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Ford Mustang was almost 'Imported from Detroit'

The Ford Mustang achieved iconic status nearly the moment the sheet came off at the 1964 World's Fair. And if Henry Ford II wasn't getting divorced around that time, the pony car might have been called the Torino and been marketed as 'Imported from Detroit,' according to Automotive News. We'll explain. During research for the new book Once in a Great City: A Detroit Story, author David Maraniss found an interesting connection between Chrysler's (now FCA US) slogan and the Ford Mustang. Before the pony car even had a name, the Blue Oval's advertising agency had the idea to market it as a "brand new import ... from Detroit," according to Automotive News. The vehicle would be sold as "inspired by Italy's great road cars, but straight from Detroit." The name Torino was suggested, as well. However, the real world interfered in making the Mustang Detroit's first import. According to the author, Henry Ford II was getting a divorce, and his future wife was Italian. It was therefore thought to be a bad idea to sell the future pony car as being from Italy. Things clearly changed by the time the Torino hit the streets years later. Related Video:

Chrysler called out over lackluster Ram Runner by racer who helped develop it

Fans of off-roading and desert blasting might recall that Chrysler offers an aftermarket conversion that can turn a Ram 1500 into a road-legal desert racer, called the Ram Runner. The kit, sold through Mopar, includes some significant suspension upgrades, body tweaks and a brawnier cat-back exhaust for the truck's 5.7-liter V8.
Considering all of this, comparisons with the almighty Ford F-150 SVT Raptor are common. Among the off-road community, that makes these two a sort of Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang for people that prefer driving on dirt. In the Race-Dezert forum, the discussion as to which truck was better was proceeding as normal - Ram fans said their piece and Ford fans said theirs. Then, a man named Kent Kroeker offered up his two cents.
See, Kroeker is a Baja racer, and the man that helped develop the Ram Runner. Despite his association with the truck, though, he had some less than kind words for Chrysler and the Ram Runner.

What we think we know about Chrysler's plug-in hybrid minivan, CUV

When the 2016 Town & Country comes to Chrysler dealerships, it will sport something no production minivan has ever had: a plug. That was on bit of news hidden in the massive Fiat Chrysler (FCA) product preview held in Detroit on Tuesday. All FCA would say about the minivan was that the Town & Country PHEV would get 75 MPGe. We know from the product preview slide (click to enlarge) that there are actually two plug-in hybrids coming from FCA. The minivan and a "full-size crossover," due in 2017. While that could describe the next-gen Dodge Journey, it could also be a brand new peoplemover. All FCA said officially was that it will be a "new vehicle or renewal of existing nameplate," which seems like an awful broad definition. We were curious to know more about these products, so we asked FCA spokesman Eric Mayne. Sadly, he was less than forthcoming, telling AutoblogGreen, "I can only refer you back to the presentations in which the PHEV is mentioned. If the answers aren't there, you'll have to wait." There are actually two plug-in hybrids coming from FCA. Well, sure, for actual facts we'll have to wait, but we can still speculate and look into the archives to see what plug-in vehicle technology FCA has offered in the past. Chrysler had an electric vehicle working group called ENVI that created products like an all-electric minivan for the US Postal Service (pictured). ENVI was disbanded in 2009. At the time, the company said plug-in vehicle work would continue, and since then we saw PHEV minivan and PHEV truck test programs from Chrysler and Ram. In early 2012, Chrysler started testing a small, 25-unit fleet of plug-in hybrid-electric Town & Country minivans with the city of Auburn Hills, MI, where the company is located. The $26-million demonstration project was funded in part by the US Department of Energy, which covered $10 million. The stated plan was for those minivans to each hit at least 16,800 miles over two years, but there were hiccups. In September 2012, for example, the liquid-cooled 12.1-kWh batteries from were found to overheat. Those batteries came from Electrovaya and were mated to a 3.6-liter Pentastar engine that could burn E85. Will any of this make it into the production Town & Country PHEV? No idea, but now we know where the company's coming from. FCA also has some EV experience with the Fiat 500e. Chrysler says electrification has been over-blown by the media.