1915 Dodge Brothers Model 30-35 Touring Car

Photo by Cliff West

Brothers Horace Elgin Dodge and John Francis Dodge founded the Dodge Brothers Company in 1900. Initially a bicycle manufacturer, Dodge Brothers expanded to supply parts to automakers like Ford and Oldsmobile and abandoned bicycles. By 1914, Dodge Brothers had decided to introduce its own automobile, and thus the 1915 Dodge Brothers Model 30-35 Touring Car was born.

For 1915, all Dodge Brothers cars were touring cars, and all were painted black with blue wheel spokes. This one is pictured at the Towe Ford Museum (now the California Automobile Museum) in Sacramento, California, in March 1992.

Designed to be an improvement over the Ford Model T while remaining affordable, the larger Dodge Brothers Model 30-35 featured a 35-horsepower engine, a sliding-gear transmission, all-steel body construction and a 12-volt electrical system for a starting price of $785. The new car proved to be a success and by 1916, Dodge Brothers was the number two marque in the United States, second only to Ford. Dodge Brothers would expand to become a leading manufacturer of light trucks. Unfortunately, Horace and John Dodge both died in 1920, and the company subsequently struggled until it was purchased by Walter P. Chrysler in 1928 and was merged into the Chrysler Corporation.