#Dodge

The byzantine House of Stellantis rolled out its own captive finance arm just over a year ago, seeking to pocket some of those sweet loan profits which were flowing out the door whilst the company attempted to rebuild itself following a sojourn through bankruptcy and an embarrassing parade of suitors.

Now, it seems approximately two-thirds of Stellantis dealers in this country are using the captive lender – after, of course, the sales staff pencils a healthy leg in the four-square prior to stuffing them in The Box.

I almost didn't pick this car because the ad copy is thinner than a sliced piece of deli meat, but I couldn't resist because seeing a slightly-used car priced under MSRP at just a year old is pretty rare right now.

If you’re looking at the state of the auto industry and thinking that the days to buy a rowdy sports car with a manual transmission are numbered, you’re correct. It’s exceedingly difficult to find a new car with a manual option, let alone a supercharged V8-powered sports car with one. Dodge is here to save the day, at least for a year, with a manual transmission option for the Challenger SRT Hellcat. 

If you like old-school large SUVs, this Ramcharger might catch your eye.

And if you have a gun, that might be all you need to make it yours.

If you’re seeking a gift for a person who resides in the overlapping part of a Venn Diagram which includes gearheads and voracious readers, this book about the history of Shelby American might be a good selection. And, hey – if that person is yourself, there ain’t nothing wrong with buying it for your own bookshelf.

Stellantis is now among the ranks of large companies that have paused or pulled advertising on Twitter.

The Dodge Charger is going electric, but that doesn't it couldn't have an internal-combustion engine.

Earlier this year, the speed freaks at Dodge rolled out their Charger Daytona SRT Concept car, an all-electric glimpse into the brand’s future. At the time much noise (literal and figurative) was made about its style and so-called Fratzonic chambered exhaust – the latter remains the source of much debate.

What they didn’t tell us were power numbers – until now.

The Chrysler 300 was the first production car to use the LX platform and was arguably the most important as well. We discussed the debut and styling of the exciting new 300 in our last LX platform installment. When it debuted in 2005 with retro-inspired muscle car styling and a good deal of Mercedes-Benz componentry, it garnered an immediate and positive impression from the buying public with its looks. But did it fare as well on its interior? Let’s find out.

Thus far in our Chrysler LX platform coverage, we’ve discussed two designs that never made it past the working concept stage. The first of those was the Airflite, a Crossfire-styled hardtop hatchback, while the second was the larger Nassau which was also a hardtop hatchback. Neither of them had pillars, and both focused on the future of car design. 

Journalists made incorrect predictions at the debut of both concepts and stated that the Airflite (in 2003) previewed the upcoming 300’s styling, while the Nassau (in 2007) was a sneak peek at a new styling direction for the 2008-ish revamp of the then-current 300. While those assumptions were wrong, a never-debuted Nassau design from 2000 was the actual genesis of the 300’s styling. And it appeared on the new LX platform in 2005. 

As the Chrysler LX platform heads toward its demise after the 2023 model year, Rare Rides Icons is making its way through the various large-ish vehicles that used the platform these past two decades. The starting point for this series are the original LX concepts that never made production. We covered the Airflite (basically a Crossfire hardtop hatchback) last week. And today we’ll take a look at the larger, more luxurious, and more obscure Nassau concept (of which there were two).

The sixth of seven Last Call editions crafted by the speed freaks at Dodge has been unveiled, showing up for duty as one which makes reference to a muscle car that haunted Woodward Avenue in the 1970s. And, yes, it even has a vinyl roof – kind of.

In the long parade that is the series of Dodge ‘Last Call’ special edition cars celebrating, we find the 2023 Charger King Daytona as the second-to-last entrant in their big send-off party. For the occasion, gearheads at Dodge have cranked the wick on a Hellcat Redeye engine to an eye-popping 807 horsepower.

Big change is in the air at Chrysler and company these days, as the rear-drive LX platform heads off into the sunset. With a longevity of two decades - far beyond the reach of the majority of current platforms - it seems fitting to eulogize the LX at this juncture. The end of the LX represents more than just the end of the rear-drive internal combustion vehicle at Chrysler.

It’s also the end of two gasoline-powered Dodge muscle cars, the Charger and Challenger (only the Charger returns as an EV). The LX is also the basis of the last two remaining full-size American sedans: Charger and 300C. In 2023 all the last LX-based vehicles will roll off the line, wearing their various gaudy special edition gingerbread. Before that time comes, we should consider all the cars that brought us to this point.

The speed freaks at Dodge pulled a two-fer yesterday with what are technically the third and fourth of seven Dodge special-edition "Last Call" models. Called the Swinger, they’re based on the R/T Scat Pack trim and are both Widebody models – but no word if there’s a pineapple included to display in the windshield when parked.