Sold 1923 Dodge Standard A 2146364101 Tweet

While Dodge has long been associated with the low-cost car market and looking back at its history it has long been a leading innovator in the industry. Before Horace and John Dodge ever built a car bearing a Dodge Brothers emblem the two men amassed a substantial fortune in the automobile industry as a parts supplier to other manufacturers. Their Detroit-based machine shop and foundry produced engines and gearboxes for Ransom E. Olds and later axles and other driveline components for Henry Fords rapidly expanding operation. But as Henry marched toward self-sufficiency the brothers recognized they would need to divorce themselves from Ford if they wanted to continue their success. In 1914 the Dodge Brothers announced their first complete automobile. It was a top-notch effort that was high on value with standard fittings including a folding top leather upholstery electric lighting windshield speedometer and an electric self-starter. Starting at $785 it offered all that equipment for only slightly more than a $750 Model T Tourer.Dodge continued to be an innovator and by 1923 the company introduced the industrys first mass-produced all-steel body. Powered by a 212 cubic-inch L-head inline-four the car was mechanically rather conventional but well-built and robust. After the brothers deaths their widows sold the company for $146M to investment bankers in 1925. By 1928 Dodge was under the auspices of Walter P. Chrysler who worked to carry on the Dodge Brothers legacy of quality and value.Representing the Dodge Brothers marque in the Kleptz Collection is this delightful 1923 Standard A Tourer. Offered with a marvelous patina and outfitted in the style of a depression-era dust bowl car this Dodge is a wonderful display piece. Little is known of the cars early history though it appears to be a mostly original and unrestored example with an authentic patina. Frank acquired the Dodge from Sam Braen of New Jersey who owned Braen Stone a quarry and construction company that supplied many major infrastructure projects around the greater New York area. The car was displayed as-is in the Kleptz museum and remains virtually untouched since he acquired it. It is loaded with hundreds of antique and reproduction bits from canteens to a shotgun to a chicken coop evoking the images of farm families fleeing the dust bowl in the early-mid 30s.The Dodge has been a static display piece for many years and has not run so it will need considerable attention if the next keeper chooses to use it as intended. As it sits it is a charming piece that gives us a fascinating look back at an extraordinary period in American history when more than a quarter-million people packed up their lives and fled the plains for the promised land of California.Offers welcome and trades considered For additional details please view this listing directly on our website https://hymanltd.com/vehicles/6863-1923-dodge-standard-a-tourer/