1923 Dodge Touring Sedan, 4-door
Owner: Bernie and Janice Taulborg Collection
Original cost: $880.00 ($12,337.00 in 2018 dollars)
Number made: 151,000 (all models, Dodge, 1923)
Engine, etc.: 3-speed; 4-cyl. L-head; 25 hp, 212.3 cu. in.; 114” wheelbase; 2,545 lbs.
A 1923 Dodge Brothers innovation was the introduction of the automotive industry’s first all-steel bodies.
From an advertisement for this car: “In city traffic or on the open road, this new touring car impresses you instantly with its exceptional riding comfort. The seats are deeper and lower. The body has been lengthened to afford more leg-room. Its low-swung design reduces side sway and increases the car’s stability at all speeds. The front springs are wider, and built of more and thinner leaves; the rear springs – now under-slung – have been materially increased in length. In fact, the comfort of the car is comparable in every way with its good looks and the well known character of its performance.”
Dodge was America’s 6th bestselling car in 1923.
The Dodge brothers, John and Horace, incorporated Dodge in 1914 after many years of supplying Ford with engines and assemblies. More than 22,000 applications for dealer contracts swamped their offices, even before anyone knew what kind of car would be built or its price. The company’s capitalization in 1914 was $5 million in common stock and ten years later, the company was worth $166 million.
The first Dodge was produced on Nov. 14, 1914, cost $785, had a 110” wheelbase and was powered by an L-head 4-cylinder engine which proved so reliable it was used until 1920. The company also pioneered, or made standard, many features later taken for granted: all-steel body construction (when the vast majority of cars still used wood-framing under steel panels), 12-volt electrical system, and a sliding-gear transmission instead of a planetary design.
In 1916 Lt. Pershing increased his order for six Dodges to 150, to be used in the Mexican Expedition against Pancho Villa. Lt. George Patton, Jr., took fifteen men and three Dodges into the first mechanized cavalry charge of U. S. Army history in chase of Julio Cardenas, one of Pancho Villa’s most trusted subordinates. They raided a ranch house and during the ensuing firefight killed three men, one of whom was Cardenas. Patton’s men tied the bodies to the hoods of the Dodges and returned to headquarters to an excited reception by U. S. newspapermen.
Dodge Brothers cars were ranked at second place for U. S. sales in 1916.
Both Dodge brothers died unexpectedly in 1920 and the company passed into the hands of the brothers’ widows who promoted Frederick Haynes to the presidency.
Dodge gradually lost its ranking as the third best-selling car manufacturer during the 1920s.
Stagnation in development became apparent and Dodge dropped to fifth place in the industry in 1925.
The company was sold to Dillon, Read & Co. in 1925; it was sold to Chrysler in 1928.
Footnote: The hood ornament looks like a Star of David but the Dodge brothers were not Jewish. When the logo was first used in 1914, the Star of David wasn’t generally associated with Judaism. (Sources: http://www.allpar.com/cars/dodge/dodge-logos.php and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge#Logos) See also: Dodge Brothers: The Men, the Motor Cars, and the Legacy. Charles K. Hyde. Wayne State University Press, 2005 https://books.google.com/books?id=KPLdAwAAQBAJ&lpg=PA122&ots=C8i96-hSXx&dq=obituary%20Horace%20dodge%20new%20york%20times&pg=PA124#v=onepage&q=obituary%20Horace%20dodge%20new%20york%20times&f=false
Sources: Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1805 -1942. Beverly Rae Kimes, et al. 3rd ed. Krause Publications, 1996.
http://classic-carz.blogspot.com/2011/10/1923-dodge-touring-car.html
http://www.allpar.com/cars/dodge/dodge-cars.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_Brothers#Founding_and_early_years
