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From Maseratis to rental cars | Autoblog Podcast #511

On this week's podcast, Mike Austin and David Gluckman are in a huddle room (again), because the studio was already taken (again). We talk about the all-wheel-drive Dodge Challenger GT (again), as well as the Jeep Wrangler, Maserati Levante, Miata RF (again), and then David waxes poetic on mediocre rental cars (or similar). The episode wraps up with the traditional doling out of Spend My Money buying advice, with some input from an S2000 owner on advice discussed last time. The rundown is below. Remember, if you have a car-related question you'd like us to answer or you want buying advice of your very own, send a message or a voice memo to podcast at autoblog dot com. (If you record audio of a question with your phone and get it to us, you could hear your very own voice on the podcast. Neat, right?) And if you have other questions or comments, please send those too. Autoblog Podcast #511 Topics and stories we mention Dodge Challenger GT Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Maserati Levante Mazda MX-5 Miata RF Used cars! Rundown Intro - 00:00 What we're driving - 06:11 Spend My Money - 32:45 Total Duration: 55:30 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Feedback Email – Podcast at Autoblog dot com Review the show on iTunes Podcasts Dodge Jeep Maserati Mazda Nissan mazda mx-5 rf dodge challenger gt

2018 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Alaska Cannonball | Into the West

Our man Jonathon Ramsey is driving a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon on a 14-week, 14,000 mile journey across North America. Check out his first and second installments. DOVE CREEK, Colo. – Last week I hopped off the Oklahoma panhandle into Grenville, New Mexico. After a tight right-left on Grenville's Lake Road, the tarmac fell away into immense, scrub-filled valleys rimmed by rock spires and elevated mesas. Pushing into Colorado from the southeast, elevation and high-plains beauty come quickly. It's like driving through the imaginary Arcadias on bottled water labels, or one of those 5,000-piece puzzle sets that grandparents and aunts devote months and bottles of gin to. I'm shacked up in Dove Creek's surprisingly quaint Country Inn because rain. Here are some notes from the road. For lack of time and space, I only mentioned the Jeep Collection in Suwanee, Georgia in passing last week. Once more: if you're a fan of Jeeps and you get to the Atlanta metro area, I highly recommend a visit — and look at the pictures at the bottom of this article. The 2018 Wrangler Rubicon I'm driving now sports Willys icons on the gear shift lever, windshield, and wheels, and when you turn the rig on, a graphic in the dash cluster morphs from a Willys into a JL Wrangler. Jeep insists on carrying the torch of its origins, so I found it edifying to sit in all four of those origins at the Jeep Collection. I can tell you this: the Americans who fought WWII were a lot smaller than we are. What am I driving? The Monroney titles it a 2018 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon 4X4, with a base price of $40,495. It's been plumped with these options: Leather ($1,495), Customer Preferred Package 24R (Cold Weather Group, $895), Trailer Tow HD Electrical Group ($795), LED Lighting ($895), Electronic Infotainment System Group with 8.4-inch Uconnect and Alpine Premium Audio ($1,295), Steel Bumper Group ($1,295), Trail Rail Management System ($195), All-Weather Floor Mats ($130), 8-Speed Automatic Transmission ($2,000), Premium Black Sunrider Soft Top ($595), and 17-inch black wheels with polished lips ($895). Add the $1,195 destination charge, and a customer paying MSRP would need to pony up $52,175 to take it home. Regarding my previous list of aftermarket bits, the Mopar rock rails are so well integrated that I forgot to mention them. They have come in handy. The Mopar grab handles, however, aren't so handy. The hard rubber grips hang from the roof by nylon straps, next to the front windows.

Stellantis will give its brands 10 years to prove they deserve to live

Formed by the merger of PSA Peugeot-Citroen and Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles, Stellantis has 14 brands under its roof, a number that makes it one of the largest groups in the industry. Rumors claimed not every brand would survive, with Chrysler often earmarked to get axed, but the firm said it will give them all a chance to shine. "We're giving each (brand) a chance, giving each a time window of 10 years and giving funding for 10 years to do a core model strategy. The CEOs need to be clear in brand promise, customers, targets, and brand communications," announced Stellantis boss Carlos Tavares during the Financial Times' Future of the Car event. His comments confirm Chrysler fans and dealers don't need to worry about the future — at least not yet. And, against all odds, Lancia enthusiasts can breathe a sigh of relief, too. Former FCA head Sergio Marchionne warned of the brand's demise on several occasions. Alfa Romeo is safe for now, too, as is Vauxhall, which are basically just Opels sold in the United Kingdom with a different badge. The engagement made by Tavares also means Stellantis won't divest any of its brands to raise capital until at least 2031. It's now up to each executive team to make a case for the brand they run, an unusual survival-of-the-fittest strategy in an era when cutting costs is more common than spending cash. Diving into the vast Stellantis parts bin should help even the most troubled brands turn their fortunes around on a relatively tight budget. It seems likely that survive Chrysler will need to look beyond the 300 and the Pacifica/Voyager, the only models in its range, and completely reinvent its image, which is currently nebulous at best. Lancia, once the champion of luxury, performance, and innovation, faces the same challenge. It's not starting quite from scratch, it's relatively popular in its home country of Italy, but it will need to think globally and expand outside of the city car segment to survive. Featured Gallery 2020 Chrysler 300 View 24 Photos Chrysler Dodge Fiat Jeep RAM Citroen Lancia Opel Peugeot Vauxhall