There have been rumors floating around for a while now that when Dodge brings back their Durango-sized sport utility vehicle for 2012 that it could be called the Dodge Magnum.  That name started on a sporty coupe in the 70's then moved on to the popular gangster style station wagon, so I guess that it wouldn't be all that odd for the name to receive yet another form.

This morning, a variety of sources have shown off drawings of what is expected to be that 2012 sport utility, with the pictures depicting sketches of the next SUV submitted to the US patent office.  The drawings give us a great look at this new Dodge SUV although there is little insight to the details of the 2012 Dodge SUV.  Thanks to Mr. M. for sending me the images from the USPTO.

One interesting feature is the large split-spoke wheels that look very similar to those found on the Dodge Ram SRT10.  Could these drawings portray the newest Dodge SRT model?  The Jeep SRT8 model with AWD and the 425hp 6.1L Hemi made a splash in the industry and could the sharp styling of the Dodge brand bring us another high performance SUV?

The Performance Racing Industry (PRI) trade show in Orlando, Florida was the stage for today's debut of yet another Dodge Viper special edition.  The Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR-X is a combination of the Laguna Seca-record-holding Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR and the successful Dodge Viper Competition Coupe.  The ACR-X is designed to be the ultimate production based track Viper and to show off the race ready capabilities of the Viper ACR-X, Dodge has introduced the Dodge Viper Cup.

Like the Competition Coupe, the Viper ACR-X is equipped with a roll cage, fuel cell and race seat making the car to meet road racing safety specifications of series' like SCCA, NASA, and the Viper Cup.  The 8.4L V10 has been tuned to 640 horsepower, giving the car 40 more horsepower over the standard Viper ACR thanks to headers and a low restriction exhaust system.  The suspension of the ACR-X is upgraded and tuned specifically for intricate road courses and to prove its abilities the Viper ACR-X was tested at Laguna Seca - turning in lap times more than three seconds quicker than the street legal production Viper ACR.

When the Dodge Viper ACR broke the track record at Laguna Seca, chief executive Ralph Gilles stated that there would be a special edition 1:33 Edition Dodge Viper ACR (named in honor of the 1 minute and 33 second lap around Laguna Seca-click here for more on that run).  Today, Dodge announced official plans to build those 33 special edition American Club Racer (ACR) Vipers, along with a surprise announcement of another limited edition Viper and a hint of more to come.

The 1:33 Edition Dodge Viper ACR will bear a striking resemblance to the record-breaking ACR used at Laguna Seca with a black and red finish - the reverse of the scheme of the original SRT10 Viper ACR.  Inside the 1:33 Viper, piano black console bezels and red gauge highlights tie together the red and black scheme.  As originally planned, there will be only 33 units made of the 1:33 Edition Viper ACR.

The big surprise for yesterday's announcement from Dodge was the 2010 Voodoo Edition Viper ACR.  This car will come finished in Black Clear Coat with a graphite stripe running down the driver's side of the car, traced in red. 

When Dodge released images of the new Challenger stock car a few weeks ago, I referred to the Avenger previously used in NASCAR as being "Ultra vanilla".  Evidently Ma Mopar took offense to my comment, as on the opening day of the 2009 SEMA Show the indoor Mopar display brought us the debut of the new Dodge Avenger pro stock body and this new car is anything but vanilla.

The car was displayed in the familiar Mopar team scheme with the giant blue M and blue/black/white finish, proudly sporting Allen Johnson's name on the sides of the car.  

However, I spoke last night with a contact within the Chrysler Corporation who told me that during the SEMA Show some other Mopar drivers such as V. Gaines stopped by to check out the new Avenger body.  My contact told me that it based on the initial reaction from the drivers, it looks like sometime during the 2010 season we will see a full shift from the Dodge Stratus body that has been used for the past 6 years to the new Avenger body.  This is all based on things going smoothly early on for the teams using the Dodge Avenger bodies, and there was no time frame from my contact as to when we can expect to see more teams using the new body.

The 2008 SEMA Show brought us the Dodge Ram R/T concept, a sexy sport truck finished in B5 Blue with wheels, a tonneau cover, exhaust, and a body kit to set it apart from a standard Dodge Ram and this year Dodge followed suit with the Dodge Ram Bianco.  The Bianco is intended to be a sporty luxury truck, but many of the styling cues are taken from the R/T concept.

Although this Ram is a quad cab, you see a similar body kit and tonneau on the Bianco and the wheels of the Bianco look suspectly like the same wheels on last year's Ram R/T.  Inside, the Bianco offers custom Katzkin leather seats finished in black and white, proudly showing off the Mopar logo.