2001 Dodge Durango Slt Mechanics Special on 2040-cars

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This government surveillance van is both cool and creepy, and it could be yours

Whether you're planning a heist and need to gather information, or you're a government agency tracking down the leader of a crime ring, Hollywood has taught us that the unmarked van is the ideal machine for gathering intel. And apparently that's not just a Hollywood trope, because you can buy this actual, honest-to-goodness ex-government surveillance van: a 1998 Plymouth Grand Voyager. It's being sold by the Chicago suburb of Streamwood, Ill., on the government surplus auction site GovDeals. According to the description, the van was acquired by the town as part of a drug seizure and converted to surveillance duty. It looks like a plain white Grand Voyager for the most part, except for the amber flashing light on the roof. Or at least it looks like a light. It's actually the disguise for the camera periscope. Open up the sliding door of the van and you'll discover a swivel mount for the camera, a TV mounted to the back of the driver's seat, and a toolbox that holds all the electronic equipment, including battery chargers for the van and the camera. There are also solid panels behind the windows so that people walking by can't peer in and see all the equipment. It's a bit less wild than some of the vans we've seen on film, but those Hollywood vans are usually larger commercial vans that can store more people and stuff. Less interesting details include the fact that this Grand Voyager has a 3.3-liter V6 with an automatic transmission. It has just over 100,000 miles and was good for a little more than 150 horsepower and 200 pound-feet of torque when it was new. The interior looks impressively clean, as does most of the exterior, but the description and photos highlight the fact that the front strut towers are rusty and in need of repair. Included are new strut towers, but obviously the welding in and painting is the expensive part. Also, while we think this van is pretty neat, since it's an actual surveillance van like we've seen on film for years, we would feel creepy actually owning it. After all, it's a vehicle for watching people, and while a government might have a legitimate reason for doing that, your average person doesn't. Unless you need a prop for a film, are going to show it off at car shows, or are another city government needing a cheap surveillance car, we think having this would be a little too weird. But if you have one of those reasons, or are less worried about what people think, you have a few more days to bid.

Junkyard Gem: 1990 Plymouth Voyager Turbo

There was a time when the word "TURBO" was king, and even Detroit minivans came with nervous, hair-drier-boosted engines and screaming TURBO badging. Why, some of them even had manual transmissions (sadly, not this van) and in the case of the 1990 Plymouth Voyager Turbo I spotted in a Denver self-service wrecking yard, a lysergic purple paint plus a Bordello Red interior. The first-generation Voyager minivan (not to be confused with the full-sized B-series Voyager van that preceded it) was a tremendous smash hit for Chrysler. Because it came from the K-Car platform, most of the powertrain options available for other members of the many-branched K Family Tree— from the Mitsubishi Astron to the Chrysler turbo 2.5— went into the Voyagers, Caravans, and Town & Countries. The turbocharged 2.5-liter four, rated at 150 horsepower, was an option for the 1989 and 1990 Voyagers. That doesn't sound like much today, an era in which the Voyager's descendants churn out close to 300 horses, but it was lunacy for a front-wheel-drive family hauler that weighed just over 3,000 pounds. And people eventually discovered they could be made far faster than stock. Voyager shoppers could get five-speed manual transmissiona with their Turbo 2.5 engines, though few did. Still, there were more Voyagers and Caravans with the 5-speed than you might think, in part because of the manual transmission's lower cost. The slushbox didn't conquer the Chrysler Corporation Minivan World until 1996. Nissan probably had the most vividly red interiors of the late 1980s and early 1990s, but Chrysler didn't lag far behind. Look at these acres of shiny red plastic and tough, red I Can't Believe It's Not Velour! Because minivans remain useful for decades, most of them have high odometer readings by the time they get junked. So at a little over 115,000 miles, this one may have had a busted speedometer cable. Speedometers reading better than 85 mph were legal after 1981, but perhaps Chrysler decided not to encourage lead-footed hoonery among minivan drivers. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Auntie Entity pitching "the best-loved minivan in the world." Featured Gallery Junked 1990 Plymouth Voyager Turbo View 19 Photos Auto News Chrysler Dodge Automotive History Minivan/Van dodge caravan

Are you the Dodge Dart SRT4?

Dodge has just confirmed that it will be bringing its newest Dart variant, the Dart GT, to Detroit next week, but we're still in the dark about when we'll see a truly hotted-up SRT4 version. But now, by way of the rumormill anyway, we've got at least one proposed, potentially Dodge-based rendering to light our way.
Seen here is what would appear to be a design sketch of the SRT4 Dart. Obviously the image that has surfaced is of rather low-resolution, but there's at least some evidence to support that it may be legitimate. In the original picture, one can just make out the name Tim Doyle in the lower right corner. As it turns out, Tim Doyle's name is also watermarked on the final design image for the 2011 Dodge Durango Citadel Black & Tan, a model that was shown at SEMA in 2010.
Of course, even if this really is the work of Doyle, there's nothing to say that this image isn't one of a great many potential looks for the future SRT4. In fact, the departure of the cross-hair grille from the Dodge's nose seems like it could be a hard sell, though we do, naturally, dig the sleek hood scoop and the bulked up wheel/tire combination.