1971 Jeep Cj5 Renegade on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2018 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Alaska Cannonball | The other Trans-America Trail

In 1941, when America needed heroes, Jeep answered the call. – "Jeep Joe" Sarette, Sales Associate, Outer Banks Jeep Chouteau, Okla. – Whoever's in charge of rain hates North Carolina. At least, that's what I thought two weeks ago, during the opening stages of my 14,000-mile overland trek in a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, as rain pursued me from the Oregon Inlet National Park Campground on North Carolina's Outer Banks to the western edge of the "First in Flight" state. Then the rain traveled the Trans-America Trail with me through Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas. When I arrived at the Love's Truck Stop in Chouteau, Oklahoma a few hours ago, it was raining. And it still is. And you know what? Don't care. Nearly three weeks into this wet and windy Rubicon Alaska Cannonball, there's but one word to describe it: supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. I hustled from Southern California to Atlanta, Georgia in two days. In the ATL I stuffed my gear in the Jeep, stuffed my face with Waffle House, and squeezed in a side trip to The Jeep Collection at Omix-ADA. Any Jeeper who ends up in the Atlanta area should make time for a visit. It's not huge, but it contains original and vital specimens of Jeep DNA, meticulously and colorfully explained by tour guide Dave Logan. And Logan was kind enough to loan me his personal snatch block since I'd somehow managed to forget that item in my recovery kit. Four days later, I departed for Oregon Inlet. That was the start of my Trans-America Trail, but I need to clarify that I'm not on original Trans-America Trail. The one most people know and read about was stitched together over a decade by a motorcycle rider named Sam Correro. When I researched this trip, Correro's trail didn't cross the country. It started in Tennessee. A little more Internet digging turned up another trans-America trail put together by another motorcycle rider called GPSKevin. His route starts further south in the Outer Banks, in Buxton, and covers similar local ground to Correro's trail all the way to Port Orford. I'm taking Kevin's route, but only because when I found it, it crossed the country and Correro's didn't. I'm going to refer to Kevin's trail as the TAT for simplicity.

FCA to invest $4.5B for new Detroit plant, expanded production at current facilities

We expected some shifts in manufacturing plans as Fiat Chrysler plans to begin electrifying its Jeep brand, but this news bodes well for Michigan. FCA announced today that it would spend $4.5 billion to expand production in the state, including building a new assembly plant in Detroit and increasing capacity at five other facilities in the state. The plan, which FCA says will create nearly 6,500 new jobs, will help to meet increasing demand for Ram and Jeep products, and to electrify Jeep models. $1.6 billion will be set aside to transform the Mack Avenue Engine Complex into a site to build the next generation of Jeep Grand Cherokee, as well as an unspecified, new three-row Jeep model. FCA says this part of the plan will create 3,850 new jobs. FCA is increasing its investment in the Warren Truck plant to $1.5 billion in order to continue building the Ram 1500 Classic, as well as the new Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer, creating 1,400 new jobs. FCA says that the new Ram 1500 Heavy Duty will still be built in Saltillo, Mexico. At FCA's Jefferson North facility, the automaker will invest $900 million to upgrade the plant. This site will continue to build the Dodge Durango, as well help build the next Jeep Grand Cherokee. FCA expects this to create 1,100 new jobs. As Jeep plans to electrify models in its SUV lineup, each of the above plants will produce plug-in hybrid versions of the Jeep models produced there, "with flexibility to build fully battery-electric models in the future," the company said in its announcement. "Three years ago, FCA set a course to grow our profitability based on the strength of the Jeep and Ram brands by realigning our U.S. manufacturing operations," said FCA CEO Mike Manley, referring in part to earlier investments in Illinois, Ohio and Michigan. "Today's announcement represents the next step in that strategy," Manley continued. "It allows Jeep to enter two white space segments that offer significant margin opportunities and will enable new electrified Jeep products, including at least four plug-in hybrid vehicles and the flexibility to produce fully battery-electric vehicles." Other investments include $119 million to move production of the 3.0-, 3.2- and 3.6-liter Pentastar engines from Mack I to the Dundee Engine Plant, and $400 million for increased capacity and 80 new jobs at the Sterling and Warren stamping plants. This comes at a time when FCA's U.S.

Watch this 840-hp Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 walk away from GT-Rs and M3s

This last-generation Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 does things that SUVs just shouldn't be able to do, like win drag races against tuned Nissan GT-R and BMW M3 coupes. Granted, the owner isn't coming into this fight with a stock Jeep – far from it. In addition to twin turbos whistling away, he says the engine is a 449-cubic-inch V8, which is nearly 7.4 liters of displacement. As it runs here, the driver claims that the turbos are pumping out around 14 psi of boost to give an estimated 840 horsepower. What's more, he further maintains the powertrain could reach around 1,200 hp with things fully cranked up. Even somewhat dialed back, this Jeep is ready to take on a breadth of formidable challengers, including a couple of Chevrolet Corvette models and a Lamborghini Aventador. Check out the video to see how this menacing Grand Cherokee fares in a day at the races.