Enterprising, hard-edged brothers John and Horace Dodge made a fortune supplying auto parts to Henry Ford. Fearing the Ford Motor Company would ultimately push them out, they Michigan siblings struck out on their own. The result was Dodge, their namesake automobile brand. As soon as the first Dodge was completed on Nov, 14, 1914, the cars became instant favorites with a reputation that mirrored their creators: tough and unpretentious.
Two years after the duo began producing their own vehicles, the company gained famed when General John J. Pershing used a fleet of 250 Dodge Brothers Model 30-35 touring cars to pursue bandit-cum-revolutionary Pancho Villa into Mexico.
The automaker continued to capitalize on its pop culture success. Dodge-driving bad guys would relentlessly chase Steve McQueen in action thriller “Bullitt,” a '69 Charger became the famous getaway car the General Lee in “The Dukes of Hazzard,” and Dodge powered NASCAR legend Richard Petty to three championships.
Amid high expectations, Dodge successfully resurrected the Challenger, a popular muscle car in the late-1960s and early-'70s, in 2008. In addition, the storied Viper set the standard for production supercars with racing credentials solidified by proven performance.
Quick Facts
- After a 1916 shootout with Pancho Villa's men, George S. Patton, then a young lieutenant, returned to base with the bodies of three guerillas strapped to the hoods of Dodge cars
- In 1922, Harry S. Truman ran his first campaign—for Jackson County judge in Missouri—from the seat of a Dodge roadster. When he retired, the former president drove a customized ’55 Royal Lancer
- In January 2015, a restored 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona, one of only about 500 built, sold at a Mecum auction for $900,000
