1923 Dodge Brothers Series 116: 116-Inch Wheelbase and 212.3-Cubic-Inch Four

Dodge Brothers sold the Series 116 for 1923 with a 116-inch wheelbase and a 212.3-cubic-inch, side-valve four-cylinder engine commonly rated at 35 horsepower. Buyers could obtain that chassis beneath open touring and roadster bodies or several closed coupe and sedan designs, all with a three-speed manual transmission and rear-wheel drive.

Best known for combining Dodge Brothers' durable four-cylinder drivetrain with a longer, more accommodating chassis, the Series 116 represents the firm's mature pre-Chrysler engineering rather than a short-lived technical experiment. It arrived after John and Horace Dodge had died in 1920 but before the company passed to Dillon, Read & Company in 1925 and, ultimately, Chrysler Corporation in 1928.

Collectors still care because the Series 116 preserves the mechanical identity established by the early Dodge Brothers cars while offering more developed bodywork and road manners than the earliest 110-inch-wheelbase models. Correct restoration also demands real historical discipline: open and closed bodies differ substantially, serial identification is not equivalent to a modern VIN, and decades of mechanical interchange have left many surviving cars with mixed-year components.

Quick Facts

The essential specifications establish what the 1923 car was before body style, production changes, and restoration details complicate the picture.

The Series 116 name is literal rather than promotional. Its wheelbase distinguishes this family from earlier Dodge Brothers chassis, while the familiar four-cylinder engine ties it directly to the company's established engineering practice.

Why the 1923 Series 116 Matters

Dodge Brothers had built its reputation on unusually complete standard equipment, robust construction, electric starting, and an all-steel body program developed with Edward G. Budd Manufacturing Company. By 1923, those principles had been refined into a car that offered more substance than the cheapest mass-market automobiles without moving into the price and complexity of a large six-cylinder model.

The 116-inch chassis made room for practical five-passenger coachwork and gave Dodge a stable platform for increasingly important closed bodies. Sedans and coupes cost more to produce than open touring cars, but buyers were steadily accepting their weather protection, security, and cleaner integration of roof, doors, and glazing.

This was not a homologation model, a competition special, or an engineering outlier. Its historical value comes from volume-production methods, steel body construction, and the continued development of the dependable Dodge four at a time when Ford's Model T and Chevrolet's Superior series defined the mass market.

Historical Context and Development

Dodge Brothers After 1920

John and Horace Dodge had developed their manufacturing business as a major component supplier before introducing the first Dodge Brothers automobile for the 1915 model year. Their cars quickly acquired a reputation for strong engines, sturdy chassis, and equipment that some competitors treated as optional.

Both brothers died in 1920. The company continued under professional management and estate ownership, so the Series 116 belongs to the interval between founder-led Dodge and later corporate ownership. It retained the recognizable radiator shape and conservative proportions associated with earlier cars while updating body dimensions and accommodation.

Market Conditions and Competitors

The Model T remained the unavoidable price reference, but Dodge did not try to duplicate Ford's extreme simplicity or production economics. Chevrolet's Superior four-cylinder line was a closer showroom rival, while products from Essex, Studebaker, Buick, and Willys-Overland competed at adjoining prices and sizes.

Roads were improving unevenly, and many buyers still expected a car to tolerate mud, deep ruts, primitive fuel, and limited service facilities. Ground clearance, flexible low-speed torque, leaf-spring durability, and straightforward repair mattered more than maximum speed. Dodge's long-stroke four and conventional separate chassis answered those conditions directly.

Body Design and Appearance

The Series 116 retained the upright visual grammar of the early 1920s: a tall radiator, separate fenders, external running boards, a near-vertical windshield, and artillery-style wheels. Open cars had a light, functional upper structure with folding fabric tops, while sedans and coupes presented a more substantial roof and greenhouse.

Surviving cars often differ in lamps, bumpers, wheel rims, upholstery, and radiator finishes because accessories were common and later replacements were easy to install. A visually attractive car is not necessarily an accurately restored one, particularly when bright plating has replaced originally painted, enameled, or nickel-finished hardware.

Engine and Drivetrain

The Series 116's inline four used a cast-iron block and detachable cylinder head with its valves arranged beside the cylinders. This L-head layout reduced manufacturing complexity and overall height, although its gas flow and combustion chamber were less efficient than later overhead-valve designs.

A 3.875-inch bore and 4.5-inch stroke produced 212.3 cubic inches, approximately 3.48 liters. The long stroke favored useful pulling ability at modest engine speed. Period listings commonly give 35 horsepower, but that figure should not be compared directly with modern net ratings because early rating practices and test conditions differed.

A single carburetor supplied the engine, with conventional spark ignition, a generator, and an electric starter. Dodge Brothers' use of a 12-volt electrical system was notable in a market where six-volt installations became common. Cooling used a front radiator and water circulation, while the lubrication system depended on clean oil, correct level, and clear internal passages rather than modern filtration.

The clutch fed a three-speed selective sliding-gear gearbox. Power then passed through a propeller shaft to a live rear axle. First gear provided the leverage needed for starting and difficult roads, while top gear was direct drive rather than an overdrive cruising ratio.

The most consistently documented drivetrain dimensions appear below. Torque output, compression ratio, and governed engine speed are omitted because surviving period sources do not provide sufficiently consistent figures for this exact model-year specification.

For restoration purposes, displacement alone does not prove that an engine belongs to a particular chassis. Dodge used related four-cylinder architecture over several years, and complete engines, cylinder heads, carburetors, distributors, and generators were commonly replaced when these cars were ordinary transportation.

Chassis, Suspension, and Braking

The Series 116 used a separate ladder-type frame, with the body mounted above it rather than forming a stressed unit. Beam axles and semi-elliptic leaf springs suited rough roads, heavy bodies, and the repair capabilities of period garages. The arrangement was rugged but carried considerable unsprung mass.

Steering was mechanical and unassisted. Large steering-wheel diameter supplied leverage at parking speed, while the narrow tires reduced scrub compared with a modern radial. Wear in the steering box, kingpins, spring shackles, tie-rod joints, or front axle alignment can make a tired example wander far more than a properly rebuilt car should.

The 1923 Series 116 predates Dodge's adoption of four-wheel hydraulic braking. Its service and parking-brake systems act at the rear, making correct adjustment, sound drums, suitable lining material, and conservative following distances essential.

This table concentrates on chassis details that help separate original design from later alteration.

The long wheelbase and flexible springs suited the speeds and surfaces for which the car was designed. They also mean that frame alignment, wheel integrity, and spring condition have a greater effect on road behavior than cosmetic restoration work.

Driving Experience and Road Manners

A healthy Series 116 starts with deliberate control inputs. The carburetor mixture, ignition advance, and throttle require more driver participation than a later automatic-advance system, while the long-stroke engine delivers its best work at low and moderate speed rather than through sustained high revolutions.

The three-speed gearbox has no modern synchromesh to conceal poor timing. Double-declutching, an unhurried hand, and a pause through neutral produce cleaner downshifts. A dragging clutch or worn shift mechanism quickly turns that deliberate action into gear clash.

At town speed, steering effort eases once the car is moving. A properly assembled front axle should answer predictably, but the high body, narrow tires, leaf springs, and limited damping produce roll and vertical movement that a driver must anticipate. Period roads rewarded momentum and accurate placement rather than abrupt changes of direction.

Rear-wheel-only brakes define the car's safe operating envelope. Pedal effort and stopping distance rise sharply compared with later four-wheel systems, especially in wet weather or on a descent. The correct technique is to plan early, use the gearbox intelligently, and avoid assuming that surrounding traffic understands the car's limitations.

Identification and Originality

Serial and Engine Numbers

A Series 116 does not carry a standardized 17-character VIN. Authentication begins with the original serial or identification plate, any surviving chassis stamping, and the engine number, followed by comparison with recognized Dodge Brothers serial-number records and dated factory literature.

Plate location and presentation can differ with body production and previous restoration, so unsupported number-decoding claims should be treated cautiously. Freshly stamped plates, inconsistent fasteners, disturbed frame surfaces, or numbers that fall outside the accepted production sequence deserve investigation.

Matching numbers in the modern collector-car sense can be difficult to establish without period paperwork. An engine number compatible with the chassis production period is useful, but it does not by itself prove that the engine was installed when the car left the factory.

Body, Hardware, and Finish

Correct identification also requires checking the body type against door count, seat arrangement, windshield construction, roof framing, beltline, and rear body contours. Converting an open car into a commercial body or fitting a body assembled from several donors can leave a legitimate chassis carrying non-original coachwork.

Headlamps, tail lamps, carburetors, ignition components, gauges, horns, wheel rims, and bumpers are frequent substitutions. Period accessories may be historically sympathetic without being factory equipment. Owners should distinguish original assembly details from dealer-installed equipment and later touring modifications.

Factory option coding was not organized like the broadcast sheets and data plates used on postwar cars. Paint should be researched through sales literature, surviving protected surfaces, and recognized marque references rather than a modern color chart assigned retrospectively. Excessive chrome is a common restoration error because nickel plating, paint, enamel, and natural metal each had specific applications.

Body Style and Variant Breakdown

The Series 116 was a chassis family rather than a performance hierarchy. Its principal variants differed in passenger capacity, weather protection, luggage provision, and body construction, while retaining the same basic engine and drivetrain.

Catalog terminology could differ between publication dates and markets. Exact production totals for each 1923 Series 116 body style are not consistently documented, so claims of extreme rarity should be supported by club records, serial research, or surviving factory documentation.

Performance and Dimensional Specifications

Reliable factory and independent acceleration tests are scarce for the 1923 Series 116. Period documentation emphasizes dimensions, construction, price, and equipment rather than 0-to-60-mph or quarter-mile testing, so unsupported modern estimates have no place in a serious reference.

Overall dimensions and weight changed with the body. A closed sedan carried more structure and glazing than a roadster or touring car, so a single curb-weight figure would misrepresent the family. Verified top-speed and acceleration figures for the exact 1923 body and axle combination are likewise not consistently available.

Compared With Related Dodge Brothers Models

Earlier Dodge Brothers Cars

Earlier Dodge Brothers models established the basic 212-cubic-inch four-cylinder formula, electric equipment, and strong body construction. The Series 116 is distinguished most readily by its wheelbase and the body designs developed around it, not by a wholesale break in engine architecture.

This continuity creates identification problems. Engines and ancillaries from neighboring years can fit, and older cars were often updated during working life. A component that bolts into place is not automatically correct for a 1923 restoration.

1924 and 1925 Series 116 Cars

Later Series 116 automobiles retained the basic chassis designation while receiving running production changes and equipment development. The most consequential distinction is braking: later Dodge Brothers production adopted four-wheel hydraulic brakes, whereas the 1923 car relies on rear-wheel mechanical braking.

That difference affects driving, restoration cost, wheel and axle hardware, and judging. Installing later hydraulic components may improve practical stopping ability, but it changes the specification and should never be represented as original 1923 equipment.

Ford Model T and Chevrolet Superior

The Ford Model T was mechanically simpler, lighter, and controlled through a planetary transmission unlike the Dodge's conventional three-speed gearbox. Chevrolet's Superior used a four-cylinder engine and conventional controls, making it a more direct conceptual comparison.

Dodge buyers paid for a heavier-duty feel, substantial coachwork, and a specification intended to arrive relatively complete. Those qualities also make restoration more involved, particularly when a closed body requires extensive timber framing, sheet-metal repair, window mechanisms, and interior work.

Ownership and Restoration Notes

The basic engine is understandable to a competent vintage-car machinist, but age creates problems that routine tune-up work cannot solve. Cooling passages may be packed with corrosion, babbitt bearings may require specialist attention, oil passages can be restricted, and cylinder blocks or heads may hide old freeze cracks and welded repairs.

Carburetor wear, distributor-shaft play, weak ignition coils, poor grounds, and incorrect wiring can imitate deeper engine faults. Retaining the 12-volt arrangement does not justify modern shortcuts. Cable gauge, starter condition, charging regulation, and terminal quality remain critical.

Gearbox work requires inspection of gear teeth, shafts, bearings, selector parts, and clutch release components. Gear noise is not automatically normal because the transmission lacks synchromesh. Chipped teeth, excessive end float, or lubricant leakage can turn a usable unit into an expensive rebuild.

Structural work often dominates the budget. Frames crack or distort around spring and body mounts, wood artillery wheels loosen or decay, and closed bodies may conceal rotten structural timber beneath serviceable upholstery. Open bodies suffer at door pillars, sills, floor edges, top mounts, and the lower panels where water collects.

Mechanical parts support is better than complete body support because club networks, specialist vendors, and interchangeable used components cover many service items. Exact sheet metal, trim, instruments, body hardware, and closed-body wood may require restoration of the original part or fabrication from patterns.

Buyer and Inspection Points

A credible inspection starts with identity and structure, then moves to expensive mechanical systems. Fresh paint should never prevent examination of the frame, body timber, engine castings, and serial evidence.

Driving the car from cold is preferable to inspecting one already warmed by the seller. Watch the temperature, listen during overrun as well as acceleration, check whether the clutch releases cleanly, and confirm that the brakes apply progressively without pulling through the steering.

Collector and Market Relevance

Open touring cars survive in greater visibility because they fit club tours and display the period silhouette clearly. Roadsters and coupes can attract stronger attention when authentic and complete, while sedans appeal to collectors prepared for the additional complexity of roof structure, glazing, upholstery, and interior hardware.

Body style alone does not determine desirability. Collectors place substantial weight on a sound original body, credible serial identity, correct mechanical equipment, period documentation, and restoration work that preserves rather than replaces usable material. A superficially bright car assembled from several years of parts is usually less compelling than an honest, mechanically sorted example with documented history.

The Series 116 has no major factory racing or homologation legacy to inflate its reputation. Its appeal rests instead on Dodge Brothers manufacturing history, early steel-body development, the company's pre-Chrysler identity, and the usable character of a large-displacement four-cylinder touring car.

Cultural and Club Relevance

Dodge Brothers cars became familiar through private ownership, commercial use, municipal fleets, and touring rather than a single famous competition campaign. Their reputation for durability was rooted in daily service, including the poor roads and inconsistent maintenance conditions of the 1910s and 1920s.

Marque clubs and Horseless Carriage-era touring communities remain central to preserving the Series 116. Shared serial records, original manuals, patterns, specialist knowledge, and used components often settle questions that cannot be answered from general antique-car references.

Modified examples exist, but hot-rodding has removed original chassis and bodies from the restoration pool. For collectors, an intact engine, frame, body, wheels, instruments, and hardware are therefore more consequential than fashionable accessories or hidden modern upgrades.

Frequently Asked Questions

What engine is in the 1923 Dodge Brothers Series 116?

It uses a naturally aspirated L-head inline four displacing 212.3 cubic inches, approximately 3.48 liters. Its bore and stroke are 3.875 by 4.5 inches, and period references commonly list output at 35 horsepower.

Why is it called the Series 116?

The designation refers to the chassis wheelbase, which measures 116 inches. It is a useful first distinction from earlier Dodge Brothers cars built on shorter chassis, although wheelbase alone cannot authenticate a complete vehicle.

Did the 1923 Series 116 have four-wheel hydraulic brakes?

No. The 1923 specification uses mechanical braking at the rear wheels. Four-wheel hydraulic braking belongs to later Dodge Brothers development, and a hydraulic conversion on a 1923 car should be documented as a modification.

How can a 1923 Dodge Series 116 be identified?

Check the serial or identification plate, available chassis markings, engine number, 116-inch wheelbase, body construction, and period-correct equipment. Compare those findings with recognized Dodge Brothers records and historical literature rather than relying on a modern-style VIN decoder.

What body styles were offered?

Known 1923 Series 116 offerings included touring, roadster, business coupe, coupe, and sedan bodies. Exact names and body descriptions can differ among catalog issues and markets, so original sales literature is valuable when restoring trim and seating details.

What are the most expensive Series 116 restoration problems?

Severely deteriorated body wood, incomplete trim, damaged wood artillery wheels, cracked engine castings, failed babbitt bearings, and missing closed-body hardware can dominate the cost. A complete, structurally sound car is generally a better foundation than a dismantled project with attractive paintwork.

Are parts available for a 1923 Dodge Brothers Series 116?

Many service parts can be found through Dodge Brothers specialists, antique-car clubs, reproduction suppliers, and used-parts networks. Exact body panels, instruments, trim, lamps, upholstery hardware, and year-correct accessories are much harder to source and may require rebuilding or fabrication.

Collector Takeaway

The 1923 Series 116 deserves attention because it shows Dodge Brothers engineering after the original founders, yet before bankers and Chrysler reshaped the company. Its 212.3-cubic-inch four, conventional three-speed gearbox, 12-volt electrical equipment, steel-body heritage, and literal 116-inch chassis designation make it a coherent product of early mass production rather than a collection of primitive ideas.

The best example is not necessarily the most polished. It is the car with a defensible identity, sound body structure, correct rear-brake chassis, properly rebuilt wood wheels, and mechanical work that allows the long-stroke four to operate as intended. Preserve those qualities, and the Series 116 explains exactly why Dodge Brothers became a formidable American manufacturer.