The Dodge Brothers

Dear Classic Car Enthusiast,

Welcome to the ClassicCar.com email newsletter! This month we welcome Classic Performance Products, a leading supplier of brakes, steering and suspension parts, as a new sponsor to our site.

Our feature article this month is on the famed Dodge Brothers, founders of the cars and trucks that bear their name. As a companion piece to this article we recommend several Dodge books in our Reading Room for those who want to learn more about the Dodge story. On this Day in History we take a look back at the Cadillac. Our tech tip this month will help you diagnose driveline noises. And as part of our ongoing feature, we highlight a Best Buy from the Classifieds and a photo from our Photo Gallery.

Speaking of, our Photo Gallery now features over 400 photos of classic vehicles and our Classified section is viewed well over a million times each month, so if you have a classic car photo or classified to submit, ClassicCar.com is the place to submit it! You’ll also find several new articles on the home page of ClassicCar.com and later this month we’ll be adding new features to the website including the ability to easily list and view car events online, and a links page to give you access to other quality resources online that serve the classic car audience. It’s all part of our efforts to make ClassicCar.com the number one place where classic enthusiasts and restorers all over the world click!

In This Issue:

1) ClassicCar.com Welcomes Classic Performance Products
2) The Dodge Brothers
3) This Day in History
4) Tech Tip - Driveline Noise
5) Reading Room
6) ClassicCar.com “Best Buy” from the Classifieds
7) Photo Gallery Pick of the Month

1) Classiccar.com Welcomes Classic Performance Products

We’re excited to have Classic Performance Products as a major sponsor to the website. They are the leading supplier of brakes, steering and suspension parts for all kinds of classic vehicles and are an excellent parts provider to help with your restoration projects.

2) THE DODGE BROTHERS

In 1914, John and Horace Dodge, founders of Dodge Brothers, Inc., were known for their toughness - a rugged reputation that extended from their manufacturing and mechanical skills to the society scene of Detroit.

Born in Niles, Michigan, the brothers were extremely close professionally and in private life. John Francis Dodge was born October 24, 1864; Horace Elgin Dodge was born May 17, 1868. They learned to build bicycles in their father Daniel’s machine shop in Niles. As young men, they took their bike-building skills to Ontario, Canada; in 1901 they set up shop in Detroit, forming Dodge Brothers, Inc. and manufacturing bicycles.

As the new century unfolded, the brothers’ machine shop grew and converted to the manufacturing of automobile parts. Their chief customers were the Olds Motor Works and the Ford Motor Company. The brothers were a complementary business team. It was said “They were almost inseparable in matters of importance, neither acted without the other’s approval.”

It wasn’t long before John and Horace came to the attention of Henry Ford. Henry Ford hired John F. and Horace E. Dodge to supply the chassis and running gear for his 650 Ford automobiles. He was so impressed with the brothers that he offered them one-tenth interest in his new motor car company. The partnership lasted for the next 12 years.

The brothers then split from Ford to pursue their own interests in automobile manufacturing because, at the time, Ford cars were built with virtually all Dodge parts. When asked why he and his brother wanted to build their own car, John Dodge reportedly said, “Think of all the Ford owners who will someday want an automobile.”

In 1914, Dodge Brothers, Inc. was formed. In that first year, Dodge introduced the “Old Betsy,” a rugged car built for reliability and durability. That year Dodge built a total of 249 new cars. 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. Even though many of their satisfied customers begged them to, the brothers adamantly refused to offer a light-duty truck simply because they couldn’t meet the high demand for automobiles. 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.

In 1916 it established the Budd all-steel bodywork, which was used quite frequently thereafter. As the brothers searched the market they gained notoriety. The price of their cars was $785 while also being fourth in overall sales in the United States in 1916 with 70,700 cars sold.

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. 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.

By 1920 the company moved into second place in overall sales. It was at this pentacle that both brothers passed away within 12 months of each other from the effects of influenza. The companies’ management was assumed by finical interests with control of the company going to the widows of the two brothers. The widows asked Frederick Haynes, manager of the Dodge plant in Hamtramck, to run the company. Under Haynes, the company continued to grow and acquired Graham Truck, which became Dodge Truck.

In 1928, Chrysler acquired the much larger Dodge Brothers, Inc. from the New York banking firm of Dillon, Read & Co., for $170,000,000. The bankers had purchased the company from Dodge family a few years earlier, after the death of the two Dodge brothers in 1920. Dodge became a division of Chrysler Corporation. Chrysler continued expanding its line of vehicles, which included the WWII Power Wagon - a vehicle that garnered enough acclaim to continue production a decade after the war.

Through the years, Dodge has led the way with a number of styling and engineering advancements, including the first 140-horsepower “Red Ram” Hemi® V8 engine in the 1953 Coronet. In the 1960s and 1970s Dodge contributed to America’s fascination with high-performance “muscle cars” by manufacturing the 505 Charger Daytona’s for stock-car racing and as production cars.

Never forgetting the legacy the Dodge Brothers began by constructing durable and powerful cars, Dodge and Chrysler brought the domestic convertible back to the roads in the 80s in the form of the Dodge 400 and the Chrysler Lebaron. In the 90s, the eagerly anticipated Dodge Viper put the muscle back in “muscle cars.” All of which soon culminated in the new, aggressive look on the Dodge Ram Pickup, Dodge Dakota and Dodge Durango.

Read More Articles Like This Here

3) THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1909 Cadillac: From Ford to GM

The Buick Motor Company acquired the Cadillac Motor Company on behalf of General Motors for $4.5 million on this day in 1909. Cadillac was born from the ashes of the Henry Ford Company, a business organized by William Murphy to produce a car by Henry Ford. Murphy had been one of the original backers of the Detroit Automobile Company, which had dissolved in 1901after Ford had failed to build a car he was willing to put to market.

Such faith did Murphy have in Ford that he gave him another chance in the Henry Ford Company, opting to use Ford’s name due to the recognition he had received from his recent racing ventures. Ford was so wrapped up in racing that he again failed to produce and Murphy fired him. He then asked Henry Leland, a partner in Detroit’s successful Leland and Faulconer Machine shop, to appraise the business before he sold it.

Leland persuaded Murphy and his partners to stay in business, promising them that he could design a car successful enough to make it profitable. In August 1902, they formed the Cadillac Car Company. Leland gradually took control of Cadillac’s daily operations, and by the end of 1903 2,500 Cadillac’s had been produced.

The founding of Cadillac helped solidify Detroit’s position as the center of the automobile industry, and in 1904 Leland became president and general manager of Cadillac and agreed to merge Cadillac with Faulconer and Leland. Sales continued to rise and Cadillac established a reputation for exacting quality under Leland’s detail-oriented supervision.
In a triumphant demonstration of the interchangeability of Cadillac’s parts, in 1908 three Cadillac’s were disassembled by the Royal Automobile Club in England, reassembled at random, and driven away by the mechanics.

In November 1908, Benjamin Briscoe made a bid for Cadillac, but he was unable to generate enough backing to carry the deal. William Durant seized the opportunity to add the valuable brand to his newly formed General Motors Corporation, and arranged a deal of stock transfer with the Leland’s, but the Leland’s ultimately refused it–they wanted cash.

Finally, Durant got the cash together and purchased Cadillac, through Buick, on behalf of General Motors. Durant kept the Leland’s on as management, saying, “I want you to continue to run Cadillac exactly as though it were still your own. You will receive no directions from anyone.”

Keep up on the past here at ClassicCar.com

4) TECH TIP

Diagnosing Driveline Noise

Whirring noise only while decelerating at any or all speeds is most likely caused by bad pinion bearings or loose pinion bearing preload, and almost never by bad ring and pinion gears.

A howl or whine during acceleration over a small or large speed range is usually caused by worn ring and pinion gears or improper gear set up.

Rumbling or whirring at speeds over about 20 mph can be caused by worn carrier bearings. The noise may change while turning.

Regular clunking every few feet may indicate broken ring or pinion gears.

Banging or clunking only on corners can be caused by broken spider gears, lack of sufficient posi-traction lubrication, or worn posi-traction clutches.

Rumble while turning may indicate bad wheel bearings.

A steady vibration that increases with the vehicle’s speed can be caused by worn u-joints or an out of balance driveshaft.

Clunking only when starting to move or getting on and off the gas might be loose yokes, bad u-joints or worn transfer case or transmission parts.

5) READING ROOM

If you enjoy the history that we present to you in each newsletter, then you may want a piece of automotive history for your own.

If this sounds like you, then we would like to recommend the following titles for addition to your automotive library.

The Dodge Story (Motorbooks International Crestline Series)
by Thomas A. McPherson
The Dodge Story

Chrysler
by Dennis Adler
Chrysler

Dodge Power Wagon 1940-1980 Photo Archive
by Don Bunn
Dodge Power Wagon 1940-1980 Photo Archive

Dodge Power Wagon Photo History
by Monty Montgomery
Dodge Power Wagon Photo History

6) CLASSIFIED AD PICKS OF THE MONTH

Best Buy
Listing #: 52227: 1965 BUICK Skylark Convertible,310cid V8 with 2speed automatic transmission, power brakes and power steering and tilt wheel. The body is black with a white top. The interior has white bucket seats, black carpet, power-top not working but have parts to fix. This car would make a nice restoration project or just drive it and turn heads!
Best Buy

Best Project Buy
Listing #: 55140 1967 Impala Convertible, original 283/3 speed runs well, tear in seat, patches installed in bottom front fender, and in lower 1/4s. Good trunk floor, good main floors, good rockers, needs general restoration, still has original paint.
Best Project Buy

History Buy
Listing #: 33281: 1915 Dodge, all 100% complete, glass and lenses are all good, engine turns, rust free California since new! Have all the documents, I am third owner! Pictures available 626-798-3789
History Buy

7) PHOTO GALLERY PICK OF THE MONTH

1967 RS/SS Camaro See This Photo Now!