Dodge Brothers
Dodge Brothers (Britain) of Great Portland Street (1916)
of Fulham (1922)
See also -
Dodge Brothers of Detroit started out making automobile parts.
1915 Dodge exported their five-seater touring car to Britain. Charles Jarrott and Letts became their British agent.
1921 Dodge signed an agreement with the Graham Brothers firm to build trucks solely with Dodge fast-four engines and drive trains, then sell them exclusively through the Dodge dealer network. The Grahams moved to Detroit, where a new factory was established to supplement their Evansville output. A new company, Graham Brothers Inc was formed, with Joseph as president. It operated almost as a Dodge subsidiary.
1922 Dodge Brothers formed a private British company and started to import parts from the USA. They purchased a small factory at Stevenage Road, Fulham.
1924 Moved to larger premises at Park Royal. Produced a 15cwt van under the Graham badge.
1925 the Dodge heirs sold the company to the investment firm of Dillon and Read. The following November the Dodge management reorganized with the Graham Brothers emerging on top. Dodge exercised an option to acquire a 51 per cent interest in Graham Brothers.
1926 April: the Graham brothers suddenly resigned, while Dodge acquired the remaining 49 per cent of the truck business.
1928 Dodge was the owner of the entire capital stock of Graham Brothers, supplier of range of commercial motor vehicles.
1928 Dodge were purchased by Chrysler in the USA.
1930 Production of Dodge trucks began at the Kew, Surrey, factory of Dodge Brothers (Britain) Ltd.[1]
1933 The first British-made Dodge chassis, a petrol-engined 5 tonner, made in conjunction with associated company Chrysler but using engines imported from the USA.
1938 The first truly British Dodge was built with a Perkins engine.
WW2 Factory produced components for aircraft including the Halifax bomber.
1946 Production re-commenced at Kew with a range from 2-ton to 6-ton and with a cab similar to the Leyland Motors Comet.
1951 Exhibitor at the 1951 Motor Show in the Car Section.
1957 Produced a 7-ton chassis with a Perkins P6 engine.
1960 Produced a comprehensive range of trucks designed to meet the requirements of British transport operators.
1961 Employed 850 persons. Subsidiary of Chrysler Corporation of Detroit. [2]
1961 Manufacturers of commercial vehicles and distributors of private cars.
1963 Motor Show exhibitor. Importers of Polara and Dart GT models
Chrysler took an interest in the Rootes Group
1967 The Kew plant closed and production switched to Dunstable.
1973 Chrysler gained control of Commer and there was much badge swapping with the Dodge badge appearing on Commer trucks
1976 Commer were renamed as Dodge. Dodge gained a selection of vans and trucks from Commer.
1978 Chrysler sold the business to Peugeot
1979 TALBOT was the new name adopted for Chrysler Europe — but commercial vehicles continued to be called Dodge. The new name and logo were applied as part of the PSA Group's policy of maintaining separate identities for its three divisions, Talbot, Peugeot and Citroen.
PSA took little interest in the heavy commercial vehicles, and the from 1990 the former Commer/Dodge/Karrier truck and van factory was operated in conjunction with the trucks division of Renault. After the withdrawal of the last Dodge-derived trucks (latterly badged as Renaults) it became an engine production plant for Renault Véhicules Industriels.
1993 Renault closed the Dunstable factory and production ceased.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ Commercial Motor 22 Jan 1960
- ↑ 1961 Guide to Key British Enterprises: Motor, Motor-Cycle and Commercial Vehicle Manufacturers
- British Lorries 1900-1992 by S. W. Stevens-Stratten. Pub. Ian Allen Publishing
- Ian Allan - British Buses Since 1900 - Aldridge and Morris
- [1] Graham history
- 1961 Dun and Bradstreet KBE
- 1963 Motor Show