1962 Chrysler 300 2 Door Hardtop Original Condition on 2040-cars

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Total auto recalls already on record pace in 2014

If you've noticed that there have been more recalls than usual this year, you may be on to something. According to a report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the US market is on pace to break a record for recalls. In 2013, 22 million cars were recalled. We're only a third of the way through 2014, though, and we've already halved that figure, with 11 million units recalled. That's wild.
Considering the past few months, it shouldn't be a surprise that General Motors is leading the charge, with six million of the 11 million units recalled coming from one of the General's four brands. Between truck recalls, CUV recalls and the ignition switch recall, 2014 hasn't been a great year for GM.
Other recall leaders include Nissan (one million Sentra and Altima sedans), Honda (900,000 Odyssey minivans), Toyota (over one million units in a few recalls), Volkswagen (150,000 Passat sedans), Chrysler (644,000 Dodge Durango and Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs) and most recently, Ford (434,000 units, the bulk of which were early Ford Escape CUVs). So while it's been a bad year for GM so far, its competitors aren't doing too well, either.

Junkyard Gem: 1954 Plymouth Savoy Sedan

American car shoppers bought many millions of the four-door sedans that flew off Detroit's assembly lines in the decade after World War II, and so plenty of them still remain in barns, garages, driveways and yards today, awaiting loving owners who will put them back on the road. Unfortunately, those with the time and money to take on challenging vintage automotive projects tend to prefer coupes and convertibles, especially those made by the higher-prestige marques. That means that many of these cars continue to run out of time with each passing day, taking that final tow-truck ride to their very last parking spaces. Today's Junkyard Gem is one of those cars: a 1954 Plymouth Savoy four-door painted in Piedmont Maroon, found in a Denver self-service yard recently. As an example of how many of these cars still get crushed each year, here's a partial list of some of the 1946-1956 American four-door sedans I've personally documented in car graveyards over the last decade or so: 1947 Dodge Custom, 1947 Frazer Manhattan, 1948 Plymouth Special Deluxe, 1949 Dodge Coronet, 1949 Kaiser Special, 1949 Oldsmobile 88, 1949 Plymouth Special Deluxe, 1950 Cadillac Sixty-One, 1950 Chrysler Royal, 1950 Studebaker Commander, 1951 Chevrolet Styleline, 1951 Frazer, 1951 Lincoln Cosmopolitan, 1951 Plymouth Cranbrook, another 1951 Plymouth Cranbrook, 1952 Kaiser, 1952 Buick Special, 1952 Mercury Custom, 1953 Packard Clipper, 1953 Plymouth Special, 1953 Pontiac Chieftain, 1955 Studebaker Commander, 1956 DeSoto Fireflite and a 1956 Mercury Montclair. It's especially tough for the 1946-1954 Plymouths, because those cars were seen as stodgy transportation appliances for cheapskates when they were new. As the 1940s became the 1950s, most American cars became longer, sleeker and flashier-looking, but Plymouths seemed to stay the same. For the 1955 model year, Plymouths got a clean-sheet redesign and caught up with current styling trends well enough (probably not coincidentally, Plymouths finally got their own dealerships in late 1954, rather than just being sold out of Chrysler, DeSoto and Dodge showrooms). But for 1954, the best Chrysler could do with the looks of the increasingly aged-looking Plymouth was give it a new grille and some body chrome. Bumpers were made to stick out a few extra inches to cheat on the overall length a bit.

Driving the Jeep J6, Shakedown Challenger and other Mopar concepts

Mopar has been a one-stop-shop for factory-backed performance modifications and accessories on FCA products for a long time now. You want a 707-horsepower engine for your old Plymouth Belvedere? Mopar has you covered with the Hellcrate. Maybe you want a lift and off-roading lights on that newly-bought Wrangler? Mopar can accommodate those wants (or needs, we don’t judge) as well. We get to see some of the companyÂ’s weirdest creations every now and then, but rarely do we get the opportunity to drive the FCA Mopar concepts. ThatÂ’s what made this past Woodward Dream Cruise so special: We got to rip some of MoparÂ’s finest and most recent creations up and down Woodward Avenue. Everything from a 1971 Challenger restomod to the brand-new Easter Jeep Safari J6 concept was in attendance, so letÂ’s get right to it. Mopar Woodward View 6 Photos 1967 Plymouth Hellvedere This car is near the pinnacle of what you can do with off-the-shelf Mopar purchases. It was only a humble 1967 Plymouth Belvedere before Mopar dropped the 707-horsepower supercharged V8 from the Hellcat into the engine bay. Sound ridiculous? Yeah, it is. Other parts of it are new as well, including the disc brakes. Good call. However, Mopar didnÂ’t remove the classic car charm from the entire driving experience. The steering, for example, is surely as slow and inaccurate as it was back in 1967. That doesnÂ’t help matters when youÂ’re trying to put 707 horsepower to the pavement with less-than-ideal rear rubber. Floor it in damn near any gear of the Tremec six-speed, and the front end rises straight up as the rear kicks sideways with the force of many mules. There are no electronics such as traction control or stability control to step in and wrangle the car into submission. But hey, who wants them, anyway? The question remains: Should you buy a Hellcrate engine for your classic? If money were no object, the easy answer is yes. Have at it so long as you love smoky burnouts and excessive amounts of horsepower. Just make sure you know how to deal with that much power before you stick your right foot in it.   Dodge Challenger Shakedown View 15 Photos 2016 Dodge Shakedown Challenger Concept WeÂ’re going downhill in horsepower with this restomod, but the drivability and ease of driving goes way up. Dodge showed this “Shakedown” concept at SEMA awhile back, and as with most concept cars, getting a chance behind the wheel is a special opportunity.