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These are classics that are so well baked at this point...you can't go wrong. Lack of any options aside, the 2017 Challenger R/T (literally zero options, and cloth with no backup camera...but burbling Hemi) was incredible for the 5000 miles I put on it as a rental for work. Best part, quiet, smoothness, and refinement heft aside, was with the ZF 8-speed, multiple times I got 28-29mpg cruising, with an all time best 29.6 mpg from western PA back to Philly on a Sunday. Yet since, I've driven smaller cars, cars with no power, etc. and struggled to get more than 22-23 highway. Had a V6 2017 Charger SXT rental for a week too, with far nicer technology inside, and even though the 3.6L is no barn stormer, with he 8-speed it's silent and strong. These cars just keep going and going and going... Which makes you wonder...

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the current platform aside from needing better material fit and finish. They are full size and should remain so... not squished down to Euro standards.

Yeah, it’s supposed to be another revision of LX platform. Really, if they just refreshed it and put the effort into the interior that they did with the Ram, they’d be fine. Put the new turbo 2.0 in there as a base engine, maybe eAssist the V6 and V8. The cars today are super solid and have all the latest tech available. The possibility of their cancellation has renewed my interest in acquiring a 300.

Another recent Mopar color I like is a dark red I've seen on the Challenger and Charger. Octane Red.

There is almost no Benz left in this car, if any. I had one of these as a rental for my trip to Detroit for NAIAS, though mine was RWD rather than AWD. It is a fantastic roadtrip car. I don't know what kind of wheel bearing they are using but the 300C/S rolls better than nearly anything out there.. and I say that in while in the past week I've been at the helm of CT6/LS/G80. 80mph is way too easy. It's comfortable. It's big. It handles well. It goes fast. It has road presence. It is everything a big American sedan should be. On top of that, it is efficient and the infotainment system works well. My long distance trips at the aforementioned 80 mph have yielded 27mpg. Ya'll keep it under 70mph and you can get it over 30 on RWD models. If there is any letdown it is in the quality of materials in the interior. The S and the C Limited do fix some of that, but not all. This is one of my favorite vehicles on the market right now.... not because it is the best at any one thing, but because of the blend of things it does so well. I would absolutely drive the one pictured above and be very happy with it.

^ Yum...now there is a business opportunity...a truck driving around neighborhoods in the morning peddling coffee and donuts..

Well, there are definitely a lot fewer Cobalts on the road now than there were 10 years ago.

Yeah not only do you waste a legendary name like Mach 1, but you do it on a tarted up Focus Electric.

Random doggo pics for today. Sitting at a light on the way home from the groomers this afternoon after getting her summer 'do. Raine--a terrier mix of some sort--my youngest dog at 4 years..she is very high energy.

See, my bias is showing. You are correct of course; the 301 was Pontiac-built, but they're basically mediocre people movers at best, with no aftermarket support or collector interest. Throw-aways. It's like offering someone a dish with a geen/moldy carrot nub and a fresh, hot, seasoned piece of grilled chicken; they're really close to each other but only 1 is at all appealing. "The last REAL Pontiac V8."

This sucks that the GLobal Executive for Chevrolet smashes the pace car before the race even gets started.

I actually will be happy if the playing fiekd becomes more level.

Panasonic is an investor in GigaFactory 1 in Nevada. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigafactory_1

• Primed/painted the inside of my heater box assembly & made a new 'flapper door' seal (directs air either to defroster, or heat vents). • Worked on speedo- has a revolving drum and altho the drum turned fine, the port where the speedo cable went into it was locked up. Worked at it and kept lubing it until it freed up & now spins freely. Re-assembled the speedo for now, but also made the decision I'm going to have the housing re-chromed. So starting a 're-chome' list. • Measured out for a 'rear bulkhead' panel to block sound from the trunk. Will cut it out of thin plywood this week.

Weekend playtoy strictly. Would be cool.

Well you should have seen me yesterday trying to haul some PVC picket fence sections in my Compass. Just call me Jed Clampett. Only a n00b would get rid of a pickup truck in the name of 8 MPG.

Benz never "gave" anything to Chrysler; pieces/components were SOLD to ChryCo, and in some instances mandated that they be used to boot. I have seen ex-insiders claim the prices were "full development cost" and royalties were also charged for components MB was moving to the next generation of (were worthless to MB). ChryCo was already moving to the RWD LX platform before the take over; the FWD LH platform was engineered to support RWD. MB also had all their US/Germany conference calls billed to Chrysler. Daimler raped & pillaged Chrysler.

You must not have gotten the memo. Every brand needs 14 crossovers with only 2 inch difference between them in size

give it a 0.33 inch lift, slap some cladding on it, Matrix Returns.

There was an "institution" in the L.A. area called the Helms Bakery truck. I remember the jingle. It was way more popular than the ice cream truck. Can you imagine a moving Dunkin' Donuts, with exceptional and better baked goods, in a contraption like the one above? The Helms Bakery itself then became one of those commercial hubs with leased space and a huge antique mart, which smelled frumpy just like an antique mart. I had no use for it without the baked goods.

Yeah, that's why I think something is wrong.... however, A/C compressors take a certain amount of horsepower to run. Sure they vary in size for the vehicle, but not by that much... so if it takes 3 hp to run, 3 horsepower is a bigger percentage of available power on my 138hp Encore than on a 250hp 2.0T of whatever make. But it's clear... A/C off and highway travel, the Encore will get 33mpg. A/C on, I'm lucky to get to 30. The Honda is the same way though, but that A/C compressor is relatively new. I had it replaced a few years ago. Nail meet Head. It was the marketing of the TDI that got people upset. People bought the diesels thinking they were another clean, high mpg alternative. So if you didn't like the looks of the Pruis (I can understand that one), but the Jetta looked good to you, the TDI was an option.

I'm already disappointed in this vehicle. Mach 1 name for an EV "SUV" : Mustang styling cue on a "SUV" :

I can't leave you guys back in the past alone for a few hours without you running amok and drawing on the walls, can I? The Wiki quote is correct RE Olds, they had distinct small & big blocks. Pontiac did not- the 326 up thru the 455 have the same external size block, so Pontiac does NOT have a small and/or big block. OK; the 301 is technically smaller, but it's so utterly forgettable that it's shunned for the purposes of this discussion. Still ... the 301 & 400 overlap, so I guess from '77-79, technically, if you want to be a total jerk about it, Pontiac had a SB & BB. But nobody cares and everyone hates the 301. There; I said it. They are relative terms addressing external V8 engine size within one brand. Chevy, Olds & Buick had SBs & BBs, Pontiac did not, Cadillac only had one displacement until the same-family 472/500 of '70, and no SB (or BB) until the 350 of '76 appeared. Trivia point: even tho Chevy got it's V8 in '55, it wasn't a "small block" until the 348 came out in '58.