The Enduring Legacy of the Ram: From Dodge Ornament to Standalone Brand

The Ram, now a symbol of ruggedness and capability in the truck world, boasts a history deeply intertwined with Dodge. From its humble beginnings as a radiator ornament to its current status as a standalone brand under Stellantis North America, the Ram has undergone a fascinating evolution. This article explores the journey of the Ram, tracing its origins, design changes, and eventual spin-off into its own entity.

The Early Years: A Mascot is Born

The story begins in the late 1920s, a period of significant expansion for Walter P. Chrysler and his burgeoning Chrysler Corporation. After launching Chrysler in 1924, Chrysler expanded it four years later by bringing out two new lines, the Plymouth and De Soto. Recognizing the need for distinct brand identities, Chrysler sought unique emblems for each of its vehicles. Amidst this flurry of activity, Chrysler was offered the opportunity to buy Dodge Brothers, which he had attempted to purchase two years earlier.

Dodge cars had always been identified by an emblem featuring intertwined triangles, which closely resembled the six-point Star of David. One of many tasks on Walter Chrysler’s to-do list was to develop new identity symbols for Dodge and the other two new cars under the corporate banner.

In 1929, sculptor Avard T. Fairbanks arrived at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor to head up the sculpture department. Launched in 1928, Plymouth planned to introduce a new, lower-priced PA Series for 1931 that would have Plymouth competing with Ford and Chevrolet to establish the “Low-Priced Three.” Chrysler engaged Fairbanks to design the Winged Mermaid ornament for the Plymouth PA. Recognizing the appeal of Plymouth’s Flying Lady ornament, Walter P. Chrysler recalled the artist to the company’s headquarters in Highland Park and commissioned him to design a brand image for the new Dodge model planned for 1932.

Fairbanks presented Chrysler with three models of a bighorn sheep, a ram, in a charging pose. When asked why a ram, Fairbanks replied, “It is sure-footed; it’s the King of the Trail; it won’t be challenged by anything… And if you were on the trail and saw that ram charging down on you, what would you think? - DODGE!” Walter Chrysler excitedly replied, “That’s it! The ram goes on the Dodge!”

The Ram radiator ornament debuted in January 1931 on the new Dodge DG Series Eight, then on the new 1932 Series DL Six models when they were introduced in November of that year. It would continue to appear on all Dodge passenger cars and light trucks.

From Radiator Cap to Hood Ornament

The first Dodge ram mascot was featured on the radiator cap of 1932 models. The ram mascot got a new base and became a hood ornament when 1935 Dodge styling changed and hid the radiator cap. The 1935 ram mascot base continued for 1936 with smaller DB badge fitted to a new grille. The 1938 Dodge pickup continued to use passenger car front sheet metal, with the ram hood ornament intact. Note the Dodge Brothers six-point star still continued to be used in the emblem below the ornament.

The ram design was updated in step with the cars’ styling during the years that followed. A more streamlined second-generation ram hood ornament design graced the 1939 Dodges. The 1946-’48 hood ornament was more streamlined, and then the head and horns became more prominent on the sloping hoods of the early-1950s Dodge. The streamlined ram ornament for the 1946-’48 Dodge further emphasized the signature horns. A new ram’s head design hood ornament appeared on Dodge cars in the early 1950s.

The Ram's Image Evolves

The new “Forward Look” Dodges in 1955 were the first since 1932 without the ram hood ornament. In fact, traditional hood ornaments of any kind went pretty much out of style from that time through the 1960s and ’70s. However, the ram image continued under the hood. Dodge’s Hemi-head V-8, introduced in 1953, bore the name “Red Ram,” and an image of a charging mountain goat appeared on the valve covers. “Red Ram” would designate the Hemi engines through 1958. In that year, Dodge began transitioning to wedge-design V-8s, which went by the “Ram Fire” moniker.

An application of the ram image that began in 1960 harked back to Avard Fairbanks’ mascot design of the charging Rocky Mountain goat. Ram-charging and ram-induction were the names used to describe the concept of using intake manifolds with long tubes connecting the carburetors to the cylinders, which set up a wave effect to faster force more fuel-air mixture into the engine.

Read also: History of the Block 'M'

The Ram in Trucks and Beyond

A modern ram’s horn image ornament came into use on pickups in 1941 and continued through the 1947 models. In the years that followed, the Ram name and designation worked its way into a wider variety of models from Dodge Truck Division, such as the Mitsubishi-built Ram 50 and Rampage mini-pickups, Dodge Ram vans and D-150 Series Ram and Power Ram 4x4 pickups.

“The Ramchargers” was the name of a drag racing team largely made up of Chrysler engineers. Later, the Ramcharger name was revived and applied to the new sport-utility vehicle (SUV) when Dodge entered that market in 1974. A new ram’s head hood ornament began to reappear on certain models in the early 1980s.

The Birth of Ram Trucks

In June 2009, when Chrysler emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Fiat Group received a 20% stake in Chrysler Group LLC and Sergio Marchionne was appointed CEO, replacing CEO Robert Nardelli. On June 10 that year, substantially all of Chrysler's assets were sold to "New Chrysler", organized as Chrysler Group LLC.

When Chrysler Corp. was purchased by Fiat in 2009, RAM became the company’s separate truck brand and the original Ram truck logo was adopted. Ram Trucks (stylized as RAM) is an American brand of light to mid-weight pickup heavy duty trucks and other commercial vehicles, and a division of Stellantis North America (previously Chrysler Group LLC). It was established in a spin-off of Dodge in 2009 using the name of the Ram pickup line of trucks. Ram Trucks' logo was originally used as Dodge's logo.

Ram trucks are marketed separately from Dodge cars; former Ram Division President Fred Diaz stated, "Ram trucks are not a Dodge model. Ram will always be 'vinned' (Vehicle Identification Number) as a Ram. We need to continue to market as Ram so Dodge can have a different brand identity: hip, cool, young, energetic. That will not fit the campaign for truck buyers. In April 2013, Diaz left Ram Trucks to serve as vice president of Nissan's divisional sales and marketing. In August 2014, Ram Trucks CEO Reid Bigland was tapped to lead the Alfa Romeo brand in North America. It was announced that the new head of the Ram Trucks brand would be longtime Chrysler employee Robert Hegbloom, who joined Chrysler in 1986 and had been a director for Dodge. In October 2018, Bigland was promoted to CEO of Ram Trucks.

Read also: Legacy of Fordham University

Ram Today: Production and Models

New series Ram 1500 pickups are made at Sterling Heights Assembly in Sterling Heights, Michigan. The facility was first built in 1953 as the Michigan Ordinance Missile Plant, operated by the US Army. Chrysler Corporation purchased the facility in 1983. Ram trucks are also produced at the Saltillo Truck Assembly Plant, Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico. The facility first opened in 1995. Additional production takes place at Tofaş, Bursa, Turkey, and Goiana, Pernambuco, Brazil. The Brazil plant produces vehicles primarily for the Latin American market.

Current Ram models include:

Ram ProMaster Van (2013-present): Full-size vans for the North America market. The line includes models 1500, 2500, and 3500, with cut-away chassis-cab versions available.
Ram Rampage (2023-present): A unibody pickup truck produced by Stellantis in Brazil and marketed through the American Ram marque.

Past models include the Dodge Dakota (1987-2011): A mid-size pickup, it was moved to the Ram marque with the full-size pickup lineup, although the vehicle retained its physical Dodge branding.

Marketing and Slogans

Since its inception, the brand has used the slogan "Guts. Glory. Ram trucks are marketed separately from Dodge cars.

Fiat Professional was FCA's global light commercial vehicle brand marketed outside North America, marketing the same vans marketed as Ram in the Americas.

Controversies

Ram Trucks entered popular culture in an unintentional way on February 4, 2018, during Super Bowl LII. Their commercial's use of Martin Luther King Jr.'s sermon "The Drum Major Instinct" was quickly and widely panned by audiences, academics, news outlets and social media alike. Of particular concern was its usage of a speech in which King condemned advertising ("we are so often taken by advertisers …

The Ram in Popular Culture

Ram trucks feature prominently in Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone television series as the chosen work vehicles of the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, featuring the ranch's logo and branding on the sides of the vehicles.

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