I had an 85 Shelby Daytona in 1986. I got it for cheap because the owner thought he blew the engine. After replacing the timing belt, I drove it back to his office to give him his car back, but he didn't want it. That car to me, was the end of old world mechanics and the birth of modern day "techs". It had far more technology stuffed into it than the American Automotive world understood at the time. Digital dash, factory alarm system, "self troubleshooting ECU" that could be read out through the dash, power windows, power mirrors, power seats,ect. Every last one of those new tech gizmos were nickle and diming me to death! Finally, I got fed up with it. I took it out on the road, held the pedal to the floor and after about an hour of full throttle driving, the turbo exploded at a very proud 152 MPH. It went to the scrap yard after that.
I am a retired Mechaniac and engine builder . When the K-Cars first came out they saved Chrysler but we knew they were junk . However I had a few people that would ask me if these could be faster and the answer was yes . Actually with a purple cam and some jets the 2.2 was FAST ! The first one I did surprised me , and I know if more people knew about the high performance parts that were available they would have used them . I was so impressed that I got a Dodge Omni and did a few things to it . I loved peoples faces as they sat next to me in a Camaro or something and I would beat them from light to light . On the quarter mile they would have passed me but 60 foot was all me .
I had a 1985 Shelby charger. It was burgundy with silver stripes. It was a lemon. They had to replace the bottom end. They had a lot of issues with that 2.2 turbo engine. Thankfully Dodge took care of it under warranty. I will say one thing, it was a very fun car to drive. And it was a good-looking car for the time.
My dad had the Dodge Shelby Charger, it was always in the shop. Later on, l got an 87 Plymouth Turizmo Duster, great car as long as you don't beat it & use it for common transportation. It was a pretty good car for me at the time paying child support. Cheap & very reliable.
Very cool. Thanks for sharing. I had a Shelby back in the 80's, this brought back a lot of memories. I spent a lot of time with my Direct Connection catalog.
Most wouldn't give this thing a second look even knowing what it is. We have all heard about rare HEMI's and other cars our entire live's so this is something different. The fact there is so many archive photos of it at the plant to document the history makes this story so much more cool.
Had a bunch of 2.2's and my dad and I actually spent time talking to Carroll Shelby's people in building ours. I owned real chargers and cudas in the 70's and 80's as a teenager. They are two different animals. These cars were new tech with more power per cylinder and frankly can be considered GTI and Mustang killers in their day. And my 2.2 CS Charger out accelerated and out cornered my 340 Challenger hands down.
Despite what people like to say about the 80's cars, it was actually a really interesting time of automotive history. The move to digital era, the big three built some cool stuff. Sure, most stuff was not fast like we wanted them to be but still some really cool stuff for what they had to work with.
Cool car ! . The 2.2 and 2.5L turbo was a great engine . My first brand new car I purchased was a 93 Dodge Shadow. Loved that car and was so easy to oil changes with the oil filter right on the front of the block . Didn’t even have to jack the car up to drain the oil . Five ⭐️’s to the engineers who designed those engines .
To all the boomers and other dudes getting triggered by the 'Cuda' name, stop lying about owning these cars. Carol Shelby didn't give a shit whether a engine's a v8 or a inline 4. He only cared about performance. Besides I have known 80's 4 bangers with turbo setups surprising v8s down the strip.. Turbocharged 80's thunderbirds are one of 'em.
I love this 'Cuda and yes that is exactly what it is. People forget that in the old days, many more of the '70s 'Cudas were built with the Slant Six or a 2 barrel 318. Both of which this '85 'Cuda could pass fairly easily. It would take a 340, 383 and above to pass this machine!
My mom bought a brand new 85 charger which is almost identical to that car, but hers was a auto, once it hit 50,000 miles it started giving us all types of problems, that was in the mid nineties, I bought it off her for $500 did a full tune up, timing belt and it still would run perfect for some times 5 minutes or some times 5 days then it would stall, cut out miss, then just come out of it and run fine, so then put a new distributor in it , and it still did tge sane thing, and finally put a ridiculously high priced carburetor on it and it ran better but still not right, and in about a year and it started doing the same thing again so I sold it for $500 , it was absolutely perfect inside and out, gray on gray garage kept since new, she never drove in snow and rarely even in the rain, there wasn't as much as a scratch on the outside, and a absolute perfect interior and it has a lot of options, you definitely don't see them anymore
1983 I purchased a brand new Turismo 2.2 in St. Louis . Loved that car. Bought it off the delivery truck when it pulled in when I was looking in their lot. Dorn Chrysler Plymouth I think it was back then.
Thanks for the memories. I have a soft spot for the mid 80's chrysler "sports" cars. I had an 85'GLH, a 90' VNT Turbo Daytona. and a regular 88' Horizon with that same red interior back then. My buddy's dad had an 85' Blue/silver charger. I miss them.
Cool video Ryan. As a dude that lives up in Canada and will never make it out to MCACN, I gotta say my favourite content that comes out of that every year is the cars leaving videos. Just a steady stream of vintage iron and muscle cars loping outta the venue. Super cool, can’t wait.
Very interesting car. Great to see one of them on a YT channel and in such a fantastic condition👌I quite like the sport stripes referencing the AAR 'Cuda. Thanks for sharing a commentary👍
I owned atleast 10 of the Shelby Dodges including several that where limited to 500 each. They where budget cars built by Dodge and Shelby. Mitsubishi had nothing to do with these cars till the very last run where they put v6 in them. They where fun fairly fast and easy to work on. A friend just did a timing belt on his 1989 caravan with the turbo and a 5 speed.
I love the picture of the red one coming down the assembly line with the line of white ones behind it. You can't convince me that wasn't a nod to the movie Christine. 😅😅
I got to see this at a show this summer. The gentleman who owns it is wonderful. He takes his costodial duties of this car very seriously as he knows it is a piece of automotive history. I hope it eventually gets added to the shelby database as it is a sister car to the shelbies of the day.
absolutely mind blowing..i knew Carroll shelby had some crazy builds and parts for these cars bitd,but i have never heard of this before. those Pics are pure Gold,TY for sharing. btw,the Belvedere plant built this lol,and the lineup is a red car with all white cars behind it ??!! And the red car got destroyed?? Christine !!!!
I love all the cry babies on here because they used the Cuda name. These cars with a super 60 kit made over 300hp and 300 ft lbs and weighting under 3000 lbs. I’m a huge Mopar nut worked for them over 20 years and seen these cars in FWD form with home made stuff in the mid to low 10s and out running the 440 and yes mighty HEMI. No it’s not true to beloved Cuda of the past but that’s all we had in the 80s.
Blasphemy cuda. I don't know all I see is a dressed up little Japanese car. I'm not arguing that they weren't quick. I'm not really debating it's all they had in the 80s. But we had enough 60s and 70s around here to make due through the 80s. I bought a little Porsche that would out maneuver any Camaro. But I still thought those Camaros were cool from the 70s and earlier
Thank you for showing us something I had no idea about even though I spent decades reading car magazines. People are hard on these FWD cars, and I'm among them, but there is history here.
would have been a nice edition to the lineup with the other shelbys. I'm sure if Plymouth had put a "Shelby" badge or two on it and called it the "Shelby Cuda" if would've went into production because Carroll would then have his cut of the car sales. Plymouth deserved to have at least a turbo version of the Turismo....and the "Cuda" was a wise choice for a name.
Had no idea these even existed. The first brand new car I ever bought in my life was an 83 Shelby Charger. These aren't what I would call muscle cars and their body style lacks but I still find them cool. Reminds me of my youth.
Nice find. I knew that spoiler looked familiar. I had an 86 Chrysler Laser with that same spoiler. Too bad Chrysler didn't green light this Cuda project. It's not a bad looking car.
In high school one of my friends had a Chrysler Laser their version of this design platform. It was okay what I remember about it. Got a lot better gas milage than my '71 Newport coupe gas money mattered when you were a teenager. We took her car when we could. lol. Interesting design exercise vehicle. Good story thanks for showing it.
I remember these cars coming out in the 80's, car manufacturers were trying to combine horsepower and performance into a compact economical 4 banger, this all coming around during the high gas prices and emissions era.
Regardless if it's faux, it's still nice for what it is. I had the original TC3 ('79) (Stretched L Body Omnirizon), they didn't change much, I see many carryover parts. Your correct, it was very much free from rattles like the imports & the Escorts. Easy to work on & had a smooth shift. I took mine a step further, with extra insulation & poured the rear quarters with plastic roofing cement which solidified it more. My Base had the 1.8 VW block with the Audi 4 speed. TC-3 (the 2 door Plymouth) was later badged as a Duster mid 80's. The dash badge looks like it was done on a Kroy machine (afterthought?). There was another Plymouth TC3 running around my area at the time I had mine, had a large wing on the back & badged as a "Road Runner", White with gold striping, much like the one you are showing.
If that bad boy had the same power train as the '85 Shelby Charger it would have 148 hp. On tap, out of the factory at that. Not bad for a car that size. With a little bit of tweaking with Mopar after market parts you could sqeeze 200 or more hp. I think that's pretty good. Plus the stylings not too bad.
@@davidshiveley4508 People with the ability, sadly I'm not one of them, have converted the Daytona and a few 9ther models to rwd with 440 and even modern HEMI's....
I remember this body style on the chargers when I was in my teen working at a dodge dealership, wasn't impressed, was driving my 73 challenger back then...
I had an 85 Turismo (I don't normally admit that), it was Black on Black with the factory rear window louvers, 2.2HO and 5 speed. If they used a Turismo as their base model I assume they changed out the headlights, as the Turismo had 4 not 2. I had heard of the mid eighties Plymouth Duster, but not the Cuda. Thank you for posting this one.
My friend had a 1970 Cuda and I was doing some body work for him, I had to hide the car because I had so many people knocking on my door asking to buy it.
My brother had an '81 TC3 with a 2.2 engine (84 hp) and a four-speed. The car was lively and felt quick for an economy car of the time. I think the following year, it changed from "Horizon TC3" to Turismo.
I had the Shelby version. Mine was Silver with Blue stripes. I had no problem doing 0-60 in sub 5 seconds. Pulled hard with that Turbo. My Dad had a Lancer Turbo. Same motor, but heavier so it was a touch slower! Looking at a Blue with Silver Stripes right now. Hoping to get it! I want to build it proper!
I had a 1984/85 Tarismo, they made a challenger,and duster too! Those 2.2L could be surprising sometimes,my buddy had a dodge Omni and it would do over 260kmh fast for a fish bowl!
@AutoArchaeology 2Shah, I don't have a clue about those cars! However, I do know in 1985 the Tarismo, the Charger,and the Duster all had the same body style! I was too much of a traditionalist to appreciate any of them,even my Tarismo and it was a great little car! Thanks for the dialog 😊
I don't care what anyone says the Dodge Shelby Charger I had was a awesome car and I have been thinking of getting another one. I wish I would of kept the car I had because they were very fun cars and the style of them was cool too and I still like the style of them cars.
It isn't a horizon, it's originally a Plymouth Turismo. I hope he is on top of maintenance, the fuel injectors are right above the exhaust manifold and when the o rings go out... fire. Many early turbo 1 cars with age go out that way. I hope he takes care of it, cool car.
@@AutoArchaeology Good to hear, I've had a LOT of the Shelby turbo cars and still have a few. You need to understand the nuances especially for a historically significant car one wants to survive. I remember seeing pics of those Cuda cars, I always thought they were a custom someone built, I didn't know they were factory built. Cool stuff.
how is this car not in a museum?! a fucking prototype, 1/1 cuda guys will be butt hurt and minimize this car's existence to keep the illusion what they got is special.. NO. this is where they were at in 1985 - turbo cars became the new muscle cars.. ever hear of a grand national? turbo trans am? mitsubishi starion? they were all making the same (or more power) than monte carlos, camaros, and most V8 cars.. can't deny the absolute rarity of this car and its place in history (which is why this should be in a museum). what a cool story.. college kids in the 80s just doing their best with what was offered.. i guarantee it was Shelby who axed the project. how was this costing chrysler anything? every part was already available. they'd of made money.. i think Shelby just didn't want it to do better than the GLH
They really had potential and are under appreciated. And honestly you can’t find anything from that era as tight as those k platforms. Solid and rigid bodies.Great materials used but cheap plastics.
@@DulinaBogahawatthage thing is, this is what it was for the time.. it's not a v8 and doesn't need to be.. them pictures of its development did it for me.. cool as hell!
Cool story, I've had a 74 barracuda for 40 years and I've never heard of this car. It was a lame attempt to bring back a muscle car. But it's still a good story.
I can believe it has rarely ever been driven. I am somewhat familiar with those K car Chargers. They were absolute junk. They were even worse than the mid '70s Chevy Monza, and its BOP copies, that self destructed on the way home from the dealer. The few that are left were never driven. I have no idea why anyone would buy one, and store it away. They were known to be junk at the time, and they were a complete insult to the Charger name. I don't see how anyone could have believed they would ever be collector cars. Even the 4 door Omni/Horizon cars, as crappy as they were, were build significantly better than the Charger and Rampage.
My 16 year old girlfriend, we are now married, had an 1983 - 1984 I believe Dodge Charger. Looked just like this thing inside and out. It was the biggest piece of crap, so many problems with it.
believe it or not my brother in law actually considered buying one of those shelby chargers new around 1986 i don't know why he was already driving a 1970 oldsmobile cutlass supreme with a rocket 350 a paint job probably 2yrs.old & the usual crager wheels & wide tires.thank god he did'nt go thru with it.
@@eugenepiurkowski5439 You are correct. I just picked it up from the guy on the video without thinking. The Charger platform came from the Omni/Horizon cars, which were basically copies of the VW Rabbit in looks and even had a modified VW engine.
Not all boomers are the same. I was born in 60 and having owned an 88 Daytona turbo 5 speed I appreciate what Chrysler was doing here. Taking a 2.2 4 banger and shaming tf out of same time frame muscle cars. So what if they were called chargers and the 1 cuda. Car snobs kinda piss me off
Neat car. A family member had the blue and silver Shelby and the torque steer was bad but that thing would move. If I’m not mistaken it had a vw head from factory or block,, I can’t remember. Those cars a getting harder and harder to find.
Indeed, the torque steer would rip the wheel from your hands as soon as you made some decent power. Learning to expect and respect it made these cars a lot of fun to drive
I had the 1985 Charger Shelby. Same car. It left me on the side of the hwy 3 times, but I still miss it.
I had an 85 Shelby Daytona in 1986. I got it for cheap because the owner thought he blew the engine. After replacing the timing belt, I drove it back to his office to give him his car back, but he didn't want it. That car to me, was the end of old world mechanics and the birth of modern day "techs". It had far more technology stuffed into it than the American Automotive world understood at the time. Digital dash, factory alarm system, "self troubleshooting ECU" that could be read out through the dash, power windows, power mirrors, power seats,ect. Every last one of those new tech gizmos were nickle and diming me to death! Finally, I got fed up with it. I took it out on the road, held the pedal to the floor and after about an hour of full throttle driving, the turbo exploded at a very proud 152 MPH. It went to the scrap yard after that.
I am a retired Mechaniac and engine builder . When the K-Cars first came out they saved Chrysler but we knew they were junk . However I had a few people that would ask me if these could be faster and the answer was yes . Actually with a purple cam and some jets the 2.2 was FAST ! The first one I did surprised me , and I know if more people knew about the high performance parts that were available they would have used them . I was so impressed that I got a Dodge Omni and did a few things to it . I loved peoples faces as they sat next to me in a Camaro or something and I would beat them from light to light . On the quarter mile they would have passed me but 60 foot was all me .
I had a 1985 Shelby charger. It was burgundy with silver stripes. It was a lemon. They had to replace the bottom end. They had a lot of issues with that 2.2 turbo engine. Thankfully Dodge took care of it under warranty. I will say one thing, it was a very fun car to drive. And it was a good-looking car for the time.
My dad had the Dodge Shelby Charger, it was always in the shop. Later on, l got an 87 Plymouth Turizmo Duster, great car as long as you don't beat it & use it for common transportation. It was a pretty good car for me at the time paying child support. Cheap & very reliable.
Very cool. Thanks for sharing. I had a Shelby back in the 80's, this brought back a lot of memories. I spent a lot of time with my Direct Connection catalog.
I had a 1985 Omni GLH Turbo 5 speed. Loved that car. Would run with a Mustang GT and handle like a Corvette back in the day. Nice ride.
Great in the snow too.
Most wouldn't give this thing a second look even knowing what it is. We have all heard about rare HEMI's and other cars our entire live's so this is something different. The fact there is so many archive photos of it at the plant to document the history makes this story so much more cool.
Had a bunch of 2.2's and my dad and I actually spent time talking to Carroll Shelby's people in building ours. I owned real chargers and cudas in the 70's and 80's as a teenager. They are two different animals. These cars were new tech with more power per cylinder and frankly can be considered GTI and Mustang killers in their day. And my 2.2 CS Charger out accelerated and out cornered my 340 Challenger hands down.
Owned a '85 Shelby Charger in black and silver. Fun to drive. Very interesting post. Thanks.
I had the Charger version of that car. It was a lot of fun to drive!!!
Despite what people like to say about the 80's cars, it was actually a really interesting time of automotive history. The move to digital era, the big three built some cool stuff. Sure, most stuff was not fast like we wanted them to be but still some really cool stuff for what they had to work with.
Cool car ! . The 2.2 and 2.5L turbo was a great engine . My first brand new car I purchased was a 93 Dodge Shadow. Loved that car and was so easy to oil changes with the oil filter right on the front of the block . Didn’t even have to jack the car up to drain the oil . Five ⭐️’s to the engineers who designed those engines .
Yup, They are great little engines and can produce decent power.
To all the boomers and other dudes getting triggered by the 'Cuda' name, stop lying about owning these cars. Carol Shelby didn't give a shit whether a engine's a v8 or a inline 4. He only cared about performance. Besides I have known 80's 4 bangers with turbo setups surprising v8s down the strip.. Turbocharged 80's thunderbirds are one of 'em.
Didn't know they made them. Great channel!
Love seeing this. Takes me back to the early 80's.
@ericbitzer5247 what goes around has come around again, these cars are again popular and the prices are rising
I love this 'Cuda and yes that is exactly what it is. People forget that in the old days, many more of the '70s 'Cudas were built with the Slant Six or a 2 barrel 318. Both of which this '85 'Cuda could pass fairly easily. It would take a 340, 383 and above to pass this machine!
My mom bought a brand new 85 charger which is almost identical to that car, but hers was a auto, once it hit 50,000 miles it started giving us all types of problems, that was in the mid nineties, I bought it off her for $500 did a full tune up, timing belt and it still would run perfect for some times 5 minutes or some times 5 days then it would stall, cut out miss, then just come out of it and run fine, so then put a new distributor in it , and it still did tge sane thing, and finally put a ridiculously high priced carburetor on it and it ran better but still not right, and in about a year and it started doing the same thing again so I sold it for $500 , it was absolutely perfect inside and out, gray on gray garage kept since new, she never drove in snow and rarely even in the rain, there wasn't as much as a scratch on the outside, and a absolute perfect interior and it has a lot of options, you definitely don't see them anymore
These cars with turbo had a lot of top end😮
1983 I purchased a brand new Turismo 2.2 in St. Louis . Loved that car. Bought it off the delivery truck when it pulled in when I was looking in their lot. Dorn Chrysler Plymouth I think it was back then.
Thanks for the memories. I have a soft spot for the mid 80's chrysler "sports" cars. I had an 85'GLH, a 90' VNT Turbo Daytona. and a regular 88' Horizon with that same red interior back then. My buddy's dad had an 85' Blue/silver charger. I miss them.
Great video. I was in high school in the 80s, and I've been a car guy my whole life. I missed this one.
Cool video Ryan. As a dude that lives up in Canada and will never make it out to MCACN, I gotta say my favourite content that comes out of that every year is the cars leaving videos. Just a steady stream of vintage iron and muscle cars loping outta the venue. Super cool, can’t wait.
You can come, the show is right next to O'Hare Airport. Fly in, Fly Out. You never have to go outside!
Very interesting car. Great to see one of them on a YT channel and in such a fantastic condition👌I quite like the sport stripes referencing the AAR 'Cuda. Thanks for sharing a commentary👍
It’s a favorite of mine because it was the car we know as Dodge Charger GLHS
Excellent vid & story on a very interesting L-body.
It’s a Shelby charger period.
I owned atleast 10 of the Shelby Dodges including several that where limited to 500 each. They where budget cars built by Dodge and Shelby. Mitsubishi had nothing to do with these cars till the very last run where they put v6 in them. They where fun fairly fast and easy to work on. A friend just did a timing belt on his 1989 caravan with the turbo and a 5 speed.
I love the picture of the red one coming down the assembly line with the line of white ones behind it. You can't convince me that wasn't a nod to the movie Christine. 😅😅
GLH = "Goes Like Hell", not "heck".
Yes, but I can't say Hell on my channel.
Same interior as my 1984 Omni GLH. Great car!
Very cool to see it, and find it!!
I got to see this at a show this summer. The gentleman who owns it is wonderful. He takes his costodial duties of this car very seriously as he knows it is a piece of automotive history.
I hope it eventually gets added to the shelby database as it is a sister car to the shelbies of the day.
I had a 84 Shelby Charger.
I love that car.
I had a Shelby charger full chassis 440, tunnel ram, narrowed dana 60, my first major build back in 88.
It may not be anything like a Cuda before it but still interesting to see and hear the story behind it. Thanks for sharing!
You bet!
absolutely mind blowing..i knew Carroll shelby had some crazy builds and parts for these cars bitd,but i have never heard of this before.
those Pics are pure Gold,TY for sharing.
btw,the Belvedere plant built this lol,and the lineup is a red car with all white cars behind it ??!!
And the red car got destroyed??
Christine !!!!
Now you just have to find the k car road runner.
Damn bro. LMFAO
I've only heard myths and legends about those.
Didn’t know about these. Thanks for posting!
the car needs to be in a museum.
I like it. I was 15 in 1985 and everything had a turbo on it.
Yeah, and every turbo car had an insane amount of turbo lag.
@@neilchilders5442 - Not a problem with automatic trans...
Back in 1960's my daily driver was the stock turbocharged V8 Jetfire:
ua-cam.com/video/Jzw5W1rRMog/v-deo.html
Awesome video! My first car was a 85 Plymouth Turismo
Very cool!
I was working at a dodge Plymouth dealer in 84 85 never heard of this but it's cool. Frankly the Daytona ran pretty good for the day
I love all the cry babies on here because they used the Cuda name. These cars with a super 60 kit made over 300hp and 300 ft lbs and weighting under 3000 lbs. I’m a huge Mopar nut worked for them over 20 years and seen these cars in FWD form with home made stuff in the mid to low 10s and out running the 440 and yes mighty HEMI. No it’s not true to beloved Cuda of the past but that’s all we had in the 80s.
Blasphemy cuda. I don't know all I see is a dressed up little Japanese car. I'm not arguing that they weren't quick. I'm not really debating it's all they had in the 80s. But we had enough 60s and 70s around here to make due through the 80s. I bought a little Porsche that would out maneuver any Camaro. But I still thought those Camaros were cool from the 70s and earlier
These weren’t Japanese, they were on the Horizon platform, developed by Talbot, which was owned by Chrysler.
@@seed_drill7135 back then that they were Japanese but you're right. The images of Volkswagen rabbit engine until 1985
I'm running a supercharged 2.2 I've comment here but dont see them . All the haters are hysterical
They are not Japanese built , some k cars had the Mitsubishi 2.6. And mini vans. Early omnis had 1.7 vw engines educate yourself
Front is amazing 😍
Love those rare car 😍
Nice cuda ❤❤❤
😎Yes it name cuda so it a cuda
Love it 😍
A new jazzy style came out in the 80's it was very bright and optimistically looking to the Future,..you really were 'in' for a time!!
My neighbor had a charger 2.2 and had a blowout of down the leg diarrhea and said he was too drunk to clean the seat. He still has blowouts at night
Thanks for sharing that important information
@stevemarshall3986 your welcome . Truth is ALWAYS told by big hank 🤔
Dude that's excellent
Never knew that! Good stuff!
Can’t wait to see it in person
The TC-3 made it's debut in 1979 as a Plymouth Horizon. Turismo TC-3 nameplate took over for 1982 model year.
Thank you for showing us something I had no idea about even though I spent decades reading car magazines. People are hard on these FWD cars, and I'm among them, but there is history here.
The transition from the old picture to the white car at 0:59 was cool.
would have been a nice edition to the lineup with the other shelbys. I'm sure if Plymouth had put a "Shelby" badge or two on it and called it the "Shelby Cuda" if would've went into production because Carroll would then have his cut of the car sales. Plymouth deserved to have at least a turbo version of the Turismo....and the "Cuda" was a wise choice for a name.
The duster bodies looked like that too....
Automotive history I like it !!!!
Had no idea these even existed. The first brand new car I ever bought in my life was an 83 Shelby Charger. These aren't what I would call muscle cars and their body style lacks but I still find them cool. Reminds me of my youth.
Nice find. I knew that spoiler looked familiar. I had an 86 Chrysler Laser with that same spoiler. Too bad Chrysler didn't green light this Cuda project. It's not a bad looking car.
In high school one of my friends had a Chrysler Laser their version of this design platform. It was okay what I remember about it. Got a lot better gas milage than my '71 Newport coupe gas money mattered when you were a teenager. We took her car when we could. lol. Interesting design exercise vehicle. Good story thanks for showing it.
I remember these cars coming out in the 80's, car manufacturers were trying to combine horsepower and performance into a compact economical 4 banger, this all coming around during the high gas prices and emissions era.
Regardless if it's faux, it's still nice for what it is. I had the original TC3 ('79) (Stretched L Body Omnirizon), they didn't change much, I see many carryover parts. Your correct, it was very much free from rattles like the imports & the Escorts. Easy to work on & had a smooth shift. I took mine a step further, with extra insulation & poured the rear quarters with plastic roofing cement which solidified it more. My Base had the 1.8 VW block with the Audi 4 speed. TC-3 (the 2 door Plymouth) was later badged as a Duster mid 80's.
The dash badge looks like it was done on a Kroy machine (afterthought?). There was another Plymouth TC3 running around my area at the time I had mine, had a large wing on the back & badged as a "Road Runner", White with gold striping, much like the one you are showing.
This is fully documented all the way to back to Chrysler.
I love this kind of automotive history ❤😊
This is great, grew up with these Horizons and Chargere 2.2s. Tnx for the video
This is seriously so rad!
The deep dish steering wheel is dope. Id love to it stanced on some 17s
If that bad boy had the same power train as the '85 Shelby Charger it would have 148 hp. On tap, out of the factory at that. Not bad for a car that size. With a little bit of tweaking with Mopar after market parts you could sqeeze 200 or more hp. I think that's pretty good. Plus the stylings not too bad.
They were actually SUPRISINGLY quick... Especially in the lower gears.
@@davidshiveley4508 People with the ability, sadly I'm not one of them, have converted the Daytona and a few 9ther models to rwd with 440 and even modern HEMI's....
And equal torque
Glad they only built 2
I remember this body style on the chargers when I was in my teen working at a dodge dealership, wasn't impressed, was driving my 73 challenger back then...
I had an 85 Turismo (I don't normally admit that), it was Black on Black with the factory rear window louvers, 2.2HO and 5 speed. If they used a Turismo as their base model I assume they changed out the headlights, as the Turismo had 4 not 2. I had heard of the mid eighties Plymouth Duster, but not the Cuda. Thank you for posting this one.
Clean 🔥
So Cool!!! Wow only 1 very Rare
Wow,still around, neat !
My friend had a 1970 Cuda and I was doing some body work for him, I had to hide the car because I had so many people knocking on my door asking to buy it.
Oh I have no doubt.
you know, i get why you like it. it is like my irrational love of Mercury LN7 and Ford EXP. That barracuda logo on the back looks awesome.
My brother had an ‘86 EXP. It was a great little car that got terrific gas mileage.
The Rarest Cuda is the 70's version with the 426 Hemi!
How is 660 rarer than 2?
My brother had an '81 TC3 with a 2.2 engine (84 hp) and a four-speed. The car was lively and felt quick for an economy car of the time. I think the following year, it changed from "Horizon TC3" to Turismo.
I had the Shelby version. Mine was Silver with Blue stripes. I had no problem doing 0-60 in sub 5 seconds. Pulled hard with that Turbo. My Dad had a Lancer Turbo. Same motor, but heavier so it was a touch slower! Looking at a Blue with Silver Stripes right now. Hoping to get it! I want to build it proper!
Wow, never knew this existed. Fantastic! Too bad Shelby killed it, this thing would have sold like crazy. I would have bought one. Still would.
I had a 1985 Plymouth Turismo!
Reminds me of the 1986 Plymouth Duster my parents used to have. Same body style.
I had a 1987 Plymouth Duster (Turismo), But sold it in 1996. My brother in law still has his 1986 Chrysler Lazer.
I had a 1984/85 Tarismo, they made a challenger,and duster too! Those 2.2L could be surprising sometimes,my buddy had a dodge Omni and it would do over 260kmh fast for a fish bowl!
The Challenger was a Mitsu based car though, nothing Dodge on it.
@@AutoArchaeology was it a charger then?
Dodge had the Omni and the Charger. They were both designed and built by Dodge. Later they had the Dodge Conquest that was the Mitsubishi Starion.
@AutoArchaeology 2Shah, I don't have a clue about those cars! However, I do know in 1985 the Tarismo, the Charger,and the Duster all had the same body style! I was too much of a traditionalist to appreciate any of them,even my Tarismo and it was a great little car! Thanks for the dialog 😊
Very cool….loved this and never knew these existed and I LOVED 80’s performance Mopar vehicles!
I don't care what anyone says the Dodge Shelby Charger I had was a awesome car and I have been thinking of getting another one. I wish I would of kept the car I had because they were very fun cars and the style of them was cool too and I still like the style of them cars.
It isn't a horizon, it's originally a Plymouth Turismo. I hope he is on top of maintenance, the fuel injectors are right above the exhaust manifold and when the o rings go out... fire. Many early turbo 1 cars with age go out that way. I hope he takes care of it, cool car.
He did just replace the Fuel Injectors he said.
Totally agree and the interior is the same as the one my mom bought new.
@@AutoArchaeology Good to hear, I've had a LOT of the Shelby turbo cars and still have a few. You need to understand the nuances especially for a historically significant car one wants to survive. I remember seeing pics of those Cuda cars, I always thought they were a custom someone built, I didn't know they were factory built. Cool stuff.
Yup! I knew they were factory, but I thought they were both gone.
Shelby wasn't happy with a Shelby charger competitor so they nixed it.
That is the old story, but there is no evidence of that actually occurring.
It’s cool 😎 that it survived
I never knew this weird thing existed. Honestly it does a grave injustice to the Cuda name.
Yep looks just like my 67 formula S 383 fastback Barracuda 4 speed that I used to have. 👍🙄
how is this car not in a museum?! a fucking prototype, 1/1
cuda guys will be butt hurt and minimize this car's existence to keep the illusion what they got is special..
NO.
this is where they were at in 1985 - turbo cars became the new muscle cars.. ever hear of a grand national? turbo trans am? mitsubishi starion? they were all making the same (or more power) than monte carlos, camaros, and most V8 cars..
can't deny the absolute rarity of this car and its place in history (which is why this should be in a museum).
what a cool story.. college kids in the 80s just doing their best with what was offered..
i guarantee it was Shelby who axed the project. how was this costing chrysler anything? every part was already available.
they'd of made money.. i think Shelby just didn't want it to do better than the GLH
They really had potential and are under appreciated. And honestly you can’t find anything from that era as tight as those k platforms. Solid and rigid bodies.Great materials used but cheap plastics.
true man. that car is cool. Most of these guys getting butthurt because they are stupid
@@DulinaBogahawatthage thing is, this is what it was for the time.. it's not a v8 and doesn't need to be.. them pictures of its development did it for me.. cool as hell!
I had the "charger" 2.2 hatchback.
It was a great little car!
The Belvedere plant is where they built my mom's old 1997 Dodge Neon.
Some things are rare for a reason
Cool story, I've had a 74 barracuda for 40 years and I've never heard of this car. It was a lame attempt to bring back a muscle car. But it's still a good story.
This car would at least be decent if it had 350hp, and the Hemi used to mean something back in the day, now everythings got Hemi! 🥶
My neighbor Rob will love this!
Thanks, that was a real time travel treat. 🎃👍💯
I can believe it has rarely ever been driven. I am somewhat familiar with those K car Chargers. They were absolute junk. They were even worse than the mid '70s Chevy Monza, and its BOP copies, that self destructed on the way home from the dealer. The few that are left were never driven. I have no idea why anyone would buy one, and store it away. They were known to be junk at the time, and they were a complete insult to the Charger name. I don't see how anyone could have believed they would ever be collector cars. Even the 4 door Omni/Horizon cars, as crappy as they were, were build significantly better than the Charger and Rampage.
My 16 year old girlfriend, we are now married, had an 1983 - 1984 I believe Dodge Charger. Looked just like this thing inside and out. It was the biggest piece of crap, so many problems with it.
I owned an 84 Shelby Charger. Fun to drive but it definitely wasn’t reliable. I was relieved when I sold it.
believe it or not my brother in law actually considered buying one of those shelby chargers new around 1986 i don't know why he was already driving a 1970 oldsmobile cutlass supreme with a rocket 350 a paint job probably 2yrs.old & the usual crager wheels & wide tires.thank god he did'nt go thru with it.
Not K car Chargers. They were L cars. K cars came a few years later.
@@eugenepiurkowski5439 You are correct. I just picked it up from the guy on the video without thinking. The Charger platform came from the Omni/Horizon cars, which were basically copies of the VW Rabbit in looks and even had a modified VW engine.
Not all boomers are the same. I was born in 60 and having owned an 88 Daytona turbo 5 speed I appreciate what Chrysler was doing here. Taking a 2.2 4 banger and shaming tf out of same time frame muscle cars. So what if they were called chargers and the 1 cuda. Car snobs kinda piss me off
I agree!
Neat car. A family member had the blue and silver Shelby and the torque steer was bad but that thing would move. If I’m not mistaken it had a vw head from factory or block,, I can’t remember. Those cars a getting harder and harder to find.
Indeed, the torque steer would rip the wheel from your hands as soon as you made some decent power. Learning to expect and respect it made these cars a lot of fun to drive
All the Turbo cars had Mopar engines except the Lotus headed 90s one.
@@AutoArchaeologyya. And it was still a mopar block.
Yup
Rare doesn’t always mean valuable or desired.
Different strokes for different folks, I guess. Regardless, it's history.