“1920s Dodge Car Models: A Year-by-Year Guide”

Dodge spent most of the 1920s selling one car: a 212.3 cubic inch four-cylinder with a 114-inch wheelbase, refined every year but never replaced. The lineup only broke open in 1927, when Dodge added its first six-cylinder, and then Chrysler bought the company in 1928 and rewrote it. Here’s how the decade runs, model by model.

Contents

• TLDR: the decade at a glance
• 1920 to 1921: the Model 30 carries on
• 1922: First and Second Series, and the steel coupe
• 1924: the mid-decade update
• 1927: Fast Four and Senior Six
• 1928: Victory Six and the Chrysler takeover
• 1929: the DA Six
• Comparison table
• Body styles
• How to identify a 1920s Dodge

TLDR: the decade at a glance

• 1920 to 1926: One basic car, the four-cylinder Dodge Brothers car descended from the 1914 Model 30. Updates were incremental.
• 1927: The Fast Four and the Senior Six arrive. The Senior Six is Dodge’s first six-cylinder.
• 1928: Chrysler takes over. The Victory Six and a reworked lineup follow.
• 1929: The DA Six, a Chrysler-era Dodge, closes the decade.

1920 to 1921: the Model 30 carries on

The Dodge brothers themselves died within a year of each other, John in January 1920 and Horace that December. The car they left behind didn’t change much. It was the Model 30, a 212.3 cubic inch four-cylinder rated at 35 horsepower, built on a 114-inch wheelbase. The 1920 Touring Car was the volume model, and it sold for just under $1,000.

What made it sell wasn’t power. Dodge had a reputation for durability, and buyers who had owned a Model T tended to move up to a Dodge when they could afford it. It was a heavier, sturdier car with a reputation for not breaking.

Through 1921 the lineup stayed simple: touring, roadster, and a few closed bodies, plus commercial chassis that Dodge had been selling since 1917.

1922: First and Second Series, and the steel coupe

1922 is where Dodge started labeling revisions as “series.” The First Series and Second Series cars kept the 212.3 cubic inch four, so the mechanical story is continuity. The change was in the bodies.

In 1922 Dodge offered an all-steel closed body, built with Budd, at a time when most closed cars still used wood framing under the sheet metal. The coupe was the clearest example. Steel bodies didn’t rattle apart or rot at the joints the way wood-framed ones did, which is a big reason surviving 1920s Dodge closed cars outnumber many rivals.

1924: the mid-decade update

By 1924 the formula needed refreshing. The wheelbase grew to 116 inches, hood louvers appeared along the sides, and windshield wipers became part of the package. These are small changes that matter to restorers, because the 114-inch cars and the 116-inch cars don’t share every body panel.

The engine was still the four, now more refined. Dodge was also changing hands. In 1925 the Dodge heirs sold the company to the New York banking firm Dillon, Read & Co., which put the company on a more aggressive footing before the next sale.

1927: Fast Four and Senior Six

1927 is the year the lineup changed. Dodge sold two very different cars.

The Fast Four (1927 to 1928) was the old four-cylinder formula in a lighter, quicker form. It’s the only 1920s Dodge that Supercars.net lists as a distinct model, which tells you how uniform the rest of the decade was.

The Senior Six was the real news. It was Dodge’s first six-cylinder car, aimed at buyers stepping up from the four and at competitors like Buick and Studebaker. A six smooths out vibration at idle and gives a more refined ride, and in the late 1920s that mattered more than the extra cylinders themselves.

1928: Victory Six and the Chrysler takeover

Walter Chrysler had built his own company out of the remains of Maxwell in 1925. In 1928 he bought Dodge Brothers, which gave him a large dealer network and a truck business, and a mid-priced brand to sit between Chrysler and Plymouth.

The change showed up quickly in the cars. Dodge introduced the Victory Six in 1928, a smaller six that replaced the old four-cylinder car as the entry model. The Fast Four ended in the same year. After 14 years, the four-cylinder Dodge was finished.

1929: the DA Six

The DA Six was the 1929 Dodge, and it is the first car in this guide designed under Chrysler ownership. It continued the six-cylinder direction of the Victory Six with updated styling and the more modern look that Chrysler was pushing across its brands. It didn’t last long as a design, as Dodge cars were restyled again for 1930, but it is the bridge from the Dodge Brothers era to the Chrysler Corporation era.

Comparison table

Figures below are for the main passenger cars. Where a spec varied by body or by series, the table gives the common value.

Years	Model	Engine	Wheelbase	Typical bodies
1920 to 1921	Model 30 / Touring Car	212.3 cu in four, 35 hp	114 in	Touring, roadster, coupe, sedan
1922 to 1923	First and Second Series	212.3 cu in four	114 in	Touring, roadster, steel coupe, sedan
1924 to 1926	Updated four	212.3 cu in four	116 in	Touring, roadster, coupe, sedan
1927 to 1928	Fast Four	Four-cylinder	Varies	Touring, coupe, sedan
1927	Senior Six	Six-cylinder (Dodge’s first)	Longer than the four	Touring, coupe, sedan
1928	Victory Six	Six-cylinder	Varies	Touring, coupe, sedan
1929	DA Six	Six-cylinder	Varies	Touring, coupe, sedan

Launch prices ran from just under $1,000 for the 1920 Touring Car up into the $1,500 range and beyond for the best closed bodies. Prices fell in the middle of the decade as steel bodies and volume production cut costs.

Body styles

• Touring: Open four- or five-passenger car with a folding top and side curtains. The bread and butter of the early decade.
• Roadster: Two-seat open car, often with a rumble seat.
• Coupe: Closed two-door, usually two or four seats. Dodge’s 1922 steel coupe is the one to know.
• Sedan: The family car, growing from a minority of sales in 1920 to the majority by the end of the decade, as buyers moved to closed bodies. For a comprehensive overview of sedans across the 1920s industry, explore the complete list of 1920s sedans.
• Commercial: Screenside panel trucks and light trucks on the same engine. Dodge Brothers built these from 1917.

How to identify a 1920s Dodge

• Wheelbase: 114 inches puts you in the 1920 to 1923 cars. 116 inches means 1924 or later.
• Hood: Louvers along the hood sides point to 1924 and later.
• Cylinders: A six means 1927 or later. If it’s a Senior Six, it’s a 1927. A Victory Six is 1928.
• Body material: A steel closed body points to 1922 or later, as earlier closed Dodges used wood framing.
• Badge: Dodge Brothers badges were used until the Chrysler takeover. The cars from late 1928 carry Chrysler-era styling.

If you’re buying one, match the serial number to the model year before you pay for anything. Cars were often updated mid-year, and a lot of “1924” cars on sale are really 1923 or 1925.

The 1920s Dodge story is a short one. A single four-cylinder car, a first six, and a new owner by decade’s end.