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Question of the Day: Most heinous act of badge engineering?

Badge engineering, in which one company slaps its emblems on another company's product and sells it, has a long history in the automotive industry. When Sears wanted to sell cars, a deal was made with Kaiser-Frazer and the Sears Allstate was born. Iranians wanted new cars in the 1960s, and the Rootes Group was happy to offer Hillman Hunters for sale as Iran Khodro Paykans. Sometimes, though, certain badge-engineered vehicles made sense only in the 26th hour of negotiations between companies. The Suzuki Equator, say, which was a puzzling rebadge job of the Nissan Frontier. How did that happen? My personal favorite what-the-heck-were-they-thinking example of badge engineering is the 1971-1973 Plymouth Cricket. Chrysler Europe, through its ownership of the Rootes Group, was able to ship over Hillman Avanger subcompacts for sale in the US market. This would have made sense... if Chrysler hadn't already been selling rebadged Mitsubishi Colt Galants (as Dodge Colts) and Simca 1100s as (Simca 1204s) in its American showrooms. Few bought the Cricket, despite its cheery ad campaign. So, what's the badge-engineered car you find most confounding? Chrysler Dodge Automakers Mitsubishi Nissan Suzuki Automotive History question of the day badge engineering question

Dodge Challenger returns to Trans Am

NASCAR's Nationwide Series may have switched (in appearance anyway) to muscle cars, but American racing fans know that if they want to see real muscle cars on the street circuits, the only place to look is Trans Am. The all-American racing series is packed with Mustangs, Camaros and even Corvettes. The one thing it's been missing is the Dodge Challenger, but now SRT Motorsports has announced it's bringing its muscle car back where it belongs.
Rather than waiting until next year, the Miller Racing team is switching mid-season to the new Dodge Challenger SRT Trans Am racer you see here, just in time for this weekend's race at Mid-Ohio. And not just that - it's lined up a compelling pair of drivers to pilot it, as well.
The No. 11 car will be driven by Trans Am legend Tommy Kendall, a four-time series champion who's been off the grid since 2004. Backing him up in the No. 1 Challenger will be none other than Cameron Lawrence, the driver who has won five out of six races in the Chevy Camaro so far this season, losing out only once to American racing scion Adam Andretti.

2020 Dodge Charger R/T and Scat Pack get Daytona Edition Packages

Dodge announced the Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody Daytona 50th Anniversary Edition late last year, limited to 501 examples, one of which has already gone to that big NASCAR infield in the sky. For the rest of the Daytona fandom, Mopar Insiders says Dodge has just opened the order books for the Daytona Edition Package available on the standard Charger R/T and Scat Pack. When optioned with the package, both trims get a Mopar cold air intake under the hood, a black spoiler, and a satin black Daytona graphic across the rear decklid and fenders. Both sedans also upgrade their side mirrors to automatically adjust downward when the transmission is put in reverse, plus an automatically-dimming driver's side mirror. Inside, they share power driver's and passenger's seats in Nappa leather and Alcantara with the Daytona logo, heated seats front and rear, a premium-stitched dash panel with gloss black instrument cluster rings, and a power tilt and telescoping steering wheel. Additional upper and lower LED lighting in the front of the cabin, plus illuminated rear cupholders, memory functions for the driver's seat, radio, and outside mirrors, and black-edge premium floor mats complete the interior changes.  The Charger R/T sits on 20 x 9-inch Lights Out painted wheels, and installs a heated steering wheel and security alarm. The Charger Scat Pack sits on 20 x 9.5-inch forged and painted aluminum wheels, and affixes more satin black decals on the roof and the hood on top of a Daytona badge on the grille. The mirrors are luxxed up further than on the R/T, being powered and heated as well as fold-away, and including a blind-spot warning. Inside the Scat Pack, a Daytona badge on the instrument panel mixes with Carbonite accents throughout the interior.  The Daytona Edition Package can be ordered in any of the 12-strong color palette, including Frostbite (pictured), Hellraisin, and Sinamon Stick that are new for 2020. The kit adds $3,495 to the prices of both cars, so before any other options, the 2020 Charger R/T Daytona comes to $41,385 after destination, the 2020 Charger Scat Pack Daytona comes to $44,985. Related Video: