4WHEELOFFROAD.COM 4-WHEEL & OFF-ROADNOVEMBER 2019 9THIS
JUST IN
- FORMER FORD AND CHRYS-
ler exec Lee Iacocca passed
away at age 94. Iacocca was
behind the launch of two vehi-
cles that created entire vehicle
segments. The Mustang gave
birth to the ponycar segment
in 1964, and the Dodge Cara-
van and Plymouth Voyager
created the minivan segment
in 1984. He was also instru-
mental in Chr ysler’s purchas-
ing AMC, and with it the Jeep
brand , in the late 1980s. - NEXT YEAR’S MINT 400^
deser t race in L as Vegas
will take place March 3-8,
with racing moving to Friday
the 6th (for motorcycle and
Limited/Sportsman classes)
and Saturday the 7th (for
the faster Limited/Unlimited
classes). Visit themint400.
com for more details. - MOPAR HAS REVAMPED ITS^
website (mopar.com) with an
app-like design optimized for
use on mobile devices. It puts
the most popular resources—
scheduling service, purchas-
ing products, viewing online
owner’s manuals, and so
on—“just a click away,” says
the company. New or existing
owners can register their vehi-
cles to create a customized
dashboard complete with a
profile photo. The dashboard is
also a source for vehicle health
reports, warranty and recall
information, Mopar parts and
accessories options, and more. - SEMA PUBLISHED PHOTOS^
of a camouflaged 2020 Nis-
san Titan Pro-4X and says
the truck will get a “modest
facelift” for the new
year. More changes
will take place
inside the truck,
with a brand-new
infotainment sys-
tem accessed via a
large touchscreen.
Interior materials
and switches look
to be more upscale
than in previous
Titans, says SEMA.
“
Tremor is Ford’s new ‘rock crushing’ option for Super Duty
”
P
eople tend to use the word legend more loose-
ly than they should, but the term certainly
applies to off-road racing pioneer Rod Hall.
Hall, who passed away in June after a long fight
with progressive supranuclear palsy, drove in every
one of the fir st 50 Baja 1000 races, scored class
wins in 25 of them, and won the race overall in 1969
in a 4WD Bronco prepped by Bill Stroppe. After a
long stint driving Stroppe Fords, Hall switched to
Dodge 4x4 pickups; and in 1977, with co-driver Jim
Fricker, he began a string of 37 consecutive class
victories in SCORE and HDRA races, “a record which
will likely remain forever,” said SCORE.
Hall preferred to race in the stock classes, a trend
he continued when he raced Hummer vehicles with
his son Chad star ting in the 1990s. “Any bod y can
build something exotic and go fast ,” he told us in a
2007 inter view. “ But to win the Baja 1000 overall in
a stock Ford Bronco, that’s saying something.”
His mount in the first Mexican 1000 was a CJ-
he “bought brand-new from Brian Chuchua for
1,700 bucks,” he recounted. “It came with a three-
leaf-spring package. Back then you could get an
optional 13-leaf heavy-duty spring pack. Every-
bod y k nows bigger is better, so 13 leaves had to
be better than three. I had to be sure there was no
wheel travel, so I put two shocks per wheel on it.
It was as close to a wheelbarrow as you could get.
I made a half-decent vehicle into one that wasn’t
decent at all. If [co-driver Larry] Minor and I hadn’t
been tough and dumb, we wouldn’t have made it.”
Rod Hall was inducted into the Off-Road Motor-
spor t s Hall of Fame in 2005. W hen the Hall family
announced his passing, they asked that, in lieu
of flower s, donations be made in his name to the
ORMHOF.ROD HALL (1937-2019)
Hall raced this w ild Maverick in 1971.Rod Hall raced in the very
fir st Mex ican 1000 in this CJ -5.In 1969 Hall and co-driver Larry Minor
won the Baja 1000 in a Stroppe Bronco.
It remains the only 4x4 to have won overall.‘MOST POWERFUL HALF-TON DIESEL’
T
hat’s what Ram says about the EcoDiesel version of its 2020 Ram 1500. The 3.0L V-6 EcoDiesel
pumps out 480 lb-ft of torque at 1,600 rpm. That’s an increase of 14 percent over the previous 3.0L
EcoDiesel, and a peak that comes 400 rpm earlier. Horsepower is up, too, to 260 at 3,600 rpm. The
engine’s higher power levels bring up the truck’s max tow capacity to 12,560 pounds, a feat credited
to a new water-cooled, variable-geometry turbocharger; redesigned cylinder head intake ports; an
updated EGR system; redesigned pistons and injector nozzles; and more.
Also new for 2020 is the availability of the EcoDiesel in Ram Rebel models, which are equipped with
33-inch Goodyear Wrangler DuraTrac tires, a suspension lift, Bilstein shocks, and a locking rear differential.
Pricing of the Ram 1500 EcoDiesel model will be released closer to its launch in the fourth quarter of the year.