• project car hell

    Project Car Hell, Screamin' Corolla Edition: AE86 or FX16?

    There was some grumbling over the choices in our last Choose Your Eternity challenge (which was won by the '77 Levis Edition AMC Hornet AMX by a healthy margin), ostensibly because they were too easy… but we know the real reason: being reminded of the Malaise Era brings up the uncomfortable parallels between the hard economic times then and those now. Of course, there are differences; sure, the current war is more expensive- in dollar terms- than was Vietnam, but inflation isn't the raging beast it was back then (though the bill for our 15-year debt binge looks to be just as painful as 20% inflation was). What we need is a flashback to Morning In America! The 80s, when the Evil Empire was crumbling and Toyota still built cars that didn't hit you like a triple Valium with cough syrup chaser; yes, it's Corolla Time!
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    5:20 PM on Tue Aug 26 2008
    By Murilee Martin
    3,073 views, 53 comments

    Most discussed Piloter: @Thrashy: Just to be an annoying pedant, the 4AGZE was only found in the US in the '89 SC MR2. Sure, more »

  • best road trip cars

    Automobile Mag's Top List Of Road Trip Vehicles Gives Sprinter The Nod, Finds Way Into Our Hearts

    Oh, boy: Another hot summer day, another list of top vehicles for a road trip. Whereas Kelley Blue Book's top road trip cars list — the last such list we had to endure — was one of the more strange groupings we've seen, today's list from Automobile is absolutely sexy. What, you don't think the Sprinter's sexy? You ever seen the Mercedes diesel it's got under the hood? We're not kidding when we say it's like butter. Really thick, viscous, black butter, but butter nonetheless. Hit the jump for the full list. More »

    12:30 PM on Tue Jun 10 2008
    By Mark Arnold
    1,981 views, 28 comments

    Latest by petersterncan: @MrEvil: I don't think Dodge is crazy. It's a question of paying now or paying later. With the Sprinter, you pay more more »

  • new cars

    Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Minibuses Are Awesome

    Why are we randomly showing you pictures of European Sprinter vans? Because Mercedes Sprinter Vans are awesome. Bigger and mightier than the standard Sprinter is the Sprinter Minibus line, which offers seating configurations for uses as varied as hospice transport to urban people moving. Our personal favorite is the City 65, seen here in blue and silver. With seating for 13 passengers, it's much classier than your common OMNIBus or E-Series-based van.

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    3:00 PM on Thu Apr 3 2008
    By Matt Hardigree
    7,061 views, 41 comments

    Latest by dankicksass: So not brutal. Needs more Explosion Sauce. more »

  • chicago auto show

    Chicago Auto Show: Commercial Trucks And Vans

    Commercial trucks and vans aren't quite as romantic as the latest sports car, but that doesn't mean we should ignore them. There's a segment of the population that gets excited about a big, mean work truck. Though we kind of like the Ford Transit Connect, we're still more moved by the full-sized, extended-length Dodge Sprinters you see below, which could stow a pair of Transit Connects and still have room for a Girl Scout troop. Enjoy the plows, tow trucks and work vans.


    Feature

    1:00 PM on Fri Feb 8 2008
    By Matt Hardigree
    2,109 views, 22 comments

    Latest by RobertRyan1: The Big Euro Vans are either powered by a 2.5 or 3 Litre diesel bu they move a lot of more »

  • tuners

    The Hartmann SP5: A Sprintier Mercedes Sprinter

    While it may not be as cool as the Sprinter into Studio Coppola Special, the Hartmann-tuned Sprinter van is still fairly wicked. Next to Supervan 2, the Dodge/MB Sprinter is already near the top of our list of favorite vans. Add a body kit, new exhaust, faux-carbon fiber inserts, vaguely tweaked mechanicals and 19-inch wheels and you've got the Hartmann SP5. Even better if you can get one in cargo van form with no rear windows for that elite NSA surveillance team look. Somewhat incorrectly translated press release and more pictures below the jump.

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    1:15 PM on Mon Jan 28 2008
    By Matt Hardigree
    3,955 views, 29 comments

    Latest by Stoatmaster: "What would perfect tuning be without new Radwerk?" Discuss. more »

  • hollywood

    Francis Ford Coppola Builds Studio Into Dodge Sprinter

    Mr. Coppola has long been notorious for sets the size of cities and gear that takes an endless parade of tractor-trailers to move around, but all that has changed with the making of his latest film, "Youth Without Youth." All the stuff- cameras, dollies, whatever- gets crammed into one of the few bright spots from the failed Daimler-Chrysler marriage: a Dodge Sprinter van. [San Francisco Chronicle]

    3:00 PM on Mon Dec 17 2007
    By Murilee Martin
    7,018 views, 13 comments

    Latest by lascauxcaveman: THere's a shipload of these things making deliveries around my small town, all with the Dodge Ram on the hood. Big more »

  • down on the street

    Toyota AE86

    Since the AE86 family of Toyotas tends to contain some of the most hacked-up, hot-rodded, and generally butchered cars you see in California, it's beyond my abilities to guess the exact year of this particular example. I can't check the state's Smog Test History site to get the year of the chassis because it's sporting Washington plates, and I can't see the VIN under its aftermarket dash mat. This one probably contains bits of a dozen cars from the 1984-87 period; we can only hope it has the right engine... and that it's not spitting busted valves out the tailpipe during some drifting madness tomorrow night. More »

    9:15 AM on Fri Oct 26 2007
    By Murilee Martin
    8,152 views, 44 comments

    Latest by Ileee: This is a beautiful car. The selling of the soul of Toyota breaks my heart. They had really interesting and more »

  • european domestic market, yo!

    Mercedetize Your Sprinter

    Here at tha Jalop, we've got a known affection for European vans. And while Ford may have some sugar to lend us us in that department soon, the Deutch-Amerikanische hybrid was first, bringing the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter over first as a Freightliner, then as a Dodge. We're not sure of the details worked out with Cerberus regarding the van's stay on our shores, but regardless, we've always dug industrial vehicles with the tristar on the nose. Thanks to Mercedes Sprinter Conversions, one can now score the bits needed to rock one's Dodge EDM style. And let's face it, if we had a Sprinter? We'd do it too. – Davey G. Johnson More »

    8:00 PM on Thu Jun 14 2007
    By Davey G. Johnson
    3,106 views, 17 comments

    Latest by one-six-five: Freightliner is a Daimler company, so MB commercial vehicles are all over the US and Canada. I'm not sure the branding more »

  • alternative energy

    Electric Vanliness: Sprinter to Be DaimlerChrysler's First Plug-in Hybrid

    The term "plug-in hybrid" will one day hang beneath "1/3 less calories" and "dolphin-free tuna" in the advertising and public relations halls of fame. For now, we'd imagine all hybrid-building carmakers will either add the capability to their hybrids, or say they're looking into it. That's not to diminish the latest plug-in announcement, this time from everyone's favorite German-American hybrid. DaimlerChrysler says its first plug-in hybrid will be in the form of a Dodge Sprinter van. It'll test market viability among a control group of fleet buyers. The project will mark the first fleet test of a diesel hybrid plug-in system, though the company's also testing a gasoline-combustion variety. What's more, some of the test vehicles will use lithium-ion batteries instead of nickel-metal hydride batteries. However the test goes, it's obvious plug-ins will likely excel in the stop-and-go world of local delivery, the likely domain of the Sprinter PHEV. – Mike Spinelli More »

    7:29 AM on Wed Mar 28 2007
    By Mike Spinelli
    1,749 views, 9 comments

    Latest by f_demon: Why don't they just sell it as a Mercedes Sprinter (the version I know)? It looks ugly with that dodge more »

  • celebrities

    What the Hoot Page? Watt has Righteous Bro Blog 'Bout Hydrogen Stations Near Reykjavik While Touring w/ Stooges

    And then it it all comes full circle... There's little we enjoy more than reading Watt's (increasingly) unique Pedro-speak concerning all things that exist in the form of Watt. But, given the "energy diversity" that all the big carmakers are struggling to achieve, well, this is time and place appropriate to us car-blogging types. As the Stooge's Icelandic tour driver explains; More »

    1:37 PM on Sat Jan 13 2007
    By Jonny Lieberman
    126 views, 2 comments

    Latest by BlackIce_GTS: Easy for them, they've got geothermal everything already. more »