The story of the Dodge Ram hood ornament

[Kyle62]

Fairbanks’ story of the ram.

 

Just saw this. I’m sure it has been posted before, but I’m a nube.

 

Best regards,

Kyle

[Plymouthy Adams]

and here all along I thought it was just a slow moving goat crossing the road in front of the Dodge boys as they were trying to perfect their hydraulic brakes.....

[Worden18]

Never saw that before.  Thanks for posting.?

[keithb7]

I heard a rumor, maybe someone could elaborate. 

 

Brand new Ram trucks don’t have Dodge emblems on them anywhere. Is that true? In any advertising I’ve seen over the past years I’ve been looking for visuals, and listening for the Dodge marquee. Nothing. 

 

I heard somewhere that for every truck or car that the Chrysler group manufactured with “Dodge” on it, they had to pay a fee to the heirs of the Dodge Brothers fortune. 

That the RAM name become infamous and the Dodge name was dropped as it was no longer needed for marketing. Plus the Chrysler group saved considerable expense every year.

 

Not true? I don’t know. 

 

I know a little bit about the Dodge Bros fortune. I believe a large part of it was lost in squalor after the DB’s wives passed. Anna Dodge had a granddaughter that kept coming back to the well and going in deep. One example only, of several is my understanding. 

 

So where there any heirs left to claim the Dodge royalties, paid by Chrysler? Did Walter P pay upfront, a one-time fee for everything? To the bankers group that paid out the DB’s  wives when they initially sold out? 

 

Internet Folklore? The Modern RAM theory?

Edited January 3, 2019 by keithb7

[49roadster]

My 2008 Dodge Dakota only says Dodge on the dash above the glove box.

 

[Merle Coggins]

As I understand it, after Fiat got involved there was a marketing decision to spin the Dodge brand into cars only and use the Ram brand exclusive to the truck line. There's even some speculation that Ram will venture into the big truck market again since Fiat owns Iveco. They may use that platform under the Ram banner.

Edited January 3, 2019 by Merle Coggins

[JBNeal]

Dodge started to disappear from Ram trucks by the time Daimler had thoroughly run Chrysler into the ditch, somewhere around 2006...by then, Plymouth was gone, Jeep and Dodge Truck were still making money, Chrysler and Dodge cars were seriously lacking in many areas with the few bright spots being Charger, 300 and minivans (PT Cruiser suffered from a weak powertrain)...if not for Cerebus, Daimler was planning on selling Jeep and Dodge Truck to the highest bidder and letting Chrysler and Dodge cars fade into history just like Plymouth...Cerebus attempted to fix what Daimler botched, but then the economy tanked, and Cerebus was ready to complete Daimler's strategy, but no one had the cash to buy any car brand that was seriously lacking in development... Fiat wanted to have a global truck brand for marketing purposes (think GMC), so Dodge and Ram were officially separated in 2009...I get a little irritated when I see the Ram medallion on a tailgate and RAM on the grille, it's totes bass-ackwards...and when I saw T-shirts for sale at a local Dodge dealer with a '48-'50  Dodge truck on it where the Dodge logos were gone but the shirt had RAM above the truck, I said something to the parts guy about that, he chuckled and said "yeah, nobody is buying those things, but ppl sure are pointing that out"...I was hoping Dodge would bring back the fratzog, the current slanted red bars is lame-o

[Dan Hiebert]

Just bought a shiny new 2019 RAM 1500 a couple months ago.  There is not hide nor hair (I know...double negative...) of "Dodge" anywhere on, in, or around the vehicle, although it does still tout "Mopar" in various places.  As Merle and JB noted, a conscious decision to separate the truck line from the car line after Fiat took over.  No one around here calls them RAM trucks, though.  We still call it a Dodge Ram or just a Dodge, I called it such during the purchase process, too - no one at the long-time Dodge truck dealer even batted an eye. 

[greg g]

Ram went to its own brand two or three years ago.  The dealership where I work occasionally  pulled down their Dodge Trucks sign and put up a Ram sign in its place.  Marketing deopped Dodge unofficially from mdia ads about the same time.

[thisoldtruck]

I think there was a thought that the Dodge name is damaged as well as the Chrysler name.  I think that was part of the reasoning behind spinning Ram from Dodge in 2009.  The sales have gone up tremendously since.  To me, it's a shame because the Dodge Brothers really don't seem to get enough credit for their accomplishments to the automotive industry.  They only owned the largest foundry in America during the turn of the last century and without them, Ford would have failed!  Walter Chrysler was a maverick of sorts, tired of being bound by Durant while working as president of Buick under the GM umbrella.  

 

There are rumors now around Detroit about Chrysler group as well as Fiat being sold off to Hyundai.  Yes, that would make them the largest car company in the world at that point, but I don't think I can stomach another foreign ownership for the third time in 20 years!

 

Andy

[keithb7]

Dodge Brothers were instrumental in early car engineering. They did a ton of great work. They took some risks and made some great investments. They deserve a ton of credit! 

[Plymouthy Adams]

sorry posted in wrong thread

Edited January 7, 2019 by Plymouthy Adams