Autos Of America History Page 4

“”Dodge Automobiles””

The Dodge Brothers John and Horace opened a machine shop in 1900 in Detroit . They quickly earned a reputation for top quality workmanship and gained contracts with automobile companies to build parts and assemblies for automobiles . They built hundreds of engines and transmissions for Ransom Olds from 1900 to 1903 . They began to make parts for Henry Ford and took a 10% interest in Henrys new Ford Motor Company . This deal paid them about a million dollars a year with royalties . In 1914 the Brothers built their own automobile ,the Dodge Model 30 and the Dodge Brothers opened their own automobile company . Their reputation was so good that they had hundreds of people wanting to open Dodge dealers . The Dodge brothers also built trucks , and even had a contract to build trucks for the Graham Brothers Truck Company ! For a time they were number one in truck sales .

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Dodge Brothers automobiles were among the first with all steel body construction when many other companies used steel over wood construction . Dodges also used a 12 volt electrical system where others were 6 volt (most until the mid 50s) . From 1916 to 1920 Dodge sales were second over all only to Henry Fords Model “T” . One of Dodges customers was Pancho Villa of Mexico , for a fleet of army vehicles . In 1916 Henry Ford bought , the Dodge Brothers shares in Ford Motor Company and the brothers received “25 Million dollars” from Henry . In January of 1920 John Dodge died of illness and in December Horace also died . Their wives hired an employee to run the company but the business went down hill and eventually was sold to a holding company . Walter Chrysler Bought the Dodge Brothers Company in 1928 for 170 Million Dollars (a record for that time period) .

Dodge is still a part of the Chrysler Corporation today . (Also see the “Dodge Brothers / John and Horace on this website .)

“”Duesenberg Automobiles””

The Duesenberg brothers Fredrick and August were very interested and involved with racing . They began their own bicycle shops in 1896 and designed and built bicycles . They also raced bicycles and Fred set some speed records with his bicycles . In 1900 Fred went to work in a automobile shop and learned that trade . In 1901 he bought a used Marion racer which he modified and raced . About 1905 the Duesenberg brothers partnered with Edward Mason and Fred Maytag (of Maytag appliances) to open the Mason-Maytag Motor Company . Fred raced Mason automobiles to gain publicity to the company and to the powerful Duesenberg-Mason engines .

In 1913 the Duesenberg brothers founded the Duesenberg Motor Company . They built race cars and performance engines for marine use as well as some airplane engines . The Duesenberg’s had success in racing . At the Indianapolis 500 in 1914 they finished 10^th and 12^th and in 1915 finished 8^th . They also won over 30 other races in 1914 and finished 3^rd or better in most of the races they entered that year .

Duesenberg finished 2^nd in the 1916 Indianapolis 500 , 3^rd 4^th and 6^th in 1920 , 2^nd 4^th 6^th and 8^th in 1921 . In 1921 Duesenberg was the first American built automobile to win the French Grand Prix at LeMans . In 1922 Duesenberg’s finished 1^st ,2^nd , 4^th 5tn, 6^th , 7^th, 8^th , and 10^th at Indy . In 1923 Duesenberg was chosen as the pace car at Indianapolis . 1924 finishes were 1^st and 6^th , 1925 1^st , 3^rd and 8^th , 1926 it was 5^th and 1927 1^st and 5^th at Indy . Duesenberg also won many other races during those years .

In 1920 the Duesenberg Automobile and Motor Company opened , to build passenger cars and the Duesenberg Brothers company was also founded to build Race Cars .

It would appear that the first Duesenberg Passenger car (model A) prototype was 1919 and actually hit the market in 1921. Duesenberg Automobile and Motor Company produced powerful automobiles until 1926 . In 1926 E L Cord ,the owner of the Auburn and Cord companies , bought the Duesenberg Automobile and Motor Company but the brothers continued to design and build Duesenberg automobiles until 1937 when Cord automobile companies closed .

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Duesenberg was known for powerful and durable engines large and small . Their 183 cubic inch overhead cam straight eight was used in Indianapolis races , when that was the engine limit for Indy . The Duesenberg SJ had a supercharged engine that produced 320 horsepower , would do 140 miles per hour and would reach 100 miles per hour from a stop in about 7 seconds . Duesenberg was considered to be the best car in the world in its time and for years after !

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“”Durant Automobiles””

William Durant founded the Durant Motors in 1921 after he was removed from his position with General Motors for the final time! Durant built three models at first , the Durant the Flint and the Star . Durant also acquired the liquidated Locomobile company in 1922 as a luxury automobile line . Durant introduced the Rugby , which was a Star car with a new name plate .

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William Durant’s company also founded Mason Truck but it was discontinued in 1928 along with the Flint and the Star . The Locomobile and Rugby were the Durant models of 1928 , but the Locomobile ended production in 1929 . Durant automobiles sold well at first because of Billy Durant’s reputation in the automotive industry , but sales declined and Durant ended production in the USA in 1931. Durant - Frontenac in Canada continued production for a time after .

“”Elmore automobile””

The Elmore Manufacturing Company was founded in Clyde Ohio in 1893 by Burton and James Becker . In 1908 the company was bought by William Durant and General Motors . Durant’s main interest in the company was its 3 cylinder engine . Elmore division of General Motors was discontinued in 1910 .

Continued on Autos of America History page 5