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1979 Dodge Li'l Red Express in Generation Gap showdown with 1933 Ford Pickup

Auto enthusiasts love a good debate, whether it's Mustang versus Camaro or Ferrari against Lamborghini. But how about a battle between two very different vintages of classic pickup trucks? In this case, the fight is between a 1979 Dodge Li'l Red Express and a 1933 Ford Model 46 truck with a flathead V8.
The shootout comes courtesy of the internet series Generation Gap, and its concept is super-simple. One guy prefers classics, and the other likes newer rides. They choose a category, pick two vehicles and put them head to head. In this case, neither is exactly modern, though. The Ford is more than old enough to receive Social Security checks, and the Dodge is hardly a young whippersnapper.
Other than both being pickups, these two models were made to serve very different functions. The Li'l Red Express was basically the progenitor of today's muscle trucks, with a big V8 that made it one of the quickest new models in its day (admittedly, 1979 was a rough time for automotive performance). On the other hand, the '33 Ford was just meant to work, with little pretense for anything else. One of the hosts describes it as "the simplest, most difficult" vehicle he's driven because of the tricky double clutchwork necessary to shift gears. Scroll down to watch the video and try to decide which of these two American classics you would rather have in your garage.

Dodge, Ram, Jeep — Stellantis — dumped a ton of news: Here's a roundup

Stellantis hit us with an absolute deluge of information regarding its future electric vehicle plans Thursday, including a roadmap for each of its brands to reach a goal of making electrified vehicles 80% of the company's total global volume by 2030. We'll hit all of the highlights here, with an emphasis on those that matter most to the U.S. marketplace.  Stellantis previews 4 electric platforms: Here's how they'll be used This is the method behind the rest of Thursday's madness. Eventually, Stellantis will migrate its electrified vehicles onto one of these core platforms based around a new common EV powertrain architecture.    Dodge will launch the 'world's first electric muscle car' in 2024 It looks like Dodge will invoke its 60s heritage (peep the illuminated "Fratzog" on the nose) for a new, all-electric muscle car. Based on the STLA Large platform, it's projected to have a 0-to-60 time as low as 2 seconds and a range of up to 500 miles. The automaker also hinted at a maximum power output of as high as 886 horsepower courtesy of a pair of 330-kilowatt electric motors.   Jeep will have 4xe plug-in hybrid models across the lineup by 2025 The iconic 4x4 brand will have a plug-in hybrid variant of every model by 2025. The U.S.-market Compass 4xe is expected to debut this summer, and the Wagoneer 4xe has already been announced. The Grand Cherokee 4xe will be shown at the New York International Auto Show in August.    Fully electric Ram 1500 will begin production in 2024 You didn't think the Ford F-150 Lightning would get the space all to itself, did you? Ram says it will have an electrified Ram 1500 on the market soon. Will it be fast enough to beat GM?   Stellantis teases mystery electric Chrysler concept This one's a genuine puzzler. We've reached out to Chrysler for details, but for now, all we know is that this all-electric concept appears production-friendly and will ostensibly ride on the same STLA Large platform as the Dodge muscle car.    Opel Manta E will be the electric revival of the classic German coupe We'll forgive you if you'd forgotten that Opel was now part of Stellantis, and with new ownership comes new opportunity. The company revived the Manta nameplate as a high-riding coupe/hatchback concept.   Fiat says all Abarth models to be electric from 2024 This likely won't matter much in the U.S. market, where the 500X will soon be the only vehicle it sells, but Fiat's performance division is going all-electric.

FCA's large, LX-based RWD cars will stick around until 2020

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles plans to stick with the Dodge Challenger, Dodge Charger, and Chrysler 300 until at least 2020, reports Automotive News. The information comes from two unnamed sources and was loosely confirmed by details in the automaker's new labor contract with Unifor, Canada's auto union. The plan, according to two anonymous sources, is to lightly refresh the Challenger, Charger, and 300 until the vehicles make the switch to FCA's new Giorgio platform. The refresh, as Automotive News points out, will happen in 2018. The Giorgio platform currently underpins the Alfa Romeo Giulia and is expected to find its way to two of the three large American vehicles for the 2021 model year. At that time, FCA will discontinue either the Charger or the 300, claim AN's unnamed sources. If one of the vehicles were to go, it would most likely be the 300. The 300's LX platform would be approximately 15 years old in 2020 and the vehicle doesn't draw in as many sales as the Challenger or the Charger. The Charger made the switch from the LX platform in 2010 with the current model utilizing the mildly updated LD platform, while the Challenger recently moved from the LC platform to the LA platform last year. All of those rear-wheel-drive platforms are closely related. Automotive News points out that FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne stated that the new platform could be utilized across various applications in a conference call with analysts last month. The plan, according to the report, is to stretch and widen the Giorgio platform for the next-gen Challenger and Charger. The new platform is also rigid enough to allow the automaker to add a convertible to its lineup, which could lend further credence to rumors of an upcoming Barracuda. Hopefully, the move to the new Giorgio platform doesn't delay the all-wheel-drive Challenger GT AWD or the wide-body, Hellcat-powered Challenger ADR. We'll just have to wait and see. Related Video: News Source: Automotive News - sub. req. Chrysler Dodge Coupe Performance Sedan FCA fiat chrysler automobiles