RideLust

Good news, Dodge fans: Ralph Gilles, head of Chrysler’s SRT brand (and former head of Dodge) has let slip that a replacement for the Magnum station wagon is a very real possibility. Built from 2004 through 2008, the Magnum shared Chrysler’s LX platform with the Dodge Charger and the Chrysler 300. Available with engines ranging from an anemic 2.7-liter V-6 through a fire breathing 6.1-liter Hemi V-8, the Magnum represented the rebirth of an American icon: the full-size station wagon. Read More…

Can you believe that in 2014 the Ford Mustang is going to be 50 years old? The Mustang was the original pony car. It was the car that set the automotive world on its ear and captivated the essence of being a free spirit back in the mid-1960s. The Mustang is to Ford what vanilla is to chocolate and to celebrate that Ford is going to once again redesign the Mustang. This time however, as opposed to being an American only beauty, Ford intends to give their old horse right hand drive and send it across the pond. According to AutoExpress.co.uk, the 2014 Mustang will be known as a “world car” and will be offered with the same V6′s and V8′s around the world. Initially the UK, Australia and Japan will be the first to receive right hand versions of the car. It’s also said that the car will finally have an independent rear suspension, something that hasn’t been seen on a Mustang since the 1999 Cobra.
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As the 2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 ramps up for production, there has been speculation that the low-slung pony car will get an optional automatic transmission. Well, now according to Autoblog we’ve learned that not only will the new Camaro ZL1 get an automatic, but it will also be receiving the same Performance Traction Management system that’s found in the Corvette ZR1. That means traction control, selective ride control and launch control. Add to that the fact that the Camaro’s chief engineer, Al Oppenheiser stated that the ZL1′s Cadillac CTS-V derived 6.2-liter supercharged V8 will also pump out more than the originally estimated 550 hp, and you’ve now got a pony car that is likely to make mince-meat out of all of its competitors. Expect the ZL1 Camaro to show its face in the first quarter of next year.

Source: Autoblog.com

Image: Ford Motor Company

Ford has announced a temporary production halt at their Flint Rock production facility, beginning today and running for approximately one week. The suspension has nothing to do with a shortage of parts from Japan (although that is impacting other Ford plants, such as their Louisville, KY truck plant), but rather excess supply of Mustangs. The automaker currently has a 116 inventory of Mustangs, which is roughly double the inventory Ford considers to be ideal. Chances are good that Ford will take steps to promote Mustang sales, so I’d expect to see cash rebates and low interest financing on Mustang V6 and GT models in the very near future. Read More…

A V6 Jeep Wrangler Sahara.

One of the benefits of being a car company CEO is having partners like American Expedition Vehicles (AEV) on speed dial. When you get the whim to have them stuff your largest engine into one of your smallest trucks, bliss is but a phone call away. At least that was the case for Jeep’s CEO, Michael Manley, who did indeed have AEV stuff a 392 cubic inch Hemi V8 under the hood of a Jeep Wrangler. Officially, the project was built as a test mule for “executive evaluation”, but even knowing that something like this could possibly exist in a showroom, at some yet-to-be-determined time in the future, is good enough to make me happy. Read More…

Cheap oil is a thing of the past. That’s why everybody and their collective mothers are trying to figure out ways to make vehicles burn less fuel. Chrysler’s working with the EPA to make nifty hydraulic hybrid transmission . . . that’s actually been around for ages.

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Vans used to be cool. People tricked them out. They had little perspex bubble windows and murals of sorcerers battling dragons on them. Then the minivan came along and nobody wanted them to be cool. Well, Kia thinks it’s about time to revive the awesome custom van, man. Check out the KV7. Read More…

Back in the mid-1960′s the SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) formed the Trans-Am Racing Series that pitted production based vehicles against each other in head to head competition. Trans-Am Racing was unbelievably popular and is still considered by some to be one of the best series ever to have been put together. Picture full-on muscle cars like the Plymouth Barracuda, AMC Javelin, Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro racing head to head on some of the best circuits in United States. These were the days when racing was racing. There was no traction or stability control and no anti-lock brakes. Hell, these cars ran on leaf-springs and in doing so showed us that the old muscle cars of yesteryear truly could go around corners if properly set-up. I was visiting over at Pro-touring.com, a web site that is dedicated to making full-on corner carvers out of vintage American muscle, when I came upon a thread containing some wonderful old photographs of Trans Am racing in its heyday. These photos were taken by Dave Friedman and give us a little insight into how amazing this series really was.
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I’m not much for conspiracy theories, and I don’t buy into the hype that GM killed the EV-1 as part of some vast OPEC-fueled scheme to keep us addicted to gasoline. When it comes to electric cars, here’s the cold, hard fact: gasoline won out as the propulsion method of choice in the opening years of the 20th century. Fossil-fueled vehicles have had 100 years worth of ongoing development, and have gotten incredibly safe, fuel efficient and practical. Electric cars, until recently, have been advanced only by pseudo-mad backyard visionaries, with large automakers avoiding them like the drunken blond with the open herpes sore on her lip. For the vast majority of buyers, they’re simply not going to represent the best choice in the near future.

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The 2011 Explorer testing in Dubai. Photo: Ford Motor Company

Based on their own market research, Ford expected the 2011 Explorer to be a huge sales success. It was what the Explorer buyers in their focus groups asked for, despite the fact that critics bemoan its loss of hardcore off-road capability and heavy-duty towing capacity. Ford appears to have guessed right, since they’ve taken roughly double the number of orders expected so far. To date, dealers have ordered some 7,500 units, consumers have ordered some 3,000 copies and corporate buyers have sent in POs for some 4,500 units. Total the orders, and that sum of 15,000 is twice the 7,500 that Ford expected prior to launch.

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