Dodge of Fulham
See also -
1922 Dodge Brothers formed a private company and started the import of parts from the USA. They purchased a small factory at Stevenage Road, Fulham. Previous to this they were imported by Charles Jarrott and Letts.
1924 Moved to larger premises at Park Royal. Produced a 15cwt van under the Graham badge.
1928 Dodge were purchased by Chrysler in the USA.
1933 Commenced UK manufacture of chassis at their works at Kew with associated company Chrysler but imported engines from the USA.
1938 The first truly British Dodge was built with a Perkins engine.
WW2 Factory produced components for aircraft including the Halifax bomber.
1946 Production re-commenced at Kew with a range from 2-ton to 6-ton and with a cab similar to the Leyland Motors Comet.
1951 Exhibitor at the 1951 Motor Show in the Car Section.
1957 Produced a 7-ton chassis with a Perkins P6 engine.
1961 Employed 850 persons. Subsidiary of Chrysler Corporation of Detroit. [1]
1961 Manufacturers of commercial vehicles and distributors of private cars.
1963 Motor Show exhibitor. Importers of Polara and Dart GT models
1967 The Kew plant closed and production switched to Dunstable.
1973 Chrysler took an interest in the Rootes Group
1973 Chrysler gained control of Commer and there was much badge swapping with the Dodge badge appearing on Commer trucks
1976 Commer were renamed as Dodge. Dodge gained a selection of vans and trucks from Commer.
1978 Chrysler sold the business to Peugeot
1979 TALBOT was the new name adopted for Chrysler Europe — but commercial vehicles continued to be called Dodge. The new name and logo were applied as part of the PSA Group's policy of maintaining separate identities for its three divisions, Talbot, Peugeot and Citroen.
1990 Acquired by Renault
1993 Renault closed the Dunstable factory and production ceased.
See Also
Sources of Information
- British Lorries 1900-1992 by S. W. Stevens-Stratten. Pub. Ian Allen Publishing
- Ian Allan - British Buses Since 1900 - Aldridge and Morris
- 1961 Dun and Bradstreet KBE
- 1963 Motor Show