2014 Jeep Compass Latitude on 2040-cars

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2018 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Alaska Cannonball | 14,000 miles to Deadhorse and back

I've never delayed big adventure long enough to fill a bucket. But I do have a bucket item that dates to 1992: drive from Deadhorse, Alaska, to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. Twenty-six years later, it's time. But first, I needed a vehicle. And a Jeep Wrangler was not my first choice. Growing up as a kid in the Midwest, I loved Jeeps. But around 10 years ago I went on a camping trip to Death Valley with a colleague, testing the early JK Wrangler against the competition. By the end of it, I couldn't justify the ergonomic and physical punishment for the admittedly massive capability. So two years ago, I bought a 1994 Toyota Land Cruiser project truck to make the journey. I paid too much, and the Cruiser revealed itself to be not a garage project, but the Manhattan Project. I took this as a good omen. Adventure begins in the deep end, so why wait to get there? During a break from discovering enough gremlins to reboot the movie franchise, I had dinner with Jeep's West Coast PR guy. I mentioned my plans for a six-month overlanding trek to Alaska. He said, "You know, we've got a new Wrangler coming out — that might be a good test of the chassis." My outside voice said, "That would be interesting." My inside voice said, "Hmmm." Anything's possible after 10 years, right? I might like it. Might. Many plans have gone awry on the way to this moment. It's taken more than a year to lock in a start date, because Jeep couldn't spare a Wrangler Rubicon. Everyone else in America keeps buying them. A suitable Wrangler was found eventually, but now the deed had to be done in three months, not six. What was going to be a comfortably-paced, backwoods roll up to Alaska and back has turned into the Rubicon Overland Cannonball. I know 14 weeks is plenty of time to drive to the Arctic and back. (Tierra del Fuego is officially off the itinerary.) However, the point of this trip is to fit in as much dirt, as many bucket-list trails, and all the wild America possible. That means my route's about 14,000 convoluted miles of criss-crossing the country in all the cardinal directions. And that's assuming everything goes to plan. Until last week, I was doing this trip with a friend from college who lives in Marietta, Georgia. He was the photo/video guy. Then he had a medical emergency, so the only trip he's taking is to the OR and rehab. Now I'm going by myself, and I think it's important to point out that I have no idea what I'm doing. That isn't modesty, that's truth: zero clue.

Weekly Recap: Lamborghini fires on all cylinders

Lamborghini added 192 technicians and specialists in 2014 as the Italian automaker expands under the ambitious growth strategy of parent company Volkswagen AG. The additional workers helped Lamborghini increase its sales 19 percent last year to 2,530 supercars, and further expansion is planned for this year. Lambo has added more than 500 people in the last four years, bringing its headcount to 1,175. "Lamborghini is undergoing a strong phase of growth in both sales and in terms of recruitment," CEO Stephan Winkelmann said in a statement. "We invest significantly in our people ... in 2015 we plan to hire further." The supercar maker's solid performance last year came during a time of transition. Lambo sold off the final 265 Gallardos, which were the brand's best-selling models ever. Its 10-cylinder successor, the Huracan, immediately filled the void. It garnered 3,300 orders, and 1,137 of them were delivered in 2014. The other Lamborghini, the 12-cylinder Aventador, saw its sales increase 13 percent to 1,128 copies. The sales leap comes as Volkswagen drives sales expansion across its portfolio of brands. The German carmaker sold 10 million vehicles around the world for the first time last year. Though Lambo will never make supercars in great numbers, it is expected to contribute to VW's bottom line through its image and profitable sales. Look for further growth this year, and a Super Veloce version (shown above) of the Aventador has already been spotted during testing. Lamborghini has been working on a sport utility vehicle for years, though the company has never publicly approved the project. It also showed a hybrid, the Asterion, at last year's Paris Motor show, suggesting the automaker is considering an electric future. Other News and Notes GMC ponders Jeep Wrangler fighter GMC is considering adding a competitor to the Jeep Wrangler and has discussed the idea with its dealers, according to the Wall Street Journal. Details of the vehicle are unclear, but the report suggested the vehicle could have cues from General Motors' old Hummer brand. The move would broaden GMC's lineup of trucks and SUVs and attract new customers. GMC sold 501,853 vehicles in 2014, making it GM's second-best selling brand. GMC had more volume than Cadillac and Buick combined, though it's still well behind Chevrolet's tally of more than two million vehicles. The notion of a "Wrangler fighter" could be a moving target.

FCA facing class-action lawsuit over Grand Cherokee shifters

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is now facing a multi-million-dollar class-action lawsuit over the recalled shifter design in the 2014 and 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee, and the 2012 to 2014 Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300. Grand Cherokee owners, galvanized by Star Trek actor Anton Yelchin's fatal accident, filed the suit. According to The Wall Street Journal, the owners allege that FCA concealed the shifter's problems. On top of restitution, the class action suit is demanding a court order force FCA to issue a do-not-drive warning to owners of affected vehicles until it fixes the problem. FCA started distributing a software fix to dealers last week – according to the WSJ, the update will add more warnings about the shifter's position and will automatically kick the vehicle into park if the driver steps out. FCA's shifter problems have been bubbling under the surface as part of the company's recall issues. The US government dinged FCA with a $105 million fine last year for its recall practices (or lack thereof) last year, but things have exploded this week after Yelchin's death. The 27-year-old, best known for playing Ensign Pavel Chekov in the rebooted Star Trek film series, was killed after his 2015 Grand Cherokee rolled down his driveway and pinned the actor against a security gate. According to Jeep CEO Mike Manley, the company will dispatch engineers to analyze Yelchin's vehicle. Related Video: