1950 Dodge Panel Truck on 2040-cars

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121k Dodge Darts being investigated over braking problem

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating the Dodge Dart due to reports of braking problems. Some 121,000 cars are possibly affected, all from the 2013 model year. According to The Detroit News, NHTSA received 18 complaints about the brake pedal becoming hard to depress on these cars, increasing stopping distance. Drivers reported hearing a "pop noise or an air hissing noise when applying the brake pedal, followed by a hard pedal feel and reduced brake effectiveness," NHTSA told the News. In a particularly terrifying incident, one driver says the Dart's braking system shut down while driving at 50 miles per hour. "I feared for my life. It is one of the scariest things I have ever dealt with," the complaint said, according to The Detroit News. A Fiat-Chrysler spokesperson said the automaker is "fully cooperating" with this investigation.

Junkyard Gem: 1963 Dodge Dart two-door sedan

The 1963-1966 Dodge Dart, sibling to the Plymouth Valiant, was sturdy, cheap, and easy to drive, and it sold very well. Here's a worn-but-solid example of the two-door '63 Dart sedan, spotted in a Denver-area self-service wrecking yard. The only transmission choices for the Dart this year were a three-speed manual and an automatic controlled by Chrysler's famous dash-mounted pushbutton shifter. These shifters worked surprisingly well, even when used for road racing. Starting in the 1964 model year, the Dart could be purchased with a 273-cubic-inch V8 engine, but in 1963 Dart buyers had but two engine choices: a slant-6 displacing 170 cubic inches and good for 101 horsepower and a slant-6 displacing 225 cubic inches and making 145 horsepower. This car has the big engine. This is one of the most reliable engines to come out of Detroit, period. The interior is pretty beat, but the metal isn't rusty. You'd think that someone would have rescued this car long before it came to this sorry end, but perhaps Dart restorers only want numbers-matching V8 cars these days. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. "The new kind of compact in the large economy size."

MotorWeek relives '80s coupes with Dodge Daytona, Ford Escort EXP

Get ready for a wave of nostalgia and the rapid realization of the huge progress in performance cars over the last 30 years. For its latest Retro Review, MotorWeek takes a look back at two, front-wheel drive coupes from the '80s that seem to have entirely vanished from the roads today. Both the 1986 Dodge Daytona CS and the 1986.5 Ford Escort EXP were considered affordable, sporty options in their day, but the passage of time hasn't been kind to either of their specs. The Daytona certainly looks the part of a performance machine with a body that's reminiscent of other '80s coupes, like the third-gen Chevrolet Camaro. However with 146 horsepower and 170 pound-feet of torque from a 2.2-liter turbocharged four-cylinder, acceleration wasn't exactly a strong suit. MotorWeek complained about copious torque steer, as well. The optional CS suspension upgrade package on this Daytona was apparently a nod to Carroll Shelby who was working with Dodge at the time. If anything, the Escort EXP withstands the test of time even worse. As a two-seat coupe, you might have expected Ford's engineers to really turn up the performance to fit the sporty image that the exterior conveyed. That didn't really happen, and depending on which model buyers ordered, they got either 86 horsepower with a 1.9-liter engine or the "high-output" version of that mill with 108 hp.