Mopar (a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of "motor" and "parts") is an American car parts, service, and customer care division of the former

Chrysler Corporation FCA US, LLC, doing business as Stellantis North America and known historically as Chrysler ( ), is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of ...

, now owned by Netherlands-based automobile manufacturer

Stellantis Stellantis N.V. is a multinational automaker formed in 2021 through the Mergers and acquisitions, merger of the Italian–American conglomerate Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and the French PSA Group, PSA (Peugeot S.A.) Group. The company's hea ...

. It serves as a primary OEM accessory seller for Stellantis companies under the Mopar brand. "Mopar" is also commonly used by automotive enthusiasts as a

metonym Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something associated with that thing or concept. For example, the word "wikt:suit, suit" may refer to a person from groups commonly wearing business attire, such ...

for Chrysler, and for vehicles sold by its divisions. Mopar also designs and builds a small number of customized vehicles.

History

The term was created by an internal activities council and was first used by Chrysler in 1937 as a product name to put on cans of Chrysler Motor Parts

Antifreeze An antifreeze is an additive which lowers the freezing point of a water-based liquid. An antifreeze mixture is used to achieve freezing-point depression for cold environments. Common antifreezes also increase the boiling point of the liquid, allow ...

. This new branded product became known as "MoPar antifreeze" a portmanteau of the terms "motor" and "parts". Mopar parts are original equipment manufactured parts for FCA US LLC vehicles. The term "Mopar" has passed into broader usage among car enthusiasts as an unambiguous reference to vehicles produced by former parent company

/Chrysler Group LLC/FCA US LLC, now known as

. The term has thus become an inclusive word for any Chrysler-built vehicle— almost any

Dodge Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence, Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...

Chrysler FCA US, LLC, Trade name, doing business as Stellantis North America and known historically as Chrysler ( ), is one of the "Big Three (automobile manufacturers), Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn H ...

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

, Imperial, DeSoto, Fargo (Canada-only in later years) or Dodge Trucks/Ram. By extension, it is also used for

Jeep Jeep is an American automobile brand, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with other assets, from its previous owner, American Motors Co ...

and AMC vehicles built after Chrysler's 1987 buyout of

American Motors Corporation American Motors Corporation (AMC; commonly referred to as American Motors) was an American automobile manufacturing company formed by the mergers and acquisitions, merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company on May 1, 19 ...

, including the short-lived

Eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

brand. In

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, Chrysler parts were sold under the "Chryco" and "AutoPar" brands until the Mopar brand was introduced into that nation's market, starting in the late 1970s.

Custom cars

Mopar does not have dedicated assembly lines. There are 13 Mopar Custom Shops that install customer-chosen accessories on their vehicles prior to delivery. There are also limited-edition Mopar versions of FCA vehicles. These are marketed featuring custom paint and equipped with numerous Mopar performance and cosmetic modifications. An example was the 2013 Dodge Dart finished in black with an offset Mopar Blue racing stripe and featuring sport-tuned steering, exhaust, premium brakes with slotted rotors, lowered sport suspension, and gloss black 18-inch aluminum wheels with low profile performance tires. The Dart had production plans for 500 units. A special edition Mopar 2017 Dodge Challenger was introduced at the 2017 Chicago Auto Show as part of 80th anniversary of the Mopar brand. A total of 160 were built: half were finished in "contusion blue" with "pitch black" effects and the second half in "billet silver" with "pitch black" accents.

Sponsorship

Over its 80 years, Mopar has sponsored a number of racers in a variety of motorsports series. In 1996, Mopar sponsored the No. 30 car of

Jimmy Hensley James Edward Hensley (born October 11, 1945) is an American former NASCAR driver. With a career spanning 27 seasons in all three of NASCAR's elite divisions, Hensley may be best remembered for his Rookie of the Year award won in 1992, his 15th ...

in the

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

Craftsman Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck-based stock car racing, s ...

. From 2004 to 2007 Mopar sponsored the No. 9 car driven by

Kasey Kahne Kasey Kenneth Kahne (; born April 10, 1980) is an American professional dirt track racing and stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 33 Chevrolet SS for Richard Childress Racing. Currently, K ...

in the

Nextel Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...

for the

Bank of America 500 The Alsco Uniforms 500 was a NASCAR Cup Series race that was held annually at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, United States, with the other one being the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend, the race. Beginning in 2018, th ...

Charlotte Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway (known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009 due to sponsorship reasons) is a quad-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Concord, North Carolina. It has hosted various major races since it ...

. They also sponsored his sprint car. In the United States and Canada, Mopar participates in

Formula D Formula DRIFT (also known as Formula D or FD) is an American drifting series, and was co-founded by Jim Liaw and Ryan Sage in 2003 as a sister company to Slipstream Global Marketing, the same partnership that introduced D1 Grand Prix to the ...

. Formula Drift drivers are

Samuel Hübinette Samuel Hübinette, a.k.a. The Crazy Swede (born 15 September 1971, in Jokkmokk, Norrbotten County), is a Sweden, Swedish professional Auto racing, race car driver and Cinema of the United States, Hollywood stunt driver. He started working as a tes ...

, and in Canadian Drift Championship Vanessa Ozawa, Kevin Huynh, and John Yakomoto. Mopar had sponsored NHRA drag racer Allen Johnson in that series' Pro Stock division for 20 years, but for 2016 season they sponsored Jegs Coughlin Jr. and Erica Enders-Stevens. Mopar remains active in

drag racing Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, mos ...

events. It sponsors Don Schumacher Racing drivers, such as

Tony Schumacher Tony Schumacher may refer to: * Tony Schumacher (drag racer) (born 1969), American drag racer * Tony Schumacher (canoeist) (born 1976), Australian sprint canoeist * Tony Schumacher (German author) Tony Schumacher (17 May 1848 in Ludwigsburg &nda ...

, in the Funny Car and Top Fuel classes of the

NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series is a drag racing series organized by the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA). It is the top competition series of the NHRA, comprising competition in four classes, including Top Fuel Dragster, Funny Car ...

. Drivers of the Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Pak are eligible for a variety of Mopar contingency awards and benefits. Mopar sponsors the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals held each July in Denver. It is the longest-running sponsorship in all of drag racing.

References

External links

*
The Meaning of MoPar
an illustrated history of the company, its products, and (most interesting) logos. {{Automotive industry in the United States Stellantis Official motorsports and performance division of automakers Auto parts suppliers of the United States

History

Custom cars

Sponsorship

See also

References

External links