Automotive Blog & Updates in Birmingham, AL

For most large families around Birmingham, the Jeep Grand Cherokee L fits extremely well. But if you're putting adults in that third row on actual road trips, rather than kids on a four-mile school run, the Jeep Grand Wagoneer earns a serious look, and the 6.3 inches of extra third-row legroom is exactly where that money goes.

McCalla is building, and fast. The residential push along Old Tuscaloosa Highway and Eastern Valley Road has put small construction crews right where a half-ton truck starts to feel like it's lying to you, and a three-quarter-ton starts to make real sense. The 2027 Ram 2500 is built for that gap, with enough payload and tow muscle to run a two-to-five-person crew without overloading, plus a set of job-site features that go well past the spec sheet.

First thing worth saying, the Dodge Hornet was discontinued after the 2025 model year. Production in Italy ended in January 2026. That matters to Birmingham buyers right now, because dealers are moving remaining units and the feature set of the final production Hornet suits the way people drive in Avondale and Lakeview. If you've been curious about this car, this is your window.

We left dollar figures out of this table by design. Trim pricing moves, and that conversation is better had with our team. What doesn't move is the content of each tier, and that's what you're actually deciding.

The 2026 Jeep Gladiator is built for exactly the weekend you're planning. It fords up to 31.5 inches of water, puts up to 11.6 inches of ground clearance under your frame, and hauls up to 7,700 pounds when properly equipped with the Max Tow Package. For hunters and campers heading into Talladega National Forest from Leeds or Moody, the Rubicon is the trail-ready pick. The Willys is the smarter value if you stay mostly on forest roads.

Fall is when a Ram 1500 earns its keep around a Birmingham-area home. Mulch, landscape timbers, power washers, and full sheets of plywood for a deck repair. None of that fits a crossover, and most of it barely fits a short-bed truck. If you're shopping a used Ram 1500 right now and you want the bed and cabin features that actually matter for project hauling, the model year you choose changes what you get. Here's our straight breakdown from the team at Hallmark Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram.

The 2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee shows up right as Birmingham-area commuters are about to be reminded that October isn't the dry, easygoing month it gets credit for.

October hits differently when you're standing on a packed-gravel trail under a hardwood canopy that's gone full orange and gold. Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park in McCalla sits about 12 miles south of Bessemer off I-59/I-20 and covers more than 1,500 acres across three Alabama counties. More than 30 miles of trails thread through pine and hardwood forest, along Roupes Creek, and up the ridge lines. Fall foliage is real here, and the Trade Days market runs the third weekend of every month through November.

Every October we hear the same belief. Whatever's in the driveway is fine for Halloween weekend. It got the kids to school, so it'll get them to Tannehill Ironworks and back. No big deal.

Between Hoover and Mountain Brook, the run is short on miles but real on friction. You've got nine miles of I-459's rolling grades and surface road switchbacks, two kids in the back, a cooler wedged against someone's knee, and a cabin that should feel spacious but somehow doesn't once everyone's gear is aboard. The van is doing its job. The configuration isn't.