2021 Chrysler Pacifica Pinnacle on 2040-cars

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Unboxing Chrysler's ridiculous Pacifica board game/media kit

At auto shows, manufacturers often hand out new-model info on USB sticks. It's how we get the press releases and photos onto our computers quickly and easily. Some still use brochures, which direct you to a website to download the relevant files. And then there's Chrysler, which often dreams up elaborate packages to transport the information and make a big impact. That's what it did for the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica, which made its debut in gasoline and plug-in hybrid versions at the 2016 North American International Auto Show earlier this month. The Pacifica press kit is in a zippered folder along with the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Race to the Family Reunion board game. To share this with you, we decided to make use of one of the internet's stranger formats, the unboxing video. You can watch our version above and learn a little more about what's inside the silver pouch – besides a USB stick and a brochure. Want one of your own? Silly media kits like these usually pop up on eBay from time to time. But ours and our ethics are not for sale. Green Detroit Auto Show Chrysler Hatchback Hybrid Videos Original Video 2016 Detroit Auto Show chrysler pacifica

Queens man knows how to party, disrupts Mets game with van

A New Yorker and all-around true American hero took his weekend festivities a little too far and landed himself in front of a judge last week. According to NBC New York, Nelson Hidalgo drove his unassuming Sprinter to Citi Field on Saturday, June 18, around 10:45 p.m. While the Mets were getting thrashed by the Braves, Hidalgo pulled up to the intersection of 127th street and 35th avenue. Hiding within the van's cargo area were 80 speakers driven by powerful amps, around $20,000 worth of car audio. Hidalgo opened the Sprinter's rear doors, deployed his amazing speaker system, cracked a cold Coors Light, and unleashed hell. Noise complaints immediately started flooding in to the police, including one from the Mets' bullpen. Soon, Hidalgo amassed a sizable crowd who had come to rock out and marvel at the lunacy of the Sprinter's sound system. The NYPD showed up eventually and, undaunted by noise and the crowd, clapped the irons on poor Nelson. The Sprinter was impounded and Hildago was charged with second-degree criminal nuisance, general noise prohibition, disorderly conduct, and obstructing the driver's view. "I know it's illegal, but it's the weekend," he explained to the cops as they hauled him away. Once they had him in custody, the NYPD realized that Hidalgo was the person they had been looking for in connection with absurdly loud music coming from various city junkyards in the dead of night. Hidalgo, who has no prior record, spent the night in the slammer but was released the next morning with no bail on the promise that he return for his court date on August 1. Related Video:

Baby Jeep to join Renegade in FCA's plan for new Italian-built models

FCA is boosting its European production, introducing new models that will be built in currently under-utilized manufacturing facilities. Among the new models is a new small Jeep, smaller than the current Renegade, as Automotive News reports. FCA's Mike Manley mentioned the entry-level Jeep model earlier this year, also saying that the vehicle is targeted to European and possibly Latin American customers; in the summer, Autocar placed the launch date in 2022. The new "baby" Jeep would be made in the same factory in Pomigliano, Italy, as the small Fiat Panda, which is a top seller in Italy. The current generation Panda was introduced in 2011; if it gets a replacement in 2022, it could possibly share a platform with the Jeep model — or, the Jeep could be an eventual outright replacement for the Panda. One of Fiat's earlier core products, the Punto hatchback, was canned in August, and that production capacity will be used to make the Jeep Compass instead, at the Renegade-producing Melfi factory in southern Italy. The Compass has not previously been built in Europe. The Fiat model portfolio would be shrunk to just the 500 model family and the Panda — the 500 would also be FCA's key electric vehicle offered in Europe. It is not yet clear whether the electric 500 would be made in Turin, Italy, or in Poland; Turin might also get a Giardiniera-badged wagon version of the refreshed 500. As for the Alfa Romeo brand, it is set to gain an even bigger SUV model than the Stelvio, based on the Maserati Levante's platform. The Levante's sales have suffered recently in China, but Maserati does have light in the horizon: The Alfieri 2+2 grand tourer is still in the cards, with a launch expected for 2020 and both a convertible and an electrified version planned to follow. The Alfieri would be made in Modena, Italy, according to Automotive News' sources. None of these plans namedrop the storied Lancia brand, which has been shrunk to just the Ypsilon hatchback, based on the same platform as the current 500 and Panda. Despite that, the Ypsilon was again the second-bestselling car in Italy after the Panda in October. It is unlikely that FCA will be able to ignore this, but it is just as unlikely that any development money will be afforded to come up with a replacement for the Ypsilon, which is as similarly old as the Panda. Perhaps official announcements expected on Thursday will also clarify what will happen to Lancia.