- Dodge pushes ‘Last Call’ reveal due to exploding engines, Ram’s delayed truck reveal
- Honda wants over $50k for its 2023 Civic Type R in Canada, but even more in the U.S.
- Toyota resurrects the old-school key due to chip shortage
- The most notable cars at SEMA 2022
- Maine issues recalls on obscene vanity plates
Welcome to our roundup of the biggest breaking stories on Driving.ca from this past week. Get caught up and ready to get on with the weekend, because it’s hard keeping pace in a digital traffic jam.
Here’s what you missed while you were away.
Dodge pushes ‘Last Call’ reveal due to exploding engines, Ram’s delayed truck reveal
2022 Dodge Challenger Hellcat Redeye Widebody Jailbreak Photo by Elle Alder
Dodge had plans to unveil the last farewell model ‘Last Call’ Challenger or Charger at SEMA 2022 in Las Vegas this week, but those plans blew up with the engine, literally. According to Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis, the brand “ran into some problems. To be more precise, the modified V8 has been blowing up when pushed to the limits in the Dodge test lab. We’re not talking about a minor breakdown. Apparently, the engines really have been blowing up.” With a rumoured 909 horsepower engine under the hood, it’s no wonder it’s been spinning itself into oblivion.
That wasn’t the only delayed Stellantis product getting attention this week. Initially due to be revealed in the fall, Ram has now officially said that it will debut its electrified truck concept, the Ram 1500 Revolution Concept, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas on January 5, 2023. A teaser image of the truck’s side profile accompanied the announcement, and a production model should follow in 2024. The 1500 Revolution is Ram’s next stop on its journey to a fully electrified lineup by 2030.
Honda wants over $50k for its 2023 Civic Type R in Canada, but even more in the U.S.
2023 Honda Civic Type R Photo by Honda
Canadian pricing for the 2023 Honda Civic Type R starts at $50,050 ($51,830 in Quebec), making it the priciest Civic you can get. Honda announced prices this week, along with the confirmation that an SE model would not follow. As a quick refresher, the ‘racing’ special uses the brand’s K20C1 2.0-litre Turbo four making 315 horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque, which helped the R beat the all-time lap record for front-wheel-drive production cars around the Suzuka Formula One racetrack in Japan.
It sounds plenty deserving of that “R,” but if the news has you reeling with sticker shock, just be glad you’re not in America where the car is even more expensive at around $58,000 by today’s exchange rate.
Toyota resurrects the old-school key due to chip shortage
2022 Toyota Corolla Cross Photo by Renita Naraine
The ongoing microchip shortage has resulted in Toyota pulling a play from its 1990s strategy and bringing back the manual key. Some Japanese buyers will be receiving their new Toyota vehicles with one ‘smart’ fob key and one mechanical key, in an effort to keep up with estimated delivery times. “As the shortage of semiconductors continues, this is a provisional measure aimed at delivering cars to customers as quickly as possible,” Toyota said in a statement, adding that the second smart key would be sent along “as soon as it is ready.”
But the move may still not be enough to keep the Japanese maker on schedule. Last week the brand announced it likely will not be able to build the 9.7 million vehicles it originally set out to produce this year.
The most notable cars at SEMA 2022
Lifted Rippers Ford Super Duty Photo by Lifted Rippers
It’s been a good week to be a gearhead in Las Vegas, with SEMA 2022 filling the city with customizers and the enthusiasts that covet their work. We hopped a flight down to Sin City to get a gander at the year’s best custom builds and were not disappointed. Among the highlights was a 1948 Chevrolet Super Truck built over 10,000 hours by Ringbrothers, featuring a Goodwin 1,000-horsepower tall-deck racing engine and a sculpted body replete with carbon-fiber elements.
Other favourites included a gold-and-chrome truck from Florida-based Lifted Rippers Ford Super Duty and a 1966 Toyota Stout Drift Truck running a four-cylinder built by PSI Racing. Here’s what all these custom vehicles have in common: they all prove that anything is possible while also disproving that everything is practical.
Check out our full list of SEMA 2022’s 8 most bold, brash, and beautifully bonkers cars — including Kevin Hart’s 1987 Buick “Dark Knight” Grand National — right here.
Maine issues recalls on obscene vanity plates
An obscene Maine licence plate photographed in 2019 by resident Derek Volk Photo by Derek Volk
Back in 2015, Maine made an adjustment to the way it distributed personalized licence plates, essentially tossing the review process and allowing for anyone with a dirty mind and a driver’s licence the ability to express themselves as lewdly as they wanted on their government issued state plates. Now you might be thinking, but how bad could it be? See if you can fill in these blanks of this actual vanity plate: “F— You.”
The state is now bringing its rules up to speed with much of the rest of the nation’s, banning derogatory remarks on gender identity, race, age, nationality, ethnicity, religion, and more. Supporter of free speech and Secretary of State Shanna Bellows has advice for those upset at no longer being able to express their more vulgar opinions on the rear ends of their vehicles: “What I would say to those who want to engage in objectionable or questionable speech: Get a bumper sticker.”
Joke’s over, Maine. Y’all took it too far!
Keyword: News Roundup: Exploding engines from Dodge, old-school keys from Toyota, and more