1969 Dodge Charger Daytona Very Rare B-7 Blue #'s Match on 2040-cars

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Will airbags sandbag the 2017 Dodge Viper?

The Dodge Viper is speeding down the road to cancellation for the 2017 model year, and at least part of the reason for the V10 monster's death is a problem fitting it with federally mandated side curtain airbags. An anonymous source close to FCA US told Motor Trend the automaker can't install the parts because they would further limit the coupe's already tight headroom. The government believes the side curtain airbags can reduce occupant ejections during accidents, and all vehicles must have them for the 2017 model year. The Viper's slow sales also don't provide FCA US much motivation to work out a solution to this problem. The automaker moved just 676 of the handmade sports coupes in the US in 2015, which was down 11 percent from 760 deliveries in 2014. FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne hinted at the Detroit Auto Show that the Viper could return eventually. He doesn't like that the current model has a dedicated platform but indicated a new one could share the underpinnings with another of the company's products. Marchionne's current business plan for FCA stresses building the automaker's value, so it might be a while before we see the sweater-clad CEO focusing on a niche vehicle like the Viper. Related Video:

FCA inline-six rumored to be real, headed for Jeep Wagoneer

In September, Allpar reported that that clues being dropped at Fiat- Chrysler headquarters, in the carmaker's factories, and on engineer resumes pointed to the development of an inline six-cylinder engine. The site has just proclaimed the rumor is reality, writing that the straight-six, "turbocharged to meet or beat 5.7 Hemi power ratings, with a smoother torque curve, is on the way." The motor's first outing is expected to be either the next-generation Jeep Grand Cherokee, debuting perhaps next year, or the Jeep Wagoneer, debuting in 2020 or 2021. "Tornado" is the purported codename for the power plant said to be just under three liters in displacement, expanding the family begun with the Global Medium Engine 2.0-liter turbo codenamed Hurricane. Engine bay constraints and a long use horizon mean engineers won't simply add two more cylinders to the GME, however. Allpar says the brief is to keep the Tornado GME-T6 — the alphanumeric for "turbocharged six" — no more than three inches longer than the Tigershark 2.4-liter four-cylinder. That means "major design changes" that could include a space-saving head, more closely spaced cylinders, and no cylinder liners. An FCA division called Comau could be called on for its "SmartSpray" plasma lining technology. Allpar muses that the standard version of the engine for Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram could get a single twin-scroll turbocharger. Performance trims for Alfa Romeo and Maserati could get different heads and maybe twin turbos, an SRT version might also get both those tweaks. History shows that the Italian versions would make changes to the block, as well. Even so, the Tornado would be less expensive than any Ferrari-supplied V6. A straight-six would put FCA in company with current adopters BMW and Mercedes-Benz, future users like Jaguar, and perhaps Aston Martin. The engine would span the widest range of use cases in the U.S. carmaker's portfolio, though. Potential applications include being a base engine for Ram trucks, serving double duty as a base engine and 5.7-liter Hemi replacement for the Dodge Charger and Challenger, working in the high-end Jeeps, and as a properly hot trim — with Ferrari-designed heads — in the luxury Italian sports cars. The Alfa Romeo Giulia begs for just such motivation to fill the gap between the 280-hp, $42,695 Ti Sport RWD and the 505-hp, $73,700 Giulia Quadrifoglio RWD. And a twin-turbo inline-six in a Maserati Alfieri would stack up nicely with the Germans.

No wing, no Hemi. This Dodge Charger Daytona is two-tone and tufted

In between the Dodge Charger Daytona's 1969 debut as a wild, winged NASCAR warrior and the current 2020 Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody Daytona 50th Anniversary Edition with its monster 717-hp Hemi V8, the nameplate had some ... less-glorious years. The nameplate first resurfaced in 1975, when the Charger moved into the "personal luxury" space as a riff on the Chrysler Cordoba. This 1975 Charger Daytona might not be the model's heyday, but damn if this clean machine, surfaced by Barnfinds.com, isn't striking in its own Me Decade kind of way. And this low-miles example is on offer right now on eBay motors. Outside, this dynamic Dodge sports two-tone silver and blue paint, alloy wheels with white-letter tires, and a power sunroof. Inside, we find high-backed split-bench seats with button-tufted vinyl (no "rich Corinthian leather" here). Raising the miles-long hood reveals a 400-cubic-inch, 4-bbl V8, which for 1975 packed 190 horsepower. A far cry from today's 717 horses, perhaps, but still an upgrade over the Charger's standard 360-cubic-inch V8. It may not be the car that pops immediately to mind when someone says, "Charger Daytona," but with less than 12,000 miles showing, this mid-Seventies example is a time warp to a lesser-known era for the marque.   Featured Gallery 1975 Dodge Charger Daytona Dodge Coupe Classics