Dodge 100

The Dodge 100 "Commando" was a series of trucks with a payload of 7.5 to 28 t that Dodge manufactured in Great Britain in the 1970s and 1980s . In the 1950s there was also a Dodge 100, which was known as the "parrot nose".

History and Development

The series was developed by Commer , the first concept vehicles were created in 1965/1966. It should replace the Commer types VC and VE. However, when Chrysler acquired a significant stake in Commer's parent company, the Rootes Group , the name and appearance of the new series were adapted to the Dodge 500 .

mechanics

The Dodge 100 was to have a Rootes diesel engine , but the new noise regulations put an end to the reliable but noisy units. Finally, for the smaller cars (made in Great Britain) Perkins engines with four or six cylinders, with and without turbocharging, were used; The OM 352 from Daimler-Benz was offered as a large diesel engine , as Mercedes-Benz was much better known than Perkins on the European mainland. Also Valmet DSA diesel engines was used in some markets. Manually shifted, fully synchronized Rootes transmissions with four, five or six gears were built; the rear axles were a mix of Rootes' proprietary hypoid construction and one- or two-stage axles from Eaton Corporation . The chassis consisted of a special aluminum alloy and were therefore particularly stiff and light.

The permissible total weight was ultimately 7½ – 16 t; for combinations the corresponding values were 24–28 t.

Dodge 100 Mk 2 with Renault trademark

Renault

The series 100 was built for about 15 years in many parts of the world (with the exception of the USA - because of the high costs of the conversion according to local regulations). She was sold as Commer, Dodge, DeSoto , Fargo and Renault . In a Mk. 2 version, the engines have been revised and some other minor improvements have been made. Eventually the Dodge 100 was abandoned by Renault, which took over the Rootes Group's trucking activities after its passenger car division was sold to Peugeot . However, there was a Renault version of the Dodge 100 for a while; from 1987 the cars were simply called Renault Commando . Renault later built its own diesel engines into the vehicles manufactured in the former Rootes factory.

Web links

Commons : Dodge 100 series - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Commons : Renault 100 - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

The history of the Dodge 100 at allpar.com (English)