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Junkyard Gem: 2001 Chrysler Voyager

When a car brand gets the axe from its owners, it's not as easy as flipping a switch. Sometimes models of that brand still sell enough to be worth carrying on under the original name. That was the difficulty presented by the deletion of the Plymouth marque by Chrysler after the 2001 model year; sales of the Plymouth Neon could continue here (for a few more years) with Dodge badges, as had been the case all along, but what about the still-popular Plymouth Voyager minivan? As the most proletarian of the Town & Country/Caravan/Voyager minivan triumvirate, the Voyager name had been on Plymouth minivans since 1984 and on full-sized Plymouth siblings of the Dodge Tradesman/Sportsman since 1974. So, when an updated Chrysler minivan arrived for the 2001 model year, the Voyager name lived on — briefly — as the lowest trim level of Chrysler-badged minivans. Here's one of those rare machines, found in a Denver boneyard recently. For the 2001 through 2003 model years, the Dodge Caravan lived in the middle of the Chrysler Corporation minivan prestige pyramid, flanked by the Chrysler Voyager below and the Chrysler Town & Country above.  In the European market, of course, Chrysler Voyagers (and Chrysler Neons) were sold for decades. Trivia fans might also recall the Lancia Voyager and Chrysler Grand Caravan, both available for a while in the European market. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. In fact, the idea of a Lancia Voyager seems sufficiently amusing that we should watch a Dutch-language advertisement for it right now. This is the pushrod 3.3-liter V6 engine, originally developed as a more powerful alternative to the Mitsubishi V6s that went into so many Chrysler vehicles during the 1980s and 1990s. This one was rated at a respectable 180 horsepower. You could get a manual transmission in US-market Voyagers and Caravans through the 1995 model year, but the days of three-pedal Chrysler minivans were long gone for American car shoppers by the dawn of our current century. So, it's a gem from a historical standpoint but not exactly the sort of vehicle that inspires the howls of outrage from enthusiasts over, say, a discarded Lotus Esprit or Jensen Interceptor. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

40+ cars that barely avoid the gas guzzler tax

The Gas Guzzler schedule, with mpg ratings and charges that haven't changed since 1991, lays out which fuel-swillers owe what to Uncle Sam.
I started thinking about the "Gas Guzzler Tax" - considerably less well known as The Energy Tax Act of 1978 - when I was driving Dodge's new Challenger SRT Hellcat last week. Unsurprisingly for a car that can burn 1.5 gallons of gas per minute at max tilt, theoretically able to empty a full tank of premium in about 13 minutes, the Hellcat will be subject to the Gas Guzzler Tax schedule when it goes on sale.

Fiat/PSA's dominance in small vans hangs up EU's merger approval

BRUSSELS — EU antitrust regulators are concerned about Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot / PSA's combined high market share in small vans and may require concessions to clear their $50 billion merger, people familiar with the matter said. The companies, which are seeking to create the world's fourth biggest carmaker, were told of the European Commission's concerns last week. If Fiat and PSA fail to dispel the European Commission's doubts in the next two days and subsequently decline to offer concessions by Wednesday, the deadline for doing so, the deal would face a four-month-long investigation. The EU competition enforcer, which has set a June 17 deadline for its preliminary review, declined to comment. Fiat was not immediately available for comment while PSA had no immediate comment. Hiving off overlapping businesses, usually a regulatory demand to ensure more competition, could prove tricky for the carmakers because of the technicalities. Fiat and PSA are looking to merge to help offset slowing demand and shoulder the cost of making cleaner vehicles to meet tougher emissions regulations. The deal puts under one roof the Italian carmaker's brands such as Fiat, Jeep, Dodge, Ram, Maserati and the French company's Peugeot, Opel and DS. Related Video: Government/Legal Chrysler Dodge Fiat Jeep Maserati RAM Citroen Opel Peugeot