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Junkyard Gem: 1986 Chrysler Fifth Avenue

Chrysler started putting the New Yorker name on its top-end luxury dreadnaughts all the way back in the early 1940s. When it came time to pitch an even more exclusive New Yorker, what street did Chrysler choose for its name in 1979? Exactly. The Fifth Avenues started out as Plymouth Gran Fury siblings, then switched to the smaller M-Body Dodge Diplomat platform for the 1982-1989 model years. Here's a padded-landau-roof-equipped '86 Fifth Avenue, spotted in a San Francisco Bay Area self-service wrecking yard. Though the Fifth Avenue started life as a option package for the New Yorker, Chrysler ditched the New Yorker badging on these cars after the 1983 model year (while applying it, confusingly, to the Chrysler-badged front-wheel-drive E-Body). Perhaps this was due to certain Chrysler-demographic-terrifying developments in New York-based popular culture around that time. 1970s styling touches were still going strong in mid-1980s Detroit, and this car has lots of fake wood and button-tufted vinyl inside, with this stainless-trimmed padded landau roof outside. Mechanically speaking, it's a Dodge Diplomat, complete with 140-horsepower 318-cubic-inch (5.2 liter) V8, rear-wheel-drive, and three-speed automatic transmission. The Diplomat was a sturdy and reliable machine, but the $14,910 Fifth Avenue sticker price was a lot to pay for a Diplomat with some extra gingerbread, especially when the Diplomat listed at $10,086. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The Diplomat was a very popular choice for American law-enforcement duties during the 1980s, and the chase scene from Short Time shows a slightly exaggerated depiction of its tough construction. It's a shame that the filmmakers couldn't find a way to use a Fifth Avenue instead. For 1990, the Fifth Avenue name went onto a stretched version of the front-wheel-drive K Platform, then disappeared after 1993. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. "I enjoy making money... and spending it. But not foolishly." Related Video:

Fiat-Chrysler and Peugeot unveil burgeoning Stellantis supergroup's new logo

Stellantis, the entity formed by the merger between Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and PSA Group, has revealed its logo. It's as anonymous as the name of what will become the world's fourth-largest carmaker. Executives explained the logo symbolizes the rich heritage of the group's founding companies, and the unique combined strengths of the new conglomerate's 14-brand portfolio. While that's certainly one way to look at it, finding an iota of heritage in the Stellantis logo requires an unusually vivid imagination. It consists of the company's name in a sans serif font on a blue background. Designers removed the horizontal bar from the letter A, and they surrounded it by four rows of increasingly small dots vaguely arranged like stars in a galaxy. Chrysler helped NASA develop and build the Mercury-Redstone rocket, but we doubt that's what the galaxy-shaped logo is trying to remind us of. Nothing about it suggests Stellantis bundles some of the oldest and best-known car manufacturers in the world. It wouldn't look out of place in an ad for a credit card company, in a brochure for a frequent flier program, or on an over-the-counter pain reliever box, and that was likely intentional. It's a corporate logo that's going to appear on pens, name tags, coffee mugs, and a wide variety of paperwork, so it doesn't need to be eye-catching or ignite excitement — it'll never show up on a car. Stellantis Charger Hellcat? Nope. Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Stellantis Edition? Not happening, either. Chrysler, Peugeot, Dodge, Opel, Vauxhall, Jeep, Alfa Romeo, Ram, Citroen, Fiat, Maserati, and the other odds and ends that will be dumped in the Stellantis melting pot will carry on with their respective identities and naming systems. Stellantis it is, then. Expect the new logo to appear on employee payrolls and other official letterheads after the $38 billion 50:50 merger is finalized. Both sides said they plan to complete the merger in the first half of 2021.

FCA and iPhone maker plan Chinese electric vehicle joint venture

MILAN — Italian American automaker Fiat Chrysler and Taiwan's Hon Hai plan to set up a joint venture to manufacture electric vehicles and to engage in the business of wirelessly connected vehicles, Hon Hai said on Thursday. Fiat Chrysler (FCA) and Hon Hai are negotiating to set up a 50-50 joint venture, Hon Hai said in a statement. It added Hon Hai would hold its 50% share both directly and indirectly and that its direct shareholding would not exceed 40%. Hon Hai is the parent of Foxconn, the Chinese assembler of Apple iPhones. FCA last month reached a binding agreement for a $50 billion tie-up with France's PSA that will create the world's No. 4 carmaker. The joint venture with Hon Hai will produce vehicles for the Chinese market, but many details of the accord are still to be worked out, one source close to the matter said, adding that a final deal was expected to be signed in the coming months. Foxconn has been investing heavily in a variety of future transportation ventures for several years, including Didi Chuxing, the Chinese ride services giant, and Chinese electric vehicle startups Byton and Xpeng. Foxconn also has invested in Chinese battery giant CATL and a variety of other mostly Chinese transportation tech start-ups. FCA will launch its first full-electric model - the 500 small car - this year. Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari in Milan, additional reporting by Paul Lienert in Detroit. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.