Dodge — History, Models and Everything You Need to Know

John and Horace Dodge founded the Dodge Brothers Company in 1900 in Detroit, Michigan — initially as a manufacturer of precision parts and components for other automotive companies. Their biggest customer was Henry Ford — Dodge Brothers supplied transmissions, engines and axles for Ford's early cars and became wealthy shareholders in Ford Motor Company. In 1914 they launched their own car — the Dodge Brothers Model 30 — which was immediately praised for its quality and reliability. It sold over 45,000 units in its first year.

Both brothers died in 1920 — John in January and Horace in December of the same year, both victims of the influenza pandemic. The company was sold to a New York banking syndicate and then acquired by Chrysler Corporation in 1928 for $170 million — the largest automotive acquisition in history at the time. Under Chrysler, Dodge became the medium-price brand — positioned above Plymouth and below Chrysler in the corporate hierarchy. Through the 1950s and 1960s, Dodge built its performance reputation with the Red Ram Hemi V8 and later the legendary 426 Hemi — an engine so dominant in NASCAR and drag racing that it was eventually banned from competition.

The modern Dodge performance era was defined by the Hellcat engine introduced in 2015 — a supercharged 6.2-litre V8 producing 717 horsepower that made the Challenger and Charger the most powerful mainstream American muscle cars ever produced. The Demon variants pushed further — the Challenger SRT Demon produced 840 horsepower in 2018, and the final Challenger SRT Demon 170 of 2023 produced 1,025 horsepower on E85 fuel, running the quarter mile in 8.91 seconds to become the quickest production car ever at the time of its launch.

The most significant Dodge product of the current decade is the Charger Daytona EV — the car that replaces both the Challenger and the Charger and represents Dodge's entire electric future in a single nameplate. Dodge knew that muscle car buyers are the demographic most resistant to electrification — they buy the Charger and Challenger specifically because of the noise, the vibration and the visceral character of a large American V8. The challenge was to replicate those qualities in an electric car.

Dodge's response was the Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust — a patented electronic sound system that uses a rear-mounted chamber to amplify and project a synthetic exhaust note tuned to sound like a muscle car at every throttle position. It is the most sophisticated attempt by any manufacturer to give an electric car the sound experience of a combustion-engined vehicle. Whether it satisfies existing Dodge customers or simply irritates them is the question that will determine the Charger Daytona's commercial success. The performance numbers are not in question — the SRT Banshee variant produces 670 horsepower and accelerates to 60mph in under 3.3 seconds.

Dodge's identity is the clearest of any mainstream American brand — it builds performance cars for people who prioritise excitement above all else. The Hellcat era produced some of the most absurdly, joyfully overpowered vehicles ever offered at mainstream prices. A Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye — 797 horsepower, rear-wheel drive, available for under $80,000 — was genuinely one of the most entertaining production cars of the past decade. The Charger Daytona EV must earn the right to carry that legacy forward. If it can make electric power feel as visceral and characterful as a supercharged V8 — not just fast, but exciting — Dodge will have achieved something no manufacturer has previously managed. If it cannot, the brand's most loyal customers will go elsewhere. The stakes could not be higher.