2005 Dodge Ram 2500 4x4 on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Driving the Jeep J6, Shakedown Challenger and other Mopar concepts

Mopar has been a one-stop-shop for factory-backed performance modifications and accessories on FCA products for a long time now. You want a 707-horsepower engine for your old Plymouth Belvedere? Mopar has you covered with the Hellcrate. Maybe you want a lift and off-roading lights on that newly-bought Wrangler? Mopar can accommodate those wants (or needs, we don’t judge) as well. We get to see some of the companyÂ’s weirdest creations every now and then, but rarely do we get the opportunity to drive the FCA Mopar concepts. ThatÂ’s what made this past Woodward Dream Cruise so special: We got to rip some of MoparÂ’s finest and most recent creations up and down Woodward Avenue. Everything from a 1971 Challenger restomod to the brand-new Easter Jeep Safari J6 concept was in attendance, so letÂ’s get right to it. Mopar Woodward View 6 Photos 1967 Plymouth Hellvedere This car is near the pinnacle of what you can do with off-the-shelf Mopar purchases. It was only a humble 1967 Plymouth Belvedere before Mopar dropped the 707-horsepower supercharged V8 from the Hellcat into the engine bay. Sound ridiculous? Yeah, it is. Other parts of it are new as well, including the disc brakes. Good call. However, Mopar didnÂ’t remove the classic car charm from the entire driving experience. The steering, for example, is surely as slow and inaccurate as it was back in 1967. That doesnÂ’t help matters when youÂ’re trying to put 707 horsepower to the pavement with less-than-ideal rear rubber. Floor it in damn near any gear of the Tremec six-speed, and the front end rises straight up as the rear kicks sideways with the force of many mules. There are no electronics such as traction control or stability control to step in and wrangle the car into submission. But hey, who wants them, anyway? The question remains: Should you buy a Hellcrate engine for your classic? If money were no object, the easy answer is yes. Have at it so long as you love smoky burnouts and excessive amounts of horsepower. Just make sure you know how to deal with that much power before you stick your right foot in it.   Dodge Challenger Shakedown View 15 Photos 2016 Dodge Shakedown Challenger Concept WeÂ’re going downhill in horsepower with this restomod, but the drivability and ease of driving goes way up. Dodge showed this “Shakedown” concept at SEMA awhile back, and as with most concept cars, getting a chance behind the wheel is a special opportunity.

Experience the Woodward Dream Cruise in a Dodge Challenger Hellcat

While Autoblog was consumed by coverage of the increasingly important Monterey Car Week last weekend, there was another big even going on. The Woodward Dream Cruise is significantly lighter in terms of news, but there's no denying that it's a far bigger, and far more egalitarian than what the wine-and-cheese crowd experience on the links at Pebble Beach. The Dream Cruise crams tens of thousands of cars and over a million spectators along a four-lane ribbon of asphalt between Ferndale and Pontiac, MI. What's remarkable aren't these numbers, though, so much as the distances they travel. Owners and admirers come from far and wide, across the United States and in some cases across the globe, to take in the spectacle. This year, local radio and television coverage featured fans that traveled from Japan, Australia, and Europe, just to take in the cruise. Of course, we realize that not everyone can make the pilgrimage to Woodward Avenue. With that fact in mind, we decided to bring a bit of the Dream Cruise to Autoblog with a time-lapse video of the cruise route. You can experience the good (a Lamborghini Gallardo, Chevrolet Chevelle, and Oldsmobile Cutlass 442), the bad (the traffic jams), and the ugly (no, your 2003 Ford Focus does not qualify as a classic, get the hell out of the cruiser lanes). So join us, as we turn off 8 Mile Road behind the wheel of our 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and run north, through Ferndale, Pleasant Ridge, Royal Oak, Huntington Woods, Berkley, Bloomfield Township, and Bloomfield Hills, before ending up on Wide Track Drive in Pontiac.

Dodge Grand Caravan, Journey no longer available in the California emissions states

The Dodge Grand Caravan and the Dodge Journey are no longer available for sale in California or any of the states that follow its emissions standards (often referred to as the ZEV states). As reported by Allpar.com, the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 in the Grand Caravan does not meet those emissions standards for 2020, and evidently neither does the 2.4-liter four-cylinder that is the sole engine offering in the Journey this year. The Pentastar V6 used in other Dodges, Chryslers and Jeeps is an updated unit that does not face the same emissions issues. The 2020 model year already was due to be the last for the Grand Caravan, which is being replaced in the lineup by a lower-priced and lower-spec version of the Chrysler Pacifica called the Chrysler Voyager. Production of the Grand Caravan at FCA's Windsor, Ontario factory is reportedly due to end in May. As for the Journey, that model has exceeded its sell-by date and is the oldest entrant in its class. The vehicle was introduced as a 2009 model, and not has seen major revisions in the 11 years since. For 2020, Dodge has cut the Journey model lineup to just two trim levels: SE Value and Crossroad (dropping the SE and the GT), and it's front-wheel drive only. But the Journey could continue — in some states at least — into the 2021 model year. Rumors of its replacement, with a sportier model based on the Alfa Romeo Stelvio, don't have it arriving until 2022 or so.