Dodge Ram W250 Le Custom 250 2500 4x4 Diesel on 2040-cars

Auto blog

The Dodge Challenger 1320 is rarer than the vaunted Demon

Dodge stopped making the 840-horsepower Challenger Demon after the 2018 model year, and it filled the gap the coupe left in its range with a slightly tamer variant called 1320. While it wasn't a limited-edition model, production figures released recently cement its status as a future classic. 1320 references the length of a drag strip, which normally checks in at 1,320 feet, and the name speaks volumes: It was built to go flat-out for a quarter mile. It offered all of the go-fast goodies found in the Demon, including a transbrake, a line lock, an SRT-tuned suspension, plus bigger brakes provided by Brembo, and it swapped the supercharged V8 for a naturally-aspirated, 6.4-liter eight shared with the Challenger 392 and tuned to 485 horsepower. It wasn't quite as quick as the Demon, but it remained a race car barely street-legal enough to put plates on, so it occupied a shallow niche. Dodge made 1,054 examples of the 1320 during the 2019 model year, according to Mopar Insiders. Of those, 1,026 units were sold in the United States, and the remaining 28 stayed in their home country of Canada. As for colors, 232 enthusiasts chose Pitch Black, making it the most popular. At the other end of the spectrum, 13 buyers ordered Maximum Steel, which is the rarest color offered to the public. One 1320 was painted in Yellow Jacket, and another in Billet, but they were pre-production cars. To add context, the firm capped Demon production at 3,300 units, including 300 for the Canadian market. The 1320 is returning for the 2020 model year, so it might ultimately become more common than the Demon, but it remains a rare edition that will turn heads at high-profile classic car auctions in a few decades' time. If you've got one, race it, but pamper it off the track, and hang on to it. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.    

Didn't get the toy you wanted for Christmas? Grab this '79 Dodge Macho Power Wagon

This Christmas, kids everywhere got tons of toys, but what about the grownups? Adults like toys, too, and we particularly like this 1979 Dodge Macho Power Wagon pickup for sale on eBay. Dodge plugged it as one of its "adult toys" back in the day, which makes it the perfect post-Christmas purchase for anyone who's feeling a little left out. Dodge began advertising a lineup of specialty trucks as "adult toys" back in 1977, during the period when trucks were first becoming personal-use vehicles rather than just workhorses. Dodge's specialty models ran though the end of the decade and included the Street Van version of its B-series panel van, the Macho Power Wagon 4x4 pickup, the Warlock short-bed stepside pickup, the Ramcharger SUV, and even a variant of the Ram 50 mini-pickup. The Macho Power Wagon was a 4WD W100 pickup with a Sweptline bed, and could be had in short- or long-wheelbase configurations. Two-tone paint included black on the lower body, the hood, and the roof. Tape stripes, painted spoke wheels, and a bed-mounted roll bar added to the look. This '79 Macho Power Wagon is a long-bed version, riding on a 131-inch wheelbase. It's powered by a 318-cubic-inch V8 with dual exhausts, mated to a three-speed column-shift automatic and four-wheel drive. Not the most manly powertrain, maybe, but it was the late '70s, and one's engine wasn't as important as one's graphics. This Power Wagon's visuals make an emphatic statement indeed, with the two-tone white and black livery set off with bright orange stripes, wheels, and most critically, POWER WAGON emblazoned on the bed and tailgate. It's enough that we can forgive the missing roll bar. Inside, we find a vinyl bench seat, a floor-mounted shifter for the two-speed transfer case, and a period-correct Craig cassette stereo. Factory A/C is also present. Sure, you could get a new Ram 2500 Power Wagon, but would that really have the gold-chain-in-a-bed-of-chest-hair swagger of this beast? If this Adult Toy speaks to you, we would point out that sometimes the best presents are the ones you get yourself. Related Video:

Dodge PHEV due in 2022 expected to be the Hornet

A relatively new saga involving hornets in the Pacific Northwest begins with the adjective "murder" and gets worse from there. A relatively dated saga involving hornets in the automotive industry begins with the name "Dodge" and is — or could be — much friendlier to plant and animal life. Last year, former Dodge parent company Fiat Chrysler trademarked the term "Dodge Hornet" for the first time. Two months ago, an Italian publication credited its sources with news that current parent company Stellantis will create a Dodge version of the Alfa Romeo Tonale (pictured) and call it the Hornet. Now, Mopar Insiders picked up on Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares sharing a roadmap of the 20 PHEV and battery-electric vehicles coming our way in the next two years between the company's 14 brands. Dodge merits a single PHEV entry in the 2022 column. MI says this will be the Hornet.      As FCA recast its U.S. lineups to give Dodge more focus and give Chrysler a reason to exist, Dodge lost the Caliber, Nitro, and Journey. The way this new report is put, and as we mused a year ago, the coming Hornet will replace the Journey — a space Dodge could do well to return to. Never given much love by the parent company, the Journey turned into a hoary old thing over its 13 years on the market, but sold in remarkable numbers to the end. According to Car Sales Base, sales increased nearly every year for the first nine years of the Journey's life. Even during the sales decline over the last four years of its production life, the Journey found 298,594 homes in the U.S. More than 12,000 zombie units have been moved off lots this year. A Dodge Hornet likely wouldn't offer the Wal-Mart rollback pricing the Journey was known for. Also, the Hornet would pack in just two rows, whereas the Journey offered three. Nevertheless, we're now talking about three vehicles sharing major internal organs; the Alfa Romeo Tonale leans heavily on the Jeep Compass platform and internals, and the Dodge is expected to be built at the same Naples, Italy plant as the Alfa Romeo. The economies of scale are there. As for powertrain, we know there's a Tonale PHEV coming, but it's thought to get its plug-in system from the Jeep Renegade 4xe that's based around the smaller 1.3-liter four-cylinder with either 190 or 240 total horsepower instead of the larger 2.0-liter engine in the Wrangler 4xe.