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Dodge restores Brass Monkey wheels to Challenger and Charger SRT Hellcat

For the first part of 2020, Dodge removed the option of its Devils Rim aluminum wheel design in Brass Monkey finish for the Hellcat-powered Challenger and Charger models. Mopar Insiders reports the wheels will return to the menu once Dodge starts production of its two muscle cars again, tidings to please forum members asking why they couldn't order the rims. The standard fit on the regular cars is a 20-inch Low Gloss Black Performance wheel, the options either a 20-inch Machined w/Granite Pocket wheel or a 20-inch Matte Vapor SRT aluminum wheel. On the widebody cars, standard fit is a 20-inch Carbon Black Aluminum wheel, one option being a 20-inch Warp Speed Granite wheel that's the same design as the Matte Vapor but with a different finish. The 20-inch Brass Monkeys are the second option on widebody versions of the Charger Hellcat and Hellcat Redeye, replacing the 20-inch Matte Vapor SRT Aluminum rim available on the non-widebody.   Those choices are on the Dodge configurator. At the time of writing, what's missing from the online tool are the Brass Monkey options for the standard Challengers and the Charger Hellcat Widedody models that MI says are coming. The wider versions of the Challenger Hellcat bolt on a set of 20-inchers that are 11 inches wide; we're told the standard cars will offer Brass Monkey rims in 20 x 9.5 inches. The Charger Hellcat only comes in two widebody versions, so it should get the 20x11-inch Brass Monkey wheels, but the options haven't showed up on the configurator. The sole choices at the moment are the Carbon Black Aluminum and Warp Speed Granite wheels. The other difference to note is that wheres the optional wheels on the Challenger all cost $1,095, the Charger's upgrades cost $1,295. Whenever production begins in Brampton, Ontario, again, the coveted wheels will bring another extra with them: Exterior badges done in a Black and Dark Bronze finish. Related Video:    

Auto Mergers and Acquisitions: Suicide or salvation?

We love the Moses figure. A savior riding in from stage right with the ideas, the smarts, and the scrappiness to put things right. Alan Mullaly. Carroll Shelby. Lee Iacocca. Andrew Carnegie. Steve Jobs. Elon Musk. Bart Simpson. Sergio Marchionne does not likely view himself with Moses-like optics, but the CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles recently gave a remarkable, perhaps prophetic interview with Automotive News about his interest and the inevitability of merging with a potential automotive partner like General Motors. Marchionne has been overtly public about his notion that GM must merge with FCA. For a bit of context, GM sold 9.9 million vehicles in 2014, posting $2.8 billion in net income, while FCA sold 4.75 million units and earned $2.4 billion in net income, painting a very rosy FCA earnings-to-sales picture. But that's not the entire picture. Most people in the auto industry still remember the trainwreck that was the DaimlerChrysler "merger" written in what turned out to be sand in 1998. It proved to be a master class in how not to fuse two companies, two cultures, two continents, and two management teams. Oh, it worked for the two individuals at both helms pre-merger. They got silly rich. And the industry itself was in a misty romance at the time with mergers and acquisitions. BMW bought Rolls-Royce. Volkswagen Group bought Bentley, Bugatti, and Lamborghini, putting all three brands into their rightful place in both products and positioning. No marriages there, so no false pretense. Finally, Nissan and Renault got married in 1999. A successful marriage requires several rare elements in this atmosphere of gas fumes and power lust. But a successful marriage requires several rare elements in this atmosphere of gas fumes and power lust, the principle part being honesty. Daimler and Chrysler lied to each other. The heads of each unit, the product planners, and finance all presented their then-current and long-range forecasts to each other with less-than-forthright accuracy. Daimler was the far greater equal and no one from the Chrysler side enjoyed that. The cultures were entirely different, too, and little was done to bridge that gap. Which brings me back to the present overtures by Marchionne to GM. "There are varying degrees of hugs," Marchionne stated in the Automotive News piece. "I can hug you nicely, I can hug you tightly, I can hug you like a bear, I can really hug you." Seriously?

The Walter P. Chrysler Museum is shutting down permanently this December

It is with disappointment that we report the Walter P. Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills, MI, will be closed down permanently at the end of this year. The museum, which closed in 2012 after not being able to cover costs, was recently reopened to the public on alternating weekends starting in June, but Chrysler made the decision to shutter it altogether after its final day of operation on December 18, 2016. The reason for this is primarily because FCA needs more office space, and the company decided to convert the museum for that purpose. The the cars will be moved to storage after the closure, and they'll be shown at various events. However, they'll only be able to be seen together for two more weekends. Those weekends include those of November 19 and 20, and December 17 and 18. The museum will be open from 10 am to 4 pm on those days. If you can, we highly recommend visiting the museum. Adults get in for $10, seniors and retired FCA employees for $8, kids between 6 and 17 for $6, and kids under 5 for free. It also has some fantastic cars including concepts from the 1950s to the 2000s, oddball performance vehicles such as the Omni GLH-S, and of course plenty of fascinating history. And if it makes any difference to you, there's even a purple Plymouth Prowler you can sit in. Just make sure you don't wait too long to make up your mind about visiting. Related Video: