1995 Dodge 2500 2wd Cummings Diesel on 2040-cars

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Junkyard Gem: 1997 Dodge Ram 2500, Vanlife Edition

During my journeys through the big self-service car graveyards of Colorado's Front Range, I find some interesting art cars and labor-of-love hand-built camping vehicles, plus lots of machines with impressively high final odometer readings. Today's Junkyard Gem is one that combines all three types in one fascinating late-20th-century package. I shot these photos way back in December of 2019, just before the pandemic sent thousands of new adventurers pursuing #vanlife dreams on the roads of North America. This '97 Ram three-quarter-ton van is the third generation of a Chrysler van lineage stretching back to 1970. It began life as a 127" wheelbase cargo version with the Maxi stretched rear. The 2500 Maxi's total length of just over 19 feet made it a good starting point for a camper conversion. MSRP for this hauler was $19,600 when new, or about $36,505 in 2022 frogskins. So much work went into this Ram's interior fittings and exterior paint that I knew I'd be able to find something online about its history. After a few fruitless attempts soon after I shot the photos, I back-burnered my Adventure One Van research project for a while. Then, just last weekend, success! It turns out that this van was customized by Antonio de Irun, a multidisciplinary artist in Boulder, Colorado. He refers to this Dodge as an "Adventure Reform Van" and there's a page documenting its construction on the website of a Florida custom-van company. Most of the nice stuff that was inside got removed before the van entered the junkyard ecosystem, but you can see the general structure of the living and storage layout. Plenty of carpentry and upholstery work went into the Adventure Reform Van aka Adventure One. There's electrical wiring, insulation, everything needed for life on the road. Many, many hours of work must have gone into the intricate paint designs all over the vast expanse of Ram Maxi body. So why didn't this van survive into the era of pandemic vanlife? I think this odometer tells us why: 292,844 total miles, of which I'm assuming 200,000 miles were spent on a powertrain-punishing life of deliveries and trips to job sites. The engine is this 5.9-liter Magnum V8, a modernized version of the good old LA-series 360 equipped with the distinctive "beer barrel" intake manifold and rated at 234 horsepower and 330 pound-feet. The 360 first hit the road in the 1971 model year, with production of 360s and the later Magnum 5.9s continuing well into our current century.

Zombie cars: Discontinued vehicles that aren't dead yet

Car models come and go, but as revealed by monthly sales data, once a car is discontinued, it doesn't just disappear instantly. And in the case of some models, vanishing into obscurity can be a slow, tedious process. That's the case with the 12 cars we have here. All of them have been discontinued, but car companies keep racking up "new" sales with them. There are actually more discontinued cars that are still registering new sales than what we decided to include here. We kept this list to the oldest or otherwise most interesting vehicles still being sold as new, including a supercar. We'll run the list in alphabetical order, starting with *drumroll* ... BMW 6 Series: 55 total sales BMW quietly removed the 6 Series from the U.S. market during the 2019 model year. It had been available in three configurations, a hardtop coupe, a convertible and a sleek four-door coupe-like shape.   BMW i8: 18 total sales We've always had a soft spot for the BMW i8, despite the fact that it never quite fit into a particular category. It was sporty, but nowhere near as fast as similarly-priced competitors. It looked very high-tech and boasted a unique carbon fiber chassis design and a plug-in hybrid powertrain, but wasn't really designed for maximum efficiency or maximum performance. Still, the in-betweener was very cool to look at and drive, and 18 buyers took one home over the course of 2021.   Chevy Impala: 750 total sales The Impala represented classic American tastes at a time when American tastes were shifting away from soft-riding sedans with big interior room and trunk space and into higher-riding crossovers. A total of 750 sales were inked last year.   Chrysler 200: 15 total sales The Chrysler 200 was actually a pretty nice sedan, with good looks and decent driving dynamics let down by a lack of roominess, particularly in the back seat. Of course, as we said regarding the Chevy Impala, the number of Americans in the market for sedans is rapidly winding down, and other automakers are following Chrysler's footsteps in canceling their slow-selling four-doors. Even if Chrysler never really found its footing in the ultra-competitive midsize sedan segment, apparently dealerships have a few leftover 2017 200s floating around. And for some reason, 15 buyers decided to sign the dotted line to take one of these aging sedans home last year.

2018 Dodge Durango GT Rallye gets Charger and Viper-inspired styling

The third-generation Dodge Durango has been on sale since 2011. Essentially a long-wheelbase Jeep Grand Cherokee, the Durango's styling draws a lot of influence from cars like the Dodge Charger and Challenger. For 2018, the three-row SUV will be available with an optional GT Rallye appearance package. Think of this as a V6 model with the face from the more powerful Durango R/T. The appearance package is a $1,495 option on the mid-range Durango GT and is only available for a limited time. Like the R/T, the GT Rallye's front fascia is heavily inspired by the Dodge Charger Daytona. It ditches the standard crosshair design for a slim mesh grille, and adds a Viper-inspired hood scoop and vent. It also gets LED fog lights. The GT Rallye is available in both rear- and all-wheel drive. Customers can also add the Blacktop package and Brass Monkey wheels. Mechanically, nothing changes. The Durango GT Rallye is still powered by the 295-horsepower 3.6-liter V6. The Durango GT starts at $38,990. Related Video: Design/Style Dodge SUV