1937 Dodge Series D5 Business Coupe

The Dodge story dates to the turn of the 20th century, when the Dodge brothers were suppliers to the fledgling industry.

Oldsmobile was the first client; later the brothers furnished engines, transmissions, and rolling chassis to Ford from 1903 through the beginning of the Model T era.

When Ford became self-sufficient in mechanical components, the brothers decided to become carmakers; the first Dodges were built late in 1914. John and Horace Dodge died in 1920; in 1925 their widows sold the company to Dillon, Read, and Company, a Wall Street firm. Three years later Walter Chrysler added Dodge to his four-year-old company.

The D5 was Dodge's only model in 1937, available in nine body styles. This business coupe was one of 47,702 produced that year.

All 295,047 1937 Dodges shared the same 217.8 cubic-inch engine, a flathead six-cylinder rated for 87 horsepower. Chrysler was just emerging from the ill-starred Airflow styling adventure, but that daring design affected neither Plymouth nor Dodge.

The late 1930s saw the industry abandon boxy styles. Inspired in part by aircraft designs, it became known as the streamline era, and Dodge styling was typical of the time: conservative, smooth, and cautiously elegant.