Dodge Stratus R/t on 2040-cars

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China own a Detroit automaker? Would the U.S. let that happen?

The news that several Chinese automakers want to buy Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and that one has even made an offer, elicits some mixed feelings. On one hand, as some have pointed out, it could be a win-win both for China and for FCA's American workers, ensuring the company's survival and opening new markets. On the other hand, this is China, whose trade relationship with the U.S. is the source of considerable scrutiny from the Trump administration — and whose not-a-friend, not-an-enemy status is particularly difficult to gauge right now during heightened tensions with its client state North Korea. So would such a deal pass regulatory muster? One reason that springs to mind for blocking any sale has to do with national security. Chrysler's role as a military supplier dates back to Dodge trucks used by Gen. Blackjack Pershing to chase Pancho Villa in Mexico, and shortly thereafter by American forces in World War I. The Detroit Three automakers were, of course, mainstays of the Arsenal of Democracy of World War II. Even before U.S. entry into the war in December 1941, America's industrial machinery went into overdrive, and Chrysler was one of the biggest cogs. It engineered and built the M3, Sherman and Pershing tanks and trucks for Gen. George Patton's Redball Express. It helped develop a radar-guided antiaircraft gun that knocked German bombers and V1 rockets out of the sky — on one day, shooting down 97 of 101 V1s headed for London. On D-Day, the radar system helped thwart Luftwaffe counterattacks on the beaches of Normandy, and it later helped Allied forces break out at the Battle of the Bulge. Chrysler redesigned the Wright Cyclone engines used by the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, the plane that firebombed Tokyo and dropped the atomic bombs that ended the war. Chrysler even played a secret role refining uranium in Oak Ridge, Tenn., that was used in the Hiroshima bomb and in the ensuing Cold War arms race. It worked on military missiles and was NASA's prime contractor for the Saturn V rocket that put men on the moon. More recently, Chrysler produced the M1 Abrams tank. And of course Chrysler is the keeper of the flame for Jeep, a 75-plus-years military legacy handed down from Bantam and Willys to Kaiser to AMC to Chrysler. The point of this history lesson is to note that in times of war or national emergency, America's industrial might has been called to serve, and may well be called on again.

Junkyard Gem: 1991 Dodge Stealth R/T

Chrysler's relationship with Mitsubishi goes back to the early 1970s, when the first Mitsubishi Colt Galants arrived from Japan with Dodge Colt badging. Plenty of Mitsubishi-built Arrows and Ram 50s and Challengers followed, and the joint Chrysler-Mitsubishi plant in Illinois began building cars in 1988. By the 1990s, you could find Mitsubishi DNA throughout the American Chrysler family, and the Mitsubishi GTO was brought over to become the Dodge Stealth starting in 1991. Here's one of those first-year Stealths, now residing in a Colorado self-service boneyard. Four grades of Stealth were available here in 1991, with the R/T Turbo AWD at the very pinnacle. This car, a regular R/T, is one step down from that model but still a pretty quick machine for its time. MSRP was $25,155, or about $55,370 in 2022 dollars. The R/T got this naturally-aspirated DOHC 6G72 engine, displacing 3.0 liters and making 222 horsepower. If you got the turbocharged version in the R/T Turbo AWD (or the Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4), power went up to 300 horses. The 3000GT (as the GTO was known here) was mechanically identical to this car but had slightly different styling. The GTO/3000GT/Stealth replaced the Mitsubishi Starion and its Chrysler/Dodge Conquest siblings, which were sold here from the 1983 through 1989 model years. The Starion was a rear-wheel-drive machine that competed for sales against the Toyota Supra and Nissan Z, while the Mitsubishi GTO was available with either front- or all-wheel-drive. As illustrated by this photo of the rear suspension, this car is a front-wheel-drive version. Americans loved automatic transmissions 30 years ago, nearly as much as we love them today, but this car has a proper five-on-the-floor manual. If you wanted the optional four-speed automatic, it cost 813 bucks ($1,790 today). The Stealth R/T AWD had a mandatory five-speed manual transmission. This car has been hit hard by junkyard shoppers and the ravages of time, but it was fairly luxurious when new. Air conditioning was standard equipment on the R/T, though not on the lesser Stealths. This car came close to 150,000 total miles, but fell a bit short of that milestone. The final year for the Dodge Stealth was 1996, though the Mitsubishi 3000GT remained available here through 1999. The Mitsubishi GTO held on through 2000 in its homeland. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Outhandles the Lotus Esprit!

Dodge Durango Shaker concept: A 392 V8 in front of six Viper seats

When done right, a parts-bin special can be a beautiful thing. This Dodge Durango Shaker concept for the 2016 SEMA show is one such vehicle, and it's easily our favorite Mopar debuting in Vegas. The key, of course, is pulling from the right bins. Take a tour and you'll see Charger, Challenger, and Viper pieces grafted onto this slick crossover. The featured special part is the big, 6.4-liter 392 Hemi V8 that's been dropped under the hood; it's sourced from the SRT Challenger and Charger where it makes 485 horsepower and 475 pound-feet of torque. With that in place, the fabricators cut a big hole in that hood for the Challenger's awesome optional shaker scoop. It wasn't an easy installation; it required a custom spacer for the intake to make sure everything lined up with the hole properly. View 17 Photos Apparently there were some Viper seats lying around, so six of them were stuck into this Durango. Makes sense. It does lose a bit of people-carrying capability as a result, since only two seats fit in each row, and the seats don't fold for extra cargo room. A Dodge spokesperson attested to the fact that all three rows are usable, if not totally comfortable. But then stock third-row seats aren't always that comfortable anyway. Seriously, though, Viper seats. We don't care how comfortable or usable the result is. Although you might not give it a second thought, even the fuel filler needed some special attention. This piece was also lifted from a Dodge Challenger, and it was taken along with the surrounding sheet metal. Because of the different orientation of the filler cover on the Challenger, the builders decided the easiest way to get it to fit was to chop the fuel filler section out and weld it onto the Durango. The designers also put a little blue Stig on the cover. And those are just the cool parts that were hard to install. This Durango features plenty of other slick details, like the custom bumpers, fender flares, and side skirts. Everything is painted B5 Blue with matte black and carbon accents all around. Up front, the bumper hides a pair of fog lights stolen from a Challenger Hellcat – and yes, they're the ones with intakes in the middle. The grille is also a custom piece, losing the standard crosshair design for better airflow. The fender flares cover up some seriously wide, 305-section tires at all four corners, which are hauled down by Hellcat brakes. The rear bumper bumper contains a stylish center-exit exhaust with dual tips.