Chrysler Corporation (and, later, Chrysler Group) had an almost insane proliferation of V6 gasoline engines during the 1980s and 1990s. In size order, they had the 2.5, 2.7, 3.0, 3.2, 3.3, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, 3.8, 3.9, and 4.0 liters—with two different 3.0 engines, one sold only in Europe; and two different 3.2 liter engines. The …
Consumer Reports is the most popular and most trusted name in general-population reviews, but how good are they with cars? The magazine and its annual car book have been both praised and critiqued for years; I did a large critique on Allpar one or two decades ago, and recently revisited it. Not to turn this …
Bob Rodger died in 1971, of leukemia, at the height of the muscle car era. Among his contributions to Chrysler was the 300 “letter car” series, hailed by many critics as the absolute best Detroit had to offer—on part with just about anything in the world; and, for that matter, the 200-mph Dodge Charger Daytona. …
Recently, a Chrysler employee posted part of an internal brochure, and it reminded me of the time when Chrysler came back with a vengeance. This was not the first time, as most readers know; the company has had an absurd number of comebacks under charismatic leaders—under Walter Flanders, Walter Chrysler, Lee Iacocca, Bob Lutz, and …
In 1971, 1972, and 1976, little American Motors—the combination of Hudson, Nash, and Jeep—managed to win Trans Am with the Javelin, a relatively small car with a huge engine bay. The Trans Am series was still a relatively new series, created in 1966 out of the SCCA’s amateur racing classes; the cars were modified from …
The “completely new” 1949 Dodges, like the lower Plymouths and the higher DeSotos and Chryslers, were created to the specifications of Walter Chrysler’s protegé, K.T. Keller. K.T. was a great wartime leader for Chrysler Corporation, ordering daily miracles for the United States military; the company did an incredible job of producing anti-aircraft guns, aircraft parts …
The muscle car era is usually officially closed with the 1974 models; the Hemi was long gone by then, but the big 440s remained, as did the high-po small-blocks. The writing was on the wall, with soaring gasoline prices, occasional shortages, and new life for smaller cars. The Valiant Brougham drew in many former big-Chrysler, …
The Dodge Challenger and Charger are both offered with a supercharged Hemi in Hellcat and Redeye trim, while the coupe also has the Super Stock trim level. All of these high performance cars, as well as the 2018 Demon, rely on a supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi V8, but the power levels vary from 707 to 840. …
Whether you have a new or vintage car, there are times when wandering down to your local dealer doesn’t work. Maybe they charge double list price, making a nice thousand-percent profit like the jewelry store; maybe the parts just aren’t in stock any more; maybe you live in Germany and the local dealer is too …
The Jeep Wrangler PHEV’s official fuel economy numbers are out, and they are a bit of a bummer. The EPA rates the 4xe as having a 21-mile all-electric range, and a 22 mile electric-plus-gasoline range, less than the expected 25 miles. That is enough for a typical driver to go to work and plug in, …
Peugeot SA, like Volkswagen AG, tended to reflect American automakers of the 1930s-to-1980s: similar cars were sold under different brands, varying in trim, soundproofing, convenience features, and such. Peugeot maintained four brands—Citroën, DS, and Opel being the other three. That system, in Chrysler’s case, led to extremely similar cars being sold, with varying sizes, trim …
“Who killed the electric car?” asked a movie, some years ago, implying that General Motors deliberately destroyed the rebirth of electrics. The movie ignored Chrysler’s epic electric car program of the same time—a program which sold cars, rather than leasing them, and was something of a success. Made in Plymouth and Dodge versions, the EPIC …
