Perhaps it was their passion for all things mechanical that led the Dodge brothers to begin producing assemblies for the fledgling automotive industry, or perhaps it was growing up in a machine shop that specialized in marine engines. Whatever the cause, business-minded John Francis Dodge and technically-oriented Horace Elgin Dodge proved their mettle in the early days of the auto industry, rising from obscurity to prominence in a span of just 15 years, eventually becoming one of the largest automakers in America. Opening at the AACA Museum in Hershey, Pennsylvania, on September 26, a new temporary exhibit will help to commemorate 100 Years of Dodge.
John Francis Dodge was born in 1864, while Horace Elgin Dodge entered the world four years later. By all accounts, the brothers were inseparable, even from an early age, though that’s not to say they always saw eye to eye. By 1886, the pair had built their first bicycle, and Horace soon developed a four-point adjustable ball bearing for bicycles that sealed out much of the grit that caused component wear. In 1897, the brothers established the Evans & Dodge Bicycle Company with investor Fred Evans, but this joint venture lasted just three years; in 1900, the Dodge brothers sold their stake in the company and returned to the Detroit area, where they carried on the family tradition by starting a machine shop.
1940 Dodge Luxury Liner De Luxe coupe.
In 1901, the Dodge brothers began supplying Ransom E. Olds with engines, and a year later, the contract was expanded to include transmissions as well. By 1903, the Dodge brothers had become one of the largest suppliers to the automotive industry, prompting Henry Ford to engage the company in building chassis assemblies (including engines, transmissions and axles) for his early automobiles. Ford’s scope of scale was large enough that the Dodge brothers soon began to work exclusively for Henry Ford, and when Ford had difficulty paying his suppliers, the Dodge brothers found themselves shareholders in the Ford Motor Company. Ultimately, this would work to their benefit; by the time the brothers had completely divested of their interest in Ford, the company had paid them an estimated $32 million in dividends, profits and sale of stock, all for an initial investment of $10,000.
By 1905, Dodge was supplying 400 chassis assemblies per month, but the introduction of the Ford Model T in 1908 convinced the Dodge brothers that their role as a Ford supplier could not last indefinitely. In 1910, the brothers began building their own plant in Hamtramck, Michigan, and continued to supply Ford with parts for its increasingly popular Model T; in 1912, for example, Dodge supplied Ford with 180,000 transmission and axle sets, but soon after notified Ford that it would end its relationship as a supplier in 1914. In July of 1914, the Dodge Brothers Motor Car Company was incorporated, and its first car, a five-passenger touring model nicknamed “Old Betsy,” rolled off the assembly line on November 14, 1914.
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