Just in time for Memorial Day, this amazing 1922 Dodge Brothers touring car appeared on the streets of downtown Kearney, Nebraska, all decked out in red, white, and blue.
In 1922, Dodge Brothers had two series; the First series were “low hoods,” and the Second series “high hoods” that also featured other changes like outside door handles, lower rooflines, and buttonless upholstery. Both series had the famous Dodge Brothers all-steel body and a 3-speed transmission, and both were powered by an L-head four-cylinder that displaced 212.3 cubic inches and generated around 35hp.
Unfortunately for the car-loving public and the Dodge Brothers company, both of the brothers, Horace and John, had died in 1920. With the company faltering in the wake of their deaths, their widows became among the richest women in the world when they sold the company to New York banking syndicate Dillon, Read & Company in 1925 for $146 million. At the time, this sale was the largest cash transaction in Wall Street history, and the check made out to Dodge Brothers was the largest ever drawn in a commercial transaction. For that reason, it made all the papers:
The company continued to struggle, and the brilliant Walter P. Chrysler, recognizing a win-win proposition when he saw one, purchased the company in 1928 for $170 million, thereby obtaining a ready-made network for distribution of his relatively new and immensely popular Chrysler automobile. The Dodge Brothers name continued to be used into the 1930s as seen in this advertisement from December of 1930.
Original Dodge Brothers parts are hard to come by, but we still purchase them whenever we find them.
Supply is down but so is demand for much of the early stuff as each generation tends to want what its members drove as young people. We appreciate the owner of this gorgeous Dodge Brothers car for preserving it and for keeping history alive in a most laudable fashion.
