‘Domestic, Not Domesticated:’ 10 Biggest Dodge & Ram Stories of 2018

FCA’s 2018 has been a wild ride with the Ram 1500, Demon and Hellephant leading the charge. Take a look at this year’s highlight reel.  

2018 was a big year for the Dodge and Ram brands, with the introduction of the next generation Ram 1500, deliveries of the 9-second Demon and the rollout of the 797-horsepower Challenger Hellcat Redeye. The new trucks and the world debut of a full-production muscle car with so much power brought both brands big attention, while the folks who bought and began racing the 2018 Challenger Demon made headlines of their own at tracks and events all over the country.

Our 10 biggest stories for 2018 don’t pertain just to vehicle announcements and arrivals, as there were also some major events either sponsored by the Dodge brand or dominated by Dodge vehicles that led to some great content on the site. We also featured an array of modern Dodge concept cars that paved the way for production cars such as the Viper and the Hellcat Challenger.

Today, we bring you a look at the 10 biggest Dodge and Ram stories from 2018 in no particular order, along with an honorable mention to one of the coolest marketing campaigns of the holiday season.

1. Next Generation Ram

The first big news on the DodgeForum front page in 2018 pertained to the Detroit debut of the next generation 2019 Ram 1500. We covered the initial introduction at the North American International Auto Show, followed by a first-drive review of the Ram 1500 lineup. As one of the first outlets in the world to test the newest half-ton Ram on the road and in the dirt, our 2019 Ram 1500 First Drive Review was one of biggest truck stories of the year.

2. New Life for the Viper Plant

When production of the Dodge Viper ended, FCA was tasked with figuring out a use for the Connor Avenue Assembly Plant that had built the Mopar supercar for the past 20 years or so. Their solution is the Connor Center, which serves as an internal corporate meeting place, a storage facility for the company’s historic vehicle collection and a display space for many of those classic vehicles and concept cars.

When FCA announced the re-purposing of the Connor Ave facility, the company invited select media to check out the new display space and we were among that small group. While there, we got pictures of some of the greatest vehicles in the history of the Dodge brand, making for one incredible pictorial piece.

3. LX Spring Festival

While almost any car show or racing event is ripe with high performance Dodge products, there were three key events for the Dodge brand and Dodge owners, and we covered them all.

This began with the 13th annual LX Spring Festival in Southern California. This event is open to a wide variety of vehicles, but the Challenger, Charger and Magnum are always among the most popular models on display. If you are a fan of modern Mopar performance cars, Spring Fest is about as good as it gets, making the event well-worth the trip to SoCal. Our piece offers a great look at what the event is all about.

4. Modern Street Hemi Shootout series

Next up, we traveled to Milan, Michigan for a stop on the 2018 Modern Street Hemi Shootout series. Like Spring Fest, the MSHS events are not Dodge-specific, but the Challenger and Charger are among the best-represented models in the Hemi-powered racing series. This series hosts the most powerful modern Mopar machines with Hemi power in the world, including plenty of Hellcat cars, a few Demons and the quickest Jeeps in the world. We got plenty of pictures and video of the action, along with a summary of the results.

5. Roadkill Nights

For the fourth year in a row, the Dodge brand has been the title sponsor of Roadkill Nights in Detroit and for the third year in a row, this event saw insanely-quick, street-legal machines racing (legally) on Detroit’s Woodward Avenue. In addition to the legal street racing, Roadkill Nights by Dodge has plenty of branded displays with free stuff, ride-alongs with pro drivers in Hellcat cars and a massive show-n-shine area. Our coverage showcased a bit of everything that Roadkill has to offer.

10 Biggest Dodge & Ram Stories of 2018 continued…

Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com

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