PLAYBOY AUTOMOBILE BARON

John Duval Dodge was the son of John Francis Dodge. His father (b. October 25, 1864; d. January 14, 1920) was one of the Dodge brothers who founded and operated the Dodge automobile manufacturing company. J.D. Dodge had two sisters. He married Marie O'Connor on March 18, 1918. His life was at once one of privilege and one of what appeared to be in his youth silver spoon irresponsibility.

John Dodge landed at Tucson Tuesday, March 8, 1927 as the single passenger with pilot William S. Brock. Based in Detroit, MI, they arrived eastbound from Yuma, AZ on their way to El Paso, TX. They remained on the ground for only 35 minutes, but they had made the news, albeit briefly, a couple of weeks earlier when they passed through Tucson going west. Below, the article from the Tucson Daily Citizen of February 20, 1927.

Tucson Daily Citizen, February 20, 1927 (Source: Arizona Historical Society)

Brock had landed in an unidentified Stinson on Saturday, February 12, 1927. He did not note that he was carrying a passenger, but the date and direction of flight (he was westbound from El Paso) suggest strongly that Dodge was with him, and that this is the flight referred to in the local news article. Please direct your browser to Brock's Web page linked above for details of that flight.

This news article is instructive not only because of the brief mention of Dodge in the last two paragraphs (in what looks like an error in type-setting), but also the visit by Henry B. duPont is noted during the same week, and the article focuses on preparations for moving the airfield from its Irvington and Sixth Avenue location to the Alvernon Road site. That move occurred later in 1927.

Stinson SB-1, 3027 (Source: Juptner, Vol. 1, page 74)

At one Web source, traveling with Dodge was described as like being king for a day, or several days as the case might be. He had inherited more than a million dollars and spent money as if each day was his last. As far as the airplane that brought Brock and Dodge to Tucson, the second Stinson-Detroiter manufactured was sold to John D. Dodge The sales contract provided for temporary use of the airplane as a demonstrator. This was fine with Dodge, as he would simply go along for the ride. This aircraft could very well have been the Detroiter SB-1, #3027 (right, from Juptner reference, right sidebar) flown in the 1926 Ford Air Tour by Eddie Stinson. If anyone can confirm or deny this, please let me KNOW.

Earlier, Dodge had a minor encounter with the law in the matter of a high-speed automobile infraction, and transporting liquor (Prohibition was the law of the land at the time). Below, from the New York Times of March 17, 1922, the results of that encounter.

New York Times, March 17, 1922 (Source: NYT)

The drama in the courtroom was breath-defying (left). And, a decade later, Dodge's wife divorced him for desertion (right).

New York Times, March 22, 1922 (Source: NYT)

New York Times, June 17, 1933 (Source: NYT)

As of 1930, Dodge owned and drove a Model J Duesenberg automobile. I'm seeking information about Dodge's life before and after 1933. If you have some you'd like to share, please use this FORM to contact me.

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Dossier 2.3.14

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