Fargo Trucks

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Not to be confused with Wells Fargo.
Fargo FK2-33 Truck 1946
Fargo pumper fire truck from Témiscaming, Quebec.
Fargo Power Wagon truck in Batey ha-Osef Museum, Israel.
A 1956 Fargo pickup.

Fargo was a brand of truck manufactured by the Chrysler Corporation. In general terms, Fargo trucks were a mere rebadging of Dodge trucks models.

History

The first Fargo trucks were built in Chicago by the Fargo Motor Car Company from 1913 until 1922. In 1928 Chrysler bought the business and created their own line of Fargo trucks.[1] Shortly after its creation, Chrysler bought too the Dodge Brothers Company, adding Dodge and Graham Brothers badged trucks to its product line.

From then on, Fargo trucks were almost identical to the Dodge ones, save for trim and name, and were sold by Chrysler-Plymouth dealers. Production began in the late 1920s.[1]

U.S. sales were discontinued in the 1930, but the name Fargo was used until 1972 for Canada, and lived longer for other countries around the world under the Chrysler Corporation's badge engineering marketing approach. Most of the Fargo trucks and bus chassis sold in Argentina,[2] Finland, Australia, India, and other countries in Europe and Asia were made in Chrysler's Kew (UK) plant. Most were sold also under the Dodge, Commer or DeSoto names.

Theories on why Chrysler used the name Fargo include the imagery of open range of the American west, symbolized by the city of Fargo and the Wells-Fargo stage lines, while another theory assumes there was a play on the words "Far" and "Go", denoting durability.

Fargo trucks today

The Fargo brand still exists in Turkey, where Fargo and DeSoto trucks are currently made by Turkish manufacturer Askam, with no technical or business connection with Chrysler.[3]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Fargo trucks". allpar.com. Retrieved Sep 17, 2012. 
  2. ↑ "Carmiones Fargo (brochure)" [Fargo trucks]. 1950. Retrieved Sep 17, 2012. 
  3. ↑ "Askam Kamyon Imalat" [Askam Truck Manufacturing]. Retrieved Sep 17, 2012. 
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