A bit of Dodge history (I didn't know this stuff!)

1st, start at the beginning with “Old Betsy” one of the few cars to have a name. It was the 1st car Dodge made, even before production cars rolled off the line, as the press was given a pre-view to get the word out.

The Betsy was instrumental in a new kind of engine development by offering 35 hp. This was 20 hp more than the Ford Model T and it was therefore considered a ‘hot’ car.

 The Betsy was revolutionary in other ways as well, with an all-metal body, headlights, an electric starter and a speedometer. Before the end of the year, the brothers had received more than 70,000 orders, but could ‘only’ build some 45,000 cars in 1915.

Dodge was the 1st car maker to have a test track on-site

and for the few among us who are WW1 history nuts, get this… Sgt York, bought a Dodge as his first vehicle, and was taught to drive by the first Dodge dealership owner, John Cheek, son of the Maxwell House coffee founder. The dealership was in Nashville, and Cheek was already selling REO and Chevrolet at his “Cumberland Motors”. He stopped selling Chevys.

the widows sold the Dodge company in 1925 for 146 million cash.

you can get a good book on the 100 years history of Dodge from Matt DeLorenzo, http://www.amazon.com/Dodge-100-Years-Matt-DeLorenzo/dp/076034552X/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8 and preview it on Google

the Hellcat Challenger auctioned at Barrett-Jackson in Spet 2014 raised more money for charity than any other ever has at a Barrett Jackson auction. $1.65 million dollars as the Englestad Family Foundation of Las Vegas matched the auction price, the funds went to a charity called Opportunity Village