12 Overland Summit 4x4 4wd Suv Heated Cooled Leather Navigation Sunroof Camera 1 on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Politician's funeral procession features pole dancers

A Taiwanese politician's racy funeral procession literally stopped traffic as it paraded dozens of scantily clad pole dancers through city streets last week. According to the Deccan Chronicle, beloved local politician Tung Hsiang passed away in December after decades of public service in the southern Taiwanese city of Chiayi. He had a reputation as a fun loving, gregarious socialite and his family wanted to send him off in a suitably flamboyant and memorable way. To honor that end, his family assembled a funeral procession of bands, performers, floats, and more than 200 vehicles that stretched for several kilometers as it snaked through the city. Featured among the procession vehicles were fifty customized, brightly-colored jeeps, each one carrying a bathing suit-clad showgirl dancing around a roof-mounted stripper pole. The exact opposite of a quiet, somber affair, the raucous parade clogged up streets, stopped traffic, and attracted crowds of onlookers and hangers-on. Tung Mao-hsiung, Hsiang's brother, told CTS reporters that his ailing brother had requested a big send-off just days before he died. "He told us he wanted this through a dream two days before the funeral," he said. While Hsiang's delightfully tacky funeral train pushed the boundaries of taste, and definitely contrasts with traditional ideas of funeral decorum, it's not that strange an event in Taiwan. The Deccan Chronicle states that Taiwanese send-offs have a tendency to be risque. Showgirls like the ones hired for Hsiang's procession are commonplace, and often go beyond just dancing and right to stripping at religious festivals and funerals on the island. The Chronicle suggests that this is due to the fact that Taiwanese folk religion is a unique mix of spiritualism and earthiness. Recent Video: News Source: The Deccan Chronicle Auto News Humor Jeep SUV Off-Road Vehicles funeral

Jeep Moab Concepts, Rumors, And More | Autoblog Podcast #470

Episode #470 of the Autoblog Podcast is here. This week, Dan Roth, Chris Bruce, and Brandon Turkus talk about this year's concepts for the Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, rumors of a mid-engined Subaru sports car and the looming reveal of the next Impreza. We also cover more rumors of a simpler Acura NSX, and some other tidbits, including Ford's movie projector patent and the Opel Astra winning the European Car of the Year award. As always, we start with the Autoblog Garage and wrap up by answering your questions. Check out the rundown with times for topics, and thanks for listening! Autoblog Podcast #470 The video meant to be presented here is no longer available. Sorry for the inconvenience. Topics 2016 Easter Jeep Safari concepts Mid-Engine Subaru rumors Non-hybrid Acura NSX 2017 Subaru Impreza to be revealed at NYIAS Ford patents in-car movie projector Opel Astra is 2016 European Car of the Year In The Autoblog Garage 2016 Mercedes-Benz C450 AMG 2016 BMW X1 xDrive28i Hosts: Dan Roth, Chris Bruce, Brandon Turkus Rundown Intro and Garage – 00:00 Jeep Concepts - 21:57 Mid-Engine Subaru - 38:45 Acura NSX - 43:18 Subaru Impreza - 44:59 Ford Projector - 47:48 Astra ECOTY - 49:50 Q&A - 52:09 Total Duration: 58:11 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Feedback Email – Podcast at Autoblog dot com Review the show in iTunes Podcasts Acura Ford Jeep Subaru Opel easter jeep safari acura nsx type r

What's really going on with the 2014 Jeep Cherokee's transmission issues?

On September 23, Automotive News reported that Chrysler had idled the second shift workers it hired just five weeks prior at its Toledo Assembly Complex to build the 2014 Jeep Cherokee. At the time, Chrysler said it had "built the critical number of vehicles we need to stock dealerships once containment is released" and did not want "to put additional strain on our logistics partners ... upon release." That reasoning was not only unusual, it didn't seem to make sense.
It appears the center of the nine-speed issue is software, not hardware.
That same day, the Detroit News ran a piece claiming workers at the Toledo factory said the halt was due to issues with the Cherokee's transmission. It put the number of already-built Cherokees needing fixes at 1,000 and said that some of the workers not laid off had been instructed "to take the Jeep on long test-drives." That made more sense. Three days later, on September 26, Automotive News reported that the 500 workers laid off had been reinstated, with engineers "speeding repairs on the SUV's powertrain software." The AN piece didn't put a number on how many units are being fixed, but it did say that 12,000 have been built and are awaiting delivery to dealers. The best it could say about when dealers will get them, however, is that "progress on a fix is being made. It's unclear when shipments to dealers will start."