Free Republic

WASHINGTON - A car has crashed into an office building in Northwest D.C. Friday evening. The crash occurred in the 1000 block of Connecticut Avenue near the Farragut North Metro station at around 7:45 p.m. One of the station's entrances is closed. Connecticut Avenue has been shut down near K Street. Law enforcement sources tell FOX 5 that a man in a stolen car intentionally ran the vehicle into the front of the building. Sources also say that they believe a can of gasoline was inside the car. Witnesses say when the man got out of the car and was...

The race is on for the Humvee's successor (Bye, bye Hummer) Your Mom may still love driving a Humvee to the mall, but the military has different needs for its combat operations these days. Some 20 years after the Humvee first rolled out, the military is now entering the second phase of the project to choose its successor. The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program will be reviewing the proposals for a new vehicle, and has a pretty specific list of what it's looking for. Manufacturers getting in the game need to submit prototype designs for a seven to 10-ton...

Need help from people with Jeep mechanical electrical experience/diagnosis. Our 1996 Jeep Cherokee Country (classic, not Grand) 4.0L I6 4WD has started to have a repeating and random sudden loss of power (engine quits with NO dash warning lights on dash). Need suggestions from people who have been there and done this. I am a fairly savvy and experienced car mechanic on my own, and this has me baffled. See Body of Comment for details.

“There are always going to be bumps on the road to recovery. We’re going to pass through some rough terrain that even a Wrangler would have a hard time with. You know that”

WJBK's Rob Wolchek on Detroit's reaction to Chrysler workers drinking and smoking pot on their lunch breaks.

DETROIT - It been several months since President Obama visited, but a Chrysler plant in Detroit is again making headlines -- this time for what employees did every day on their lunch break. Fifteen workers at the plant in Detroit were caught on hidden video, day after day for 10 days, drinking and smoking marijuana during their half-hour lunch breaks. It's not unusual to see a few people throwing back some cold ones at the park, but you're not going to believe the brazen boozing going on in this video. The workers build Jeeps at the Chrysler plant, and this...

I have never seen anything like this, a military Jeep torn completely down and rebuilt in under four minutes. This isn’t some gimmick either, they drove it to and from the exhibition. While not "tech" related, this is definitely one of the coolest things you will see all day.

Friday Feb 5th, Judge Gonzalez of the Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York, in the Chrysler Bankruptcy case denied a Motion brought on behalf of over 70 of the former Chrysler Dealers to overturn the Rejection Order which stripped them of their franchises in the spring of 2009. Led by Island Jeep’s James Anderer of New York, the dealers Motion would have reversed the decision which stripped 789 dealers, including Timberline Chrysler Dodge of Portland Or., of their franchise contracts during the bankruptcy and sale of Chrysler to Fiat. Anderer's argument rests primarily upon the fact that...

DETROIT -- Chrysler Group LLC will suspend production of its popular Jeep Wrangler and Wrangler Unlimited vehicles due to a shortage in parts from an unidentified supplier. Chrysler will idle its Toledo Supplier Park facility in Ohio for one week starting Monday, the company said Friday without disclosing more details. The Wrangler has been one of Chrysler's best-performing vehicles in terms of sales for the year. This is the second time Chrysler has changed its production schedule because of a parts issue. The auto maker also delayed adding a second shift to an Illinois plant by more than a month...

Threats of terror in Asia have caused a surge of orders for the Israeli-made Storm (Sufa) Jeep. Business has never been so good. The anonymous purchaser has ordered hundreds of Storm jeeps at the Nazareth-based Automotive Industries Ltd. factory, worth tens of millions of dollars.

Israeli developers working on a ducted-fan flying hovercar say that a full-size, turbine driven unmanned prototype will fly "within two months". Flight tests with a smaller electrically-driven model, they say, have validated their basic technology. The Urban Aeronautics Mule being readied for testing in Israel The Reg flying-car desk spoke today with Janina Frankel-Yoeli, marketing veep at Urban Aeronautics of Israel, at the Paris Airshow. Urban Aeronautics prefer to call their designs "fancraft", thereby distinguishing them from hovercraft, which can't actually fly. "We've solved the three basic problems of ducted-fan craft," he says. "Our craft are stable, they can lift...

Chrysler announced the closing of 789 dealerships earlier this month. On today's radio program, Rush Limbaugh spoke for a few seconds about whether or not some of the dealership closings are the result of politics (campaign contributions). After hearing this, I decided to look up the contributions of the dealers on the Internet. Here are a few examples of the campaign donations made by some of the dealers who will close their doors shortly. I'm not anywhere close to going through the entire list yet. The figures are only from the 2004, 2006, and 2008 Election cycles: (1) Michael E....

NEW YORK (AP) -- It sounds crazy: Just a week after the White House scolded Chrysler LLC for relying too much on gas guzzlers, the company is heading to a marquee auto show Wednesday to unveil a new SUV. Chrysler insists the Jeep Grand Cherokee, which clocks in at 20 mpg in its two-wheel-drive version and 19 in four-wheel-drive, is a crowd favorite and a crucial part of its lineup.

Hey all Jeep fans I am in no hurry but have specifics of a search for a 2008 Jeep but now way gonna pay the $23 when I know I can get the bare bone (no fancy interior, but they come with that MP3 thingy anyways) 4wd. Statewide sale now so I am holding out. The Jeep I had eyed for weeks went at $23 LOL no way .... And I live in a very rough terrain so for daily get around the property/town I want a jeep. My other vehicle is not winter road friendly but I need it...

SEMA is opposing an effort by some Washington lawmakers to include a national car crushing program in the upcoming economic stimulus package. Vehicles targeted for the scrap pile will likely include Chevy Blazers, Silverados, S-10s and Tahoes; Dodge Dakotas and Rams; Ford Explorers and F-Series; Jeep Cherokees and Wranglers; and any other SUV or truck that obtains less than 18 mpg.

I would like to hear if any freepers out there are Jeep aficionados, and if so, what esperiences they have had with customizing for capable off road use, while maintaing some reasonable on road (winter daily driver) demeanor. I had a Comanche years ago, and did nothing with it, and have a Commander now, which is a real softie. My dream is an 08 or 09 WUR 4dr hard top with the 5.7L conversion from AEV. What say you all?

Excerpt - POTI, Georgia -- Russian troops briefly seized control of the economically vital Georgian port of Poti Tuesday morning, a day after Moscow said it had begun pulling its forces out of Georgia. ~ snip ~ The Russians also confiscated five jeeps and an armored Humvee belonging to the U.S. armed forces, according to Alan Middleton, CEO of Poti Sea Port Corp. He said the equipment was used for joint U.S.-Georgian military exercises and was sitting in the Poti container terminal ready to be shipped back to a U.S. base in Europe. "I suppose the U.S. won't be impressed...

Workers at Johnson Controls Inc.'s factory in Northwood learned in February that their jobs building seats for the Jeep Wrangler were being outsourced to India by 2010. But that plan may have proven a bit ambitious. Yesterday, the manufacturing chief for Chrysler LLC told an automotive trade publication that at least part of the work - the more complex front seats - will stay local. Meanwhile, the Indian company that won the work, Krishna Maruti Ltd., is looking for space in the Toledo area and plans to hire as many as 70 people to produce the rear seats, according to...

Chrysler LLC Vice Chairman and President Jim Press said Friday that the auto maker needs its dealers to start consolidating on their own without expecting big buyout checks from the company as an incentive. Mr. Press, speaking to an automotive conference taking place before an annual car-dealer convention here, said that in coming years, the company will shrink its product portfolio to improve profitability. The smaller portfolio will best benefit dealers who combine the auto maker's three brands -- Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep -- into one location, he said. For dealers waiting on big buyout incentives, they may want to...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 17, 2007 – Thousands of servicemembers get care packages with surprises in them every day, thanks to caring folks back home. Some of the surprises, however, are bigger than others. Army Spc. Alfonso Sanchez, of 16th Military Police Brigade, thanks Army Maj. Kristian Sorensen, the brigade’s civil affairs officer, July 24 for sending the names of the unit’s soldiers to Operation Gratitude, a troop support group. Sanchez, who is currently serving in Iraq, had just received Operation Gratitude’s 250,000th care package, which came with a surprise -- keys to a 2007 Jeep Patriot Limited. Photo by Spc....