1970 Dodge Coronet 440 2 Door Hard Top 383 Auto on 2040-cars

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Junkyard Gem: 1977 Dodge Colt Mileage Maker Coupe

While Ford and GM each had the resources to develop their own Michigan-designed subcompacts for the dawn of the 1970s— the Pinto and Vega, respectively— Chrysler couldn't afford the huge price tag for such a project. Instead, Chrysler's European operations were tapped for a couple of models that sold well enough on the other side of the Atlantic, giving us the Plymouth Cricket (known as the Hillman Avenger in the UK) and the Simca 1204 (aka the Simca 1100 in France). American car shoppers gave those two models the cold shoulder, but then Chrysler found genuine sales success by making a deal with Mitsubishi to sell the Colt Galant with left-hand drive. This became the Dodge Colt, with sales beginning in the 1971 model year. Though the 1971-1978 rear-wheel-drive Colts were once as commonplace as Corollas or B210s on American roads, they have all but disappeared today. That makes today's Junkyard Find, discovered in a Denver-area yard last week, particularly interesting. This car shows signs of having been in the hands of a speed-crazed enthusiast owner, including an aftermarket steering wheel and one-piece racing seats with slots for five-point harnesses. The primer-gray paint is another clue. The rear-wheel-drive Colts were reasonably quick for their time, and they could be made genuinely quick with basic engine upgrades. This Mitsubishi Saturn four-banger has a tube header, hot-rod ignition system, and a two-barrel (Mikuni-made) Solex carburetor. We can assume there's probably some kind of cam upgrade under the valve cover, too. The shifter is gone, but the original transmission in this car was either the base four-speed or optional five-speed manual. A three-speed automatic was available for $270 (about $1,275 today). Later on, front-wheel-drive Colts (and Mitsubishi Mirages) could be bought with the Twin-Stick overdrive rig, which gave drivers eight forward speeds and the opportunity to make Twin-Stick beer taps. The 1977-1978 Dodge Colt two- and four-door sedans were based on the Mitsubishi Lancer and were a bit smaller than the 1971-1977 cars, while the wagon version moved to the Galant Sigma platform. The build tag shows that this car started life as the cheapest 1977 Colt model, the "Mileage Maker" two-door sedan (Dodge dealers called it a coupe, so that's what I'm calling it in the title).

2 men die in Dodge Challenger Hellcat crash at Colorado airport

Two friends died in the crash of a Dodge Challenger Hellcat over the weekend after they shot off the end of an airport runway, authorities said. That someone died in a 707-horsepower Hellcat is, sadly, not unexpected. But two aspects of the story are remarkable. First, the men's ages: The Denver Post reports the crash victims were Lynd Fitzgerald, 71, of Colorado Springs, and his passenger, Roger Lichtenberger, 76, of San Marcos, Calif. Second, their speed: The car was likely moving at over 100 miles per hour, authorities said. The men had permission to use the 8,300-foot runway at Central Colorado Regional Airport in Buena Vista. That's more than a mile and a half long. But when the car left the runway, it went 300 feet before flying over a ravine, hitting the ground, becoming airborne again, flipping end over end across a second ravine, and ultimately landing on its wheels 650 feet past the end of the pavement. Responding police officers tried to provide first aid, but the men were declared dead at the scene. "They were just test-driving this car. They went a little too fast. I don't want to surmise. ... They probably got to the end of the runway and, at that speed, didn't realize they were there so fast. And they lost control. It was just too high a speed and they got to the end of the runway," said Chaffee County Sheriff John Spezze. There were skid marks near the end of the runway, but the sheriff didn't know the length. "I've never seen anything like it," Spezze told the newspaper. "They had permission to be there. There were no laws broken." Related Video:

What's the deal with Chrysler demanding colleges crush their Vipers? [w/video]

Students and teachers at a Washington community college are up in arms following an order from Chrysler that it must destroy the pre-production Dodge Viper that was donated to the school's automotive technology program ten years ago.
The Viper in question is said to be the fourth off the production line, based on its VIN, and has had its emissions controls disabled, allowing its ten-cylinder engine to produce 600 horsepower, according to a report from Yahoo! Autos. As one of the first Vipers ever produced, the school's AT instructors claim it could be worth $250,000 in a museum, while a local news report purports that Jay Leno once tried to purchase the car, but the sale was prevented by Chrysler.
As pointed out by our friends at Autobytel, though, there are a lot of things in this story that don't quite add up. Immediately noticeable from the news report embedded below - which shows the car at South Puget Sound Community College - is that the car in question is not a 1992 model. When the Viper went on sale in 1992, it was only available as an RT/10 with a (flimsy) soft top, like the red car shown above. But the car featured in the report from KING5 News (inset image) is clearly a hardtop Viper GTS, which didn't enter production until 1996. And even if, as reported by a local newspaper, the hardtop featured is a prototype, it doesn't explain the lack of another iconic feature of the first Vipers - their distinctive side pipes. This kind of pokes holes in the school's argument that this is the fourth Viper to ever roll down the line. At best, this appears to be a pre-production Viper GTS.