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Takata airbag deaths prompt Stellantis to warn owners to park 275,000 cars

Two additional deaths linked to exploding Takata airbags have prompted Stellantis to issue a do-not-drive order for the 2005-2010 Dodge Charger, Magnum and Challenger, along with the Chrysler 300. The company is warning any customers who have not yet had their vehicles inspected in accordance with previous recall campaigns to park their cars until they are able to do so. This order covers more than 275,000 vehicles on the road.  No new recall has been initiated to address the faulty airbags as all of the vehicles in question are within the original population of the massive 2015 campaigns carried out by virtually every major automaker after industry supplier Takata's airbag inflators were identified as the cause of several fatalities when moisture caused them to explode rather than deploy normally in a collision.  "FCA is and has been engaged in aggressive outreach to encourage vehicle owners and custodians affected by Takata recalls to obtain service," the company's statement said. "To date, through various initiatives, the company has generated nearly 210 million standard and first-class letters, courier deliveries, e-mails, text messages, while also making phone calls and home visits." Stellantis insists that its dealers have more than enough replacement inflator inventory to cover all outstanding vehicles on the road and is encouraging owners to schedule their service as quickly as possible; the company says the replacement procedure for a defective airbag inflator normally takes less than an hour. All safety recalls are performed free-of-charge for customers.  Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Car Recalled? This Is What You Should Do

Zombie cars: 9 discontinued vehicles that aren't dead yet

Car models come and go, but as revealed by monthly sales data, once a car is discontinued, it doesn't just disappear instantly. And in the case of some models, vanishing into obscurity can be a slow, tedious process. That's the case with the 12 cars we have here. All of them have been discontinued, but car companies keep racking up "new" sales with them. There are actually more discontinued cars that are still registering new sales than what we decided to include here. We kept this list to the oldest or otherwise most interesting vehicles still being sold as new, including a supercar. We'll run the list in alphabetical order, starting with *drumroll* ... BMW 6 Series: 55 total sales BMW quietly removed the 6 Series from the U.S. market during the 2019 model year. It had been available in three configurations, a hardtop coupe, a convertible and a sleek four-door coupe-like shape.   BMW i8: 18 total sales We've always had a soft spot for the BMW i8, despite the fact that it never quite fit into a particular category. It was sporty, but nowhere near as fast as similarly-priced competitors. It looked very high-tech and boasted a unique carbon fiber chassis design and a plug-in hybrid powertrain, but wasn't really designed for maximum efficiency or maximum performance. Still, the in-betweener was very cool to look at and drive, and 18 buyers took one home over the course of 2021.   Chevy Impala: 750 total sales The Impala represented classic American tastes at a time when American tastes were shifting away from soft-riding sedans with big interior room and trunk space and into higher-riding crossovers. A total of 750 sales were inked last year.   Chrysler 200: 15 total sales The Chrysler 200 was actually a pretty nice sedan, with good looks and decent driving dynamics let down by a lack of roominess, particularly in the back seat. Of course, as we said regarding the Chevy Impala, the number of Americans in the market for sedans is rapidly winding down, and other automakers are following Chrysler's footsteps in canceling their slow-selling four-doors. Even if Chrysler never really found its footing in the ultra-competitive midsize sedan segment, apparently dealerships have a few leftover 2017 200s floating around. And for some reason, 15 buyers decided to sign the dotted line to take one of these aging sedans home last year.

Driving the Jeep J6, Shakedown Challenger and other Mopar concepts

Mopar has been a one-stop-shop for factory-backed performance modifications and accessories on FCA products for a long time now. You want a 707-horsepower engine for your old Plymouth Belvedere? Mopar has you covered with the Hellcrate. Maybe you want a lift and off-roading lights on that newly-bought Wrangler? Mopar can accommodate those wants (or needs, we don’t judge) as well. We get to see some of the companyÂ’s weirdest creations every now and then, but rarely do we get the opportunity to drive the FCA Mopar concepts. ThatÂ’s what made this past Woodward Dream Cruise so special: We got to rip some of MoparÂ’s finest and most recent creations up and down Woodward Avenue. Everything from a 1971 Challenger restomod to the brand-new Easter Jeep Safari J6 concept was in attendance, so letÂ’s get right to it. Mopar Woodward View 6 Photos 1967 Plymouth Hellvedere This car is near the pinnacle of what you can do with off-the-shelf Mopar purchases. It was only a humble 1967 Plymouth Belvedere before Mopar dropped the 707-horsepower supercharged V8 from the Hellcat into the engine bay. Sound ridiculous? Yeah, it is. Other parts of it are new as well, including the disc brakes. Good call. However, Mopar didnÂ’t remove the classic car charm from the entire driving experience. The steering, for example, is surely as slow and inaccurate as it was back in 1967. That doesnÂ’t help matters when youÂ’re trying to put 707 horsepower to the pavement with less-than-ideal rear rubber. Floor it in damn near any gear of the Tremec six-speed, and the front end rises straight up as the rear kicks sideways with the force of many mules. There are no electronics such as traction control or stability control to step in and wrangle the car into submission. But hey, who wants them, anyway? The question remains: Should you buy a Hellcrate engine for your classic? If money were no object, the easy answer is yes. Have at it so long as you love smoky burnouts and excessive amounts of horsepower. Just make sure you know how to deal with that much power before you stick your right foot in it.   Dodge Challenger Shakedown View 15 Photos 2016 Dodge Shakedown Challenger Concept WeÂ’re going downhill in horsepower with this restomod, but the drivability and ease of driving goes way up. Dodge showed this “Shakedown” concept at SEMA awhile back, and as with most concept cars, getting a chance behind the wheel is a special opportunity.