CarBrandLogos archive · Dodge · 1914

DodgeModel 30

Two brothers who supplied everyone else finally built their own car, and made it tough.

Photo: Lars-Göran Lindgren Sweden · CC BY-SA 3.0

The story

A defining chapter in Dodge history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Dodge Model 30, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

John and Horace Dodge had spent years as the most important suppliers in the American motor industry, machining engines, axles and transmissions for Olds and then for Ford, in which they held a substantial stake. When they decided to build a complete car under their own name, they had the machine tools, the money and a very clear idea of what was wrong with the competition.

1914 Dodge Model 30 · Lars-Göran Lindgren Sweden · CC BY-SA 3.0

Design and engineering

The Model 30 was pitched just above the Model T and engineered to justify the difference. It used a 212.3 cubic-inch L-head four rated at 35 bhp, a three-speed sliding gear transmission rather than Ford's planetary unit, 12-volt electrics with electric starting and lighting as standard, and — most significantly — an all-steel body from Edward Budd's company at a time when almost every car still relied on wood framing. Steel bodies were stiffer, safer and far better suited to volume production, and the industry followed.

In production

The reputation for durability was earned in public. Dodges served with Pershing's expedition into Mexico and in large numbers with American and Allied forces in the First World War as staff cars, ambulances and light trucks, and came back with a name for surviving conditions that destroyed lighter machinery. Within a few years Dodge was among the largest American manufacturers.

Legacy

Both brothers died in 1920, and the company they built passed through the Dillon, Read banking house to Walter Chrysler in 1928. The Series 116 replaced the Model 30, but the sturdy, no-nonsense character it established stayed attached to the badge for a century.

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

1916–1922

Engine

Dodge 212.3 cuin

Body

4-door Touring car

Technical specification

The Model 30, in detail.

Production: 1916–1922
Body style: 4-door Touring car; tourer; 2-door Roadster (car); roadster; 4-door Sedan (automobile); sedan; 2-door coupe; 2-door screen-sided pickup truck; 2-door panel truck
Layout: Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive
Engine: Dodge 212.3 cuin; inline-4 L-head petrol; 35 bhp at 2,000 rpmrefn; group=note; name=Horsepower; The engine had an Tax horsepower#United States; S.A.E. or N.A.C.C. horsepower rating of 24 bhp.sfnp; Kimes; Clark; 1989; p=4
Transmission: 3F1R
Manufacturer: Dodge