Car of the Week: 1922 Dodge Brothers roadster

dodgechargerfan

dodgechargerfan

In a 55 gallon drum, floating down river, and
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1922-Dodge-4.jpg

A little more than nine years ago, Jim Scharf jumped in his car and went to get a haircut. He came back with an old car, a new hobby, and a new lease on life for both he and his wife Laura.
Actually, Jim didn’t come home immediately with the first Dodge Brothers car he had ever laid eyes on. It took a couple weeks, but it was love at first sight and fate seemed to have selected the Scharfs to have the car.
“I wonder sometimes what would have happened if I had waited a week to get that haircut,” Jim laughs. “And I’m bald! What was I even doing getting a haircut?”
The car that started things for the Scharfs was a 1921 Dodge Brothers touring car that was sitting alone in a front yard with a “for sale” sign on it. “It really caught my eye,” Jim said. “I wrote down the phone number and went home and told Laura that I saw this really old car and it was about the neatest thing I’ve ever seen. She said, ‘Really? That’s interesting.’ I said, ‘It’s for sale, but it had no price on it or anything. I could call the guy, but it’s probably more than I can afford.’ She said it sounded cool and she’d like to go see it.”
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Pretty neat. One rarely sees any Dodge Brothers car around here.

John & Horace made their initial fortune - the one they used to go into the automobile business - by building engines, transmissions and a lot of other Model T parts for Henry Ford. When Henry opened his Rouge River plant, he decided he didn't need the Dodges anymore, so they went into the car business for themselves, using profits from their Ford parts business and stock dividends from their stake in Ford.
If Henry hadn't been so stubborn to change his Model T - the Dodges suggested numerous improvements and Ford refused them all - Dodge Brothers might well have failed. Their first cars were a huge improvement over the Model T.

They were known as skilled machinists, and were sought out by R.E. Olds to build transmissions for Oldsmobile before going into business with Ford.
They were canny enough to write their contract with Ford stating that if Ford went bankrupt - as he had done twice before - all Fords' assets would go to the brothers.









... some of the old car trivia I've picked up over the years... :)
 
Another fact about the Dodge Brothers: They actually coined the word "dependable". That word literally did not exist until they invented it for their advertising.
 
pretty old girl..you dont see much of ANYTHING from the begining up to the 20's of ANY model....atleast in stock form
 
Cool for sure. One of my favorite quotes was from John Dodge when he and his brother had started building their own cars... "One day, all of those people who bought fords will want to own an automobile"!
 
Stretch said:
Cool for sure. One of my favorite quotes was from John Dodge when he and his brother had started building their own cars... "One day, all of those people who bought fords will want to own an automobile"!
Click to expand...

:D I have to remember that....

Neat old car.

Y'know, I keep hearing talk about the hobby dying because younger generations have no interest in cars from previous generations.

Yet, I find as I get older, my appreciation for even older vehicles grows. When I was in High School, I really had no interest in anything that pre-dated the muscle car era unless it was hot-rodded. Then as time went by, the 50's and 60s became appealing - then the high end just pre-war cars like cord, auburn, deusenberg... And I find myself a lot more interested in old girls like this.

Good thing I don't have unlimited funds. I wouldn't have it for long....
 
I always had appreciation for the old ones, but the interest in owning one kind of went away as I grew older. Yeah, when I was 9 years old I lusted for the Thomas Flyer or a supercharged hideaway Cord but as much as I appreciate them, and that to others they're a thrill, owning one no longer is on my to-do list.
 
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I've always loved the muscle cars. I also have a love for the G.M. G-Bodys. (Yah yah I like the metric malibu, monte carlos, cutlass, regals) and I always liked the antique cars. Flat head fords are another one that does it for me.

Working on this '28 Oakland has really made me appreciate the way things were done. This thing is cool!
 
Stretch said:
I've always loved the muscle cars. I also have a love for the G.M. G-Bodys. (Yah yah I like the metric malibu, monte carlos, cutlass, regals) and I always liked the antique cars. Flat head fords are another one that does it for me.

Working on this '28 Oakland has really made me appreciate the way things were done. This thing is cool!
Click to expand...

That's when my appreciation for old steel really took hold - when I started working on them and not just looking at them.
I'm a car guy, plain and simple. If it's got wheels and an engine, it's got my attention.
 
I used to actually have a hideaway Cord, but that particular vacuum broke and the new one requires me to wrap it around the handle. :(
 
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