Several publications recently ran stories on the death of the sort-of-new Giorgio platform, designed to support medium-sized and large cars and crossovers for Alfa Romeo, Dodge, Jeep, and possibly Chrysler. The reality appears to be different: Giorgio has simply been brought into a new naming system, which simply calls its platforms Small, Medium, Large, and … Read more
How fake is this letter posted to Facebook, “from a Stellantis employee,” which came with a possibly-real Stellantis letterhead? Pretty fake. Let’s look at the issues. First, while there is a semiconductor shortage, it’s not only China that’s the problem; the sudden Texas shutdown meant hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of semiconductors in-process were … Read more
This past weekend, the Team Mopar NHRA Dodge Charger funny car racers headed to Las Vegas for the Denso Spark Plugs Four Wide Nationals, looking for their first win of the young 2021 season. As the name of the event suggests, this stop in Vegas includes four-wide drag racing, with four cars competing side-by-side-by-side-by-side, creating … Read more
Late last month, the Modern Street Hemi Shootout opened their 2021 season with the first event at Orlando Speedworld being sponsored by Legmaker Intakes. The season got off to a great start, with the event beating any past opener by more than a hundred registered race cars, with NHRA superstar Leah Pruett serving as the … Read more
The Slant Six Club is having a meet in 2021, on October 3, rain or shine. They are starting at noon, and meeting at the Olive Garden at 510 Woodbridge Center Drive, Woodbridge, New Jersey. (Photo is from a past event.) Contact the Slant Six Club for details.
A Don Schumacher Racing Dodge Charger funny car won every single event during the shortened 2020 NHRA racing season, with Matt Hagan taking home the class championship as Team Mopar teammates Tommy Johnson Jr, Jack Beckman and Ron Capps finished second, third and fourth in the championship race. Hagan won two of the last three … 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
J.D. Power has released their 2021 review of customer service at car dealerships throughout the United States. Unlike the quality surveys, where Land Rover and Tesla anchor the bottom to make the Mopars look good, the customer service index is anchored by Mopar brands—with all but Dodge taking the bottom slots. (Maserati, along with Tesla … Read more
When the Modern Street Hemi Shootout opens their 2021 schedule with the Legmaker Intakes event at Orlando Speedworld, NHRA superstar and Mopar racer Leah Pruett will be in attendance. Pruett will be handling a handful of duties, and while she won’t be making any passes in either of her NHRA race cars, she went down … Read more
GAA Classic Cars auctioned off a number of Mopars at its North Carolina auction recently; a number of 1959 Mopars were included in the sales, with six Dodges, a Plymouth, Imperial, DeSoto, and Chrysler letter-car moving across the block. A 1959 Dodge D500 truck, in the high-end Custom Sierra trim, sold for $51,000, the second … Read more
Stellantis is planning to put more effort into battery-electric cars as it sees hybrid powertrains eventually fading out. The automaker, which includes the 14 brands of the former Chrysler, Fiat, and Peugeot groups, is acting like others on the belief that making mass-market internal combustion engines will eventually be banned in Europe and other regions. … Read more
Stellantis has gotten three automotive loyalty awards from IHS Markit. The Pacifica minivan had the most loyal buyers of any minivan for the second year in a row; the Ram 1500 had the highest loyalty of any light-duty pickup for the fifth consecutive year; and Alfa Romeo was “most improved to make.” General Motors was … Read more
The Dodge Store by Amazon officially opened its doors to automotive enthusiasts this week. Dodge//SRT fans can now shop hundreds of options for authentic licensed gear and merchandise across the Amazon storefront beginning today. Materials sold “align with a wide range of passions, including Brotherhood of Muscle, ’70s Collection and Vintage Garage,” according to Dodge … Read more
Mopar-specific social media was inundated with news that the Dodge Dakota project had been cancelled. In the fine print was news that this only affected plans to create a Dodge version of the Jeep Gladiator, a heavyweight engineered off the Wrangler mainly for off-road prowess. The decision is probably good for Dodge fans, because the … Read more
Ram and Dodge topped Stellantis’ brands in three-year dependability, according to J.D. Power, but neither managed to hit the industry average. Alfa Romeo, in contrast, was the second-worst brand sold in the United States. The news was not good for Stellantis. Ram and Dodge were almost certainly not significantly lower than average, when variability is … Read more
About a week ago, there were reports from two websites – Opposite Lock and Grassroots Motorsports – that the SRT Performance division had been disbanded under the new corporate umbrella. Neither of these reports cited any sources, so we reached out to our contacts at Stellantis for the official world. Unfortunately, that word is not … Read more
