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Jeep spied testing Hellcat-powered Grand Cherokee Trackhawk

The Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk is coming. We know this, because Mike Manley, the head of Jeep, said so. We showed you this brief spy video a while back, but now we have our clearer images of the Trackhawk undergoing testing. And it looks just like a normal Grand Cherokee SRT. Yeah, anti-climactic, we know. The four shots we have show a bit of camo over the front bumper and grille, likely concealing a tweaked design or visible bits of the 6.2-liter, supercharged V8. It looks like there's a rather substantial opening below the upper grille, almost like a ram-air system. There's also a smidge of what looks like tape on the front wheel arches, although this might not mean much of anything. What's interesting is what isn't here. There's no perceivable change to the back of the car. The exhaust pipes look like they're about the same size, there's no noticeable changes to the aerodynamics, and in fact, there's not even any camouflage. Jeep also hasn't updated the Grand Cherokee Trackhawk's hood, which is somewhat surprising considering the changes for every other Hellcat-equipped vehicle (concepts included). You can check out our earliest look at the Trackhawk up top. As for when this monstrous Grand Cherokee will debut, we're expecting it to arrive sometime in 2017, perhaps on FCA's home turf at the Detroit Auto Show. Related Video:

Australian Jeep marketing stunt goes awry [w/video]

Jeep fans in Australia are none too happy with the off-road brand following a contest that saw ten new Cherokees sold for just $10,000 Australian (about $9,400), roughly a quarter of the vehicle's price Down Under.
The contest, called the "World's Most Remote Dealership," gave Aussies the chance to snag an ultra-affordable Cherokee Longitude (analogous to the US-spec Latitude trim), provided they could get to a secret dealership in the remote wilderness of western New South Wales, near the border with the state of South Australia.
In order to get the exact location of the dealership, though, potential customers needed to download an app, which would release a phone number 9:00 AM AEST on Thursday (7:00 PM EDT, Wednesday night). The first ten people who could call in and prove they could afford to finance $10,000 and get to the remote dealership, were given the location of the remote dealership.

Massachusetts man charged $48,000 for a tow [w/video]

Tow truck operators are right up there with landlords and IRS auditors on the list of professionals you don't want to deal with. A man in Massachusetts has all the more reason to avoid a tow after he was hit with a $48,000 bill, Fox 25 reports. Joel Ramer and his girlfriend were off-roading in Walpole, MA last week when they wandered were they shouldn't have. They landed in a mud pit on private property. Ramer said it took Assured Collision towing company 12 hours to free his vehicle from the muck. But when he got the bill for the tow, he thought the accounting department must have been off by a decimal. "When I went to pick up the vehicle from Assured Collision, he'd informed me there was some damage done to the vehicle, but didn't get into details. He also informed me the bill was $48,000," Ramer told Fox. "I thought they made a mistake." The phrase 'some damage' was putting it lightly. Ramer says Assured Collision totaled his Jeep. "Frame is broken, leaf spring is broken, drive shaft is broken," Ramer said. The itemized bill showed Ramer exactly what he was paying for. Assured Collision charged him $16,000 for an on-scene supervisor. That's $1,250 an hour. The Statewide Towing Association told Fox 25 that the actual industry standard is $175-$325 an hour. The company also claimed that power lines put them at risk, calling it a "hazmat situation." That allowed them to tack on another $5,000 fee for dangerous condition liability insurance. Finally, there was an extra $10,000 fee for an off-road recovery incident response unit. Insurance won't help with the cost of the tow, so Ramer's broke Jeep is in Assured Collision's hands. On top of the enormous bill and busted Jeep, Ramer was arrested and cited for trespassing on land owned by a utility company and disturbing the peace. Boston News, Weather, Sports | FOX 25 | MyFoxBoston