1953 Dodge Half Ton Job Rated Pickup on 2040-cars

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Help find Kenny Wayne Shepherd's stolen 1972 Dodge Charger

Judging by his collection of cars, blues musician Kenny Wayne Shepherd (shown above, at left, with fellow musician George Thorogood) is an enthusiast of classic Dodge muscle cars, so it's no surprise that he is an active member of Mopar-related online communities. When his 1972 Dodge Charger turned up missing from an LA-area warehouse last Wednesday, Shepherd took to the forums of Moparts.org in an attempt to get the word out in hopes of recovering his custom classic.
The Charger was stolen along with four other vehicles, and Hot Rod reports that two women have been taken into custody since - but still no word on the car. With its blacked-out appearance (including custom Foose wheels), this car is definitely hard to miss, but Shepherd also said that the car might be even more distinguishable now due to some body damage that may have occurred as it was being driven from the warehouse lot. Shepherd's website has a full gallery of images for this '72 Charger, which also has a modern 392-cubic-inch V8 under the hood and a six-speed gearbox pulled from a Viper.
If you're in the LA area and happen to see this car, Shepherd asks that you call the LAPD West Valley Division at 818-374-7611. Here's to hoping this one-of-a-kind Charger turns up unscathed.

Dodge idles Viper production again at Conner Avenue

You've got to hand it to Dodge for having the gumption to put the original Viper into production in the first place. It was, after all, much more of an emotional decision than a practical one, and a move which saw the first production V10 engine placed in a road car - long before the advent of the Lamborghini Gallardo, Audi R8, Porsche Carrera GT or Lexus LFA, not to mention the other Ford, BMW and Volkswagen Group models that used such engines.
It's now been 22 years since the first Viper entered production and the Viper still rolls on several generations later, but we're sad to say that courageous decision has not always been met with overwhelming sales success. In fact parent Chrysler was forced to idle the Conner Avenue plant where the Viper is made back in April due to slow sales. And while production resumed again as planned on June 23, it apparently didn't do the trick.
As a result, Chrysler corporate communications chief Shawn Morgan revealed to Autoblog that the assembly line has been shut down again for another two weeks. The line was up and running for nearly two full work weeks from June 23 until the holiday weekend that started on Thursday, July 3. But instead of coming back online today as planned, it's been idled again for the weeks of July 7 and 14. That means it will be July 21, at the earliest, before the serpentine supercars start slithering down the assembly line at Conner Avenue again. Once it does, however, production is set to resume at the same pace it was before the shutdown.

Autoblog Podcast #393

Episode #393 of the Autoblog Podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth, Steven Ewing, and Michael Harley talk about Monterey Car Week, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Dodge Charger Hellcat, and the latest round of mid-engine Corvette rumors. Dan also had the chance to speak with Jeffrey Rothfeder, author of Driving Honda, a new book that takes a look inside the automaker. We start with what's in the garage and finish up with some of your questions, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. Check out the new rundown below with times for topics, and you can follow along down below with our Q&A. Thanks for listening! Autoblog Podcast #393: Topics: Monterey Car Week Jeffrey Rothfeder (Driving Honda) interview Woodward Dream Cruise + Dodge Charger Hellcat Mid-Engine Corvette rumors just won't die In The Autoblog Garage: 2014 Jaguar F-Type V6 S Convertible 2015 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD 4X4 CNG 2014 Nissan NV200 SV Hosts: Dan Roth, Steven Ewing, Michael Harley Runtime: 02:10:41 Rundown: Intro and Garage - 00:00 Monterey Car Week - 37:08 Jeffrey Rothfeder - 52:17 Woodward 2014 - 01:28:11 Mid-Engine Corvette - 01:44:30 Q&A - 01:56:53 Get the podcast: [UStream] Listen live on Mondays at 10 PM Eastern at UStream [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 Rumormill Chevrolet Dodge Jaguar Nissan Pebble Beach mid-engine corvette dodge charger hellcat