Editing Dodge (section)

===Founding and early years===
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[[Horace Elgin Dodge|Horace]] and [[John Francis Dodge|John Dodge]] founded the ''Dodge Brothers Company'' in Detroit in 1900, and quickly found work manufacturing precision engine and [[chassis]] components for the city's growing number of automobile firms. Chief among them were the established [[Oldsmobile#Early history|Olds Motor Vehicle Company]] and the new [[Ford Motor Company]]. Henry Ford selected the Dodge brothers to supply a wide range of components for his original [[Ford Model A (1903–04)|Model A (1903–04)]] comprising the entire chassis: Ford needed to add only the body and wheels to finish the cars.<ref>{{cite book |last=DeLorenzo |first=Matt |title=Dodge 100 Years |date=2014 |publisher=Motorbooks |isbn=9781627880848 |pages=8–9 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Zm91AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA8 |access-date=November 11, 2018}}</ref> Henry offered the Dodge brothers a 10% share in his new company in return for $10,000 worth of goods (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|10000|1900}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars{{inflation-fn|US}}). In 1902, the brothers won a contract to produce transmissions for [[Ransom E. Olds]]' company, [[Oldsmobile]] upon which they built a solid reputation for quality and service. They rejected a second contract from Oldsmobile in 1903, to retool their plant to manufacture engines for the [[Ford Motor Company]], which would be in debt to the brothers.

The first machine shop where the brothers worked as parts suppliers for Olds and Ford was located at the Boydell Building on Beaubien Street at Lafayette. This location was replaced by a larger facility at Hastings Street and Monroe Avenue, which is now a parking garage for the [[Hollywood Casino at Greektown|Hollywood Casino]] (Hastings Street at this location has been renamed Chrysler Service Drive).<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.dodgemotorcar.com/history/early_history.php |title=Locations of earlier Dodge Brothers workshops |website=Dodgemotorcar.com |access-date=January 12, 2018}}</ref> By 1910 the [[Dodge Main]] factory was built in Hamtramck, where it remained until 1979.

[[File:1915-dodge-archives.jpg|right|thumb|1915 Model 30-35 touring car]]
[[File:Royal baking trucks.jpg|thumb|Dodge Brothers delivery trucks, [[Salt Lake City]], 1920]]
[[File:Light-repair-truck-FAJ19200910.jpg|thumb|[[M1918 light repair truck]] [[G-numbers|G10]], likely U.S. Army (Field Artillery Journal Sep-Oct 1920)]]

The Dodge Brothers Motor Company was established in 1913 and by 1914, John and Horace designed and introduced the first car of their own – the four-cylinder [[Dodge 30-35|Dodge Model 30-35]] touring car.<ref>{{cite web |title=This day in history: January 14: Dodge co-founder dies |url= https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/dodge-co-founder-dies |work=History |publisher=A&E Television Networks |date=August 21, 2018 |access-date=November 11, 2018}}</ref> Marketed as a slightly more upscale competitor to the ubiquitous [[Ford Model T]], it pioneered or made standard many features later taken for granted, such as all-steel bodies. The vast majority of cars worldwide still used wood-framing under steel panels,<ref group=nb>though Stoneleigh and [[Birmingham Small Arms Company|BSA]] used steel bodies as early as 1911.</ref><ref name = wise552>{{cite book|editor-first=Tom |editor-last=Northey |last=Wise |first=David Burgess |chapter=Dodge |title=The World of Automobiles: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Motor Car |publisher=Purnell Reference Books |year=1977 |volume=5 |page=552 |isbn= 978-0-8393-6009-4}}</ref> Other innovations were 12-volt electrical systems (6-volt systems would remain the norm until the 1950s), 35 horsepower<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.oldcarbrochures.com/static/NA/Dodge/1920_Dodge_Brothers/1920_Dodge_Brothers_Brochure/1920%20Dodge%20Brothers-19.html |title=1920 Dodge Brothers Brochure |website=Oldcarbrochures.com |access-date=August 17, 2014}}</ref> engines versus the Model T's 20 horsepower, and sliding-gear [[transmission (mechanics)|transmission]] (the best-selling Model T retained an antiquated [[Epicyclic gearing|planetary]] design until its demise in 1927). John Dodge was quoted as saying, "Someday, people who own a Ford are going to want an automobile."<ref name=dodgebros3>{{cite web|title=The Dodge Brothers Saga: The Chrysler Canada Story, Chapter 3 |website=allpar.com |via="The Chrysler Canada Story" by James Mays, 2001 |date=November 16, 2020|url= https://www.allpar.com/threads/the-dodge-brothers-saga-the-chrysler-canada-story-chapter-3.229689/?post_id=1085223787&nested_view=1&sortby=oldest#post-1085223787 |access-date=May 7, 2024}}</ref> The company garnered a reputation for the highest quality truck, transmission, and motor parts supplied to other successful vehicles, and Dodge Brothers cars were ranked second in U.S. sales as early as 1916.

That same year, [[Henry Ford]] stopped paying stock dividends to finance the construction of his new [[Ford River Rouge Complex|River Rouge complex]], and the Dodges filed a [[Dodge v. Ford Motor Company|suit]] to protect their annual dividends of approximately one million dollars,<ref>Wise, p. 551.</ref> leading Ford to buy out his shareholders. The Dodges were paid some US$25&nbsp;million.(${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|25000000|1916}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars{{inflation-fn|US}})<ref name = wise552/> They had already earned $9,871,500 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|9871500|1916}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars{{inflation-fn|US}}) in dividends making a total return of $34,871,500 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|34871500|1916}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars{{inflation-fn|US}}) on their original $10,000 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|10000|1916}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars{{inflation-fn|US}}) investment. The Ford contract set them up for life, but they never got to spend it.

Also in 1916, the Dodge Brothers vehicles won acclaim for their durability in military service. First with the U.S. Army's [[Pancho Villa Expedition]], during the 1910s [[Border War (1910–19)|U.S. Mexico Border War]]—the U.S. military's first operation to use truck convoys.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Mexican Revolution 1910–20 |first1=Philip |last1=Jowett |first2=Alejandro |last2=de Quesada |date=February 28, 2006 |publisher=Osprey |page=25 |isbn=978-1-84176-989-9}}</ref> General [[John J. Pershing|"Blackjack" Pershing]] procured a fleet of 150 to 250 Dodge Brothers vehicles for the [[Mexico]] campaign.<ref name=Dodge100/><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.trucktrend.com/news/0708dp-1916-to-1975-dodge-diesel-engines/ |title=1916 To 1975 Dodge Diesel Engines - Diesel Power Magazine|date=July 31, 2007|website=Truck Trend |access-date=May 30, 2019}}</ref> Touring cars were used as staff and reconnaissance vehicles. Pershing himself used a Dodge touring car to keep abreast of army columns and control their movements.

During an incident in May, the [[6th Infantry Regiment (United States)|6th Infantry]] reported a sighting of [[Julio Cárdenas]], one of Villa's most trusted subordinates. Lt. [[George S. Patton]] led ten soldiers and two civilian guides in three Dodge Model 30 touring cars to conduct America's first motorized military raid at a ranch house in San Miguelito, [[Sonora]]. During the ensuing firefight, the party killed three men, with one identified as Cárdenas. Patton's men tied the bodies to the hoods of the Dodges, returning to headquarters in [[Colonia Dublán|Dublán]] and an excited reception from US newspapermen.

Subsequently, some 12,800 Dodge cars and light trucks were used in [[World War I]]<ref name=4WWC51BG>{{cite web |url= http://www.fourwheeler.com/features/1612-1943-dodge-wc-51-weapons-carrier-power-and-glory-backward-glances/ |title=1943 Dodge {{nobr|WC-51}} Weapons Carrier, Power & Glory: Backward Glances |last=Allen |first=Jim |date=7 December 2016 |website=FourWheeler.com |access-date=2018-02-24 |author-link=Jim Allen (4x4 writer)}}</ref>—over 8,000 touring cars, as well as 2,600 commercial vehicles, such as screen-side trucks and panel vans—serving primarily as ambulances and repair trucks.<ref name=Dodge100>{{cite book |last=DeLorenzo |first=Matt |date=15 February 2014 |title=Dodge 100 Years |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Zm91AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA55 |publisher=MotorBooks International |page=55 |isbn=9781627880848}}</ref>

Dodge remained the United States military's primary supplier of light-wheeled vehicles until the U.S. joined the [[Second World War]].<ref name=4WWC51BG />