Jalopnik: dodge dakota

Return Of The Rampage: Chrysler Mulling Car-Based Pickup?

Ben Wojdyla — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 12:00:00 EST

When the Car God's close doors they open windows, so when GM cancels the 2010 Pontiac G8 ST, news surfaces Chrysler is considering a car-based pickup truck. Can you say Rampage?

With full-size pickup sales lagging, and the Dodge Ram falling to fourth place in sales behind the Toyota Tundra, Chrysler is reportedly considering the introduction of a smaller, lighter, more efficient car-based pickup with a lower price point. According to Chrysler, this new unibody platform may end up wearing the Dakota nameplate, though it's unclear whether it will be more like the Honda Ridgeline or the ill-fated G8 ST. You can expect your Camino-obsessed Jalopnik crew will be scouring the Detroit Auto Show for news. [Detroit News]

Wood-Burning Dodge Trucks Burning Coast-To-Coast

Mark Arnold — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 15:20:00 EDT

Not only has Wayne Keith developed a system that allows a normal automobile to run on burning wood, but he's also planning a coast-to-coast drive from South Carolina to California to prove it's the real deal. Basically the system gassifies the wood and feeds the syngas into the standard engine. It can run on pretty much any biomass material you can burn, including switchgrass, crop residues, and probably dead hobos and hookers too. So how much wood would a wood-burning truck burn if a wood-burning truck could burn wood?

Keith's 1991 Dodge Dakota V8 smokes through about a pound of wood per mile, and his back-up 1987 V6 Dakota gets about 1.5 miles per pound. The V8 tops out at 80 MPH and the V6 can squeeze out 65 MPH. So, if burning wood sounds like a better way to pollute the air than burning gasoline, and your truck doesn't have some newfangled fuel-injection system, this just might be the way to avoid gas pumps and dispose of that annoying forest in your backyard. [Bio-Truck via ABG]

Automobile Gets The Skinny On Truck Planning At Dodge

Ben Wojdyla — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:20:00 EDT

Given the current sales climate, it was probably about time somebody sat down with an automaker and asked them what the heck their plan was for trucks. Automobile's Phil Floraday interrogated the Chrysler folks about where the Dodge brand is going now that we're in the middle of the gaspocalypse. They spouted off something about making the Dodge Ram HD a bit more fuel efficient, and even reducing horsepower a bit. Then they wandered into smaller trucks.

Then they went on about how a a unibody design for the next Dakota is on the table. And they even went so far as to talk about a sub-Dakota pickup, sort of like the Dodge M80 Concept and then... the... some... firework hot dogs....{zzzzzzzzzz}

Editor's Note: Shhh! Be quiet! Ben apparently fell asleep from boredom while writing this post. Better head over to read Phil's piece at Automobile on your own. [Automobile.com]