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 …
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 …
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 …
Read moreGetting Mopar parts: the big list for Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, and the vintage cars
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 …
Read moreSpeculation: How a Peugeot-style branding system could work in the USA
Today, under the hood of any car you will find at least one, and sometimes two, oddly shaped, translucent containers with built-in funnels or tubes, holding windshield washer fluid. But that was not always the way it was done. Into the 1960s, cars had plastic bags, which denizens of the time sometimes called douche bags, …
Today is Betty White’s 99th birthday and while she may not seem to have much connection to the Mopar world, she actually starred in a commercial for the 1958 Plymouth lineup. In doing so, not only did Betty White introduce the world to the 1958 Plymouth lineup, but she also introduced the world to a …
The first generation of turbocharged Mopars were not part of the executives’ original plan, but they were tough, well-engineered, efficient, and, with the Turbo IV of the 1990s, innovative enough that modern turbos follow in their path. All were four-cylinders, from the same family, made in two displacements (one was mildly stroked). The more powerful …
StellPower isn’t much yet. But we hope it will be bigger and better. The plan is that, while a certain other site was grown out of one person’s spare time, over the course of over a decade, this one would start out as a joint project. The forum is integrated with the news page now; …