2014 Chrysler Town & Country Touring-l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Junkyard Gem: 1993 Plymouth Sundance Duster

When Chrysler introduced the Plymouth Duster for the 1970 model year, it was a sporty-looking fastback coupe version of the Valiant, itself a twin to the Dodge Dart. The Duster looked cool, didn't cost much, and could be very quick with the right powertrain choices; it stayed in production until the Valiant got the axe in 1976. A few years later, the Duster name went onto a coupe version of the Plymouth Volare, and then the middle 1980s saw the Turismo Duster and its legendary "Cocaine Factory" television commercial. The very last use of the Plymouth Duster name took place during the 1992 through 1994 model years, when the name was applied to a factory-hot-rod version of the Sundance. That's what we've got for today's Junkyard Gem: a purple '93 found in a Denver self-service yard. Because this was the early 1990s, the Sundance Duster got a full complement of dramatic-looking decals in bright colors. Just as was the case with its Valiant, Volare, and Turismo predecessors, the underlying model name itself was downplayed on the car's badging. In fact, the only place I could find the word Sundance was on the dash and in the owner's manual. While technically hatchbacks, the Sundance and its Dodge-badged twin (the Shadow) had a three-box shape that hid frumpy hatchback lines. Sort of a trunk, sort of a hatch, like the hatchback-coupe Chevy Novas of the late 1970s. That made this car a hot hatch, and one that could keep up with the likes of the Volkswagen GTI and Geo Storm GSi. The 3.0-liter Mitsubishi 6G72 V6 engine made 141 horsepower, making this 2,727-pound member of the K-Car family very quick for its cheap sticker price of $10,498 (about $19,360 today). This one even has the five-speed manual transmission, for lots of tire-squealing, torque-steering fun. I've seen a few of these cars on race tracks, and they have no problem reeling in a same-era GTI on a road course. Of course, the 6G72 likes to blow up in spectacular fashion when abused, but you could— and should— say the same about 16-valve Volkswagen engines. The Sundance/Shadow got the axe after 1994, when the Neon appeared as a more modern replacement; that meant the end of Lee Iacocca's Chrysler-rescuing K family in North America. This car started out in Denver and will be crushed in Denver. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Bailout dealership cuts did their job as profits surge

Almost five years after US taxpayers bailed out General Motors and Chrysler, a large majority of their slimmed-down dealership networks are posting soaring profits, Bloomberg reports, and contributing to the US auto industry on track this year to deliver 15.4 million vehicles, the most since 16.15 million were delivered in 2007.
Consider another important figure: Bloomberg says that more than 90 percent of GM dealerships are profitable, compared to about half of them in 2008 and 2009. At the start of 2013, GM had 4,355 US dealerships and Chrysler had about 2,600. Compare that with just a few years ago, when GM had 6,246 dealers in 2008, while Chrysler had 3,200 in 2009.
As part of their bankruptcy restructuring, both GM and Chrysler decided that their retail networks contained far too many dealerships and insisted that they be slimmed down. The resultant dealership terminations followed by a rebounding auto market - in part due to better new GM and Chrysler vehicles - have increased the number of sales per dealership to record levels. Many dealers are taking advantage of increasing profits and investing in facility renovations and updates, such as Chrysler dealership owner David Kelleher. He's spending $2 million to expand his store.

Woodward Dream Cruise Photo Gallery | Classics and American muscle

The 2022 running of the Woodward Dream Cruise just went down, and we were there from morning to evening drinking in the sweet sights and pre-emissions exhaust fumes. Yes, it’s a little smelly on Woodward Ave. this time of year. Just like always, the Dream Cruise invites all comers to cruise their machines on Woodward from Ferndale, MI to Pontiac, MI. Everybody is invited, but the original intent of the Dream Cruise was to highlight classic American muscle cars. YouÂ’ll see plenty of those in our mega gallery above, but weÂ’ve sprinkled it with a bunch of other vehicle types, such as modern muscle and other intriguing American vehicles. Similar to years past, though, sometimes the classics arenÂ’t the most entertaining thing to look at on Woodward. ThatÂ’s why weÂ’ll have other mega galleries coming soon, highlighting the weird cars and (great) dogs of the Cruise, all the imports and exotics you can imagine and a special one for all the trucks of Woodward — perhaps even more so than in years past, the truck population on Dream Cruise day was quite high. Click through above to see all the classics you wouldÂ’ve seen had you been roadside on the day of the cruise. And if you missed this yearÂ’s event, make sure you check out what happens next year. You wonÂ’t be alone, as itÂ’s estimated that over 1 million people attend the Dream Cruise to either watch from the side of the road or to sit in the most glorious traffic jam in the world. Related video Featured Gallery 2022 Woodward Dream Cruise classics and American muscle View 160 Photos Design/Style Buick Cadillac Chevrolet Chrysler Dodge Ford GM GMC Hummer Jeep Pontiac RAM Classics Woodward Dream Cruise