Dodge Touring Car
One of the most important cars in the museum. Mr P.W. Louwman bought the then 20-year-old Dodge in 1934 and it was to be the first car in the collection.
At the time, Mr Louwman was the Dodge distributor for the Netherlands, based in The Hague.
The large number of period accessories makes this car rather special. The Dodge is equipped with a gradient meter on the door, electric lighting, a dynastart (combined dynamo and starter motor), adjustable wing mirrors, cut glass side windows, two warning whistles, bumpers, two vents in the exhaust and a ‘fat man’ steering wheel, which can be tilted to enable portly drivers to get in and out more easily. It is also fitted with a combination steering lock.
This type 30 Dodge is one of the oldest in the world. It was built in November 1914, the month in which the brothers John and Horace Dodge began producing cars. The Dodge brothers were a step ahead of the rival Ford Model T, which looked rather conservative and formal in comparison.