All you need to know about Dodge.
Born: 1914
Nationality: American
Brothers Horace and John F Dodge began what was to become a major automotive name by making bicycles. A turn-of-the-century enterprise making stove parts evolved into making auto parts, including engines, for contemporary carmakers such as Ford and Oldsmobile. When they split from Ford, in which they had been given a 10 per cent shareholding, Fords were being built almost entirely from Dodge-made parts.
Indeed, asked why the brothers wanted to build their own automobile, John Dodge is reported to have said: "Think of all the Ford owners out there who will someday want an automobile."
In 1914 they produced what became known as "Old Betsy", which was deliberately produced as a rugged and durable car, a legacy which the Dodge brand has built on ever since. In 1920, when both founding brothers died, the company was one of the industry's biggest.
The modern tradition of Dodge as a maker of pick-up trucks began in 1921 when the company provided parts for the 1.5 ton trucks being built by Graham Brothers. These were then sold through Dodge dealers. Dodge bought out Graham Brothers in 1926, just three years after the fledgling Chrysler Car Company was set up. Ironically, in 1928, Chrysler bought Dodge, and the brand has been a part of the Chrysler empire since.
Dodge continued to use its own reliable engines until 1933. It then began to take Chrysler units, but modifying them to make them more rugged and reliable.
The "streamlined" style which was to typify Dodge vehicles after the war actually began in 1938, as did the Dodge diesel engine which was to remain an unusual item in US carbuilding right up to today.
During the second World War, Dodge developed a military 4WD which provided the expertise and technology in the late 1940s for light 4WD pickups, matching similar vehicles that were at the same time introduced by GM and Ford.
Dodge has some motoring benchmarks to its credit. In the original founders' time, it developed a system for bonding enamel to metal car bodies. In the 1950s it introduced the two-speed PowerFlite automotic transmission to its trucks. Pendulum pedals came in the 1960s, as did alternators.
In the aftermath of the 1973 fuel crisis, Dodge allied with Mitsubishi to get the Japanese company's diesel engines into its US pickups.
In 1982, though its full-size trucks were exemplified by the macho Ram nameplate, Dodge also introduced lightweight vehicles based on the floorpan of one of its European subsidiaries. In the meantime, it shoehorned a Cummins diesel into the bigger vehicles, which once again put them ahead of rivals from the other members of the Big Three club. Today, the full-size pick-ups come with a 6.1-litre V8 petrol or two versions of the Cummins turbo-diesel.
In cars, Dodge is best known on this side of the world for its Viper supercar, originally a showcar in 1989 but today a production car powered by the 6.1-litre V8 petrol engine. The brand is planning a serious return to Europe next year.
The company has also developed a hybrid diesel-electric vehicle for the US Army - the technology will also be used in civilian pickups.
Best Car: In the US, nobody will say other than the Ram pick-up (left), the ultimate macho symbol.
Worst Car: The original 1995 Viper, designed for the supercar fanatic on a beer budget, and which performed accordingly on anything like a bend.
Weirdest Car: Any Dodge Ram showcar (left again) in recent years.