By Michael Lamm: In 1935, Dodge began building a series of trucks that used styling cues from Chrysler and DeSoto Airflow automobiles. They had waterfall grilles similar to Airflow cars, and most seem to have been made for major petroleum producers, among them Esso (Standard Oil of New Jersey) and Texaco.
Lead image – Unlike Airflow automobiles, these Dodge trucks (top photo) used freestanding headlights. A sign visible through the driver’s window says “Custom Built.”
The cabs of these trucks were similar, but the wheels and tanker portions differed considerably. All had rear fender skirts, and some carried a large sign behind the seat that said Custom Built. Who fabricated these tankers remains a mystery. Dodge did use the Airflow theme on other types of commercial vehicles, including stepvans. It appears that the trucks remained in use until 1939 and possibly later.
We thank Micheal Lamm for sharing these Dodge Airflow Trucks with us. If any of our readers can add more to this story about who designed them, and where the trucks were built and used, please send us a comment. Michael Lamm © 2021.
Photos courtesy National Automobile History Collection, Detroit Public Library.
Editors note: In an effort to help get caught up with projects here in the workshop we are going to be re-posting a series of informative articles written by noted well-known auto historian Micheal Lamm in 2015 on succeeding Saturdays.
- Esso’s version used fender skirts, lots of marker lights and biplane bumpers.
- Texaco trucks carry 1938 and 1939 New York license plates and might have been used at the 1939 World’s Fair.
- Compartments behind and ahead of the fender skirts gave the Texaco trucks some trunk space.
- This photo appears to show Airflow trucks after construction in a body manufacturing facility. We don’t know, though, where or when the picture was taken. The second truck from the right appears to be freshly painted. Note the wrecked conventionally-styled Dodge Truck on the left.
David, at a swap meet a few years back, a gentleman was going through all the literature I had for sale and asked if I had any Dodge Brothers literature. He told me they dropped the “Brothers” sometime in the 20s. The lead picture has it quite plainly, so what is the date that it was no longer Dodge Brothers ? Thanks, jb
John, I was thinking the same thing and thought it was odd at such a late date. Hopefully a reader will know more about this?
I think both brothers died in the twenties, in accident s the same year.
John Dodge died of influenza in January 1920. Horace Dodge died from complications of that disease in December 1920.
There was no specific date. Chrysler bought Dodge Brothers in the summer of 1928. All the trucks became Dodge Brothers trucks by the end of the year. The heavier models were Graham Brothers trucks up until then, but those gentlemen had sold out to Dodge two years prior and used the money to form Graham-Paige. And those other brothers, John and Horace, began to be de-emphasized almost immediately as well.
But even though the advertising and literature all talked about Dodges, those larger trucks continued to wear Dodge Brothers nameplates on their hoodsides through ’35, and the traditional Dodge Brothers emblem through 1939.
Interestingly, buying Dodge Brothers was called Walter Chrysler’s Folly, because many people didn’t think he could handle his company’s physical plant growing to five times its former size so suddenly. But he had meticulous plans in place, and Dodge’s Hamtramck factory and excellent nationwide dealer network transformed Chrysler into a proper rival for the leviathans of the industry, Ford and GM. Goes to show what the critics knew…
I am almost certain that one of these trucks is currently at the “NATMUS”. It is unrestored, but complete and is a neat stylish truck. It is on display down stairs.
(I will try to get a photo for your readers this week)
The “Dodge Brothers” name was dropped from advertising in 1931, but the triangle logo remained on the vehicles. In 1939, Dodge’s 25th anniversary year and the 10th anniversary of Chrysler’s purchase of Dodge, the “Dodge Brothers” name was finally dropped completely.
In December 1934 the 1935 Dodge Airflow trucks began to appear. Regarding the Essolube Motor Oil truck Thomas McPherson in The Dodge Story stated the following: “All were specially-built to order, and construction of a fleet of 29 was completed in January for Standard Oil Company of New Jersey and California. Identified as the K-52 Special with Code T-19M, they were rated at 4 tons. Gross vehicle weight was 22,000 pounds.” He goes on to say it, “. . . had and L-head 331-cubic inch 100 horsepower 6-cylinder engine, 190 inch wheelbase and a 1,200 Heil tank. Some of the fleet vehicles had a 200-inch wheelbase and used the same powerplant.” Very noticeable are the six lug nuts of the front wheels on the vehicles produced before 1939.
McPherson states that from January 1935 to December 1936 112 Dodge Airflow trucks were built. Socony-Vacuum Oil Company ordered some of these. These trucks were, made by Gar Wood Industries, apparently used the same engine as the late 1934 models, but were capable of carrying 1,250 gallons of fuel. These also had the same ton-rating and vehicle weight. McPherson further stated that, “Some models had 1,500-gallon tanks made by the Heil Co. of Milwaukee, Wis. All Dodge Airflow trucks were built in Detroit.”
There were earlier Texaco tanker trucks than those pictured above. McPherson stated that from May 1937 to January 1938 a total of 25 LM-70, 188 inch wheelbase, and LM-71, 205 inch wheelbase, Dodge Airflow trucks were built. These sill had the six lug nuts on the front wheels. During the same timeframe, a further 25 T-36 models were also built. These early Texaco tankers have round rear wheel covers flush with the entire rear body section, but the 1939 and later trucks had round covers inside of the wide and heavily sculpted fenders as shown above.
“From December 1937 to February 1940 Dodge turned out about 70 of the RX-70 and RX-71 models,” stated McPherson. There is at least one surviving photo of two of these trucks being built for Schlitz Brewing Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The bodies of the beer trucks were built by the Barkow Auto Body Co., of Milwaukee.
In addition to the fender and front lug nut differences mentioned here, in 1939 the front fenders became deeper, the hood louver panels changed, and the headlight buckets became the same color as the body of the truck. McPherson stated, “The 4-ton vehicle’s wheelbase was 205 inches and the engine remained unchanged.” He finishes his description of these trucks with the following paragraph.
“The last of the fabulous Dodge Airflow trucks were building in February of this year [1940]. The total number of these vehicles built since production began in December 1934 is yet unknown, but it is known that they were built for several different uses.” He shows one more Texaco truck with a Gar Wood Industries body above this paragraph.
Don Bunn, in his book Dodge Trucks, states, “Texaco was a major user of Dodge trucks with Gar wood Industries Tank Division’s bodies in the early to mid-1930s. He describes the cab of the Airflow bodies as, “. . . not equipped with a rear window as most were employed as tank trucks.” He also stated that, “Airflows were never regular production trucks; they were hand-built as special jobs.” He continues later in the book, “Dodge purchased tank bodies from Heil or Gar Wood and mounted them at the truck plant. Cowl mounted directional signal lights, and chrome plated grab handles were standard. Tank cover hatches on top of the tank were equipped with a handle similar in design to the hood ornament.” Not every picture that I have seen shows the signal lights. In fact, he shows a 1938 model without these lights that was used by the Dodge factory to transport fuel or oil.
Bunn is much more specific about production numbers. His last entry in the book for the model is as follows: “The final Airflow truck series were the RX-70 and RX-71 with 188in and 205in wheelbases respectively. This series dated from December 1937 and continued until February 1940. Approximately seventy-four trucks comprised this series. All told, approximately 261 total Airflows were build between December 1934 and February 1940. ” He also notes that there is one on display at the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit.
At least one of Dodge Airflow truck was either built as or converted to a fire engine. Walter McCall’s book American Fire Engines Since 1900 shows the 1936 Teaneck, New Jersey Dodge Airflow squad and booster truck. It looks huge and imposing. I’d love to find and own it – even though it would definitely not fit in my garage.
Ace, Thanks for the detailed run down on these trucks and the production information.
Just to flesh out Ace’s comments, the K-52/T-19-M trucks were available in both 190 and 200″ wheelbases with the 29 unit production spread amongst these two models for 1934-35. S/N 8344621 to 8344649. The next series of K-52 Specials also shared the same two wheelbases . S/N 8649499 to 8649610.
I’m confused about the LM-70/71 series trucks. These vehicles carried engineering codes of T-36-M-188 and T-36-M-205 respectively with a total of 50 trucks produced between them. S/N 8649611 to 8349660.
The RX-70 models carried engineering code R-44-M-188 while the RX-71 were T-44-M-205. Both were produced in the same serial number block beginning 8349671 and ending 8349745.
All of the Airflow Trucks were rated at 4tons. The only other 4ton trucks Dodge built at the time were the G80/81/82/83 series from 1931 to 1934 and the TKD series diesels of 1938-1939. Starting in 1939 and continuing until the beginning of the 1950 model year, all 4ton trucks were built in Canada.
Wow, doesn’t get more accurate than that. Just as a side note, that early “triangle ” logo actually became the “Star of David” adopted by the Jews later on. I don’t believe the Dodge Brothers had any connection to the Jews.
Howard, the Star of David has been used by the Jews (though not uniquely) for over a thousand years. It started out as a hexagram but eventually (17th century) became the 6 pointed star we know today.
Absolutely nothing to do with the Dodge Brothers.
Not really a “star,” the Dodge logo is actually two intertwined triangles or deltas, the Greek letter d – one for each brother I assume.
According to Burness’s spotters guide book, ” Dodge Brothers” became “Dodge” in August of 1935.
The predecessor, Graham Brothers, became Dodge Brothers in 1929.
To add, the damaged truck is a ’37-’38 model. To help date that photo.
There is a restored 1940 example in the Richardson Truck Museum in Invercargill, New Zealand that can be found on Flicker.
The undercut rear fenders on the Texaco tankers are very fine. Thanks for the views!
The Henry Ford Museum truck is an excellent study of these designs. The truck was used as a construction water truck, cosequently, it was in very poor shape. presently, the truck was never made to run. Cost bwas most likely the reason.
I am curious to know If some of the UNIQIUE “Airflow” Interior Features ALSO found their way into the cabs of these unique trucks ?
Edwin. – 30 –
I knew all along that these Airflows were built to order which explains why these units aren’t around anymore. I became intrigued with them only to find hardly any info until now. IAfter 5 years (off & on) you finally shine the light. Thanks
Our museum has a 1935 Dodge Airflow tanker, we need a head for the engine. We cannot find a “T” number only K52 on the firewall tag. Various casting #’s but none that help us. Can anyone help?
David,
Thanks for re-posting this “Dodge Airflow Tanker Trucks – Streamlined And Noteworthy” article by Michael Lamm.
The “Airflow” design looks great on these trucks. The “Airflow” design on cars didn’t appeal to me.
AML
Wow! What a fascinating subject this is David! I really appreciate and say “thanks” to Ace, Kevin and everybody who contributed so much to “Flesh out” this article.
I have never seen a Dodge Airflow truck in the flesh, but a few years ago somehow acquired a scale model of a 1939 Dodge Airflow Texaco tanker made by ERTL in 1993, as “version #10, licensed by the Chrysler Corporation. It is a bank, with a coin slot on top.
It is smaller than 1/25 scale, but larger than 1/43, and is well detailed for a coin bank. It looks just like the second, third and fourth expandable pictures above, including the flush fender skirts, lettering on the side and rear, the door decals, unique bumpers, and the storage doors on the passenger side rear fenders.
Now, thanks to all who contributed info about these unusual trucks, I know quite a bit more about them than I ever knew before. Muchas gracias.
I, too, have seen models of these trucks but never a full size example in person. I think they’re quite wonderful. It would be neat to restore one and in the area where the rear window would be install a flat screen TV which would run a film loop taken of some sort of sloshing liquid which would appear to slosh up against the glass. If we wanted to splurge, we could engage an animator who would install a small boat manned by a crew of what would appear to be shipwrecked mariners rowing toward an unseen shore. In the last few second of the film, an octopus, pressed up against the window and peering into the cab, would slide down the “window”/screen and then disappear beneath the waves.
WOW! What a great story with a boatload of additional info from readers! I’m not sure I’d be man enough to drive one of these trucks. EW@14000# ad 1500 gallons of no.2 fuel and your crowding 25000#. Even with the 5sp x 2sp that’s a lot for the 100 horses from the flathead 331 to push around.
Anyone interested in streamlined tank trucks check out David Finlon’s 1940 805 Texeco tanker.
Hi Jim, I agree, and with “armstrong” steering, and “footstrong” brakes, they were a handful. Thing is with most these tankers, they were for big city delivery, and had a top speed of maybe 25 mph loaded. The fuel dumps were usually located on the edge of town, most likely in a rail yard, and these tankers went maybe 5 miles for their delivery. For more rural deliveries, I saw a common carrier, like lumber loads with a tank for the small deliveries.
The one that the Chrysler Museum displayed had been used at O’Hare for fueling airplanes, for another example of the uses these were put to.
Kind of funny, what’s old is new again. As delivery radius increased, economy became a concern, and several truck makers offered “streamlining” as a way to increase efficiency. White, Autocar, Diamond T, all had streamlined trucks, most prevalent in gas and beer delivery. Diamond T’s “Doodlebug” tanker was the most unusual, I thought. Sheer horsepower ( and cheap fuel) bypassed streamlining for a long time, and only recently ( Last 20 years) has streamlining become popular again today, with fairings and trailer skirts to reduce drag, a concept almost 75 years old.
There were also a pair (at least) of Schlitz beer Airflow trucks, with bodies by Barkow of Milwaukee.
There is a Dodge Airflow truck in the British Columbia Vintage Truck Museum in Surrey, BC.