Ford and Dodge upgrade police patrol vehicles for Michigan State Police test day

Ford touted the addition of its 3.7-liter V6 engine to its Police Interceptor sedan, and Dodge boasted about the new Charger Pursuit with all-wheel drive on Thursday. That can only mean that the Michigan State Police force is doing its yearly vehicle testing, and two of the Detroit Three are trying to get noticed. General Motors has its new rear-wheel-drive Caprice to bank on, which we believe is the best of the group.

The Great Texas Beer Run

For reasons still not clear, boatloads of German immigrants made Texas their home in the 1800s. What they thought they would find similar to their cold, richly forested homeland in the hellaciously hot, mes-quite-scrub, rattlesnake-filled Texas Hill Country is lost to history. Worse, they brought almost nothing with them from the Old World to remind them of home.

Fiat and Chrysler to completely merge?

Chrysler Group and Fiat Group's auto division could become a single company based in the United States, Chrysler and Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne told an industry conference here Friday. That won't happen until after Chrysler refinances the government loans that have kept if from being profitable and holds an initial public offering, both of which Marchionne hopes will happen this year. "From a corporate governance standpoint, there's a point where separate companies make no sense.