2008 Dodge Challenger Srt8-500 First Edition #19500 on 2040-cars

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1968 Dodge Super Charger is a super Charger with a supercharger

Mopar's latest custom creation is sure to be in the running for coolest car at this year's SEMA show. It's a 1968 Dodge Charger, a car selected in part because this year marks the car's 50th anniversary, but taken to the extreme and renamed Super Charger. The headliner of the car's radical upgrades is the new "Hellephant" engine. It's a take on the original car's 426-cubic-inch Hemi V8. But this new engine, with the same displacement, is based on the current Hemi V8, and adds a supercharger. All told, it makes a whopping 1,000 horsepower and 950 pound-feet of torque on 93 octane pump gas. It will be available as a crate engine, too. The engine is far from the only impressive change to the car. All over the body are mild to wild tweaks. The wide, uninterrupted grille from the original is still here, but it's a one-piece example now. And instead of hiding the headlights behind doors that have to open for illumination, the lights simply shine through the grille, retaining a clean look even at night. The whole car sits 2.5 inches lower than stock, and it's now four inches wider thanks to the huge fender flares. They house 305-mm-wide tires up front, and 315-mm tires in the rear. Likely the most complicated change to the car is the lengthened wheelbase. There are two more inches between the wheels now, something Mopar did to reduce the front overhang. A close second in complexity are the taillights. They're the same shape as the originals, but now the round elements are actually exhaust outlets. The tips also happen to be the same as those on the Alfa Romeo Stelvio. There are other details that help bring together the exterior. The rain rails have been smoothed out on the roof, the vent windows removed, special 426 stickers have been added, and the fuel door now has a Hellephant badge with a blue background with lots of little Mopar Ms. The interior gets some attention, too. The rear seat has been removed, Dodge Demon style. It gets a custom roll bar designed to be as unobtrusive as possible, even getting the hoop around the seats to roughly line up with where the windows meet. Gauges come from the Mopar catalog, and the steering wheel and seats are from the dearly departed Dodge Viper. They're particularly relevant, as the six-speed manual transmission comes from the Viper, too. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

FCA to invest $4.5B for new Detroit plant, expanded production at current facilities

We expected some shifts in manufacturing plans as Fiat Chrysler plans to begin electrifying its Jeep brand, but this news bodes well for Michigan. FCA announced today that it would spend $4.5 billion to expand production in the state, including building a new assembly plant in Detroit and increasing capacity at five other facilities in the state. The plan, which FCA says will create nearly 6,500 new jobs, will help to meet increasing demand for Ram and Jeep products, and to electrify Jeep models. $1.6 billion will be set aside to transform the Mack Avenue Engine Complex into a site to build the next generation of Jeep Grand Cherokee, as well as an unspecified, new three-row Jeep model. FCA says this part of the plan will create 3,850 new jobs. FCA is increasing its investment in the Warren Truck plant to $1.5 billion in order to continue building the Ram 1500 Classic, as well as the new Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer, creating 1,400 new jobs. FCA says that the new Ram 1500 Heavy Duty will still be built in Saltillo, Mexico. At FCA's Jefferson North facility, the automaker will invest $900 million to upgrade the plant. This site will continue to build the Dodge Durango, as well help build the next Jeep Grand Cherokee. FCA expects this to create 1,100 new jobs. As Jeep plans to electrify models in its SUV lineup, each of the above plants will produce plug-in hybrid versions of the Jeep models produced there, "with flexibility to build fully battery-electric models in the future," the company said in its announcement. "Three years ago, FCA set a course to grow our profitability based on the strength of the Jeep and Ram brands by realigning our U.S. manufacturing operations," said FCA CEO Mike Manley, referring in part to earlier investments in Illinois, Ohio and Michigan. "Today's announcement represents the next step in that strategy," Manley continued. "It allows Jeep to enter two white space segments that offer significant margin opportunities and will enable new electrified Jeep products, including at least four plug-in hybrid vehicles and the flexibility to produce fully battery-electric vehicles." Other investments include $119 million to move production of the 3.0-, 3.2- and 3.6-liter Pentastar engines from Mack I to the Dundee Engine Plant, and $400 million for increased capacity and 80 new jobs at the Sterling and Warren stamping plants. This comes at a time when FCA's U.S.

Only in Japan: Dodge van one-make racing series is a thing

Japan seems willing to embrace a level of automotive insanity that many other places lack. Whether it's 1,200-horsepower Nissan GT-Rs blasting through tight, tree-lined mountain roads or advertisements with dances for the Toyota Prius Plug-in, the country definitely has a unique way of expressing a love for autos. The D-Van Grand Prix might be one of our favorite examples yet of crazy Japanese car culture, because the annual, one-make race at the Ebisu Circuit is exclusively for heavily customized Dodge vans. Like many great things, this wonderfully crazy idea came from a little rule breaking. D-Van Grand Prix organizer Takuro Abe was at a track event for a motorcycle racing school, and vans were used to haul the bikes around. During lunch someone came up with the idea for a race. Ignoring that the big machines weren't actually allowed on the circuit, the drivers headed out. The popularity has just grown since then. These days, the racing vans absolutely aren't the stock machines from the event's inspiration. In addition to stripped interiors and track rubber that you might expect, the list of mods for them is a mile long. For every possible advantage, the racers fit them with things like Brembo brakes, cross-drilled rotors, heavy-duty transmissions, and much more. Seeing vans lumbering around the track is very weird at first, but the racers take the competition very seriously. These folks even employ all sorts of little tricks to coax the most from the machines. This is a fascinating motorsports story, but be sure to turn on the subtitles to understand the interviews with the competitors.