2012 Chrysler 200 Limited on 2040-cars

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Chrysler Pacifica adds sixth trim level: Touring Plus

While some of us might not want to admit our fondness for the homely minivan, there's something about the Chrysler Pacifica that gets unlikely drivers giving it the up-and-down on the sly (speaking from experience, here). A year into its life, the kinda-cool people hauler is getting a sixth trim level, called Touring Plus, that falls about in the middle of the lineup. Slotting in above the Touring trim ($32,090), the $33,455 Touring Plus offers a number of visual and convenience upgrades, but retains the cloth seats (for leather, you'll still have to move up to the Touring L level, at $36,090). On the outside, it gets the mesh lower fascia and foglights shared with the higher trim levels, plus projector headlights and LED taillights. For comfort and convenience, it offers three-zone climate control, power liftgate, a universal garage door opener, and second- and third-row sunshades to give your kids the limo treatment. As an added bonus for Touring Plus customers who opt for the 18-inch wheels and the 8.4-inch Uconnect infotainment center, Chrysler will throw in the single overhead DVD player for free. If you were waiting for the "just right" Pacifica to become available, and this higher-content, cloth-seat version suits you just right, there's no need to wait. The Pacifica Touring Plus is available now. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Related Gallery 2017 Chrysler Pacifica: First Drive View 35 Photos News Source: FCA Auto News Chrysler Minivan/Van chrysler pacifica

FCA recalls 1.25M trucks for software error in fatal crash

WASHINGTON - Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said Friday it would recall more than 1.25 million pickup trucks worldwide to address a software error linked to reports of one crash death and two injuries. The error code could temporarily disable the side air bag and seat belt pretensioner deployment during a vehicle rollover spurred by a significant underbody impact, such as striking onroad debris or driving off-road, the Italian-American automaker said. The company will reprogram computer modules in the affected vehicles to address this error. The recall covers 1.02 million 2013-16 Ram 1500 and 2500 pickups, and 2014-2016 Ram 3500 pickups in the United States, 216,007 vehicles in Canada; 21,668 in Mexico; and 21,530 outside North America, the automaker said. Fiat Chrysler said the recall would begin in late June. In the event of the software error code, the problem could temporarily be addressed by turning the vehicle off and then on, the company said. The automaker told the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration it began investigating the issue in December after it received notice of a suit involving a 2014 Ram 1500 in which the airbag failed to deploy in a rollover crash.Reporting by David ShepardsonRelated Video: Recalls Chrysler Fiat Truck FCA airbag fiat chrysler automobiles

Junkyard 1983 Dodge Rampage has Franco-American roots

Lee Iacocca and the K-Cars get most of the credit for saving Chrysler after the company's 1979 bailout by the US government, but the success of the Simca-derived Omnirizon platform was a large, if overlooked, component of Chrysler's early-1980s resurgence. The Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon were sold in the United States for the 1978 through 1990 model years, and variants included the 1983-1987 Dodge Charger and the Rampage, this well-worn example of which I spotted in a Denver self-service wrecking yard last week. The early Omnirizons came with a Volkswagen-sourced 1.7-liter engine, but all of the Rampage pickups (and their near-identical Plymouth Scamp siblings) came from the factory with a 2.2-liter K-Car engine making 96 horses. This truck has a 4-speed manual transmission, which would have made it reasonably quick by Malaise Era standards. This one had plenty of body filler and rust, even before the crash that sent it on that final tow-truck ride to this place, so it wouldn't have been worth restoring. Still, we can hope that some of its parts will live on in other L-body trucks. Related Video: Featured Gallery Junked 1983 Dodge Rampage in Denver View 16 Photos Chrysler Dodge Automotive History Truck Classics dodge rampage