the 1919 Dodge Brothers touring car that Jimmy Stewart drove in "It's A Wonderful Life" has turned up in Colorado

But what makes this car like no other is the small, circular brass tag on the dash, the one that reads 789. That tag identifies it as a Twentieth Century-Fox movie prop. As such, the Dodge appeared in movies and on television into the 1960s, generally relegated to background duty. Except for one film, the one that put it in the spotlight: It’s A Wonderful Life.

The car looks slightly different now than it did on screen. Stewart crashed into the tree with such force that the bumper needed to be repaired, and the left front fender and wheel were both replaced. “If you look closely, you can tell that the wheel is from a Dodge truck. The spokes are a bit heftier,” Smith says. In addition, the motometer atop the radiator cap was removed for the movie, since that was optional in 1919 and the penny-wise Bailey family likely couldn’t have justified the extra expense. Same goes for the optional cathedral windows in the rear—a standard canvas top with horizontal windows can be seen in the movie. The car also has side window clips, but side windows weren’t used in the film since they too were optional.

After its career with Twentieth Century-Fox, the Dodge (VIN #410376) was purchased by legendary casino tycoon Bill Harrah, who added it to his famous automobile collection in Reno, Nevada.

More than 30 years ago it was purchased by a San Diego couple (which I can verify, having learned it was local but not public, 10 years ago)  who wanted to refresh the car. Smith, a respected craftsman with expertise in woodgrain dashes and trim, was asked to work on it. He was also hired to paint the car, and he worked meticulously to match its original shade and finish. “He trusted me,” Smith says of the owner. “I knew how special the car is, and he knew I would do it right.”

Keith told his wife that someday he’d like to own the Dodge. “She said, ‘You must be out of your mind.’ But I vowed that if it ever became available, I would do whatever I could to get it.”

The Smiths and the car’s owners became friends, and three decades later, in 2010, Keith finally got his chance.



“It’s iconic, a celebrity in its own right,” says Karolyn Grimes, who played Zuzu, the youngest of the Bailey children, in It’s A Wonderful Life. “I wasn’t in a scene with the car, but I was thrilled to know that it still exists. Looking at it and sitting in it years later, knowing that Jimmy Stewart drove it in the movie… I felt right at home in it. It’s a part of me, just like the movie.”

https://www.hagerty.com/articles-videos/articles/2018/12/19/georges-1919-dodge-from-its-a-wonderful-life