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Junkyard 1983 Dodge Rampage has Franco-American roots

Lee Iacocca and the K-Cars get most of the credit for saving Chrysler after the company's 1979 bailout by the US government, but the success of the Simca-derived Omnirizon platform was a large, if overlooked, component of Chrysler's early-1980s resurgence. The Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon were sold in the United States for the 1978 through 1990 model years, and variants included the 1983-1987 Dodge Charger and the Rampage, this well-worn example of which I spotted in a Denver self-service wrecking yard last week. The early Omnirizons came with a Volkswagen-sourced 1.7-liter engine, but all of the Rampage pickups (and their near-identical Plymouth Scamp siblings) came from the factory with a 2.2-liter K-Car engine making 96 horses. This truck has a 4-speed manual transmission, which would have made it reasonably quick by Malaise Era standards. This one had plenty of body filler and rust, even before the crash that sent it on that final tow-truck ride to this place, so it wouldn't have been worth restoring. Still, we can hope that some of its parts will live on in other L-body trucks. Related Video: Featured Gallery Junked 1983 Dodge Rampage in Denver View 16 Photos Chrysler Dodge Automotive History Truck Classics dodge rampage

Marchionne completed Fiat-Chrysler deal from a Florida beach

Sergio Marchionne is the CEO of Fiat, which as you may have heard, has finally worked up a deal to finish acquiring the Chrysler Group after months of bargaining with the United Auto Workers and its VEBA healthcare trust, which owned just over 40 percent of the American brand. Where was Marchionne when the deal was finally hammered out? Well, not tucked away in a frigid Detroit board room until the wee hours of the morning.
Nope, one of the largest deals in automotive history was reportedly hammered out on the beach - at the home of a banker, in the Florida resort town of Vero Beach. Marchionne traveled to the home of Alain Lebec, a senior managing director at Brock Capital LLC, one of the advisory companies for the VEBA fund, where both sides met to make final arrangements in the $4.35-billion exchange. The location of the final deal, though, is nearly as remarkable as the pace with which it came about.
According to anonymous sources pinned down by Automotive News Europe, before the meeting, the two sides were meeting in Detroit as recently as December 19, which is where Fiat made one of its final revised offers. Naturally, the VEBA made a counter offer, which led Marchionne to initiate the Vero Beach meeting.

GM, Ford, Toyota, Stellantis CEOs want EV tax credit cap lifted

For just over a decade now, the U.S. has had a federal tax credit worth up to $7,500 for buyers of electric cars and plug-in hybrids. The catch has been that, once 200,000 of them were claimed for a manufacturer, that credit would be phased out. Now, automakers are asking for this cap to be lifted across the board, specifically General Motors, Ford, Toyota and Stellantis. The request comes in the form of a joint letter to Congress (which you can read here), signed by the CEOs of each company. And the ask really is as simple as that. The automakers would like the cap lifted for all EV manufacturers, and instead have a sunset date for the tax credit put in place. Broadly speaking, they want it lifted because of concerns about rising costs from materials and supply chain issues, which can lead to higher prices and could discourage buyers from getting an EV. It would also put automakers back on an even playing field. GM reached its tax credit cap a few years ago, meaning that none of its EVs are eligible for the tax credit. So while it reaped the benefits early on, it now has something of a disadvantage to competitors with credits remaining, such as those that signed on to this letter. GM wouldn't be the only beneficiary. Tesla ran out of credits years ago, too. Nissan still has credits, but likely not for much longer, as InsideEVs reports around 190,000 Leafs have been sold in the U.S. as of April. So it will probably face a phase-out soon, just as the anticipated, and more expensive, Ariya is heading to market. Making this change would also seem like a good choice for continuing to stimulate EV sales, if that's what the government is looking to do. While EVs are now reaching parity in practicality and performance with gas-powered cars, having an additional financial incentive will surely keep them looking more attractive. And automakers can push EVs without fear of running out of credits early. Certainly some sorts of changes to the EV tax credit are likely. There are bills in the works focusing on cap changes as well as the amount of money available, and which vehicles are eligible. Credits up to $12,500 have been proposed, plus possible credits for used EV sales and restricting some credits to vehicles of certain price brackets. Of course, any changes will require some cooperation in a deeply divided Congress. Related Video: Government/Legal Green Chevrolet Chrysler Ford Toyota Electric EV tax credit