1972 Dodge Dart Swinger Hardtop 2-door 3.7l on 2040-cars

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Hypermiling a Ram 1500 EcoDiesel to 38.1 mpg

You never quite know what Wayne Gerdes has up his sleeve. The man who coined the term hypermiling is always looking for adventurous ways to prove that anyone – even you... yes, you – can eke out more miles per gallon just by changing the way you drive. Saying that is easy. Proving it by going on outlandish cross-country drives is hard. But for Gerdes and his team of fuel economy fiends over at CleanMPG, hard is half the fun. Our latest adventure appeared, at first glance, to be nearly impossible. Which is why we always answer the phone when Gerdes calls. He likes to take journalists along on his drives, not only to try teach us how to hypermile but also to prove that we can be taught. The first time I 'helped' him and his team was when we got over 30 miles per gallon in a 2011 Ford F-150 XLT with the EcoBoost 3.5-liter V6. The EPA rated that truck with at just 16 mpg in the city and 22 on the highway. So, we'll count that trip as a success. Next up was a cross-country drive last fall in a trio of Audi TDI vehicles to prove that you don't need to drive extra slow to beat the EPA numbers. In fact, we made it from Los Angeles to New York City in just over 46 hours, cramped but not cranky. We had once again proven that how you drive is hugely important to your fuel usage. Our latest adventure appeared, at first glance, to be nearly impossible. The EPA says that the Ram 1500 EcoDiesel we would be driving gets just 22 combined mpg (19 city and 27 highway). Gerdes' idea was to drive it as far north from Houston, TX towards Detroit, MI as we could go on one tank. The day before we left, our itinerary got an extra stop. Instead of taking one of the official Shell Eco-marathon prototype vehicles to Detroit, it was decided to bring the winning diesel-powered prototype from the just-finished event to The Henry Ford Museum, where it had been arranged the car would be displayed. The winning car was built by a small team (just four students) from Sullivan High School in Sullivan, IN, who managed to beat a number of college teams with a score of 1,899.32 mpg. That target would be a bit out of reach for the Ram, but could we get 1,000 miles from the tank? Since the truck has a 26 gallon tank (officially, anyway), that would mean the EPA says we could only go 702 miles, assuming all highway driving. Could we make up 300 miles with careful driving? That spells both challenge and fun.

One-of-four carbon fiber-bodied Dodge Challenger Demon listed for sale

Exclusivity often comes at a high price; in this case, it's $169,995. That's how much Texas exotic car dealer BJ Motors is asking for one of the four carbon fiber-bodied Dodge Challenger Demons built by Speedkore. Many enthusiasts would balk at the idea of spending Audi R8 money on a Demon, but this example isn't your average Challenger. Unveiled at the 2017 SEMA show, and upgraded with 1,400 horsepower the following year, the model ditches the standard coupe's metal body panels for carbon fiber parts to lose about 200 pounds. The example offered for sale has six miles on the odometer so odds are no one has verified its quarter-mile time. The dealer noted the Demon in its inventory is the fourth and final carbon fiber-bodied example built. It's fitted with the stock engine, meaning power comes from a supercharged, 6.2-liter V8 engine that delivers 840 horsepower and 770 pound-feet of torque when burning 100-octane race gas, or 808 horsepower and 717 pound-feet of torque when slurping pump gas. It pops a 2.9-foot wheelie as it screams to 60 mph in 2.3 seconds. The person who ordered this Demon new ticked nearly every box on the list of options. It's equipped with heated and cooled front seats, an 18-speaker sound system, plus two-tone leather and Alcantara upholstery. However, as AllPar pointed out, the dealer makes no mention of the Demon Crate, which included skinny front tires, a block-off plate for the passenger-side door mirror, and a conical air filter, among other go-fast goodies. While spending $170,000 on a Dodge Challenger sounds utterly insane, we wouldn't be surprised if this rare example in like-new condition finds a new home quicker than the Demon goes down a drag strip. Dodge made 3,300 units and stock, metal-bodied examples with delivery mileage sold for an average of $143,000 in 2018, according to Hagerty. AllPar learned Speedkore charged $90,000 for the carbon fiber conversion. The equation tilts in favor of the buyer, which suggests the car's next owner may be more of an investor than an enthusiast. If you're more into classics, Speedkore also gave a 1970 Charger the carbon fiber treatment and rounded out the modifications with a 996-horsepower Demon crate engine. Alternatively, if you have a family to haul, the company made a carbon fiber-bodied Charger with 1,525 horsepower at the crank when running 26 pounds of boost. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences.

Junkyard Gem: 1981 Dodge Challenger

The first Dodge Challenger was an E-Body sibling to the 1970-1974 Plymouth Barracuda, and it was a pure Chrysler product with either Slant-6 or V8 power. Then stuff happened and the Challenger name went away for a while, returning in 1978 on a rebadged Mitsubishi Galant Lambda. For 1981, the Challenger got an updated body, and that's what we've got here in a Denver-area self-service wrecking yard. Chrysler was selling lots of Mitsubishis by the early 1980s, including the Colt econobox, the Dodge Ram 50 pickup, and the Plymouth Arrow truck. The Challenger's Plymouth-badged sibling was the Sapporo. This one had a bunch of late-1990s receipts from Los Angeles-area shops, and a check of the VIN on the California smog-check database shows that it last passed the Golden State's emissions test in 1997. Did it drive to Colorado 20 years ago and then sit until a few months ago? There is no easy way to know. Early Mitsubishi-built Challengers could be had with a 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine, but in 1981 the only engine choice was the Astron 2.6 four-banger, rated at 105 horsepower. Members of the Astron 2.6 family powered everything from Dodge Aries-Ks to Mitsubishi Starions in North America, and production continued nearly into our current century for Chinese-market trucks. Not many miles on this car, and no rust. The Index of Effluency-winning team at the recent Colorado 24 Hours of Lemons race grabbed a few bits from this car for their somewhat related 1976 Plymouth Arrow, but otherwise it appears that this rare classic may go to the crusher more or less intact. It's a lightweight, rear-wheel-drive coupe with decent power (for its era) and a 5-speed manual transmission, but there's just not much of a following in Colorado for these cars. I see the occasional Sapporo or Challenger during my junkyard travels, but the numbers have declined in recent years. Soon they will all be gone. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Related Video: Featured Gallery Junked 1981 Dodge Challenger View 26 Photos Auto News Dodge Automotive History Coupe Performance