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Flashback Friday: the “other” GTX, Super Bee, and Polara

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The Valiant was all very fine, but didn’t cover the whole market. As a result, South American dealers decided to adapt the car to sportier and more luxurious segments, taking names from bigger American cars; that brought the Polara, Coronado, Super Bee, and GTX. (Never mind that two of these names were taken from Plymouth; all were sold under the Dodge name.) 

These weren’t sticker packages; the sheet metal and fascias were changed to make the cars look more like 1968 Chargers than 1968 Valiants or Darts, and they were based on the sportier first-generation “narrow body” Valiants. 

But wait, there’s more! Stellantis CEO claims Dodge will grow

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Dodge Charger Daytona

The auto industry is going through a major time of transition, especially at Mopar, with the end of the Hemi V8s, the birth of EVs, and muscle car rivals switching to electric or hybrid variants with historic names—not to mention making crossovers with coupe names.

Sedans and coupes are dying breeds, along with those musical V8 powerplants; they are being replaced by SUVs and crossovers and pickups. These are markets where Dodge is not really playing now, outside of the Durango. How does the muscle brand hope to survive in this new world? Tim Kuniskis referenced the hammerhead shark: evolution. It isn’t as cut and dried, though.

Forza Motorsport “8”—Our Dodge, Ram and Jeep Wish List

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2022 Ram 1500 TRX

The new trailer claims that Forza Motorsport will have 500 vehicles at launch, over 100 of which are new to the franchise—at least 100 cars, trucks, and SUVs that have not been featured in Forza Motorsport 1 through 7. The list of performance vehicles in Forza Motorsport 7 is so lengthy that it is hard to come up with more than a hundred cars, trucks and SUVs for the new game, but we can think of a few models from Dodge, Ram and Jeep that would fit nicely into the next generation Forza title.

Jeep’s latest “death wobble” solution

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The Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator share a suspension which is fairly unique today, though common when the wartime jeeps were created. It combines solid axles in front and rear, a design which is easy to modify and capable off-road, but not necessarily ideal for on-road driving. When the steering and suspension parts are worn, they … Read more

New turbo-Compass gas mileage revealed

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2023 Jeep Compass interior

The 2023 Jeep Compass has a new version of the GME 2.0 liter turbocharged engine, finally providing the torque and horsepower one would expect; the sole transmission is an eight-speed, dubbed 8F30, likely supplied by Hyundai. The Compass Limited lists for $35,495; all Compass trims now have standard all wheel drive. The turbo engine produces … Read more

The ZTunes Hellcat Resets the Dodge Charger Quarter Mile Record

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Zdung Ho Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat

The Go Mango 2016 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat which is owned, driven and tuned by Zdung Ho has long been the quickest and fastest Hellcat sedan in the quarter mile, but at the first Legion of Demons event of 2023, the man known throughout the community as “Z” continued improving on his personal best time … Read more

The last new straight sixes, in ads: slant vs Hurricane

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No old maid (slant six ad)

In the early 1920s, Dodge was a four-cylinder car despite its premium market position; Chrysler was launched with a single straight-six; and Maxwell, like its replacement (Plymouth), was also four-cylinder only. Times changed and all three brands featured a range of straight-six engines and V8s, with four-cylinders and straight-eights forgotten and V6 engines ignored. The … Read more

When you should expect new Hornets

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2023 Dodge Hornet

The Dodge Hornet has finally made it to the USA web site’s Build & Price section. Some sample options are the GT Plus trim ($35,490), or red paint and seats on the GT Plus ($37,085 total); the Track Pack is $2,995, including 20 inch wheels, and a nicely loaded car with these features and the … Read more

Build and price your own Dodge Hornet

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2023 Dodge Hornet

Dodge Hornets have been spotted on their way to dealerships, and have just been added to the Dodge Build & Price system.

Two models are available, GT and GT Plus. GT starts at $30,590 plus destination ($32,185 total); GT Plus starts at $35,490 (37,085). Both come with all wheel drive. On the GT, white or black paint is free, with other colors adding $495-595. 17” wheels are standard. …

A better 2022 for Mopars, north of the border

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Jeep Wagoneer

Mopars fared reasonably well in Canadian sales for 2022, with 169,179 cars sold—a 5% gain over 2021.

The Wagoneer had a good outing with 1631 regular and 930 high-priced Grands trading hands—totaling 16,682 sales. Compare those premium cars from a standard brand to Alfa Romeo’s 911 total sales for the year. Both were up from 2021 but that makes sense, since they started production late in that year.