1957 300 C on 2040-cars

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Junkyard Gem: 1965 Plymouth Belvedere Race Car

I've found the occasional retired race car during my junkyard travels, but most of them have been fairly modern machines. Today's Junkyard Gem is a different sort of racing remnant: an ancient dirt-track beast that probably last saw service more than 40 years ago, found in a Denver-area yard last summer. It's really just a gutted shell that sat outdoors for decades after its final competition, but you can still catch glimpses of its past here and there among the rust spots and peeling paint. The rear quarters clearly identify it as a 1965 Plymouth B-Body two-door sedan. The 1965 B-Body Plymouths were sold as three models: the upscale Satellite, the mid-level Belvedere II, and the El Cheapo Belvedere I. The shadow of a Belvedere badge on the fender found inside the car indicates that at least the fender came from a Belvedere I (the way race cars — especially those that compete on dirt — whack into each other, we can assume this is the 19th fender affiliated with this car). Belvedere fenders were easy to find in junkyards until about 40 years ago, and the faded sponsor stickers indicate that this car last raced around that time. You can still buy new "Turbo Action" valve bodies for Chrysler automatic transmissions, by the way. Likewise, CRC 5-56 lubricant still exists. The "OZONE SAFE" label on the can suggests that this sticker is of late-1970s-to-early-1980s origin. The roll cage is old-school for sure, particularly the lack of door bars. The Denver area once had many race tracks, including Overland Park and Englewood Speedway (both very close to this Plymouth's final parking space), but they had closed long before the 1980s. Lakeside Speedway was in business  until 1988 (and still stands today, sort of) but that dirt oval hosted mostly midget races during its final 30 years of operation. Perhaps Colorado Springs International Speedway, which closed in 1985, was this car's final race venue. There's one sponsor that suggests an origin far from the Mountain Time Zone. I can't make out the company name (other than what might be a snippet including "oluce"), but it appears to be an institutional food business in Houma, Lousiana. It's possible this car was bought in Louisiana and brought to Front Range Colorado, where it rusted away in a yard or field. There's not much left, but it's one of the many types of automotive history I like to document in this series.

Fiat Chrysler to pay $40 million fine for inflating sales numbers

DETROIT — Fiat Chrysler is paying $40 million to settle with U.S. securities regulators who say the automaker misled investors by overstating its monthly sales numbers over a five-year period. The Italian-American company inflated sales by paying dealers to report fake numbers from 2012 to 2016, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleged in a complaint. Fiat Chrysler agreed to pay the civil penalty and to stop violating anti-fraud, reporting and internal accounting control regulations, the SEC said Friday in a statement. The automaker did not admit or deny the agency's allegations, the statement said. "This case underscores the need for companies to truthfully disclose their key performance indicators," Antonia Chion, associate director in the SEC's Enforcement Division, said in the statement. She noted that the new vehicle sales figures give investors insight into the demand for an automaker's products, a key to assessing the company's performance. Fiat Chrysler said it has reviewed and refined its sales reporting procedures. It said the payment will not have a large impact on its financial statements. The agency said the automaker boasted about a streak of year-over-year sales increases into 2016, when the streak actually was broken in September of 2013. When the company disclosed the sales scheme in 2016, it said that it had a "reserve" stock of cars that had been shipped to big fleet buyers such as rental car companies but not recorded as sales. The SEC said employees called this database of actual but unreported sales the "cookie jar." The company dipped into those sales to stop the streak from ending, or when it would have missed other sales targets. Fiat Chrysler said it now records sales as soon as vehicles are shipped to customers. It has also take steps to ensure that a sale is immediately subtracted from its books when it finds out the deal was scuttled because the buyer backed out or couldn't get financing. The SEC probe is another in a long string of legal troubles for Fiat Chrysler. It also faces federal investigations into illegal payments to union officials through a training center, and a criminal probe into allegations that its diesel-powered trucks were programmed to cheat on emissions tests. The company has denied cheating, but federal prosecutors charged an engineer earlier this week and said he conspired with others. In June, Fiat Chrysler's U.S.

Chrysler recalling over 200k vehicles across its brands

With more than 200,000 units across six separate recalls and almost all of its brands, it appears that Chrysler has officially jumped headfirst into the recall pool this month. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has issued three official recalls for the automaker, and The Detroit News is reporting that the automaker itself has announced three more.
The biggest of the recalls applies to about 120,000 Dodge Charger, Dodge Challenger and Chrysler 300 models for 2011 and 2012 due to faulty wiring harnesses for the seat-mounted side airbags, which could lead to these airbags not deploying in the event of a crash. A little more than 60,000 two-wheel-drive versions of the 2007-2008 Dodge Nitro and 2008 Jeep Liberty SUVs are being recalled due to a heat shield that could cause the driveshaft to break, which if that isn't bad on its own, could then hit underneath where the airbag sensor is mounted, causing the airbags to deploy. Wrapping up NHTSA's recall notices, about 20,000 Jeep Patriot and Jeep Compass models for 2012 are also being recalled due to a problem with the fuel tank transfer tube that could lead to the vehicle stalling. The LX car recall campaign is going into effect this month, while the other two will start next month - all three notices are posted below.
In addition to the official NHTSA recalls, The Detroit News is also reporting that Chrysler is recalling more than 16,000 Ram trucks and a small number of Dodge Dart sedans. Around 6,500 2013 Ram 1500 trucks will be recalled due to an improper adjustment of the parking brake cable from the factory, while 7,000 Cummins-powered 2013 Ram Heavy Duty trucks are being recalled due to an engine cover that does not have as much heat resistance as it is supposed to. Finally, a total of 46 Dodge Dart sedans are being recalled due to a problem with the brake calipers and/or parking brake.