Yahoo Autos At $7,500, Is This 1991 Dodge Daytona Shelby A K-Car That’s A-OK?
Are you a shade tree mechanic that enjoys some detective work? If so, today’s Nice Price or No Dice Shelby Daytona may be right up your driveway. According to the ad, it presently won’t start. Let’s see if that makes its price a non-starter too.
Lipsticking a pig isn’t some weird kink that no one wants to have exposed in their browser cache. Instead, it’s a phrase meaning cursory improvements masking some more glaring demerits. Many of you in the comments alluded to that being the case with yesterday’s LS-swapped 1999 Chevy Tahoe two-door. A few noted that the work that had gone into the swap was recent enough that the seller may have had second thoughts on the whole deal, hence the sale. At a $17,000 asking, that was enough to make it a no-sale for the majority of you, as the truck was voted down in a massive 90 percent No Dice loss.
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I don’t think there were any pigs in Carrol Shelby’s career. Chickens, yes. But pigs? Not that I am aware of.
Shelby lent his name and a bit of his mystique to a number of manufacturer special editions over the years. The first of those came at Ford with the Mustang-based GT350 and its successors. Then, following his friend Lee Iacocca’s move to Chrysler, Shelby joined him and made some Mopar magic. Today, long after Carrol’s passing, his name lives on back at FoMoCo across a series of Mustangs and F-series trucks.
Today’s 1991 Dodge Daytona Shelby Turbo comes from that middle period in Shelby’s tuner career. As we said, Lee Iacocca had left Ford—or more accurately was fired from the company—and ended up as CEO of the sinking ship, the Chrysler Corporation. Iacocca turned the company around by securing a government loan and guiding the introduction of the most important automotive platform in the company’s history, the ’80s stalwart K-Car.
Getting the company on firmer financial footing, Iaccoca turned to his old friend to bring some fire to their family of cars. The smaller-than-K-Car Dodge Omni GLH was the first, giving the VW GTI a viable competitor. Next up were the K-Car coupes and sedans which vied alternatively with Mustangs and BMW’s 3 Series for enthusiasts’ hearts and dollars. Sadly, not all that many are left these days. This red over even more red Daytona is one such relic, but its non-op status means it may not be around anymore if the right buyer doesn’t come along.
According to the ad, this is a “special edition” of the already rare Shelby Daytona and is fully loaded featuring everything save for the T-Top roof. It’s not all original, however, as the seller notes a few restorative updates and some clever improvements. All the important stuff—trim, upholstery, etc.—all seems to be there, though, and the car looks pretty good both inside and out. Unfortunatley, it doesn’t run.
Per the ad’s description, the 2.5-liter SOHC turbo four will crank over, but that’s where the party peters out. A no-start situation on an ’80s engine like this could be due to any number of causes, which makes the car such a gamble to buy.
