Coming to a Wrangler near...
Coming to a Wrangler near you.
•The Grand Cherokee's Pentastar V-6 will be available for all 13 vehicles in the Chrysler Group by 2013. The Wrangler looks to be up to bat in 2012.
•Jeep and Alfa Romeo will share real estate at a manufacturing plant in Turin, Italy.
•Plans for a Grand Cherokee-based Maserati SUV are moving forward.
•The Interwebs have named the '11 Grand Cherokee Internet Truck of the Year. The most meaningful award ever.
Hotness. The Jeep, we mea...
Hotness. The Jeep, we mean.
•Oh, wait, most meaningful until now: From the hmm-that-name-is-uninspired-but-we'll-take-it-anyway category, the all-new SEMA award-called the SEMA Award-named the Wrangler Hottest 4x4/SUV. It had to do with loads of the '10 SEMA Show exhibitors using the Wrangler to showcase new products and other trends.
Hip-notizing downtown L.A...
Hip-notizing downtown L.A.
•Motor Village of Los Angeles is Chrysler's newest dealership in the U.S. The five-story glass tower will sell Jeeps, of course, as well as the other brands-plus Fiat. The Jeep section will feature vehicles on Moab-ish terrain. This was a Pierce-Arrow dealership in the '20s, and will be the first time Chrysler brands have had a showcase dealership in central L.A. in nearly 10 years.
•Jeep sales were up in October compared to October 2009. How much, you ask? That would be 111 percent, we answer.
Quote Without Story
"In the United States, I drive a Jeep Grand Cherokee. In Italy, usually a Fiat Croma, sometimes a Ferrari."
-Sergio Marchionne, CEO, Chrysler Group, to The New York Times
Reader Quote Without Story* *as seen on the Jp magazine Facebook page
Industry News
•Edelbrock Academy-it's a new part of the Ohio Technical College. Students will receive a graduation certificate noting their high-performance training in building and modifying American muscle cars and performance vehicles. Everything from parts installation to dyno tuning and testing will be covered.
•It seems to not be true, those rumors of the Ram going through a new numbering system that would involve fewer zeros, i.e., Ram 1500 would be 150.
•Land Rover built its one millionth Range Rover, which will be donated to Help for Heroes and auctioned off.
•As if you need yet another reason to hang out at trailmaster.com, know that the suspension company has redesigned its website for easier access to product info, installation instructions, news, and other good stuff.
•Expect to see some cool new Jeep trinkets from Banks in the coming months. Rumor is that there will be a turbo/header kit available for the 4.0L. No word yet on power output.
•Airaid earned a new Executive Order from the California Air Resources Board. This-and the company's existing EOs-exempts the intake systems and PowerAid throttle-body spacers in California, as well as in other states that use California's emissions standards.
•MasterCraft Safety has acquired Bill Simpson's Impact! Racing Products.
•Do not panic in the middle of the year if you notice the Texaco Havoline product line has the Chevron logo. In North America, Havoline will be rebranded. Remember, do not panic.
•New how-to-wheel book: Backcountry 4x4 Basic Training by Don Alexander. Get it at backcountry4x4.com or from Amazon.
•GM is dumping the Goodwrench brand in the U.S. in February. It will be replaced by the Certified Service brand name. We're not smart, but we think Mr. Certified Service doesn't have quite the same ring.
Employee Quote Without Story
"Sweet. Now we get sourced in an Off-Road story. When do the throngs of women in bikinis start throwing themselves at us?"
-Email exerpt from Tech Editor Christian Hazel to the editor of
Off-Road magazine, after helping him with a Jeep question
"They're on their way-I put 'em in the trunk of a Cadillac and sent them to you about an hour ago. Don't worry, I poked some air holes in the trunk lid with a .44."
-
Off-Road Editor Jerrod Jones in response