2001 Ram 1500 5.2 With A Pro 3 Inch Body Lift Kit on 2040-cars

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Stellantis dealer briefing hints at midsize Ram, Jeep Recon, Dodge Stealth

With dealers returning to regular life after Stellantis' Dealer Business Meeting 2023 in Las Vegas last week, bits of intel are escaping. Between reports in Automotive News, Mopar Insiders, and a now-deleted Reddit thread that Carscoops dissected, we can make out rough details about a few products on the way for Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram stores across the country. We'll start with Chrysler, which got the least attention during the event. The Pentastar, starved of product as if it were Stellantis' version of Jaguar, appears to have a refreshed Pacifica minivan in the works and continues to develop its first EV, due by 2025. That's the alpha and the omega there, at least publicly. Jeep's making moves on several fronts. The Jeep Recon forum got photos of an electrified concept brought to the meeting, the Recon Moab 4xe (pictured). It looks like an upsized Renegade, its tire size thought to be 285/70R17, same as the stock Wrangler Rubicon. Head to the thread to see the rest of the photos.  The end of the Cherokee is but a hiatus, Appearance-wise, a new version in the works is said to be a smaller version of the Grand Cherokee L that's about the same size as the outgoing model. When it launches in late 2024 as a 2025MY SUV, it could debut with a new name as well as hybrid and electric powertrains. The Grand Cherokee L, meanwhile, will get a mid-cycle refresh in 2025.   Adding to information previously reported about the 2024 Jeep Wrangler range, the 2024 Gladiator is said to get a Willys trim with upgraded spec. Mopar Insiders had cited communication to dealers that the Wrangler Willys would improve capability thanks to higher ground clearance and what's expected to be a gripper off-road wheel and tire package. At the dealer meeting, Jeep reps apparently said the Gladiator Willys would get high fenders, a locking rear axle, and 33-inch tires. The current Gladiator Willys fits a Trac-Lok limited-slip rear differential and 32-inch mud terrain tires. The tow rating for the Gladiator range could see an increase from 7,650 pounds to 7,700 pounds. Above that, the Wagoneer range will expand with a 4xe version thought to come by next year. In the Dodge camp, the big news would be that the next Charger won't only be electric. Brand reps allegedly told dealers the car, which will come as a four-door despite the attention lavished on the two-door concept making the rounds, will get an internal combustion engine option.

Ralph Gilles shares how he imagined a modern-day Dodge Rampage in 1995

Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) design boss Ralph Gilles kicked off the company's 24-hour Design Sketch Battle by sharing an image of a mini-truck he drew in 1995. Called Tomahawk GTR, it never reached production. Gilles sketched the Tomahawk GTR when he was about 25 years old. He was a designer at the time, he wasn't promoted to a managerial position until 1998, and his obsession with performance already permeated the cars he drew. The Tomahawk GTR takes the form of a two-door, two-seater pickup with a muscular-looking front end, pronounced wheel arches, and a sizable spoiler over the cargo box. The wheels look almost Porsche-like. "I guess I was dreaming up a modern-day Rampage back then. This must be what happens when a want-to-be racer draws a truck," he wrote on his Instagram page, referencing the small, unibody pickup Dodge made from 1982 to 1984. His sketch moved the company's then-current design language in a sportier direction. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Dodge hasn't released a successor to the Rampage yet, at least not in the United States. The Fiat-based 700 that sister company Ram sells in Mexico is the closest thing available in 2020, but there's no indication it will be sold in America anytime soon. The firm used the Tomahawk name on a Viper-powered motorcycle concept introduced in 2003, and it dusted it off again for an SRT design study created in 2015 for Gran Turismo.  We may see a Rampage for the 2020s emerge from the Design Sketch Battle. The photo accompanying FCA's announcement depicted a Dodge Challenger Hellcat turned into a pickup and fitted with a front end borrowed from a Ram 1500. The contest's winners will be announced on Instagram today.  Instagram has recently turned into a window through which enthusiasts can peek into Gilles' mind. He published a futuristic-looking sketch in March 2020 that poked fun at the Charger and Challenger owners who leave the yellow protective stripes on their car while potentially shedding light on Dodge's next design language. Design/Style Dodge Truck

Junkyard Gem: 1990 Plymouth Voyager Turbo

There was a time when the word "TURBO" was king, and even Detroit minivans came with nervous, hair-drier-boosted engines and screaming TURBO badging. Why, some of them even had manual transmissions (sadly, not this van) and in the case of the 1990 Plymouth Voyager Turbo I spotted in a Denver self-service wrecking yard, a lysergic purple paint plus a Bordello Red interior. The first-generation Voyager minivan (not to be confused with the full-sized B-series Voyager van that preceded it) was a tremendous smash hit for Chrysler. Because it came from the K-Car platform, most of the powertrain options available for other members of the many-branched K Family Tree— from the Mitsubishi Astron to the Chrysler turbo 2.5— went into the Voyagers, Caravans, and Town & Countries. The turbocharged 2.5-liter four, rated at 150 horsepower, was an option for the 1989 and 1990 Voyagers. That doesn't sound like much today, an era in which the Voyager's descendants churn out close to 300 horses, but it was lunacy for a front-wheel-drive family hauler that weighed just over 3,000 pounds. And people eventually discovered they could be made far faster than stock. Voyager shoppers could get five-speed manual transmissiona with their Turbo 2.5 engines, though few did. Still, there were more Voyagers and Caravans with the 5-speed than you might think, in part because of the manual transmission's lower cost. The slushbox didn't conquer the Chrysler Corporation Minivan World until 1996. Nissan probably had the most vividly red interiors of the late 1980s and early 1990s, but Chrysler didn't lag far behind. Look at these acres of shiny red plastic and tough, red I Can't Believe It's Not Velour! Because minivans remain useful for decades, most of them have high odometer readings by the time they get junked. So at a little over 115,000 miles, this one may have had a busted speedometer cable. Speedometers reading better than 85 mph were legal after 1981, but perhaps Chrysler decided not to encourage lead-footed hoonery among minivan drivers. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Auntie Entity pitching "the best-loved minivan in the world." Featured Gallery Junked 1990 Plymouth Voyager Turbo View 19 Photos Auto News Chrysler Dodge Automotive History Minivan/Van dodge caravan