Remember hitting the junkyard to get parts to fix or upgrade your old beater of a car? Remember the friends you made putting things together? How about the old Slant 6 Club of America? Gary Platz does, and with Ed Dreistadt has moved his memories (and period drawings and photos) onto the printed page in … Read more
Back in 2003, the Jeep brand introduced the “Freedom Edition” package for the Wrangler, Grand Cherokee and Liberty as a relatively simple appearance package. When that package name was brought back in 2012, it did so as a military tribute package for the Wrangler line (shown below in dark blue), and that military theme continued … Read more
Back in January, Dodge announced that the order banks for the 2021 Durango Hellcat had been closed after all 2,000 planned units had been ordered. Fast forward to April and Dodge announced that the brand would be extended the production run beyond the initially-planned figure of 2,000 units. According to the report in April, there … Read more
Fiat has surprised many observers by launching a completely new modular platform—for its cars in Brazil. Some believe this and current Fiat/Jeep small car platforms will be merged with Peugeot’s CMP to form a completely new Stellantis small car platform (STLA-Small) which can accommodate gasoline-powered, hybrid-electric, battery-electric, and hydrogen fuel cell power along with either … Read more
If you have paid any attention to the world of record-setting modern Mopar monsters, the odds are good that you have heard of the Epling Garage Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat. Since the Hellcat cars hit the street, the father, son and grandson(s) team of Leon, Jason, Logan and Aiden Epling have been setting records for … Read more
COVID shut down car assembly lines around the world. When they got back up to speed, a delayed reaction from shutdowns of chips and semiconductors—already in short supply—hit unprepared automakers and even Toyota, whose extensive supply-chain relations gave it some foresight. Stellantis cut another 38,000 Cherokees, Voyagers, and Pacificas out of its production schedule as … Read more
Some people might have read the title to this article and thought that it is ridiculous to compare either of the Dodge Hellcat cars to the Dodge Viper, but over the past year or so, I have received a surprising number of emails from readers who are considering swapping their supercharged V8 for a naturally … Read more
The reduced production of Dodge Charger and Challenger last year due to production stoppages stemming from the early onset of the Covid-19 pandemic coupled with the ongoing component shortage, most recently pertaining to microchips, has led to an extreme short supply of new Hellcat-powered Dodge cars. That short supply of new models has led to … Read more
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares told reporters yesterday that each brand manager is being given funding and ten years of time to implement their core model strategy. “The CEOs need to be clear in brand promise, customers, targets and brand communications.” If they succeed, they stay—but “they” isn’t perfectly defined. Most writers are reporting that “they” … Read more
GM just released some preliminary specifications for the new Hummer, an all-electric vehicle which is set for production not long after the Wagoneer. While Jeep hasn’t released full Wagoneer specifications yet, they have shown us what the new Grand Cherokee L can do—perhaps it’s worth a quick comparison. Hummer (Terrain Mode) Grand Cherokee L Wheelbase … Read more
The Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat owned, built, tuned and driven by Zdung Ho has long-held the record for being the quickest Hellcat sedan in the world, having been the first to break into the 8-second range back in 2019. Since becoming the first four-door Hellcat car to run in the 8s, the man known simply … Read more
Many Ford fans have been hoping that the F-150 Lightning would return with the mettle to battle the Ram 1500 TRX, even if only on paved surfaces. The good news is that the Lightning is set to return with an online debut planned for May 19th. The bad news is that the new F-150 Lightning … Read more
The last Plymouth ever made was just auctioned off by its original owner, Floridian and former Chrysler executive Darrell Davis, for a mere $19,000—less, when adjusting for inflation, than its original price. The car comes with the factory banner and all original paperwork and documentation. It has the standard 2.0 liter engine and five-speed (manual) transmission, … Read more
We have confirmed with Stellantis that order banks for the 2022 Ram 1500 (DT) officially opened this today, but only for sold orders. This means that dealerships cannot order 2022 Ram 1500 pickups for inventory, but if you have been waiting to order a 2022 TRX, you can do so today. The downside is that … Read more
The Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk is one of the world’s most powerful production sport utility vehicles, packing 707 horsepower officially trailing only the Dodge Durango with the same supercharged Hemi at 710 horsepower. The Hellephant is the most powerful crate engine ever offered by Mopar, packing an awesome 1,000 horsepower from the supercharged 7-liter V8. … Read more
In its first quarter, Stellantis achieved a 23.6% market share in Europe (enough to beat entrenched leader Volkswagen, which includes Audi, Skoda, Seat, and smaller brands) and an 11.5% retail share in the United States; the company also has a market share of 22.2% in South America as a whole. The company shipped out 1,526,000 … Read more