2007 Dodge Charger Daytona on 2040-cars

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2020 Dodge Challenger 50th Anniversary Commemorative Edition puts on a Smoke Show

To celebrate the semicentennial of the Dodge Challenger this year, last November the muscle car brand announced a Challenger 50th Anniversary Edition. Available in seven of Dodge's high impact colors, Dodge said production would be limited to 1,960 cars, being 70 examples in each of the seven colors. Keeping the good thing going, the brand has just announced another 50th anniversary special, this one a Commemorative Edition with no cap on build numbers. The Commemorative Edition can be ordered on three 2020 Challenger trims, the R/T, R/T Scat Pack, and R/T Scat Pack Widebody, omitting the rear-wheel drive V6 GT model that can be configured as a 50th Anniversary Edition.    The Commemorative car is nearly identical to the Anniversary car. Outside, that means a Satin Black, hand-painted hood and black-wrapped roof and decklid, the Hellcat's air intake headlights, Satin Black fuel filler cap, Gold School-colored wheels, Gunmetal-colored brake calipers on trims that come with red Brembo brakes, and tons of badging all over from the illuminated "50" logos in the headlamps to the Satin Black Dodge logo in the taillamps. The interior gets sepia stitching on the heated and cooled performance seats, more sepia thread on for the Alcantara door bolsters, white gauges with yellow accents, berber floor mats, real carbon fiber trim pieces, and a bunch more badging. Paying homage to its elder, on startup a 1970 Challenger appears in the gauge cluster animation. Dodge says dealers will begin taking orders for the new celebrant this month, with deliveries to commence in the fall. The optional package adds $4,995 to the price of a 2020 Challenger R/T, $5,495 to the price of the R/T Scat Pack, and $5,495 to the cost of the R/T Scat Pack Widebody before the $6,000 cost of the widebody package itself. Whereas the 50th Anniversary car came in any of Dodge's eye-candy colors — F8 Green, Frostbite, Go Mango, Hellraisin, Sinamon Stick, TorRed, or the all-new Gold Rush — the Commemorative Edition is limited to the tamer end of the color palette, available in Granite, Indigo Blue, Octane Red, Pitch Black, Triple Nickel, White Knuckle, and the new Smoke Show hue. That latter color replaces Destroyer Gray, and can be ordered on the Charger as well. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Consumer Reports no longer recommends Honda Civic

Consumer Reports annual Car Reliability Survey is out, and yes, there are some big surprises. First and foremost? The venerable publication no longer recommends the Honda Civic. In fact, aside from the walking-dead CR-Z and limited-release Clarity fuel-cell car, the Civic is the only Honda to miss out on CR's prestigious nod. At the opposite end there's a surprise as well – Toyota and Lexus remain the most reliable brands on the market, but Buick cracked the top three. That's up from seventh last year, and the first time for an American brand to stand on the Consumer Reports podium. Mazda's entire lineup earned Recommended checks as well. Consumer Reports dinged the Civic for its "infuriating" touch-screen radio, lack of driver lumbar adjustability, the limited selection of cars on dealer lots fitted with Honda's popular Sensing system, and the company's decision to offer LaneWatch instead of a full-tilt blind-spot monitoring system. Its score? A lowly 58. The Civic isn't the only surprise drop from CR's Recommended ranks. The Audi A3, Ford F-150, Subaru WRX/STI, and Volkswagen Jetta, GTI, and Passat all lost the Consumer Reports' checkmark. On the flipside, a number of popular vehicles graduated to the Recommended ranks, including the BMW X5, Chevrolet Camaro, Corvette, and Cruze, Hyundai Santa Fe, Porsche Macan, and Tesla Model S. Perhaps the biggest surprise is the hilariously recall-prone Ford Escape getting a Recommended check – considering the popularity of Ford's small crossover, this is likely a coup for the brand, as it puts the Escape on a level playing field with the Recommended Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, and Nissan Rogue. While Ford is probably happy to see CR promote the Escape, the list wasn't as kind for every brand. For example, of the entire Fiat Chrysler Automobiles catalog, the ancient Chrysler 300 was the only car to score a check – there wasn't a single Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati, or Ram on the list. That hurts. FCA isn't alone at the low end, either. GMC, Jaguar Land Rover, Mini, and Mitsubishi don't have a vehicle on CR's list between them, while brands like Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Nissan, Lincoln, Infiniti, and Cadillac only have a few models each. You can check out Consumer Reports entire reliability roundup, even without a subscription, here.

Dukes of Hazzard reruns dropped amid Confederate flag controversy

Those Duke boys are in a mess of trouble again, as TV Land announced Wednesday that it will be dropping the classic 1980s action-comedy the Dukes of Hazzard from its roster. But it may not be Bo and Luke's fault this time. Rather, it appears to be the changing political landscape. Entertainment Weekly reached out to TV Land, which is devoted to airing episodes of classic TV series, but it had no further comment. While the network didn't say why the episodes were removed, EW speculates that the cancellation is part of the reaction to the racially motivated murder of nine people in a historic black church in Charleston, SC, last month. The shooter was often photographed carrying a Confederate flag and other trappings of white supremacy. Since the tragedy, Confederate flags are being dropped from state houses, license plates, and toys. Last month, Warner Bros. said it would stop producing toys featuring the rebel flag, including a die cast miniature version of the Dukes of Hazzard's trademark ride, The General Lee, which was a bright orange 1969 Dodge Charger with a Confederate flag plastered to the roof. The same week as the shooting, the Supreme Court decided that states can reject license plates featuring the stars and bars as part of the states' right to free speech. Nine states currently use the flag in license plates, and the ruling will allow Texas, North Carolina, and Tennessee to remove the motif from their state's plates. Georgia is also considering redesigning its plates in the wake of the shooting. For our younger readers, the Dukes Of Hazzard was a television show that aired from 1979 to 1985 on CBS. It feature the antics of the Duke boys in a fictional place called Hazzard County, GA. Related Video: