1924–1925 Dodge Brothers Series 116: 116-Inch Chassis and All-Steel Closed Bodies

Dodge Brothers sold the Series 116 during 1924 and 1925 with a 212.3-cubic-inch L-head inline-four commonly rated at 35 horsepower. Its 116-inch-wheelbase chassis used a three-speed manual transmission, shaft drive, and a live rear axle, while the catalog covered both open touring bodies and fully enclosed coupes and sedans.

The Series 116 belongs to the late phase of Dodge Brothers four-cylinder production, before the company adopted six-cylinder power across an expanding range. It retained the durable mechanical formula on which Dodge had built its reputation, but paired it with increasingly practical closed coachwork at a time when American buyers were rapidly abandoning side curtains and open touring cars.

Best known for its long-lived 212.3-cubic-inch four and Dodge Brothers' extensive use of steel body construction, the Series 116 represents the mature form of the company's original automobile concept.

Quick Facts

The essential specification is straightforward, although body catalogs and model-year terminology can differ among surviving factory literature, registration records, and later reference books.

The Series 116 designation should be treated as a factory series identity rather than as a modern platform code. The 116-inch wheelbase is nevertheless the most useful dimensional distinction when separating these cars from earlier Dodge Brothers models and later series.

Why the Series 116 Matters

Dodge Brothers had produced four-cylinder automobiles since 1914, and the basic 212.3-cubic-inch engine architecture survived because it was robust, familiar to dealers, and well suited to the low road speeds of the period. By 1924, the significance of the design lay less in novelty than in how thoroughly Dodge had refined a proven package: electric starting and lighting, a conventional three-speed gearbox, shaft drive, substantial steel construction, and enough low-speed torque to move increasingly heavy closed bodies.

Closed cars were becoming the normal choice rather than an expensive seasonal luxury. Dodge Brothers had worked closely with the Edward G. Budd Manufacturing Company and became strongly associated with steel body construction, a genuine selling point when many competing bodies still depended heavily on structural timber. The Series 116 sedan's upright roof, broad doors, vertical windshield, restrained radiator shell, and separate fenders express the transition from carriage-derived coachwork to the practical all-weather automobile.

This was not a homologation car or a factory competition special. Its historical importance rests on commercial motoring: family travel, business use, rural service, and the daily work that accumulated far more mileage than most surviving museum cars suggest.

Historical Context and Development

John and Horace Dodge had died in 1920, leaving a company whose reputation rested on conservative engineering and manufacturing discipline. Dodge Brothers remained a major American producer, but Ford's Model T dominated the low-price field while Buick, Studebaker, Chevrolet, Essex, Maxwell, and other makes fought over buyers seeking greater refinement or more substantial construction.

The company's engineering priorities favored durability over high specific output. A large-displacement, slow-turning four-cylinder engine provided useful pulling power without requiring close-ratio gearing or frequent gear changes. The ladder frame, live axles, leaf springs, and mechanical brakes were familiar to mechanics throughout North America, an advantage in areas where paved roads and factory service facilities remained scarce.

Styling evolved through detail rather than wholesale reinvention. Radiator proportions, hood treatment, lamps, windshield arrangements, wheel equipment, upholstery, and body hardware changed with production and body type. Open cars retained a light, upright appearance, while enclosed sedans looked taller and more formal because their roof and glazing enclosed nearly the full passenger compartment.

By the middle of the decade, the four-cylinder formula faced pressure from increasingly accessible six-cylinder cars. The Series 116 therefore documents Dodge Brothers just before subsequent series revisions and the broader move toward six-cylinder power that culminated in the company's late-1920s range.

Engine and Drivetrain

The Series 116 used Dodge Brothers' side-valve four, with intake and exhaust valves located in the cylinder block rather than overhead. Its 3.875-inch bore and 4.5-inch stroke produced 212.3 cubic inches, an unusually generous displacement by later four-cylinder standards. The long stroke and modest operating speed favored torque at low engine speed rather than rapid acceleration.

A single updraft carburetor supplied the engine, with fuel delivery involving the vacuum-tank arrangement typical of the period. Battery-and-coil ignition, an electric starter, and a 12-volt electrical system reflected Dodge Brothers practice. Cooling used a belt-driven fan and liquid circulation through a large cellular radiator, while lubrication combined an engine-driven oil supply with period splash-feed practice within the crankcase.

Power passed through a dry clutch to a three-speed sliding-gear transmission. There was no synchromesh, so clean shifts depend on matching engine and road speed, particularly when changing down. An enclosed propeller shaft drove the live rear axle.

The 35-horsepower figure is a period rating and should not be compared directly with modern net horsepower. Published torque, compression-ratio, and governed-speed figures are not sufficiently consistent across surviving references to justify treating one value as universal for every 1924 and 1925 car.

Chassis, Suspension, Steering, and Brakes

A pressed-steel ladder frame carried the engine, drivetrain, body, and running gear. Both axles were rigid, located by semi-elliptic leaf springs, and the steering used the geared mechanical arrangement expected in a substantial American car of the early 1920s. Ground clearance and spring travel mattered more than precise wheel control on unsealed roads.

Service braking acted mechanically at the rear wheels. The absence of front-wheel braking is central to understanding both the car's behavior and its restoration requirements. Correctly adjusted rods, cross-shafts, pivots, linings, and drums can provide predictable deceleration at suitable speeds, but they do not produce the short, straight stops of a later four-wheel-brake automobile.

Wheel equipment varied by body style, specification, and production period. Surviving cars may carry wooden artillery wheels or steel disc wheels, and replacements accumulated over a century can obscure the original arrangement. Wheel type, hubs, rim dimensions, tire size, and spare-wheel mounting should therefore be checked against body-specific literature rather than judged from another restored car.

The long wheelbase and tall tires helped isolate passengers from ruts and broken surfaces, but the unsprung weight of two beam axles limited composure over closely spaced bumps. Chassis condition matters enormously. Worn spring pins, shackles, steering joints, wheel bearings, and body mounts can make an otherwise sound Series 116 feel far less stable than Dodge intended.

Driving Experience and Road Behavior

Starting a properly sorted Series 116 involves more than turning a key. Fuel level in the vacuum tank, ignition control, throttle setting, carburetor adjustment, and engine temperature all influence the procedure. Once warm, the large four should pull from low speed with deliberate, evenly spaced combustion pulses rather than needing high revs.

The clutch and gearbox reward patience. First gear gets the car moving, second handles much of the acceleration, and top serves as the direct cruising ratio. Upshifts require a pause as the heavy gears slow, while downshifts call for double-declutching if the driver wants to avoid a clash.

At the steering wheel, effort rises at parking speed and eases once the car is rolling. A sound steering box and unworn front axle should produce gradual, comprehensible responses, but no one should expect modern self-centering or accuracy. The tall body leans in corners, and the narrow tires begin to scrub well before the chassis develops dramatic lateral load.

Brake use must begin early. The rear-only system asks the driver to preserve distance, use engine braking on descents, and avoid abrupt inputs on wet or loose surfaces. On roads designed for period traffic speeds, the car's long-legged low-speed pull and supple springing made considerably more sense than they do in fast contemporary traffic.

Identification and Originality

A Series 116 does not have a 17-character VIN. Identification depends on the car or serial number, engine number, body details, wheelbase, and supporting paperwork. The location and appearance of number plates should be compared with recognized Dodge Brothers club references and surviving factory publications, especially if a plate appears newly made, moved, or attached with incorrect fasteners.

The first physical check is the wheelbase, measured between front and rear axle centers. The engine should be the correct Dodge Brothers 212.3-cubic-inch four, but an apparently correct block does not prove that it was installed in that chassis when new. Replacement engines were a practical repair, and state titles were sometimes issued from an engine number rather than a body or car number.

“Matching numbers” must consequently be used with caution. A seller should be able to explain which number appears on the title, where it appears on the vehicle, and what documentary evidence links the engine to the chassis. Build sheets in the modern sense are not routinely available for every surviving car, so an unsupported claim of exact factory-number continuity deserves scrutiny.

Originality also depends on details often lost during older restorations: carburetor and vacuum tank type, distributor and generator, starter, radiator shell, lamps, horn, instruments, wheel design, hood hardware, door handles, upholstery pattern, top fittings, and spare-wheel carrier. Mechanical upgrades such as electric fuel pumps, alternators, hydraulic brakes, modern gauges, and later carburetors may improve convenience but reduce authenticity unless they are discreet and reversible.

Paint should be judged against model-year and body-style literature, not a modern list of generic “Dodge colors.” Factory combinations could involve contrasting wheels, moldings, belt areas, and pinstriping. Modern paint codes are usually cross-references created during restoration, not original Dodge Brothers codes, and surviving hidden paint beneath trim or upholstery can be more persuasive evidence.

Body Styles and Catalog Variants

Dodge Brothers offered the Series 116 as a practical family rather than a single body. Exact catalog names changed, and surviving sources do not always use “standard,” “special,” “business,” and body-type labels consistently, so the table concentrates on the principal documented forms rather than forcing every upholstery or equipment package into a separate model.

There was no Series 116 factory homologation special and no separate high-output engine variant comparable with later performance models. Body style, completeness, and quality of coachwork restoration therefore account for much of the difference between surviving examples.

Performance and Dimensions

Factory literature and modern reference works agree on the major engine dimensions and 116-inch wheelbase, but standardized acceleration and maximum-speed testing was not routinely published for every body. Vehicle weight also changed materially between an open roadster and a fully enclosed sedan, so a single universal figure would be misleading.

Reliable, body-specific factory figures for 0–60 mph, quarter-mile performance, and maximum speed are not consistently documented. Such metrics were not central to the car's marketing, and any modern test would depend heavily on axle ratio, tire diameter, engine condition, body weight, and a driver's willingness to stress century-old mechanical components.

Compared With Related Dodge Brothers Models

Earlier Dodge Brothers Four-Cylinder Cars

Earlier Dodge Brothers automobiles established the same broad formula of a large L-head four, electric equipment, shaft drive, and sturdy construction. The Series 116 is distinguished by its longer 116-inch chassis and the increasingly mature closed-body range of the mid-1920s. Parts that look similar across early Dodge models are not automatically interchangeable, particularly sheet metal, radiator components, steering parts, brakes, wheels, and body hardware.

The Later Series 126

The succeeding Series 126 is frequently confused with the Series 116 because Dodge's series numbers do not function like modern generation codes, and specifications must be checked by year and component. A title that says only “Dodge” and a year is insufficient evidence that a car has the correct chassis, engine accessories, body fittings, or brake equipment for a Series 116 restoration.

Later Dodge Brothers Sixes

Late-1920s Dodge Brothers six-cylinder cars deliver smoother power and, depending on series, more advanced braking and chassis equipment. They are different restoration propositions. The four-cylinder Series 116 has fewer cylinders and a simpler visual engine bay, but its poured bearings, vacuum fuel system, mechanical brakes, and early electrical hardware demand specialist knowledge rather than ordinary postwar service methods.

Ownership and Restoration Notes

Routine ownership begins with lubrication. Period cars have numerous grease cups, oiling points, spring and chassis joints, and drivetrain lubricant requirements that are easily neglected during occasional use. A written service chart is more useful than relying on memory, particularly when a car covers few miles but sits for long periods.

The engine should be evaluated for oil pressure where applicable, bearing noise, piston slap, compression balance, coolant contamination, overheating, and cracks around the block and water jacket. Its main and connecting-rod bearings may involve poured bearing metal and line boring, work that requires a machine shop familiar with prewar engines. A generic modern rebuilder can do expensive damage if it treats the unit like a later insert-bearing engine.

Fuel-system reliability depends on a clean tank, sound lines, a functioning vacuum tank, and a correctly rebuilt carburetor. Some owners add an electric pump, but excessive pressure can overwhelm an updraft carburetor and create a fire risk. Any auxiliary pump should be properly regulated, fused, and installed so that the original system can be restored.

The cooling system deserves pressure-free, period-appropriate care. Sediment can accumulate in the block and radiator, while an attractive exterior does not guarantee adequate internal flow. Fan-belt alignment, hose condition, radiator-core condition, and ignition timing should be checked before blaming the engine design for overheating.

Body restoration can exceed the mechanical work. Steel panels may conceal corrosion, fatigue cracks, poor gas-welded repairs, thick filler, or distortion from earlier attempts to straighten broad surfaces. Doors must fit before paint, because worn hinges, displaced pillars, failed mounts, and a sagging frame can all produce the same apparent alignment problem.

Mechanical parts support is strongest through marque clubs, specialist vendors, swap meets, and exchanges among owners. Consumables, ignition pieces, gaskets, and some engine parts can be sourced or reproduced, but correct lamps, instruments, handles, wheel components, trim, and body-specific fittings may take years to locate. Reproduction quality varies, and a part advertised broadly for “1920s Dodge” should be measured before purchase.

Buyer and Inspection Points

A Series 116 should be inspected as an integrated chassis and body rather than as a running engine surrounded by cosmetic work. The following checks target the faults most likely to affect safety, authenticity, and restoration cost.

A complete, tired car is often a more rational restoration candidate than a freshly painted example assembled from mixed-year pieces. Paint and upholstery are immediately visible, but correct castings, controls, hinges, instruments, lamps, and brake hardware determine whether the finished car can be both authentic and usable.

Collector and Market Relevance

Collector demand tends to favor complete cars with defensible identity, sound bodies, correct engines, and documented older restoration work. Open touring cars have the visual appeal many buyers associate with the 1920s, while sedans demonstrate Dodge Brothers' steel-body story more directly and provide better weather protection. Closed bodies can also be substantially more expensive to restore because of doors, glazing, regulators, interior trim, roof materials, and alignment work.

Rarity must be discussed by body style and survival rate rather than by unsupported production totals. Exact Series 116 production figures broken down by every 1924 and 1925 body and trim are not consistently documented in commonly available sources. A rare body is not automatically the most valuable if essential fittings are missing or if its identity cannot be established.

Collectors generally reward preservation of original upholstery fragments, paint traces, instruments, fasteners, serial plates, and drivetrain components, even when those items require conservation rather than replacement. A heavily modified car may be enjoyable, but hydraulic brake conversions, modern drivetrains, altered frames, and conspicuous electrical changes move it away from the audience seeking an accurate Dodge Brothers automobile.

Cultural Relevance and Club Use

The Series 116 was built for ordinary transport rather than organized factory racing. Its cultural value comes from the spread of reliable all-weather motoring, especially the growing acceptance of enclosed steel bodies in the American market. Surviving photographs commonly place Dodge Brothers cars in family travel, commercial service, municipal fleets, and rural use rather than on competition circuits.

Today, these cars are sustained chiefly by Dodge Brothers and antique-automobile clubs, where technical knowledge is as important as parts supply. Touring events favor well-sorted cooling, ignition, fuel, steering, and brake systems over cosmetic perfection. The cars also provide a useful dividing line at shows between the early brass-era idiom and the faster, lower, six-cylinder automobiles that became common later in the decade.

Frequently Asked Questions

What engine is in the 1924–1925 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 as 35 horsepower at 2,000 rpm.

Does Series 116 mean the car has a 116-inch wheelbase?

The cars covered here do use a 116-inch wheelbase, and that measurement is a key identification check. The series designation should still be verified alongside model year, serial information, engine type, body details, and documentation rather than decoded from one number alone.

Did the Series 116 have four-wheel brakes?

No. The 1924–1925 Series 116 used mechanically operated rear-wheel service brakes. Claims of factory hydraulic or four-wheel braking on one of these cars require careful examination because later conversions and mixed running gear are possible.

How can a Series 116 be identified without a modern VIN?

Use the car or serial number, engine number, 116-inch wheelbase, chassis construction, engine architecture, body details, and title history. Because some jurisdictions titled early cars by engine number, a recognized Dodge Brothers club or marque specialist should inspect any conflict between the paperwork and physical numbers.

Are parts available for a 1924 or 1925 Dodge Brothers?

Service items, selected engine components, gaskets, ignition parts, and some reproduction pieces are available through specialists and clubs. Correct instruments, lamps, body hardware, wheels, trim, and model-specific sheet metal are much harder to find, making completeness a major buying consideration.

What are the most expensive Series 116 restoration problems?

Severe body corrosion, incomplete trim, damaged wheels, cracked engine castings, failed poured bearings, worn brake linkages, and an incorrectly repaired frame can dominate the budget. Closed bodies add costly door-alignment, glazing, regulator, roof, and interior work.

What makes the Series 116 collectible?

It combines Dodge Brothers' mature 212.3-cubic-inch four-cylinder drivetrain with a 116-inch chassis and the company's period emphasis on steel body construction. Collectors particularly value complete examples that preserve their original identity, mechanical layout, body hardware, and documentary history.

Collector Takeaway

The Series 116 deserves attention because it shows how far Dodge Brothers developed its original four-cylinder formula before sixes reshaped the range. The long-stroke engine, non-synchromesh gearbox, shaft drive, beam axles, and rear mechanical brakes record the realities of early-1920s motoring, while the enclosed steel bodies point directly toward the automobile that would replace the open touring car as everyday transport.

Buy the most complete and structurally honest example available. A correct radiator shell, instrument set, lamp, wheel, hinge, or brake cross-shaft may matter more than glossy paint, and a documented original engine is more persuasive than a casual “matching numbers” claim. Restored with restraint and driven within the limits of its braking system, a Series 116 delivers something later Dodges cannot reproduce: the final, fully developed character of the large Dodge Brothers four.