Henry Ford famously increased his pay to a high $5 per day, saying everyone should be able to buy the cars they made. … But did he actually do it? It turns out that Henry Ford only paid a small number of people that high wage; the rest of his employees had to make do … Read more
The Dodge Charger was introduced as its own model line for the 1966 model year, and while the ‘66 and ‘67 models sold well enough, the debut of the second generation for the 1968 model year really led to the boom in popularity for the legendary nameplate. As we all know, the second generation Charger, … Read more
This week’s Mopar Flashback Friday takes us back to 1956, with a classic marketing video which showcases the Dodge Lancer. This video is very unlike any modern car commercial, as it is more than two minutes long, it doesn’t actually mention the name of any vehicles and it has a unique theme song that makes … Read more
The Dodge brand showcases its history better than any modern brand in the US market, with classic colors, classic trim names, classic packages and even some marketing campaigns that hearken back to the early days of the muscle car. From the Shaker hood atop a Hemi engine to colors like B5 Blue or Go Mango … Read more
No April 26 would be complete without at least one Hemi Day story. The 426 (as in 4/26) Hemi was created solely for racing. At the time, the ingenious Mopar cross-ram wedge engines were winning on the street, but failing in NASCAR. In 1963, executives approved engineers’ plan for putting Hemi heads, which were part … Read more
Way back in the early 1990s, Chrysler worked with a power company group to build its first all-electric minivans. They were never too famous—the maker of Who killed the electric car? apparently missed them completely—but some of them ended up in private hands and lasted a good many years after their creation. Chrysler followed up the … Read more
When NASCAR officially told manufacturers they could no longer directly support racers, a prohibition that was only lightly observed by GM and Ford, Chrysler sought a new series to test their mettle and gain publicity. They chose the new Daytona Continental road race, and built up a 1965 Plymouth Belvedere with the 426 Hemi dual-carb … Read more
The 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon set the standard by which all other American muscle cars are judged and frankly, it seems unlikely that a factory-built Mustang or Camaro will ever come close to truly rivaling the 840-horsepower, 9-second Mopar monster. When you mentioned a Dodge Demon in most online groups today, most people will … Read more
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 … Read more
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. … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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 more
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 … Read more
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; … Read more