Dodge: Journey Sxt on 2040-cars

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How fracking is causing Chrysler minivans to sit on Detroit's riverfront

It's fascinating the way that one change to a complex system can have all sorts of unintended consequences. For instance, there are hundreds of new Chrysler Town and County and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans built in Windsor, Ontario, sitting in lots on the Detroit waterfront because of the energy boom in the Bakken oil field in the northern US and parts of Canada.
The huge amount of crude oil coming from these sites mostly use freight trains for transport, and that supply boom has resulted in a shortage of railcars to carry other goods. According to The Windsor Star, North American crude oil transport by train has gone from 9,500 carloads in 2008 to 434,032 carloads in 2013. Making matters worse, some North American rail infrastructure is still damaged because of this year's harsh winter, and that's slowing things down even further.
Chrysler admits to The Star that it has had some delivery delays due to the freight train shortage. In the meantime, it's using more trucks to deliver its vehicles. Trucking is a far less economical solution, partially because a train can carry so many more units at one time, but alternatives are slim. The Windsor plant alone has a deal for 33 trucks to distribute the minivans around Canada and the Midwestern US.

Chrysler extending production of current Dodge Avenger, Jeep Wrangler, Grand Caravan

Are you hesitant to pull the trigger on a brand new Dodge Avenger in hopes that a new one will be coming? Well, don't hold your breath. According to The Detroit News, Chrysler will be extending production of the current Avenger sedan through the end of 2015.
Originally, we heard that the company would kill the Avenger to better focus its midsize sedan efforts on the Chrysler 200 replacement. But then new reports stated there would indeed be an Avenger successor, and that we could see it as early as next January. This Detroit News report cites supplier sources confirming the extension of Avenger production, though Chrysler has not released an official statement on the matter.
These same suppliers say that the current Jeep Wrangler will live on through mid-2018 - that's right, another five years. The Detroit News reports that a replacement for the iconic, go-anywhere Jeep was due in mid-2016.

Real-life Bravado Banshee from Grand Theft Auto up for sale

Remember the Bravado Banshee that West Coast Customs built last year to promote Grand Theft Auto V? Given away by GameStop, the woman who won it says she's better off with money to send her two kids to college than with a race car, so now you can steal buy it on eBay.
Based on a 2006 Dodge Viper SRT-10, every exterior panel was redesigned to match the Banshee, and the red embroidered badging inside won't let you forget it. There's still that V10 up front that can make some kind of racket, and a SEMA-worthy stereo filling the entire trunk to make a different kind of racket. Oh, it's also got hood struts that have crapped out, so you'll notice the hood is held up with a wooden rod.
The auction ends on June 5, and you can make an offer or hit the Buy It Now button and hand over $170,000. Might be time to change the outfit and run a few jobs for some quick cash.