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Monday, March 30, 2015
The Dodge Brothers Weren’t Ford Employees; Died Long Before The Challenger & Charger Were Made
In a series of recent ads exploring the creation and evolution of Dodge and its famous Challenger and Charger models, the car maker harkens all the way back to its origins as the Dodge Brothers Company to evoke a sense of spirit and competitiveness. While these commercials are successful in eliciting the desired emotional response, the company isn’t quite telling the truth about John and Horace Dodge and their role in creating these popular muscle cars.
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7 comments:
They can lie and who cares. ...its false advertising and id bet a class action lawsuit would do wonders for their honesty.....
Actually...John Dodge was a VP at Ford for a decade. His brother, Horace retooled their plant(originally contracted to build trannies for Olds) and was contracted to Ford from 1903-1913, when the brothers canceled the Ford contract in order to concentrate on producing a vehicle of their own.
Yes, both died long before the Challenger or Charger.
Henry Ford had nothing to do with the Mustang either.
When I first saw those commercials I was thinking to myself - "How the *#%@? are they claiming that the Dodge brothers had anything to do with the development of the Challenger and Charger?" I knew that they were slightly younger than Henry Ford who I knew was born in 1863 and that would have put them around 100 years old by the time the Charger and Challenger came into production in 1966 and 1970, respectively. I also knew that they were dead long before those models came out because I know somebody with a 100% original survivor 1924 Dodge Bros. Touring Sedan sitting in an old barn unrestored in excellent condition. I asked the owner how much he thinks it's really worth and he said, "not much, this model was designed and built after the Dodge Brothers died."
Also, the Dodge Brothers weren't really competitive at all - at least not amongst themselves. They were very close and inseparable as brothers, but both possessed and excelled in separate traits that they used together to build success. John was a machinist and "dirt" man and Horace was the financier and "idea" man. They had no common grounds to be competitive on like the commercials portray.
Not to mention that the majority of the success of the Challenger and Charger were due to the use of the Hemispherical engine - an engine that can be traced back to Daimler, Peugeot, Alfa Romeo and Fiat in the 1910's - well before they were acquired by Chrysler. Today, the "HEMI" is believed to be a product and design of Chrysler-Dodge during the "pony car" era when it was really only enhanced by Chrysler-Dodge. In fact, Dodge owes a lot of it's success and survival through the oil crisis in the early 1970's to Mitsubishi and their fuel efficient motors.
Before I saw these commercials I was really impressed with the way that Dodge was leading the industry in redesigning vehicles using a retro manner. However, since these commercials, I have been rather ticked about their lack of integrity. It is just another instance where companies try to twist the view of consumers through lies and deception to promote their products.
I'm a Toyota guy, but if I was every FORCED to buy a domestic vehicle, it would be a Ford truck - Ford is the only American Company that has not lied to me or stolen my tax dollars.
And Medusa had nothing to do with the Viper.
Wow, as a Dodge fan I got that they weren't trying to imply that the Dodge brothers built the Challenger or Charger. They were simply making a commercial to invoke excitement for well built exciting cars. I suppose all of you believe that Transformers really exist too? Have any of you ever heard of creative cinema? Get a life.
I bought a new Dodge once (1985). Worst car ever. All looks and no quality. POS to work on. I vowed never to buy another Chrysler / Dodge product. And I haven't. Wouldn't have one if it was given to me.
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