Dodge History 1925-1954


1925-1929: A New York investment banking firm paid the brothers' widows, in a single cash payment, $146 million for the Dodge Brothers firm. Within three years, the bankers initiated negotiations with Walter Chrysler to buy Dodge. When the $170 million transaction was completed on July 31, 1928, Chrysler Corporation had grown fivefold overnight to become the third of Detroit's 'Big Three' automakers.

1930-1941: In 1930, 'Dodge Brothers' became simply 'Dodge,' and the brand's first eight-cylinder engine was completed. The distinctive ram's head hood ornament, designed by sculptor Avard T. Fairbanks, first appeared in 1932.

Through the 1930s, Dodge continued to expand its passenger car line, adding contemporary options like radios and straight-eight engines. A four-door sedan built in 1935 was the brand's three-millionth car. But other vehicles in the Dodge lineup were gaining in popularity; the purchase of Graham Brothers had made Dodge one of the leading single-brand producers of light- and medium-duty trucks.

1942-1945: During World War II, Dodge-made war materials appeared in weapons, tanks, ships, aircraft and air raid sirens. Particularly notable among Dodge's contributions were more than 500,000 military trucks and over 18,000 aircraft engines.

1946-1954: In the postwar years, Dodge vehicles evolved slowly from earlier designs and maintained a tall, boxy appearance. Prewar Dodge model designations like Custom and Deluxe were replaced with more colorful names like Meadowbrook, Coronet and Wayfarer.

Optional at extra cost in the 1953 Coronet was the new Red Ram 'HEMI-Head' engine, the first Dodge V-8 in 20 years and first of the soon-to-be-legendary HEMI® engines that would equate the words 'Dodge' and 'speed' for generations. Lee Petty captured Dodge's first NASCAR win, while another Dodge V-8 won the Mobil Economy Run.

One year later, a Dodge Royal 500 paced the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, HEMI-powered Dodges set 196 speed records at the Bonneville Salt Flats – and the Dodge Firearrow idea car, produced by Carrozzeria Ghia in Italy, offered a dramatic hint of changes to come in Dodge product design.

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