dutifully complied. The crates were carefully disassembled at the plant, and the wood became the floor boards and running boards for the car!

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by DB69 View Post
                              I am hoping to see you at Ron's Rally this weekend Kevin, I have some stuff to give you
                              Sorry Tom, Sorry Ron,

                              I couldn"t make it today. I knew it would be a last minute decision and was hoping it would go the other way especilly since my son has beeen bugging me for us to go. I have commitments at work and couldn't do it. I have to go meet a customer at the airport now. Post lots of pic please.

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