Buy/Drive/Burn: Super Expensive Convertibles From 2001

The Buy/Drive/Burn series has been all about convertibles lately. We started with some $40,000 luxury entries from 2010, then upped the dollar figure with three more from 2009 that asked over $90,000 for the pleasure of their company.

Today we step back in time to the year 2001, and spend even more money. The cheapest drop-top here is over $120,000. Let’s go.

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Ramming Speed: The Best Pre-Millenium Dodge Trucks

Since Dodge started producing trucks way back in 1921, it has never held the crown of the best-selling pickup truck in America. Not once. Not even when Dodge was the top brand in America.

It seems from the get-go Dodge has played third-fiddle in Ford versus General Motors pickup truck wars. But being third child meant that Dodge often struggled to be recognized in the market when compared to its more famous competitors.

For enthusiasts, that has always been a good thing.

It meant Dodge always had to be different. Dodge always had to be innovative, or more enthusiastic, or just plain shout more than anyone else. The result of all that was Dodge brought us some very trick trucks along the way that were cutting-edge, that defined a market, or were just plain cool.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at 40 years of pre-Y2K Dodge truck highlights (even when they haven’t been so successful).

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  • MaintenanceCosts In Toyota's hands, these hybrid powertrains with a single motor and a conventional automatic transmission have not been achieving the same kind of fuel economy benefits as the planetary-gear setups in the smaller cars. It's too bad. Many years ago GM did a group of full-size pickups and SUVs with a 6.0L V8 and a two-motor planetary gear system, and those got the fuel economy boost you'd expect while maintaining big-time towing capacity. Toyota should have done the same with its turbo four and six in the new trucks.
  • JMII My C7 isn't too bad maintain wise but it requires 10 quarts of expensive 0W-40 once a year (per GM) and tires are pricey due size and grip requirements. I average about $600 a year in maintenance but a majority of that is due to track usage. Brake fluid, brake pads and tires add up quickly. Wiper blades, coolant flush, transmission fluid, rear diff fluid and a new battery were the other costs. I bought the car in 2018 with 18k in mileage and now it has 42k. Many of the items mentioned are needed between 20k and 40k per GM's service schedule so my ownership period just happens to align with various intervals.I really need to go thru my service spreadsheet and put track related items on a separate tab to get a better picture of what "normal" cost would be. Its likely 75% of my spend is track related.Repairs to date are only $350. I needed a new XM antenna (aftermarket), a cargo net clip, a backup lamp switch and new LED side markers (aftermarket). The LEDs were the most expensive at $220.
  • Slavuta I drove it but previous style. Its big, with numb steering feel, and transmission that takes away from whatever the engine has.
  • Wjtinfwb Rivaled only by the Prowler and Thunderbird as retro vehicles that missed the mark... by a mile.
  • Wjtinfwb Tennessee is a Right to Work state. The UAW will have a bit less leverage there than in Michigan, which repealed R t W a couple years ago. And how much leverage will the UAW really have in Chattanooga. That plant builds ID. 4 and Atlas, neither of which are setting the world afire, sales wise. I'd have thought VW would have learned the UAW plays by different rules than the placid German unions from the Westmoreland PA debacle. But history has shown VW to be exceptionally slow learners. Watching with interest.