# The History of Dodge | Otto Explains | AutoTronix **Section:** Otto Explains **Canonical:** https://autotronix.om/otto/dodge-history **Language:** English **Arabic version:** https://autotronix.om/ar/otto/dodge-history --- ## Short Answer Dodge began with two brothers from Niles, Michigan, John and Horace Dodge, who opened a machine shop in Detroit in 1901, supplied parts to Olds and Ford, and built their first car, nicknamed ‘Old Betsy’, on 14 November 1914. After both brothers died in 1920, New York bankers bought the company in 1925, and Chrysler acquired it on 30 July 1928. Dodge stayed with Chrysler through the DaimlerChrysler, Cerberus and Fiat years, and since 2021 it has been a Stellantis brand. --- ## Who were John and Horace Dodge? John Francis Dodge was born on 25 October 1864 and his brother Horace Elgin Dodge on 17 May 1868, both in Niles, Michigan. The brothers moved to Detroit in 1886, and by 1896 they and a partner, Harold Evans, were making Evans & Dodge bicycles with wheel bearings Horace had invented. In 1901 they sold their share of the bicycle business and opened their own machine shop in Detroit, which Dodge says grew into the city’s largest. Their first automotive customer was Ransom E. Olds’s Olds Motor Works, and by 1902 they were a major supplier of engines, transmissions and axles. --- ## How did the Dodge brothers work with Ford? In 1903 the brothers produced parts for the new Ford Motor Company and accepted a 10 per cent share of Ford’s stock in return. In 1910 the Dodge Main plant was built in Hamtramck, Michigan, to supply Ford with engines and transmissions, and by 1913 the brothers were making most of the components used in Ford’s cars. --- ## When did Dodge build its first car? In 1914 the brothers gave up their Ford work to introduce a car of their own and founded the Dodge Brothers Motor Car Company. The first Dodge, nicknamed ‘Old Betsy’, left the plant on 14 November 1914, and 249 had been built by the end of the year; Dodge describes it as the first car with an all-steel body. By 1915 Dodge was America’s third best-selling carmaker, and the word ‘dependability’ had entered its advertising. How that first car turned a parts supplier into a carmaker is told in Otto’s article on the legendary Dodges. --- ## What happened after the Dodge brothers died? Dodge cars saw early service: in 1916 the US Army used 150 of them in the pursuit of Pancho Villa, and Lt George Patton Jr used a Dodge in what Dodge calls the first mechanised cavalry charge in US history. Dodge entered the truck business in 1917. In 1920 both brothers died of influenza, John in January and Horace in December, in a year when Dodge was America’s second best-selling car. In 1925 a consortium of New York bankers bought the company from their widows for $146 million, and the same year Dodge built its one-millionth vehicle. --- ## How did Dodge become part of Chrysler? Walter P. Chrysler had taken control of Maxwell Motors in 1921 to rescue it, and on 6 June 1925 Maxwell became Chrysler Corporation, with him as president. He negotiated the purchase of Dodge Brothers, completed on 30 July 1928 for $170 million, which made Chrysler the third of Detroit’s Big Three; Chrysler launched DeSoto and Plymouth the same year. Dodge offered a six-cylinder engine for the first time in 1928, and the Dodge Brothers logo appeared on Dodge vehicles for the last time in 1938. --- ## What did Dodge do in the war years and the 1950s? In February 1942 US carmakers were ordered to stop building passenger cars for the war effort. Dodge’s Chicago plant built 18,413 engines for the B-29 bomber, and Dodge Main made radar units and gyro compasses. After the war Dodge went racing: its first NASCAR entry came in 1950, and Lee Petty gave it its first NASCAR win in 1953, in Palm Springs, Florida. Late in 1952 the Red Ram HEMI arrived as the first V-8 in a Dodge, and in 1953 a Dodge V-8 car broke 196 AAA stock-car records at the Bonneville Salt Flats. How the HEMI works is left to Otto’s article on Dodge engines. --- ## How did Dodge become a performance brand in the 1960s? In 1960 the Dart arrived, the Slant Six replaced the old L-head six, and Dodge moved its full-size cars to unibody construction. The Charger made its debut on 1 January 1966 as Dodge’s first production fastback, the year the 426 Street HEMI reached mid-size Dodges and the ‘Dodge Rebellion’ campaign began. The Scat Pack followed in 1968, along with the Super Bee. The winged 1969 Charger Daytona was a NASCAR special, and by Dodge’s account it became the first car past 200 mph on a closed course when Buddy Baker reached 200.447 mph in 1970. The Challenger arrived in autumn 1969 as a 1970 model, sharing Chrysler’s E-body with the Plymouth Barracuda. --- ## What changed for Dodge in the 1970s and 1980s? The muscle-car years ended quickly: 1971 was the last year of a hard-core performance Charger, the 426 HEMI left Dodge’s range from 1972, and Challenger production ended in April 1974. Smaller cars followed. Dodge says the 1978 Omni was North America’s first transverse-engined front-wheel-drive vehicle, and the Aries K-car arrived in 1981. Then came the minivan: the Dodge Caravan and its Plymouth Voyager sibling, launched in 1983 as 1984 models, created a new segment, and the first one left Windsor Assembly in Canada on 2 November 1983. Chrysler says the vans brought many new buyers to its dealers. --- ## What happened at Dodge in the 1990s? The Viper concept appeared at the 1989 Detroit motor show, and the production Viper went on sale in 1992 with an 8.0-litre V-10. Vipers were built by hand in Detroit, at Mack Avenue and then Conner Avenue, until production ended in August 2017 after about 30,000 cars. The all-new Dodge Ram pickup of 1994 brought ‘big rig’ styling to its class, and the Durango SUV followed in 1998. What each of these vehicles changed for Dodge is the subject of Otto’s article on the legendary Dodges. --- ## What happened under Daimler, Cerberus and Fiat? In 1998 Chrysler merged with Daimler-Benz to form DaimlerChrysler. On 14 May 2007 DaimlerChrysler agreed that an affiliate of the investment firm Cerberus would take 80.1 per cent of Chrysler Holding LLC, a new company for the Chrysler business, for €5.5 billion ($7.4 billion). Chrysler LLC filed for bankruptcy protection on 30 April 2009, and on 10 June 2009 a new company, Chrysler Group LLC, took over the business with Fiat as its partner, holding an initial 20 per cent, and Sergio Marchionne as chief executive. In October 2009 Ram became a stand-alone brand, so Ram trucks have since been sold under their own name rather than as Dodges. Fiat took full ownership in 2014, the year Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) was formed. --- ## How did Dodge and SRT come together? SRT, short for Street and Racing Technology, began as Chrysler’s Performance Vehicle Operations; its first official car was the Viper SRT10 with a 500-hp 8.3-litre V-10, followed by the Neon SRT4. In June 2011 SRT became a separate brand. In 2014, the year Dodge marked its 100th anniversary on 1 July, Dodge and SRT were consolidated into one performance brand, with Dodge as the mainstream performance brand and SRT as its halo. The 707-hp Challenger SRT Hellcat followed for 2015. --- ## What has changed at Dodge since 2020? Dodge ended production of the HEMI-powered Charger and Challenger by 31 December 2023, marking it with seven ‘Last Call’ editions that ended with the Challenger SRT Demon 170. Its first electrified performance model, the Hornet compact SUV, was revealed in 2022 and built in Italy, but Dodge said in January 2026 that its production had ended. The new Charger made its global debut on 5 March 2024 as the electric Charger Daytona, built at Windsor in Canada, and petrol versions with the twin-turbo SIXPACK six followed; the 2026 Charger was named North American Car of the Year. How electric and hybrid drives differ is explained in Otto’s guide to [hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric cars](https://autotronix.om/otto/hybrid-vs-plug-in-hybrid-vs-electric). --- ## Who owns Dodge today? The merger of FCA and the French Groupe PSA took effect on 16 January 2021 and created Stellantis N.V. As of October 2026 Dodge is one of Stellantis’ 14 vehicle brands, alongside Chrysler, Jeep, Ram and Maserati, and Stellantis names Matt McAlear as Dodge’s chief executive. Stellantis calls Dodge America’s performance brand, and in the United States its range is now two families, the Charger and the Durango. How Maserati reached the same group is told in Otto’s [history of Maserati](https://autotronix.om/otto/maserati-history). --- ## Common Questions **Is Ram part of Dodge?** Not any more. Ram pickups were sold as Dodge Rams, including the all-new 1994 model, but Ram became a stand-alone brand in October 2009. Today Dodge and Ram are separate brands within Stellantis. **Why was the company called Dodge Brothers?** Because it was founded by two brothers, John and Horace Dodge, who set up the Dodge Brothers Motor Car Company in 1914. The Dodge Brothers logo stayed on the cars until 1938. **When did Chrysler buy Dodge?** On 30 July 1928, for $170 million, three years after New York bankers had bought the company from the Dodge brothers’ widows for $146 million. **Did the Dodge brothers really build parts for Ford?** Yes. From 1903 they supplied the new Ford Motor Company and took a 10 per cent share of its stock, and by 1913 they made most of the components in Ford’s cars. They gave up that work in 1914 to build cars of their own. --- ## Related Otto Explanations - Why You Need a Pre-Purchase Inspection Before Buying a Used Car: https://autotronix.om/otto/pre-purchase-inspection --- ## Related Services - AutoTronix PERFORMANCE: https://autotronix.om/performance - Performance Car Pre-Purchase Inspection: https://autotronix.om/performance/performance-pre-purchase - Performance Vehicle Maintenance: https://autotronix.om/performance/performance-maintenance --- ## Book a Service WhatsApp: +968 9966 7600 https://api.whatsapp.com/send/?phone=96899667600&type=phone_number&app_absent=0 Location: Mabellah Industrial, Street 7, Muscat — Saturday to Thursday, 9 AM to 9 PM