Motales has done a 1971-72 Mopar extravaganza this week, with four different articles covering various aspects of the late-muscle Mopars—and how decisions made then could have prevented the bailout. The first in the series covers an effort to change Chrysler’s product strategy, so they would focus on a smaller number of cars—fixing customers’ complaints and … Read more
Americans can still buy Fiats, as long as they take a 500X, with the 1.3 liter turbocharged engine and nine-speed automatic transmission. New for 2022 are a retractable fabric roof on every trim levels, and in black, red, gray, or, for the Yacht Club Capri, blue. The Yacht Club Capri, since you asked, is a … Read more
Once again, Chrysler is leaving Australia. With this move, drivers Down Under will have to pay over $100,000 to get a V8 engine in their car—and the 392-powered Chrysler 300 SRT, not to mention right-hand-drive Chryslers, will leave production. Dealers have an inventory of around 30 cars, according to news.com.au, which broke the news. The … Read more
An explosion and fire yesterday at the Windsor Assembly Plant, which makes Pacifica, Caravan, and Voyager minivans, has been confirmed by police, who said it appeared to be intentional. Arson investigators found a “suspicious package that detonated,” according to the CBC. Windsor, Ontario police have arrested a suspect, and he is not one of the … Read more
Two new engines are getting much closer to production for American Mopars. Each replaces an engine which has been around for quite some time, but isn’t quite living up to its potential. 1.5 turbo should be a good drop-in replacement for the 2.4 First we have the long-awaited turbo six-cylinder, based on the GME architecture … Read more
Two recent recalls provide a window into sales of the new Grand Cherokee and Cummins-equipped heavy duty trucks. Recall 21V88 covers 222,410 Cummins-equipped 2019-20 Ram pickups and chassis-cabs in every capacity. The high pressure fuel pump may fail suddenly, stalling the engine. Owners will replace the pump, update the computer software, and replace any other … Read more
This morning, Dodge announced the Jailbreak package for the 2022 Dodge Challenger and Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody models as the latest phase of the Never Lift Plan. There are two key features of the Jailbreak model. First and foremost, they come with 807 horsepower rather than 797 and second, there are no limitations in … Read more
Ron Capps came into the NHRA Auto Club Finals with a large enough lead that many things would need to go wrong for him to not win the 2021 Funny Car Championship. While it certainly wasn’t the best outing for Capps and his Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat funny car team, his solid qualifying position and … 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
The Modern Street Hemi Shootout series ended the championship portion of the series a few weeks back, but this today’s High Horse Performance Final Stand – Battle of the Brands will include many of the top MSHS drivers in a massive clash of American muscle cars. This event is being held at Cecil County Dragway, … Read more
Dodge released an illustration to go with “24 months of muscle,” featuring both events and products; some of them have already been filled in, e.g. the $150,000 per year product ambassador role dubbed “donut maker,” and the launch of Direct Connection. What are the other programs: They are not placed based on date; some events … Read more
In another sign that the semiconductor shortage isn’t ending any time soon, partly due to damaged fabrication plants in Texas and Asia, Stellantis is cutting 400 more jobs at the Belvidere plant in Illinois, starting January 14. The company will try to provide jobs for the laid off workers as they become available in other … Read more
Late last month, James Golden piloted his F8 Green Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye down the track in just 7.904 seconds, making it the first 7-second quarter mile pass by a Redeye car. Of course, Golden’s Challenger Redeye is heavily modified, as is any production road car that has been massaged to run in the … Read more
Yesterday, Tim Kuniskis unloaded a ton of information on the Mopar world as part of the Never Lift Business Plan and we briefly talked about each program, with special emphasis on the return of factory performance packages. We mentioned that these packages would be marketed under the Direct Connection name through Power Broker dealerships, but … Read more
How to name a retail shop where you can buy new and used cars, arrange for service, rent a car, or buy aftermarket parts, for Peugeots, Fiats, Alfa Romeos, Maseratis, Citroëns, Opels, and Jeeps? Obviously, it seems, stellantisandyou.com is the perfect name for Stellantis’ retail services, at least in 11 countries in Europe and in … Read more
This morning, Tim Kuniskis introduced the world to the Never Lift program, which included the first details of the reborn Direct Connection program. Back in the 1970s, Direct Connection provided high performance parts for Mopar owners who wanted to go faster than they could in stock form. Back then, the Chrysler Corporation helped Dodge owners … Read more