The Automotive Department at Sinclair received a donation of four cars from Chrysler on Jan. 19, worth a total of $170,000, according to Chrysler College Automotive Program Coordinator Tom Freels.
The cars received include: a 2011 Dodge Charger, a 2011 Dodge Challenger, a 2011 Fiat 500 and a 2008 Dodge Charger police package.
Each car gives the automotive students an opportunity to work on the newest models in the industry, Freels said.
Freels said that a normal donation is one or two cars, but never four all at once.
“Maybe one or two cars a year is the norm,” Freels said. “It just happened that they [Chrysler] were able to secure a bunch, so we got a bunch. The best part of that is the technology that these have keeps us teaching what’s relevant and what’s rolling into the dealership now.”
Freels said that there are about 100 cars that have been donated to the Automotive Department that students work with on a regular basis.
The new cars have new technology that is foreign to the program–especially the Fiat 500.
“The Fiat hasn’t been in our market for thirty-some years,” Freels said. “The engine technology in that car is leaps and bounds ahead of what we’re used to. That technology is going to go forward into other models.”
Freels expects those [the Fiat’s] engines to be found in similar 4-cylinder vehicles in the future.
“It’s not a real leap in power, per se, but more in the sense of economy and emissions,” Freels said.
The police car surprised Freels when it arrived. It looks like a normal Dodge Charger. The engine is what’s different in the car.
“When it came in, I said ‘looks like a regular Charger to me,’” Freels said. “It’s not a commissioned police car.”
The Challenger has a Pentastar V.6, which comes standard with 300 horsepower, and gives the speed demons a closer look at how the new sports car technology works.
The 2011 Charger has a new electronics system that they haven’t seen before called PowerNet.
“That’s a big deal to us because it’s brand new,” Freels said. “It’s part of the new communication system in the car, as far as the computers network between each other.”
The cars won’t necessarily be on display alike the Prowler and Vipers that you see when you walk into Building 20, Freels said. But the donations will keep Sinclair’s Automotive Department on pace with the ever transforming industry.