Vehicle Description
This car to be sold at NO RESERVE by Worldwide Auctioneers
*Thursday August 15 at the Pacific Grove Auction in Monterey
**https://www.worldwide-auctioneers.com/auctions/car-details/index.php?id=67&rid=20
Dodge had announced an all-new line of trucks and commercial cars
for 1936. The handsome Dodge trucks featured beautiful new styling
that emphasized rounded contours and curved lines. Skirted fenders
reflected the growing interest in streamline design during this
era. One welcome change in body construction was the adaptation of
front-hinged doors to replace the old "suicide-style" doors.
For smaller trucks in the D2 commercial line, Dodge switched to a
single wheelbase for both car-based and truck-based models.
Previously, two separate wheelbases had been offered. The D2
commercial sedan used a 217.8-cid L-head six with a 6.5:1
compression ratio that was rated for 87 hp at 3,600 rpm. Other
Dodge trucks carried a slightly smaller 201.3-cid L-head six with a
5.8:1 compression ratio that produced 70 hp at 3,000 rpm.
New advances in Dodge truck technology included the use of new
"Amola" springs (a recent Chrysler innovation) and a new
"Fore-Point" load distribution system. With the Fore-Point layout,
the engine and cab were shifted slightly forward to place more of
the truck's payload on the front axle and wheels. This also
permitted the use of longer body sheet metal.
Dodge's LE15 trucks were marketed with a three-quarter ton rating,
but could also be outfitted as ton-and-a-half units for slight
extra cost. The LE15s (as well as the one-ton LE20s, were now being
built on the double-drop-type "truck" chassis for the first time.
This meant the '36 models not only looked better, but most were
quite a bit sturdier, too.
Standard equipment on trucks in the middle '30s was rather minimal.
On LC models (like the one here on offer), it consisted of an
ammeter, a speedometer, a fuel gauge, an oil pressure gauge, a heat
indicator, a glove compartment, a hand choke, a throttle and vacuum
windshield wipers. The 17-inch steering wheel was "adjustable" for
height. The commercial sedan, and panel, as well as screen and
canopy-side deliveries came standard with only one bucket seat.
That increased load-carrying capacity.
Dodge introduced these trucks in November of 1935 and produced
109,392 trucks of all types (including larger ones) for
calendar-year 1936. Of that total, just 8,599 units were
manufactured in the company's Los Angeles plant and an additional
2,764 were built in Canada.
Truck sales for Dodge were growing so rapidly in this era that the
company made two back-to-back expansions of its main Dodge plant in
Hamtramck, Michigan (where this example was built) in as many
years.
Dodge was, in fact, the country's third leading producer of trucks
of all types and could build up to 800 per day.
*This article was written by John Gunnell and originally appeared
in the April 17, 2008 issue of oldcarsweekly.com.
