Dodge has never been shy about jamming a big V8 into one of its cars and trucks. A great example is the Durango, I own a 2017, introduced to the public in 1998. Just two years later the 5.9 R/T arrived with 17-inch alloy wheels and a standard 5.9-liter V8. Other goodies included a standard limited-slip rear differential with a 3.92:1 final drive stiffer different shock absorbers, plus a sportier exhaust that gave it a nice grumble. Rounding out the package inside, the R/T got leather and suede-trimmed seats.
While it looked fast, not so much. Its engine put out 250 horsepower and 350 lb-ft of torque. My 2017 with the Penstar V6 has almost 300 horsepower. It did zero to 60 mph in 9.1 seconds. Mine will do that in just over seven seconds. The first-generation Durango 5.9 R/T was one of the earliest performance SUVs. It sold for around $35,000.
These are really cheap to pick up now, lots under $5,000. This one is considerably less because of all the rust. I spotted it in Monona, WI where my daughter works. A fun ride though. With the push for EV’s, I hope Dodge doesn’t forget its roots in muscle cars with big V8s but fear that’s the road they’re going down.
Be sure to check back next Friday for another one of my car spots along with some history.
So which is better, the Camaro or the Firebird? You’d get great arguments for both of them. The owner of this 1969 Firebird convertible would certainly argue for his ride. This one is cherry and I’ve seen it here before at the golf course that I work at during the summer months.
The first generation Firebird had the same Coke bottle styling shared as, the Camaro but the Firebird’s bumpers were integrated into the design of the front end, a Pontiac trend. The Firebird’s rear slit taillights were inspired by the 1966–1967 Pontiac GTO.
This body style was not the Pontiac pep’s first choice. They had been working on a two-seat sports car based on the Banshee concept but you know GM. Don’t mess with the Corvette, it’s our king, so this was what they ended up with. Not too shabby though.
While this is clearly a V8, I’m not sure which. It could have been the 350 with either a two- or four-bbl carb, 265/325 hp, or the 400 four-bbl, 330 hp.
What’s it worth? If it has the 350 in it, according to Hagerty, $15,000 for one in Fair condition all the way up to $67,000 in Concours. If it has the larger 400, its value bumps up to $20,000 in Fair condition all the way up to $95,000 in Concours. But how can you put a price on having the top down on a warm Summer day, especially here in Wisconsin where the season is so short.
Be sure to check back next Friday for another car spot along with a little bit of history. Have a great weekend.
If you’ve read any of my previous spots about General Motors cars, I’ve shared how the company had what seemed at the time a good idea but it ends up getting killed by a bloated corporate culture. This week’s spot, a Saturn Sky, is yet another example.
The Saturn Corporation was created by GM in 1985 and designed to compete against Japanese Imports. Everything was new, dealer network, pricing, workforce, and a brand new plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee. Marketed as a “different kind of car company”, its cars utilized GM’s advanced spaceframe construction with dent-resistant polymer exterior panels.
Saturn took a lot of resources and when the economy went south in 2008, GM cut Saturn’s development budget leaving them with rebadged cars from other divisions. So Saturn essentially lost its unique selling proposition and production ended in 2009. Its highest level of sales was 1994 with just under 300,000 vehicles marked. Penske Automotive saw an opportunity and tried to buy the brand but it never worked out and another brand faded into the sunset.
This Sky was a fun little car. Initially released in the first quarter of 2006 as a 2007. It was built at GM’s plant in Willmington, Delaware alongside the Pontiac Solstice. It featured 18-inch wheels and was powered by a 2.4 L I4 that produced 177 hp. There were two other options for more fun. A 2.0 L turbocharged direct-injected engine that bumped horsepower up to 260 and a dealer-installed turbo upgrade that ran the ponies up to 290. Wheeee. 0-60 times were around five seconds.
You can find these turbo Red Line editions for sale on the major car sites, anywhere from 12 grand to just under 20 on average. Prices have bumped up quite a bit in the last year or so. I even found one on Hemings for $31,500. These cars were not cheap, to begin with, and while they are holding their values, they really aren’t jumping in value so would not be a great investment but what a fun summer car:)
Have a great weekend and be sure to check back next Friday for another one of my car spots.
Every classic car has a story and Gary Sipiorski of Green Bay is a great example. He is the owner of this 1950 Pontiac, Sky Blue over Cream with a Silver Streak 8 engine. 72 years old and all original. Click here to listen to the conversation I had with him at the Cars and Guitars Event sponsored by the Green Bay Auto Museum.
Check back next Friday for another one of my car spots and have a great weekend.
The more of these car spots I do and looking at the history of each vehicle I’m finding a common theme with those built by General Motors, great idea and crappy execution. This 1988 Fiero GT I recently spotted is another example.
The Fiero was conceived as a small, two-seat sports car with an all-new suspension and a V6 engine. Keep in mind that at GM the Corvette was sacred and reluctant to invest into a second two-seater so the Fiero was pitched as a fuel-efficient four-cylinder commuter car that just happened to have two seats, rather than a muscle car. Think oil crisis. This car was fast-tracked by engineers and they brought back a running prototype in less than six months.
But that was the easy part. Think big, over-bloated, don’t pee in my sandbox corporate GM. It was given a 400 million budget, small by GM standards, but how that money got spent was where the roadblocks began. Engineers were split into two categories, the car guys who would create blueprints for the car, and manufacturing guys who would work out the fabrication and assembly issues. Blueprints traveled back and forth between the two engineering branches, resulting in a waste of time and money. The project manager had to literally sit the two teams of engineers down next to one another, allowing for no excuses as to why nothing was getting done. Here’s an idea. How about building a car like American Motors did creating a platform team where everybody is all on the same team. Chrysler started doing that when they bought AMC in 1987 and it works great.
Love the rear spoiler and Corvette tail lights.
As the car started coming together it was looking pretty cool, sort of like a Ferrari or Porsche. Nothing like a typical GM car. The plan was for a, high-performance, aluminum-block V6, but the cost of developing a new engine would be more than the production of the whole car itself. In typical GM style they were forced to settle for the already manufactured four-cylinder engine, the “Iron Duke,” nicknamed for its heavy iron block. It didn’t fit so they put a smaller oil pan making the engine run on less oil. This was just one of many issues. Another was weak connecting rods that would shatter, blowing pieces through the engine block and dumping oil on hot exhaust components. There were several Fieros that caught fire because of this. Like other GM cars, to save costs, it shared components. Here’s a great example. The front suspension was derived from the Chevette. The automotive media’s response was “meh” but the car sold well and initially GM couldn’t keep up with demand when it debuted in 1984
The word Fiero means “very proud”, “fierce”, “bold”, “haughty” “cruel”, “severe” in Italian, and “wild”, “fierce”, or “ferocious” in Spanish.
But it took four years for the car to look like its original design. Finally, in 1988, numerous changes were made to the Fiero to bring it in line with its original design. The suspension was completely redesigned suspension to finally click with the mid-engine layout and included new two-piece brake calipers and upgraded brake rotors, items cut originally by GM. While the engines saw improvements, the planned turbochargers never came, sales were declining, and the years of mismanagement led to the cancellation of the car after the 1988 model year.
The car is cheap fun. The later years with the V-6 cost the most but are still very affordable. According to Hagerty one in Fair condition is under two grand. The four cylinders should be avoided. One in Concours condition goes for under nine grand. They are not trending up much at all. Too bad. This is one of those GM stories that could have been.
Be sure to check back next Friday for another one of my car spots and have a great weekend.
The Scirocco first landed in North America in 1974 and Volkswagon’s intent for the coupe, with its edgy design, was to replace its aging bubbly-looking Karmann Ghia. VW’s Golf couldn’t be that replacement because that was intended to succeed the Beetle platform. The Scirocco was meant to be a more sportier than the Golf with sharper body lines and more complex engineering designed to deliver a different driving experience.
VW gave the three-door, front-engine, front-wheel-drive, sport compact hatchback two shots here in the US. from 1974 to 1992 and then again from 2008 until 2017.
Despite having crappy power and a four-speed manual transmission the car actually sold well. When Volkswagen brought it back in the second-gen model, they put in more fun with a 16-valve, 1.8-liter four-cylinder from the GTI. In all, nearly 800,000 units were sold worldwide between the two generations. Despite that VW decided to pull the plug and discontinued it in favor of its successor, the Corrado.
This second-gen one I found on a recent trip to Appleton, WI was is in line for a restoration. I made a quick check to one of my favorite place to look at cars I will never own, BringATrailer, I found them quite reasonable. First-gens were the cheapest going for around $5,000-8,000 while the second-gens with the 16V and five-speed selling for as high as $32,000.
Be sure to check back next Friday for another car spot and a little bit of history. Have a great weekend.
I’ll admit that I love American Motors cars. It seemed the company was always swinging for the fence with every new car. And they had to because they never had a big development budget.
Take for example the Javelin. Tardy to the pony car party in 1968. The Mustang started it all followed by the Camaro. Mopar had its Challenger and Barracuda. The first-gen Javelin did well and to prove it had performance chops, AMC took it racing in the Trans-Am series and it did well. Like its competition, you could buy one with a big V-8 and other performance goodies.
The second-gen debuted in 1971. Designed by Richard Teague, this was totally different than its predecessor. Longer, wider, and those hump bulges on each side of the hood. This was one of those designs that were hated or loved. I love it but blogging partner Mark Savage does not. To each his own. While it won the Trans-Am title, the pony cars’ days were numbered.
This second-gen 1974 I found on a trip up to Appleton, WI was the Javelin’s final year. Faced with tougher crash and emissions standards AMC decided to pull the plug. AMC estimated it would take $12 million in engineering and design work to revise the bumpers to meet the 1975 standards so that was it.
The first-gen Javelin sold just over 104,000 units, while the second-gen sold slightly less at just over 97,000 units. The most desirable in the first-gen would be the Mark Donohue and the same with the second-gen.
The plan I’m told for this car is to restore it and replace the 360 V8 in it with a 401. These cars are rapidly rising in collectibility. A 71 Pierre Cardin edition recently sold at a Mecum Auction for over $100,000. Not too long ago they were less than half that. Glad to see people appreciating these cars.
Be sure to check back next Friday for another car spot. And have a great weekend.
Even at 68, I’m still a huge adrenaline junky. Not only do I love fast cars but also fast jets. Did I mention I’m a private pilot? I remember one day sitting in a lowly Cessna 152 with my instructor during my training. The plane was a great trainer, sturdy to handle my occasional hard landings and forgiving enough in the air to give me a break when I got too slow or heavy on the controls. If it was a car, it’d be the equivalent of a Toyota Yaris. The Cessna goes nowhere fast cruising at 111 knots or 123 mph. That would be fast for a car but slow for a plane.
I flew one just like this. Photo: Cessna.org
Ok, back to my training session. We were number two for takeoff behind a Learjet. Tower cleared the Learjet for takeoff and instructed us to taxi into position and hold meaning we line up on the runway and wait for the jet to clear the runway. My instructor said to me to watch that hotrod accelerate quickly and rocket into the sky over Central Illinois. I was mesmerized and even though that was about 35 years ago, I remember it vividly and I think of it every time I see this Learjet parked on the ramp abandoned at Crites Field located in Waukesha, WI about 10 minutes from my house.
Dergistered Learjet parked way away from the action at Crites Field.
The Learjet was the invention of Bill Lear. The first one took flight in 1963 and pretty much created the private jet market as we know it today. Before that, he was big into radio electronics inventing the 8-track tape player. Remember those? Now I’m really dating myself. The Learjet 23 could carry eight passengers at 560 mph and cost about $650,000 fully equipped, about $400,000 less than its competitors at the time.
The jet that defined Business Jet
This year Learjet, a Model 24e, manufactured in 1973, was parked and abandoned years ago by its owner. Most likely because its owners couldn’t afford the upgrades needed to keep it airworthy. According to the FAA, it has been deregistered. Owning a jet is not cheap. The purchase price is just the beginning of the huge money hole needed to own and operate a private jet. The engines need instructions and overhauls when reaching a certain amount of hours. All maintenance in airplanes is measured in hours, not miles. Smaller turbines can cost between $200,000 to $300,000 while the big ones can cost 3 million.
November 7 Echo Juliet is one lonely Learjet
So sad. I wish I could just take it home:)
What is this plane worth now? Almost nothing. I know the airport manager and he told me that they have stripped the avionics and other parts and sold them to raise money for special events. What’s its fate? The airport is planning on building hangars on this end of the runway so most likely it will be chopped up and end up in a dumpster. Yes, this really happens to old jets. I know this because of the time I worked at Midwest Express Airlines in Milwaukee, they had a DC-9 that they had retired and stripped, and that’s how that aircraft’s life ended. So this jet sits, for now, baking in the sun, like the Cessna 152, going nowhere fast.
Be sure to check back each Friday for another car spot, or plane spot, and have a great weekend.
In the early 2000’s it seems that just about every manufacturer was into the retro movement. There was the Mini Cooper, new VW Bug, and PT Cruiser. One of Chevy’s entry was the SSR which stood for Super Sport Roadster.
Introduced in 2003 on New Year’s Eve, Chevy had big plans. It was built for speed and used GM’s 5.3 L 300 hp Vortec V8 making it go from 0-60 in 7.7 seconds with a 15.9 second quarter mile run at 86.4 mph. In 2005 the upped the hp to 390 by using the LS2 V8, the same engine found in the C6 Corvette. It was mated to a six-speed manual taking the 0-60 time down to 5.29 seconds. It also came with all the luxo items available at the time.
The manufacturing process was unusual to say the least. It rode on a GM368 platform specific to it, and featured a steel body retractable hardtop designed by Karmann and built by ASC. The front fenders, were made with deep draw stampings, a forming technique that had not been used in automotive stampings in decades. It sold for around 42 hundred bucks.
Despite heavy promotion, it was the 2003 Indy 500 Pace Car, it never sold well. On November 21, 2005, GM announced that it would close the Craft Center, where the vehicle was built, in mid-2006, and that was the end for the SSR. The final SSR, a unique black-on-silver model, was built on March 17, 2006. Total production was just 24,112.
Like the Cadillac Allante I shared a couple of weeks ago, the long term prospects for this GM oddball probably aren’t great. Giving it any juice right now is interest from retirement-age guys like me but the younger buyers, not so much. Even with a six-speed it’s not rare enough. So what are they going for now? According to the Hagerty Price Guide they are selling for slightly over their original sticker and the 2005 and 2006 LS2-powered SSR are the most desirable. It you’re looking for one of the 2,200 sold with a six-speed you’ll need to add, and in an extra 5 grand. I kind of like it because of its quirky design and how it stands out. I mean look, I saw this one in a grocery store parking lot next to the mundane SUVs and pick up trucks.
Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check back next Friday for another one of my car spots. Have a great weekend.
Remember about 20 years ago when the car manufacturers were caught up in its nostalgia faze? That’s the period that gave us the new Mini Cooper, new VW Beetle, and Chrysler PT Cruiser. I know what you’re thinking. Either it was the coolest car or lamest car ever. That’s the way it rolled during its nine-year run from 2001-2010. But if you’re with the “lamest car ever” crowd I ask, how did it end up selling more than 1 million copies?
Clean PT Cruiser I spotted while on vacation in Fl
PT Cruiser was described as “segment busting” in the marketplace in its introduction where then Chrysler’s Dieter Zetsche (Remember: “Merger of Equals”) described it as a continuing example of the automaker’s innovation for new segments as well as “demonstrates that you can have head-turning style, practicality, and value all in one package.” The automotive press agreed. In 2001 Car and Driver named the PT Cruiser to its Ten Best list and the PT Cruiser also won the North American Car of the Year.
The interior packaging was noted for its high-roof, high h-point seating, and flexible cargo and passenger configurations—a multi-level cargo shelf as well as a fold, tumble, and removable rear seating. Chrysler designed the PT Cruiser to fit the NHTSA criteria for a light truck in order to bring the average fuel efficiency of the company’s truck fleet into compliance with CAFE standards. Engines included two four bangers, a six, turbo diesel, and turbo four. My mom had one of these and just loved it.
There were a bunch of updates and special editions available during the car’s, err truck’s, nine-year run. Among them, Classic edition, Limited edition, Touring edition, Couture edition, “Dream Cruiser”, “Street Cruiser”, “Pacific Coast Highway” edition”, and PT Cruiser GT. In fact, it was the ability to customize the PT Cruiser that made it so popular.
The non-GT Turbo (180 hp) edition models, introduced in 2004, were identified by a “2.4L Turbo” badge on the lower right-hand corner of the rear lift-gate like this one I found on a recent trip to Florida. The GT model, introduced in 2003, had a “2.4L Turbo High Output” badge on the right-hand corner of the lift-gate indicating the 215–230 hp engine version.
Car was originally going to be sold through Chrysler and Plymouth.
The car is a great example of a manufacturer simply forgetting about the car. Sales dropped off and the production run ended. But there is still a devout following for the car with owner groups all over the country. You can pick a GT up for under $3,000. Fun car for not a lot of money.
Be sure to check back next Friday for another one of my car spots and have a great weekend.
Savage On Wheels 