1999 Dodge Dakota Slt V6 Magnum on 2040-cars

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How fracking is causing Chrysler minivans to sit on Detroit's riverfront

It's fascinating the way that one change to a complex system can have all sorts of unintended consequences. For instance, there are hundreds of new Chrysler Town and County and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans built in Windsor, Ontario, sitting in lots on the Detroit waterfront because of the energy boom in the Bakken oil field in the northern US and parts of Canada.
The huge amount of crude oil coming from these sites mostly use freight trains for transport, and that supply boom has resulted in a shortage of railcars to carry other goods. According to The Windsor Star, North American crude oil transport by train has gone from 9,500 carloads in 2008 to 434,032 carloads in 2013. Making matters worse, some North American rail infrastructure is still damaged because of this year's harsh winter, and that's slowing things down even further.
Chrysler admits to The Star that it has had some delivery delays due to the freight train shortage. In the meantime, it's using more trucks to deliver its vehicles. Trucking is a far less economical solution, partially because a train can carry so many more units at one time, but alternatives are slim. The Windsor plant alone has a deal for 33 trucks to distribute the minivans around Canada and the Midwestern US.

Special Dodge Challengers get Hellcat bits to celebrate Mopar's 80th birthday

This year, Mopar is celebrating its 80th anniversary, and it's doing so in two-tone style with this very limited edition Dodge Challenger. Only 160 of these Challengers will be built, with 80 in each paint scheme. Buyers can choose between either Billet Silver or the slightly painful sounding Contusion Blue, each of which gets a hand-painted Pitch Black top half. These Challengers are based on the existing 392 Shaker package, but come with an array of upgrades and tweaks. In addition to the custom two-tone paint, the shaker scoop and rear spoiler are painted in the same color, rather than the usual matte black. The cars come with 20-inch wheels and hand-painted 392 logos on the fenders. The 392 cu. in., or 6.4-liter if you prefer, engine produces the same 485 horsepower and 475 lb-ft of torque as its normal counterpart. This Mopar Challenger will have more access to cold air, though, since it has both the shaker scoop and the headlamp intake from the Challenger Hellcat. At the back, there's also exhaust tips borrowed from the most hellish of Challengers. Or at least the most hellish, so far. View 14 Photos Inside, the changes are more minor. Performance seats are added with embroidered Mopar logos in the backrests. The seats and other trim also feature a silver-colored Tungsten stitching. Naturally, a serial number badge makes an appearance inside, too. Owners will also receive a little box of goodies including a booklet, signed rendering, keychain, additional badge, and a certificate showing the date of manufacture. The overall package is rather attractive, but it isn't cheap. To own one of the few Mopar Challengers, you'll have to fork over $56,885. That's a significant premium over the 392 Scat Pack Shaker, which starts at just $44,890 and makes just as much power. You'll also be able to get a 392 Scat Pack Shaker right away, while the Mopar special edition won't be out until spring. Plus, you may not get it until summer because the hand-painting process takes some time. Of course, for some people, the cost and the wait are worth the exclusivity. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Rare Dodge Shelby Dakota is a very '80s sport truck

The late-great Carroll Shelby built an incredibly successful career of making all sorts of cars faster, more often than not, with a bigger or more potent engine under the hood. The icons are well known—legends like the Shelby Cobra, GT350 Mustang, and the big GT500. But by the 1980s, Shelby was plying his trade over at Chrysler, at the behest of chairman Lee Iacocca, churning out special editions like the Dodge Shelby Charger, zippy CSX, rorty GLHS, and this—the 1989 Shelby Dakota muscle truck. 1,500 of these racy pickups were built for just one year and a whole two-and-a-half decades later they still turn heads. This one especially. The spotless pickup recently turned up for sale online , and its odometer reads a claimed 25,307 miles. So what makes these rarified work trucks special? As with most Shelbys, it starts under the hood. Up until 1989, the standard Dodge Dakota pickups were offered in only four-cylinder and V6 variants. But Dodge (and Shelby) wanted more, so the larger 5.2-liter Magnum V8 from Dodge's full-size pickup was shoehorned into the midsize Dakota, albeit not effortlessly. To fit, Dodge had to swap the V8's belt-driven fan for an electric unit mounted in front of the radiator. That did the trick, as well as earned the V8 a few extra ponies, pushing the special Dakota up to 175 horsepower and 270 lb.-ft. of torque. That performance may sound paltry by today's standards, but in 1989 it was seen as quite sporty, and netted a zero to 60 mph dash in 8.5 seconds. A four-speed automatic with lockup torque converter transmitted that power to the rear wheels. Additional Shelby performance goodies included a limited-slip differential, transmission cooler, along with a host of eye-catching body mods, including a unique air dam and bumpers, Shelby floor mats, monogramed seats and door panels, a "CS" steering wheel, 15-spoke hollow alloy wheels, and shouty body graphics. While the Shelby Dakota didn't return for 1990, its V8 legacy did continue, and in 1991 the 5.2-liter eight-cylinder became an option on new Dakotas. Of the 1,500 Shelby Dakota pickups built, 860 were dressed in red while a rarer 640 came adorned in Bright White. This '89 is said to be #245 of those white trucks, sold new to its original (and sole) owner in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, for $15,985 (the Shelby package cost $3,933 in its day). Currently, it's demanding bids north of $10,000 for its low-mileage originality. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party.