Flashback Friday: the original Fabulous Hudson Hornet

Hudson Hornet logo

One of the less-likely NASCAR champions was a full-sized L-head straight-six car from a premium brand, brought out in the same year as the first, 180-bhp Chrysler Hemi. The Fabulous Hudson Hornet may not have had a V8, but it had three other things going for it: lighter weight, a stiff unibody, and a sunken floor and engine which gave it phenomenal handling when compared to most American stock cars of the day. The straight-six was nearly as big as the first Hemi—308 cubic inches (while that first Hemi was 331 cid)—but was hooked up to a manual transmission and had less weight to push around.  

How the Demon 170 Hemi Differs from the Redeye Hemi: Deep Dive

Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170

When the embargo lifted on the 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 on Monday, we focused on key parts of the new package, including power, performance, and production numbers, but we didn’t get into how this package makes so much more power than the closely-related Redeye. Today, we dive into what makes the Demon 170’s supercharged Hemi so much more powerful—reaching 1,075 horsepower. (See our initial piece about the 1,025-horsepower, 8-second Demon 170).

When Tim Kuniskis introduced the 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 to a small group of media in early March, he held up a camshaft and said that it was the only component that was directly shared between the 6.2-liter Hemi in the Demon 170 and the 6.2-liter Hemi in the Redeye. Everything else was revised in some way, if not replaced altogether.

Unveiled: Dodge Hornet R/T-based GLH Concept

Dodge Hornet R/T GLH Concept

When Dodge introduced the new Hornet last August, the production-ready GT and R/T models were joined by the GLH Concept – with GLH standing for Goes Like Hell, just as it did on the Omni GLH. That GLH Concept was based on the GT, which derives its power from a turbocharged 2.0-liter engine that delivers 268 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque, rather than the more powerful Hornet R/T plug-in hybrid.

On the surface, it seems like a smart decision to focus on the non-hybrid model for a performance package like the GLH, but with the R/T hybrid packing quite a bit more power, it seems like the better basis for a go-fast model – even though it is a fuel-friendly hybrid.

The True Story Behind Dodge’s “Leprechaun” Challenger Demon 170 Teasers

Dodge Last Call Leprechaun

During the lead-up to the debut of the 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170, Dodge showed teasers depicting what appeared to be a pair of leprechauns. Social media’s smoothest-brained users were quick to proclaim that they were ghouls, allegedly confirming the rumor that the Dodge brand was working on a package called the Ghoul, but that was not the case.

Earlier this month, Dodge invited a small group of media to the Auburn Hills headquarters to preview the Challenger SRT Demon 170. Brand boss Tim Kuniskis walked us through the key features and numbers of the newest supercharged muscle car; when he was done, he asked if there were any questions. As you might imagine after the reveal of a thousand-horsepower muscle car, there were plenty of questions about the Demon 170, but a few of us wondered why the teasers featured leprechauns. Kuniskis laughed and asked if we wanted the real story or the story from the marketing people. Of course, we wanted the real story…

Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170: 1025 horsepower

Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170

We knew that the seventh and final Last Call special edition car would be more than an appearance package, but the 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 is more performance than we expected for less money than we expected. There is loads of information to unpack on this model, but we will cut to the chase and talk about the numbers that everyone really cares about.

The 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 is powered by a 6.2-liter Hemi topped by a 3.0-liter IHI supercharger. When running on E85 (85% ethanol), it makes 1,025 horsepower and 945 lb-ft of torque. Even on 93 octane pump gas (E10 ethanol), the Demon 170 will make 900 horsepower and 810 lb-ft of torque. The driver doesn’t need to do anything when changing from gasoline to ethanol blends…. [more at the original story]

Flashback Friday: Chrysler Engineering makes Mercury, Saturn rockets a reality

Chrysler and the Saturn rockets from the Apollo missions

Chrysler’s role in creating the Moon rockets has long been ignored; it’s not even mentioned on multiple Wikipedia pages which ignore the prime contractor but mention Rockwell and Boeing. Yet Chrysler did not just have a hand in creating the Saturn V vehicles used in the Apollo missions; they were the prime contractor for these and for the Redstone missiles which came before. 

Chrysler started working with the combined Army-Air Force rocketry program from its earliest days, running the Warren, Michigan factory which produced the Redstone missiles. While the rocket engines and fuselages were produced by other companies, Chrysler coordinated them, put them together, designed and produced some of the electronic control and ground systems, and provided part of the ground support crews. The photo above, from the 1965 Chrysler Annual Report, clearly shows ground crew members wearing Chrysler shirts. 

Motales recently recovered the story of Chrysler’s role in rocketry, including their work in developing digital telemetry for the Apollo missions. From the Redstones to the final launch (of Skylab), Chrysler was America’s chosen leader in aerospace. The company only left the business when NASA rejected its space shuttle design. (See https://www.motales.com/chrysler-corp/aerospace-defense/rockets-by-chrysler.php for more)

Refreshed 2024 Wrangler JL on the way?

High Tide Jeep Wranglers

Someone claiming to be a salesman is claiming that a Jeep Wrangler refresh is coming soon.  The basic design is the same, but the 2024 Wrangler is rumored to offer power seats, ventilated seats, new gauge cluster and UConnect with a larger 10-inch touch-screen. (2024 Jeeps are not shown below.) The 392 is to continue, with … Read more

Third Dodge Last Call Teaser Video Drops More Numeric Clues

Dodge Last Call Leprechaun

The newest teaser is titled “Scream @ 215 mph” and it starts off with the angry leprechaun from the previous two videos, with glowing gold eye. A few seconds in, a hand from off-screen holds up what appears to be a handheld racing weather meter. The hand holds it up to the angry leprechaun and when he screams through it, the readout lights up with the following information:

Mopar BEVs to be the first to re-use waste heat?

BEV waste heat reuse patent

In gasoline-burning cars and trucks, waste heat from burning gasoline is tapped to heat up the cabin. But what about electric cars? They typically have to use electric heaters—or maybe not.

A new FCA US patent, filed three years back (November 2020) by Michigan’s Craig Lindquist and Changchun Li and Italy’s Attilio Crivellari, would re-use waste heat in electric cars, too—a technology which could be handy in PHEVs as well as BEVs.

Recall Monday: gauge lights, cameras, and at Hyundai/Genesis, exploding seat belts

exploding seat belt pretensioner

Late 2022 Jeep Compasses, made from May 12, 2022 to August 8, were made with no way to make the gauge cluster bright enough during some lighting conditions. This is not so much a defect as a design issue; as a result, starting by the end of March, Jeep will start adding a light sensor module and wiring jumper, and replacing the windshield and headlamp switches, so the display backlighting will be able to handle ambient lighting.

The second Mopar recall of the week is lack of rear-view images in 2021-23 Ram Ram 1500 and 2500 pickups….

Second Dodge Last Call Teaser Video Debuts with an Odd, Obvious Hint

Dodge Last Call Leprechaun

In the video, we see a leprechaun hooked to a medical drip bag that contains some yellowish liquid. The leprechaun starts the drip bag and a few seconds later, he is clearly effected by the fluid. He eyes turn red and begin to emit lightning-type electrical flow. When the lightning dissipates, a more sinister leprechaun with glowing gold eyes swaggers out of the smoke and the video ends.
This means more than one might think.

STLA: big profits, profit-sharing (updated)

Stellantis financials - earnings - dollars

Thanks to high profits in the United States, around 40,500 union employees in the country will get profit-sharing checks averaging $14,760. It’s a mild increase form last year, and comes as car prices have shot up due to supply-chain constraints.

Stellantis is a new company, still, but the results still set a record with a roughly $18-billion net profit; adjusted margin hit 13%. What’s more, Stellantis became a bigger BEV player with a 41% year-over-year growth, key to fighting Tesla (whose European sales shot up by a factor of ten, but remain small) and Volkswagen. Battery-electric car sales are rising fast in Europe, where fuel is far more expensive.

Direct Connection Hurricane Crate Engines Offer Big Power Potential

Hurricane Twin Turbo

Last year, Dodge announced that the new Hurricane inline-six would join the Direct Connection crate engine lineup, alongside various Hemi crate engines. Those who can’t get over the possible demise of the Hemi refuse to see any upside to the new Hurricane engine, but for those who are happy to have an internal combustion engine in the future of the brand, this engine presents an opportunity.

If nothing else, the fact that Dodge is discussing this engine is proof that the brand doesn’t plan to go all-electric in the immediate future. The trio of Hurricane crate engines, one of which is slated for the next generation Drag Pak car, shows that these engines will pack a serious punch.

The first production application of the Hurricane inline-six engine family was the Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer. In the big Jeep, the “base” Hurricane pushed out 420 horsepower and 468 lb-ft of torque while the Hurricane 510 in the Grand Wagoneer delivers 510 horsepower and 500 lb-ft of torque. Those engines effectively replace the 5.7-liter Hemi in the Wagoneer and the 6.4-liter Hemi in the Grand Wagoneer, and each of the smaller engines pack more power than the V8s that they are replacing. The 5.7-liter Hemi in the Wagoneer offers 392 horsepower and 404 lb-ft of torque while the 6.4-liter Hemi in the Grand Wagoneer delivers 471 horsepower and 455 lb-ft of torque, so there are significant increases in both horsepower and torque when comparing the Hemi to the Hurricane in the Wagoneer line.