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1968 Dodge D200 'Lowliner' adds low-down diesel torque to a lowrider

When Mopar does a custom classic car, it's always spectacular, whether it's a Dodge muscle car like the 1,000-horsepower Super Charger or the monster Jeep Five-Quarter off-road pickup. For SEMA this year, Mopar skipped another Dodge sports coupe in favor of a 1968 Dodge D200 pickup truck done up as a lowrider, but with a twist. Or more accurately, with lots of twist. Under the gorgeous candy red metallic body is a 5.9-liter 24-valve Cummins turbodiesel straight-six. It makes an estimated 325 horsepower and 610 pound-feet of torque, and it's paired with a six-speed manual transmission. Representatives from Chrysler estimated the weight of the engine and transmission alone at 1,100 pounds. The diesel engine's power goes to the rear wheels, which are 22 inches in diameter and 11 inches wide with fat 325-mm tires. The front wheels are a tad narrower at 9.5 inches. 1968 Dodge D200 View 7 Photos As cool as the powertrain is, the exterior and the interior of the truck can't be ignored. This generation of Dodge pickup is already intriguing with its distinct character line with a little kink at the end and ribbed and louvered hood. These unique styling cues are accented now that Dodge removed various other details from the body such as the door handles, metallic trim and such. The bumpers were also reshaped to better fit the contours of the body, and the front wheels were pushed forward to reduce the long overhang of the stock truck. The bumpers, grille, and "smoothie" style alloy wheels were also painted in a solid cream color rather than chrome, which both accents the deep red body and gives the truck a more workmanlike feel, as low-trim cars typically had painted trim instead of chrome or stainless steel. The red paint also features subtle Cummins logos on the fenders and Dodge block lettering on the tailgate. The interior continues the simple and classy theme. The original bench seat remains, but with saddle brown leather upholstery. Leather trim has been added throughout, and exposed metal parts have been painted in the same color as the exterior. Simple gray cloth floor mats cover the bottom of the cab, and the instrument panel uses new Mopar gauges in a machine-turned metal housing. The original steering wheel remains, but a custom shifter with red Cummins shift knob sticks through the floor.

U.S. asks Mexico to probe whether Stellantis parts plant abused labor rights

MEXICO CITY and WASHINGTON — The United States has asked Mexico to probe alleged worker rights violations at an auto-parts plant owned by Italian-French carmaker Stellantis, the fourth such complaint under a revised trade deal, U.S. officials said on Monday. The U.S. request for Mexico to examine possible abuses at Teksid Hierro de Mexico in the northern border state of Coahuila comes under the 2020 United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Teksid, which employs nearly 1,500 people and makes iron castings for heavy vehicles, has been embroiled in a union dispute since 2014. Workers say the company has blocked them from being represented by the group of their choice, the Miners Union, and that it dismissed workers who backed the group. The U.S. Trade Representative's (USTR) office said in the request it was concerned workers had been denied collective bargaining rights in connection with an "invalid" contract with the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM), one of Mexico's most powerful unions, that had been registered with state authorities. The office asked Mexico to investigate if efforts had been made, including threats and incentives, to encourage backing for CTM or to dissuade support for the Miners Union. Labor disputes in Mexico have long featured intimidation tactics by powerful unions cozier with employers and governments than workers. Under the USMCA, the trade pact that replaced NAFTA, factories that violate worker rights could lose their tariff-free status. Companies have been watching how the tougher labor rules will play out. Stellantis, the world's fourth-largest auto group which formed from the merger of Peugeot maker PSA and Fiat Chrysler, said it "respects and supports the collective bargaining rights of its employees around the world and will comply with all local laws in that regard." The United Auto Workers union, which represents U.S. Stellantis workers, along with the AFL-CIO labor federation and the Miners Union, flagged the potential violations, the USTR's office said. Teksid, CTM and the local Conciliation and Arbitration Board should be included in the review, it added. CTM did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The union's leader in Coahuila, Tereso Medina, recently told Mexican newspaper El Economista the union would abide by the USMCA and that the conflict should be resolved with a workers' vote. Mexico's federal labor center in May said the Miners Union held the only valid contract.

V8-powered 2022 Ford F-150 Raptor R spied testing alongside Ram TRX

Spy photographers captured Ford engineers testing what appears to be a 2022 F-150 Raptor R alongside a Ram TRX this week, giving us a sneak preview of the first major battle in the coming war for super-pickup dominance.  Ford has remained tight-lipped about the Raptor R's performance specs. We know only that it will be powered by a V8 (likely a variant of the 760-horsepower, supercharged 5.2-liter unit from the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500), and that it's due to break cover some time later this year. Given that the 702-horsepower Ram TRX will be the Raptor R's only competition (and pretty much the only reason it exists in the first place), Ford's decision to benchmark the fast Ram is a bit of a no-brainer.  The Blue Oval's performance engineers have years of practice when it comes to building high-performance off-road trucks, so despite Ram's first-strike advantage and Hellcat trump card, the TRX might actually be the underdog in this fight. Why? Well, based on what we've seen of the EcoBoost-powered 2021 Raptor so far, it should weigh at least 500-600 pounds less than the TRX, and while we expect that gap to shrink with the addition of the bigger engine, it's likely that it will still favor Ford, and perhaps significantly.  While the larger, supercharged V8 will certainly weigh more than the EcoBoost V6, it's still an all-aluminum engine (all SRT motors are based on cast-iron blocks) and Ford still has the advantage of its lightweight body panels. There will likely be more to the Raptor R's chassis modifications than a new set of engine mounting points, since the existing Raptor was not engineered to handle an 800-horsepower engine, but even with the chassis modifications necessary to handle that power, we expect the Raptor R to be the featherweight of the two.  Since Ford plans to get the Raptor R into production for the 2022 model year, we shouldn't have to wait much longer to find out just exactly how it shapes up against Ram's big dinosaur. Stay tuned. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.