Though is may seem like these shots are circa 1984, this super-clean Dodge Rampage was spied recently by photojournalist Dave Wallace on a trip to legendary Gotelli’s Speed Shop in South San Francisco, California. The Rampage and its 1983-only Plymouth Scamp rebrandmate were built on the Chrysler L-body platform, and shared a nose with its Dodge 024-Plymouth TC3 cousins. The Rampage was sold from 1982-84, and drove into the subcompact truck market against the Volkswagen Rabbit pickup and Subaru Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter – or BRAT. Legend has it that a few Direct Connection Shelby Rampages were built using components from a Dodge Shelby Charger. Lore says that even fewer of those got the turbocharged and intercooled version of the 2.2-liter mill under the hood. While all other Rampages were built naturally-aspirated, we know of at least one person that transplanted a 2.2 turbo mill under the hood to add street light surprise and torque steer amusement to the truck-like utility of the Rampage.
Thanks to Dave Wallace for the photos and Allpar for information on the near-mythical 1984 Dodge California Shelby Rampage.
The 1986 Pontiac 2+2 Aerocoupe was more or less the homologated result of Bill Elliot cleaning up the NASCAR competition behind the wheel of a mid-eighties Ford Thunderbird. As stock cars were still somewhat stock at this point in time, the Pontiac Grand Prix was in aero-trouble with its brick like nose and near-vertical rear window against the slippery T-bird. Throw ‘Awesome Bill from Dawsonville’ Elliot into the mix and the Pontiac division was in the soup on the speedways. The 1986 and one-half Grand Prix was the showroom result of adventures in aerodynamics from the Pontiac braintrust. The brick nose up front was sleeked out, and the bubble back window met up with a shortened fiberglass rear deck and spoiler out back. The production 305 V8 kicked out 165 horsepower through a 4-speed automatic transmission. The aerodynamic changes helped the NASCAR Ponchos chalk up a few wins, but teams succumbed to the unfortunate reality of using front-wheel drive bodies on rear-wheel drive race cars by 1988. This particular 1986-something Pontiac 2+2 Aerocoupe was seen parked and motoring about on a 
In a time before nuts and bolts were packaged into useless plastic bags in never correct quantities, gathering fasteners was as easy as heading down to your auto parts or hardware store and just asking for a dozen M8 45 millimeter exhaust studs with a 1.25 thread pitch and matching copper pinch nuts. While there are some auto parts joints and fastener suppliers that still operate this way, many more have gone down the dark path of plastic bags and blister packs. As knowing is half the battle when it comes to finding the right fastener, the nut and bolt measuring gauge or screw checker is an indispensable item to have in the garage or pocket. The nut and bolt gauge also comes in handy when aluminum treads unscrew right along with the with the stud or bolt. After swearing up a storm and peeling away the aluminum, knowing exactly which Heli-Coil® or screw thread insert to get is foolproof thanks to the nut and bolt gauge. The good news is that some of the places that will still give you a brown paper lunch bag full of nuts and bolts will usually supply a gratis nut and bolt gauge with purchase. Measure it twice. Fasten it once. Or at least until it breaks again.
From the captive import department of our long-term corporate relationships division comes this Dodge Colt four-door sedan. Under a mild job of Dodge re-branding, this compact sedan is a purebred Mitsubishi Colt, and an early example of a corporate manufacturing partnership that lasted for over thirty years. As has, evidently, this Dodge Colt. Rally-equipped Mitsubishi versions of the Colt were famously driven to victory by 
