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Junkyard Gem: 1995 Eagle Vision TSi

Lee Iacocca's main motivation to have Chrysler buy the American Motors Corporation in 1987 was to grab the Jeep brand, but it turned out that getting all the chassis engineering that went into the Eagle Premier paid off handsomely as well. The Premier's ancestry was Wisconsin-tinged Renault, a mashup of Renault 25 and 21 chassis and suspension design, and Chrysler later based the very successful LH series of sedans on the Premier. The Eagle-badged version of the LH was the Vision, sold for the 1993 through 1997 model years. Here's one of those cars, heavily battered and its once-lurid purple paint now faded, found in a self-service yard south of Denver, Colorado. The Eagle brand was named after the AMC Eagle, and it was used for both ex-AMC vehicles and Mitsubishi machinery. It got the axe after 1998, when the final Talons were sold. The first-generation LH cars included the Vision, the Chrysler Concorde, the Chrysler LHS, the Chrysler New Yorker and the Dodge Intrepid. A Plymouth version known as the Accolade was planned but never went into production. The crash that mangled the front end made it impossible for me to open the hood, but the '95 Vision TSi got a 3.5-liter OHC V6 with 214 horsepower and 221 pound-feet. Every production Vision ever built came with a mandatory four-speed automatic transmission. This car made it just a bit past 167,000 miles during its life. All in all, a comfortable Detroit sedan on a French suspension that sold fairly well and then faded into oblivion. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. So much cheaper than the Acura Legend! This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Virtual reality speculation was all the rage during the first half of the 1990s. And, hey, it still is! This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The middle 1990s were a strange time.

4 ways FCA-PSA merger could be a plus

DETROIT — In a merger deal announced overnight, Fiat Chrysler stands to gain electric vehicle technology while PSA Peugeot Citroen could benefit from a badly needed dealership network to reach its goal of selling vehicles in the U.S. The merger would create the world's fourth-largest automaker with a combined market value of around $50 billion. Neither company would comment. Experts say the two automakers will be able to share car, SUV and commercial vehicle designs, helping each other fill weaknesses and share costs that will make them a strong global player. "We view the combination of these two companies as reasonable given global competition, high capital intensity, and industry disruption from electrified powertrain as well as autonomous technologies," Morningstar analyst Richard Hilgert wrote in a note to investors. Here are four areas that could be crucial to the two automakers' success: Technology For years, Fiat Chrysler has lagged its rivals in electric vehicle technology, with its former CEO once trying to discourage people from buying its only fully electric car in the United States, the Fiat 500E, because he lost money on each sale. The company has made progress on gas-electric hybrids and may have plans for more fully electric vehicles, but PSA has valuable technology that FCA can use, said Navigant Research analyst Sam Abuelsamid. Peugeot was relatively late to the electric vehicle game but is now working fast to catch up, notably with fellow French rival Renault. CEO Carlos Tavares has made a point of stressing the company's need to adapt to changing technology at car shows and earnings calls. Last year he announced plans to offer 40 electric models across its lineup by 2025. "Electrification hasn't been a huge part of their play up until now," Abuelsamid said. "Between the two of them, I think they could generate some scale for whatever they're doing, sharing component costs, development costs across electrical platforms," he said. More electric vehicles also would help FCA meet pollution and fuel economy regulations in Europe. As far as autonomous vehicles, neither company is among the leaders, Abuelsamid said. But that's a technology that's years into the future, giving them time to share the huge expenses and catch up together. FCA also has alliances with other companies such as Google spinoff Waymo that could bring autonomous vehicle technology to the market when ready, Abuelsamid said.

2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid Long-Term Update | Keeping things fresh

We're big fans of our long-term 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid. In the few months we've had it, we've racked up quite a few miles. We have some road-trip stories coming later on (including a 2,500-mile round trip to New England), but I wanted to highlight a small but interesting feature on our Ocean Blue people mover, the "Fuel and Oil Refresh Mode". From the owner's manual: Since it is possible to operate this vehicle for extended periods of time without running the gas engine, the fuel within the vehicle's fuel tank can become stale. To prevent engine and/or fuel system damage due to stale fuel, as well as, maintaining internal engine lubrication, this vehicle is equipped with a "Fuel and Oil Refresh Mode". The vehicle will automatically enter into the Fuel and Oil Refresh Mode to minimize potential for stale fuel, and to ensure lubrication of internal engine components. When operating in this mode, the gas engine will run to provide vehicle propulsion (electric only operation is inhibited). A message will be displayed in the instrument cluster whenever Fuel and Oil Refresh Mode is active. The vehicle will automatically exit the Fuel and Oil Refresh Mode when conditions have been satisfied. If the vehicle enters Fuel and Oil Refresh Mode, due to fuel which has been in the fuel tank for a long period of time (becoming stale fuel), the engine will run whenever the vehicle is operational (no electric only operation) until the low fuel level warning is activated. It is possible to exit the Fuel and Oil Refresh Mode sooner by adding new fuel to the vehicle's fuel tank. Basically, the engine will automatically cycle on to help burn fuel and lubricate the engine if the Pacifica has been running on pure electricity for an extended period of time. This may sound wasteful, but fuel does go stale and it's not good for the Pacifica's V6 to go without circulating oil every once in a while. A message pops up on the instrument cluster and the engine runs until the computer decides its cycled enough. In our experience, it's not run for more than a few minutes at a time. Since most of us live within 15 or so miles of the office, we can usually make it home and back without expending the Pacifica's 33-mile electric range, even if we make a trip to the store or go out for dinner. The refresh mode has kicked on a few times already, and we expect it to kick on quite a few more times before our loan is up. Related Video: