Officially, the 2012 Jeep Wrangler doesn’t exist yet. No one at Chrysler will talk about it, but dealers have already received order guides for it. Now, an Atlanta dealership has posted the first 2012 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon with Chrysler’s Pentastar V-6 on eBay and they’re even offering it for sale below sticker price, instead of some absurd amount of “Additional Dealer Markup” tacked on.
The big news for the 2012 Jeep Wrangler is the new engine. Gone is the anemic 3.8-liter V-6 used on Wranglers from 2007 through 2011, and we say good riddance. The 3.8-liter engine was good for only 202 horsepower and 237 ft-lb of torque, which made the 3,800 pound Wrangler feel sluggish on pavement and hard-packed trails. It works well enough off-road, thanks to the Wrangler’s low gearing, but nearly every Wrangler owner we know sinks serious money into coaxing additional horsepower out of the old V-6.
For 2012, the Jeep Wrangler gets the same 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 used in the Jeep Grand Cherokee. It’s a big improvement in terms of output, and the new engine is rated at 260 horsepower when stuffed under the hood of the Wrangler. We haven’t seen torque specifications just yet, but we suspect they’ll be an improvement over last year’s 237 ft-lb as well. Fuel economy is up for 2012, with the Pentastar V-6 getting 13 percent better fuel economy in the city and nearly 11 percent better fuel economy on the highway. That puts the two-door Wrangler at 17 mpg city and 21 mpg highway, while the four-door Wrangler Unlimited clocks in with 16 mpg city and 20 mpg highway.
It’s quite possible that the Mercer name may not spark any type of recognition with the younger crowd. After all, this company was an American automobile manufacturer that produced cars before World War II and are probably not mentioned in any of the history books handed out in most classrooms. For the short version of the story, Mercer was responsible for the Mercer 35 Raceabout which was produced back in 1910 and considered the most admired sports cars of the decade. This vehicle was capable of hitting a top speed of 90 mph, which at the time was quite a feat, and was admired so much that Carrozzeria Sibona-Basano ended up building a modern interpretation of it in 1965.
The Mercer Cobra Roadster was a one-off vehicle commissioned by the Copper Development Association from Virgil Exner’s designs in Esquire. Its design was drawn up by Virgil Exner and Virgil Exner, Jr. and was built using a Cobra chassis, number CSX2451.
The special Mercer-Cobra Roadster will be put to auction on August 20, 2011 in Monterey with an expected draw of $800,000-$1,200,000.
See what makes up a 1.2M Mercer Cobra after the jump.
Earlier this month, we told you about the special 2012 Ford Mustang “Blue Angels” edition, built for this year’s Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture show auction. Each year, Ford rolls out a one-of-a-kind Mustang to be auctioned at the event, with the proceeds going to benefit the EAA Young Eagles program. In terms of collector cars, it doesn’t get any better than one-of-one built, so the EAA Mustangs typically sell for significant money.
This year’s example was no exception to that rule. When the hammer fell last week, the Blue Angels tribute Mustang had been bid up to $400,000, purchased by an anonymous California bidder. In addition to the unique Mustang, the winning bidder will also receive a Blue Angels flight helmet, signed by pilots and crew of the Blue Angels precision flying team.
The buyer gets a Mustang done up in spectra-chrome blue, complete with the Blue Angels crest and script in “screaming yellow” paint. Under the hood, the 5.0 liter Coyote V-8 gets updates that include a Ford Racing supercharger, allowing it to put out some 624 horsepower. Ford Racing components are also used to beef up the suspension, exhaust and brakes, meaning that the car was built to be driven, not just displayed at car shows.
Although $400,000 may seem like a lot of money to pay for a Mustang, this year’s car sold for significantly less than the record-breaking Mustang AV8R, styled with design elements from the F-22 Raptor. In 2008, AV8R sold at the EAA auction for $500,000.
Some people are born lucky and some just make their own luck.
The case of Jonathan Mason is the perfect example of the latter. On what was just any other day in the Mason household, the 36-year husband and father found himself as the winner of a brand-new 2011 Chevrolet Camaro SS for the measly price of just $5.28. Yup, for a price of a Big Mac, this dude just scooped up a brand-spankin’ new Camaro.
The car came as one of the first items being sold by a penny auction site and Mason found himself one of 82 people bidding for the car. All it took was 75 minutes and a couple of bids before the site officially declared this lucky man the winner.
"It didn’t click at first, then I started yelling and my wife told me to take it outside because she was trying to put the baby down for a nap," Mason was quoted as saying by mlive.com.
Needless to say, the initial shock of winning a car like a Camaro for just five dollars gave way to excitement over his price. And to make things sweeter for the resident of Frankenmuth, Michigan, all the expenses associated with the car, including shipping and taxes, were all taken cared of by the auction site.
As for the auction site - fastpennycars.com - they apparently didn’t mind taking such a hit on their first auction because it earned them such much-needed publicity. As website founder Kent Kern said, "We wanted to do something different, and there are no other websites selling new cars."
"It - the buzz surrounding the Camaro auction - has helped," he adds. We’re sure it has.
Every year, Ford rolls out a special edition one-piece Mustang for the very purpose of auctioning it off at the EAA AirVenture in July for the benefit of the EAA Young Eagles program. These babies - as with all one-off edition cars - are exceedingly rare for the very simple reason that there’s only one of them being made.
This year, the one-off, aviation-themed Mustang GT was built to celebrate the 100th anniversary of naval aviation. It comes with a specific blue-and-yellow color scheme that takes itself from the colors of the ’Blue Angels’ fighter group with a yellow "Blue Angels" script and crest on the doors. Likewise, the crest can also be found on the interior of the car, where they are stitched into the leather Recaro seats.
On top of that, Ford also upgraded the Mustang’s powertrain, improving the output of the car’s 5.0-liter V8 engine from 412 horsepower to 500 horsepower. There’s also a Ford Racing handling package, a new performance exhaust, and race-track capable brakes.
Last year, Ford was able to auction off the Mustang SR-71 "Blackbird" for $375,000. Judging by the enthusiastic turn out for these events, we wouldn’t be surprised if the Mustang GT "Blue Angels" Edition hits that mark again, maybe even exceeding it.
UPDATE 08/01/2011: When the hammer fell last week, the Blue Angels tribute Mustang had been bid up to $400,000, purchased by an anonymous California bidder. In addition to the unique Mustang, the winning bidder will also receive a Blue Angels flight helmet, signed by pilots and crew of the Blue Angels precision flying team.
