Despite sales drops for most major automakers, Chrysler bucks the trend by posting a year over year increase for August of 7%. Jeep posted big numbers with the Patriot jumping 57% and the Liberty climbing 56%. The most glaring number was the Dodge Challenger muscle car shooting up a whopping 190%. For most companies it would be a solid month but for the rebuilding Fiat/Chrysler it bodes exceptionally well for their prospects once the new models hit showrooms in 2011.

From the Detroit Free Press:

Chrysler defied the industry trend with a 7% increase in new vehicle sales in August from a year earlier when Cash for Clunkers inflated most of its competitors’ sales.

Once again, the Jeep brand led the way with a 17% year-over-year jump, helped by a 57% sales improvement for the Patriot and 56% increase for the Liberty.

But Chrysler’s year-over-year comparison benefited from the fact that it did not capitalize on last summer’s Cash for Clunker incentives because it had very little inventory of its smaller models.

“We will continue to build in this momentum as we begin production on a stream of new product through the end of this year,” said Fred Diaz, Chrysler lead executive for U.S. sales.

Read the full article here.

I was pretty excited when Mustang invited me to experience the last installment of the Mustang Unleashed campaign in Las Vegas for Dashboard News and Bullz-Eye.com. We stayed at Planet Hollywood on the Las Vegas Strip and were witnesses for an incredible illusion.

The 10th experience of the Mustang Unleashed campaign featured famous Las Vegas magician Steve Wyrick, who regularly performs at Planet Hollywood. We met Steve the night of the event and he peaked our interest right away with some incredible illusions as we enjoyed our drinks around the dinner table.

We also met world champion drifter Vaughn Gittin Jr., who kicked off Ford Mustang’s ‘10 Unleashed campaign by taking the American muscle car to the streets of Japan to drift the streets where drifting was born. Vaughn is a Mustang fanatic and he was pretty pumped about his role in Steve’s plans.

Ford and Wyrick shut down the Las Vegas strip to perform what was one of Wyrick’s biggest illusions yet. In front of Planet Hollywood in the middle of the night, Wyrick shackled himself in the middle of the Las Vegas strip and asked Vaughn to come racing down the street in the 2010 Mustang and slam into him. Check out the video below and you can see what happened next. Vaughn’s driving alone was a site the see, but that just set the stage for Wyrick’s big surprise. I have to admit it was just as spectacular seeing it live. The crowd that waited late into the night to see it wasn’t disappointed.

This was the last of 10 dream Mustang experiences Ford brought to life this year with the Mustang ‘10 Unleashed campaign. Famous drifter Vaughn Gittin Jr. slid sideways around Japan, consumer Roger Keeney drove blindly, 18-year-old consumer Derek Murrell drag raced his high school shop teacher, Queen Latifah hit the track with NASCAR racing phenom Colin Braun and Los Angeles resident Daniel Verlarde got inked and customized his own 2010 Ford Mustang. Videos were created for each event and you can see them here.

Here’s a great photo of a sexy girl with a killer red Corvette, although as a couple of our readers pointed out, it’s not of the Z06. (We’re amazed that they even saw a car with her standing in front of it!)

Nevertheless, here’s a history lesson on the Z06:

Corvette’s legendary Zora Duntov first brought forth the concept of Z06. Though the Automobile Manufacturers Association had encouraged a ban on racing in 1957, which the GM chairman strongly supported, Duntov knew customers would continue to race Corvettes. In the midst of planning for Sting Ray production, Duntov suggested it was in Chevrolet’s best interest to continue with parts development to benefit racers. Thus, Duntov and colleagues created “RPO Z06” as a special performance equipment package.

The RPO Z06 package first offered on ’63 models included a 20 percent larger diameter front antiroll bar, a vacuum brake booster, a dual master cylinder, sintered-metallic brake linings within power-assisted Al-Fin drums cooled by front air scoops and vented backing plates, larger diameter shocks and springs nearly twice as stiff as standard.

These Corvettes came to be known as known as the “Big Tanks” because the package initially had a 36.5-gallon gas tank versus the standard 20-gallon for races such as Sebring and Daytona. At first, the package was only available on coupes because the oversized tank would not fit in the convertible.

The Z06 was resurrected in 2000 and has been around ever since. The photo above has a recent model, and a beautiful model to go along with it!

The GM restructuring plan will kill off Saturn and demote Pontiac.

And on Tuesday, when General Motors asked the federal government for more bailout money, it also announced a reorganization plan that included demoting Pontiac to a “focused niche brand,” signaling that its lineup of vehicles would shrink and that it would no longer be a separate division.

To industry analysts and Pontiac’s longtime fans, the downgrade provides a case study of the product missteps that helped put G.M. in its precarious state, and a reminder of the dangers in straying from a successful formula.

“When you deviate too far from it, that’s when you run into trouble as a brand and a company,” said Jack R. Nerad, executive editorial director at Kelley Blue Book, whose 1968 Firebird made him feel “as cool as I could be.”

More than any other G.M. brand, Pontiac stood for performance, speed and sex appeal. Its crosstown rivals followed with similar muscle cars, giving Detroit bragging rights over the cars that Japanese automakers were selling based on quality and reliability.

Though still G.M.’s third-best-selling division, behind Chevrolet and GMC, Pontiac’s sales peaked in 1984, when it sold almost 850,000 vehicles, roughly four times as many as it sold last year.

G.M.’s chief executive, Rick Wagoner, said the company’s decision to concentrate primarily on Cadillac, Chevrolet, Buick and GMC left the company with a “comprehensive portfolio.”

By many accounts, Pontiac started to falter when G.M. pursued a cost-saving strategy of providing the same cars to different divisions.

No kidding. It’s stunning that GM needs an economic catastrophe to admit to obvious truths.

This is the best thing for GM, and for Pontiac. Now, they can focus on cool cars, and maybe even recapture some of the muscle car glory of the brand’s past.

It’s hard to imagine any Top 10 list that includes the Mustang II, but here it is on MSN’s new list of Mustang Mania.

1974 Mustang II
Today, this vehicle is universally detested by Mustang enthusiasts. As a performance car, it was a thorough disappointment. But then, the mid-’70s was an era of fuel shortages, vapid disco music and cars gone sad because manufacturers were struggling to meet new emission regulations. Therefore, the Mustang II was designed to be light, approachable and relatively fuel-efficient. The formula worked, at least at first; the 1974 model sold more than 322,000 copies — good enough for fourth on the Mustang annual sales chart. More importantly, the Mustang II was good enough to keep the Mustang brand alive during a dismal period in America’s automotive history.

A couple of points should be clarified. First, disco didn’t become the rage till Saturday Night Fever hit in 1977. As for the lack of power, that was true, though I had one of these cars, and the previous owner had dropped a much more powerful engine in the vehicle, so that Mustang rocked. It was also bright red, so it looked much better than the ugly version shown above.

That said, the feature has some great photos of classic Mustangs, so check it out.