1991 Dodge Dakota Le Standard Cab Pickup 2-door 5.2l 65592 Original Miles on 2040-cars

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Only in Japan: Dodge van one-make racing series is a thing

Japan seems willing to embrace a level of automotive insanity that many other places lack. Whether it's 1,200-horsepower Nissan GT-Rs blasting through tight, tree-lined mountain roads or advertisements with dances for the Toyota Prius Plug-in, the country definitely has a unique way of expressing a love for autos. The D-Van Grand Prix might be one of our favorite examples yet of crazy Japanese car culture, because the annual, one-make race at the Ebisu Circuit is exclusively for heavily customized Dodge vans. Like many great things, this wonderfully crazy idea came from a little rule breaking. D-Van Grand Prix organizer Takuro Abe was at a track event for a motorcycle racing school, and vans were used to haul the bikes around. During lunch someone came up with the idea for a race. Ignoring that the big machines weren't actually allowed on the circuit, the drivers headed out. The popularity has just grown since then. These days, the racing vans absolutely aren't the stock machines from the event's inspiration. In addition to stripped interiors and track rubber that you might expect, the list of mods for them is a mile long. For every possible advantage, the racers fit them with things like Brembo brakes, cross-drilled rotors, heavy-duty transmissions, and much more. Seeing vans lumbering around the track is very weird at first, but the racers take the competition very seriously. These folks even employ all sorts of little tricks to coax the most from the machines. This is a fascinating motorsports story, but be sure to turn on the subtitles to understand the interviews with the competitors.

Who are Mike Manley, Louis Camilleri, and Suzanne Heywood?

MILAN – Fiat Chrysler aid on Saturday that boss Sergio Marchionne, 66, would not be returning to work because he was gravely ill. In addition to being FCA chief executive, Marchionne was also CEO and chairman of luxury sports car brand Ferrari and chairman of truck and tractor maker CNH Industrial, which were spun off from FCA in recent years. Following is a brief summary on the executives who have been appointed to replace him in the various roles: MIKE MANLEY The 54-year-old Briton picked to become the FCA's new CEO has been leading the group's top brand Jeep since 2009, first as Jeep President and CEO at Chrysler and then as FCA's Jeep head. In 2015 he was also appointed head of the Ram brand. Under his tenure, Jeep turned into a global brand becoming, together with Ram, FCA's profit engine. Jeep sold nearly 1.4 million cars last year compared with less than 338,000 in 2009. Manley had worked as DaimlerChrysler's head of network development in Britain since 2000, having earlier worked for several years in car dealership. At Chrysler, he headed product planning and all sales activities outside of North America and then became the group's chief operating officer for Asia and the lead executive for the international activities outside of NAFTA. LOUIS CAMILLERI The new Ferrari CEO was already a board member at the luxury sportscar maker before his latest appointment. He is also the chairman of Philip Morris International, where he also held the job of CEO from 2008 to 2013. Born in 1955, Camilleri had joined Altria Group, which controls Philip Morris, in 1978 holding various positions until he became chief financial officer in 1996 and then CEO in 2002. Camilleri was also chairman of Kraft Foods from 2002 to 2007. Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat wished Camilleri luck on Twitter saying he was proud to have "a bit of Malta in Ferrari" thanks to the new CEO, who was born in Egypt to Maltese parents. SUZANNE HEYWOOD The new, British-born chairwoman of CNH Industrial has been since 2016 the managing director of EXOR, the holding company through which the Agnelli family controls FCA. Heywood, 49, started her career at the British Treasury and then joined McKinsey in 1997, leading for many years the consultancy firm's global service line on organization design. She eventually became a senior partner there. Heywood sits on the board of The Economist, which is controlled by EXOR, and the board of the Royal Opera House, where she is also deputy chair.

The first production 1992 Dodge Viper RT/10 is up for grabs

The 1992 Dodge Viper RT/10 was a game-changer both for parent company Chrysler and the U.S. auto industry at large. While it was significant for bringing its automaker out of its dull, post-1980s funk, it also lit a fire under the rest of Detroit. If it hadn't been for the Viper, the world may not have gotten the C5 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 (and its many world-class successors) or the revived Ford GT.  And the very first one is headed to auction.  This Viper is particularly special for two reasons. Not only was it the first production RT/10 to roll off the line at Chrysler's Mack Avenue plant (the Viper wouldn't move to Conner Avenue Assembly until 1996), but it was immediately scooped up by industry icon and then-Chrysler executive Lee Iacocca, who famously ushered fellow great Bob Lutz on stage at the Viper concept's reveal and told him to "build the damn thing." Even if you've never heard of Iacocca, you're certainly familiar with the cars he's influenced, whether you know it or not. Whether it's the Chrysler K-Car platform (and the minivan segment it spawned) or the 1964 Ford Mustang, one of Iacocca's projects has undoubtedly touched your life in one way or another.  Showing just over 6,200 miles, this Viper remained in Iacocca's possession from day one until his passing in 2019. Even without the Iacocca connection, this would be a special lot. VIN #001 is all-original, packing the 8.0-liter V10 engine that made the Viper famous. Dodge's bruiser was also known for being light on superfluous extras, such as anti-lock brakes, which the Viper didn't receive until 2001 — just before the second-generation model was discontinued.  Bonhams projects this Viper will go for between $100,000 and $125,000. That's probably a bargain. Opportunities to own such a unique and significant piece of automotive history come around very rarely, and considering this is about the same amount FCA was charging for a brand-new Viper when it went out production in 2017, it's not an unreasonable price point.  The Viper will cross the block on Jan. 16.