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Detroit 3 to implement delayed unified towing standards for 2015

Car buyers have a responsibility to be well-informed consumers. That's not always a very simple task, but some guidelines are self-evident. If you live in a very snowy climate, you generally know a Ford Mustang or Chevrolet Camaro might not be as viable a vehicle choice as an all-wheel drive Explorer or Traverse, for example. If you want a fuel-efficient car, it's generally a good idea to know the difference between a diesel and a hybrid. But what if it's kind of tough to be an informed consumer? What if the information you need is more difficult to come by, or worse, based on different standards for each vehicle? Well, in that case, you might be a truck shopper.
For years, customers of light-duty pickups have had to suffer through different ratings of towing capacities for each brand. For 2015 model year trucks, though, that will no longer be a problem. According to Automotive News, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler Group have announced that starting with next year's models, a common standard will be used to measure towing capacity. The Detroit Three will join Toyota, which adopted the Society of Automotive Engineers' so-called SAE J2807 standards way back in 2011.
The standard was originally supposed to be in place for MY2013, but concerns that it would lower the overall stated capacity for trucks led Detroit automakers to pass. Ford originally passed, claiming it'd wait until its new F-150 was launched to adopt the new standards, leading GM and Ram to follow suit. Nissan, meanwhile, has said it will adopt the new standards as its vehicles are updated, meaning the company's next-generation Titan should adhere to the same tow ratings as its competitors.

Junkyard Gem: 2006 Chrysler Sebring Touring Convertible

Quick, what was the cheapest new convertible Americans could buy in 2006? If you guessed "Chrysler PT Cruiser" ($19,890 MSRP) you're right, but the Pontiac Solstice cost just 25 additional bucks. After that came the likes of the Miata, Mustang, New Beetle, and so forth, all priced below $25,000 in their most affordable ragtop versions that year. The Chrysler Sebring was the cheapest midsize convertible in 2006, with a price starting at just $26,115 (about $39,005 in 2022 dollars), edging out the Toyota Camry Solara SE by 825 bucks. Here's one of those roomy-yet-reasonably-priced Chrysler convertibles, now absolutely used up and residing in a Colorado self-service wrecking yard. Chrysler sold Sebrings from the 1995 through 2010 model years, in three generations. The convertible version appeared early on, starting in 1996; it started out on the same platform as the now-long-forgotten "Cloud Cars" (Chrysler Cirrus, Plymouth Breeze, Dodge Stratus), then moved in 2007 to a Mitsubishi/DaimlerChrysler-developed platform that went under everything from Outlanders to Avengers. That makes today's Junkyard Gem one of the newest American members of the Cloud Car family tree, though GAZ built Sebring-derived Volga Sibers in Russia for a few more years. By the time it got to this place, it had become a total hooptie. Rattle-can paint, duct-tape trim repair, the works. Just 16 years old, but it's done. The baling-wire repair to the torn convertible top shows ingenuity on the part of a former owner. Plywood appears to be keeping the roof from collapsing. Because so many Sebrings were invisible fleet cars, it's easy to forget that a convertible even existed. In fact, the Sebring was the best-selling new convertible in America in the middle 2000s. When the 24 Hours of Lemons race series first went to Sebring International Raceway in 2014, I used my vast powers as Chief Justice of the Lemons Supreme Court to get entry fees waived for Chrysler Sebring race cars. We got two Sebrings that year, both convertibles. The base Sebrings for 2006 got the 2.4-liter straight-four out of the just-discontinued Neon, while the Touring, GTC, and Limited trim levels got this 200-horsepower DOHC V6 (originally developed for the Chrysler LH cars) displacing 2.7 liters. Early U.S.-market Sebrings could be purchased with five-speed manual transmissions, but a four-speed automatic was mandatory by the time this car was built.

The Aficianauto sets his lens on Black Beauty

In the short time we've known about the works of The Aficionauto, we've become fans of the video series highlighting some of the most famous and iconic movie/television cars ever. While past episodes featured cars from 1980s movies and tv shows, the latest video shows off the 1965 Chrysler Imperial affectionately known as Black Beauty We saw the Imperial for the first time at the 2009 Comic-Con; the car actually used in the 2011 action comedy The Green Hornet.
Of the 30 cars made for the movie, host Chris Rutkowski says that Sony only preserved two, and if you're a collector of movie cars, this one is currently being sold for $165,000. Scroll down to watch as Rutkowski takes Black Beauty for a spin through Beverly Hills, CA with its assortment of exposed weapons including the hood-mounted machine guns, numerous missiles and flame thrower.