When Plymouth created the first police car package, it was a heavily upfitted sedan; and from then until the Jeep Cherokee “XJ,” nearly all police cars were sedans. In this year’s test of police cars, though, there was only one sedan entered, and it was a Dodge Charger. The tests are somewhat incomplete, since the … Read more
The sales numbers from the American automakers are in for the second quarter of 2021 and after a massive year-over-year sales spike, the Dodge Challenger is the bestselling 2-door performance car in the U.S. market. Call them muscle cars, pony cars or whatever else makes you happy, but in the race between the Challenger, the … Read more
With half the year behind us, it’s time for that age-old question: who’s selling the most of what? This quarter, we had a fairly big surprise, in trucks. First, the #1 company is, as usual, GM—but Toyota is catching up very quickly. Whether that continues past the chip crisis is another question; Toyota had very … Read more
The good news is that the former Chrysler’s sales shot up in the second quarter of 2021, rising by 32% to 487,657 (including Fiat and Alfa Romeo). The bad news is GM was up 40%, Hyundai was up 74%, Honda was up 66%, Toyota was up a stunning 73%, and Volkswagen was up 54%. Indeed, … Read more
Stellantis México just reported on its sales figures, which grew 61% compared with June 2020 and now includes Peugeot. Ram dominated the sales lists, with a June record of 2,787 vehicles; the Fiat-based 700 cleared 1,034 sales, while the ProMaster Rapid had 444 and the Ram Light Duty had 828. Dodge posted 1,141 sales, roughly … Read more
Four years ago, I wrote about the “Tornado,” as the turbocharged inline six-cylinder engine then being development was coded. Insiders were certain that the 5.7 Hemi would be dropped so Chrysler could boost its fuel economy ratings and drop its lavish support for Tesla. (The project nickname honored the airplane, not the classic Willys-Jeep engine.) The … Read more
Dodge is expected to announce a new powertrain on July 8, with many believing there will be a battery-electric or serious-hybrid version of the Charger and Challenger on that date. The rationale is Dodge chief Tim Kuniskis’ statement that “we will have some pretty interesting stuff [on] July 8” to Muscle Cars and Trucks, on … Read more
Back in 2012, the Ram 1500 Limited debuted as the ultimate luxury-level pickup and since then, the Limited trim level has consistently been improved upon, allowing it to stay ahead of the competitors. Today, no other brand offers the level of luxury as the Ram Limited, so to celebrate a decade of premium pickup domination, … Read more
After the introduction of the 707-horsepower Hellcat versions of the Dodge Challenger and Charger, many fans of the brand began pleading for a factory supercharged Durango. The Grand Cherokee Trackhawk, packing the same Hellcat Hemi, proved to be a smashing success for the Jeep brand and many Mopar lovers who wanted a supercharged, all-wheel-drive SUV … Read more
We don’t often talk about Cruz Pedregon when discussing the NHRA Funny Car class, as he is not a member of the successful Don Schumacher Racing team that has dominated the series for the past few years. However, Pedregon has been consistently improving over the past few years and this past weekend, he got his … Read more
On Saturday, hard rains flooded streets and highways throughout Detroit, wrecking a number of newly made Jeep Grand Cherokees waiting for shipment. Some asked, was the factory flooded? That would be a disaster for Stellantis North America, given that the plant makes a desirable product and several other plants have had to shut down due … Read more
In a fit of very bad timing, a sudden hard rain in Detroit flooded a factory lot and destroyed a hefty number of Jeep Grand Cherokees newly made by the Jefferson North Assembly Plant (JNAP). The new vehicles would have entered a market that’s short on cars, giving dealers a chance to make up for … Read more
For many years, Dodge was serious about trucks. The Dodge Division built the usual half-ton, three-quarter-ton, and one-ton pickups, but they also made big rigs for heavier-duty trucking needs. In the mid-1970s, they even tried marketing pickups to ordinary people as a replacement for muscle cars, using the unfortunate term “adult toys.” This 1977 Dodge … Read more
The Wrangler Xtreme Recon Package delivers the Wrangler’s best-ever offroad specs with factory 35-inch tires, beadlock-capable 17×8 wheels with LT315/70R17C BFG KO2 all-terrain tires, and a 1.5-inch… [read more]
Jeep is almost certainly readying a vehicle to take on the Bronco’s dimensional challenge, though matching its independent suspension may prove much harder. Chances are we will see something like the Jeep XTreme Recon package mentioned by Jalopnik, from a page that’s no longer visible; it would be on four-door Wranglers, including the 392. The … Read more
In the never-ending saga of “do we have chips?,” the latest news is Jeep idling the Cherokee and Compass plants in the US and Mexico, respectively, during the week of July 5; but Pacificas …