When I was in high school in the mid 90s, I had a 84 dodge Daytona turbocharged of course, fun little car. My buddy had a 86 or 87 dodge charger, same engine/ turbo. His car was always a little faster than mine, than I realized his car was like 500 lbs less than mine.
Oscar Sanz Nice! I too was in high school in the 90's but the early 90's 91-94. I had an 83 Celica gts and I liked it so much I saved up all my money and bought an 84 Supra that had a Jap spec replacement motor because the guys wife drove it without oil. He was a truck driver and used to drain the fluids before he went on long trips or some shit and she needed the car. Anyways it was like new condition on the interior as well. Blue on blue beautiful car. It was pretty quick with the straight 6 but no turbo of course. 80's cars were amazing even if a little slow.
People calling this a POS aren't giving Dodge enough credit. Consider what was out there at that time...as another post stated this car was pulling the same times as a Corvette only 2 years older. Big body V8 muscle cars just were not good this era due to govt regulations. Dodge circumvented this by making an EPA friendly 4 cyl car fast as hell. So you could still get your speed fix and enjoy some twisty roads as well. We don't know how good we have it today, I certainly lived through that time and I can promise you while they may not have been without faults it was a bold move by Dodge to carry a few go fast cars
Chris Laib at Chrysler we were testing a turbo K-car to run as a PPG Pace car. Im not sure of the 2.2 package they used but it out accelerates the turbo Firebird in PPG test. I like that.
I still own my 1986 that we bought to race in the SCCA show room stock series. With a few modifications and 20lbs of boost It embarrassed the Corvettes on the first Race, Chevrolet was the series sponsor so we were banned. So we went Rally racing and Professional Auto Cross racing. For years I used it at NASA events as a pace car and broke in many students to Road racing. Top Speed with full boost, 152 mph. !/4 mile 13 seconds 103 mph, As I said this car had a few modifications by.Shelby including struts and springs,a very special gearbox and a water cooled inter cooler, The car resides in my garage it has 89K miles. The transmission is what is keeping it in the garage. I put a stock one in it and lasted only a day. I will have to make a trans-axle that can take the 400 foot pounds of torque.
Miguel Caparros To make the A555 daytona trans fit, use the left side half shaft(axle) from an 1988 Automatic Omni or plymouth horizon 2.2. You will need to cut a little notch in the frame for clearance. Other than that you can beat it all day and won't have to worry about breakage. turn up the boost and enjoy ! Take the intercooler setup from any Daytona Z as well. Lots of power on that light body makes it go like stink. You'll have a reliable 13sec car all day and good gas mileage. The A525 can only handle so much before it breaks the internal gears.
+Miguel Caparros Do you want to buy a original 1985 shelby charger? original paint is faded and rubber seals need replacing but it has brand new suspension and brakes. New injectors and fuel pumps. New engine management computer. Just change the oil recently before i let it sit with mobil 1 synthetic with a KnN oil filter and it has a fairly new kenwood sound system. I can't drive it because the shifting linkage is all broken right now. Let me know if your interested.
The true Shelby GLHS versions that came from the Whittier, CA Shelby factory had 175HP Turbo II engines that could be upgraded to over 300 HP with help from Chrysler's Direct Connection Performance division. These cars were about 2200lbs soaking wet. So the power to weight ratio was very beneficial.
@@k.j.g.9601 That was a great time for handling but not huge for horsepower. The 'Vette only packed 200-215hp, Mustang, 200. The best quarter mile time I've seen with a Shelby Charger 15.16 by Popular Mechanics in July 1986. Camero pulled 14.44, Mustang was about 14.75. And those were the 1, 2, and 4 in the test. The 3rd was a Mazda RX7 Turbo. Those were exemplary times for the 80s. This After smog controls insurance premiums had gutted performance out of cars from the 70s and 80s.
+David Hoffnung You both got that right. What were they thinking? Take such an iconic car and name in cars and creat a car like this. They both woke up and took a bottle of stupid pills that morning. Why put a turbo on something is your only going to get 40hp out of it?
+68Barracuda11s You'd take this 80's shitpiece over a car with 707 horsepower because of 2 extra doors? Wow. Pull the stick out of your ass and break it over your head. It's obviously hard enough...
Bought GLH Turbo new, added $145 Mopar 10/11psi computer. Results 14.87 @ 93 mph,this was on the 195-50 tires, no drag radial or slicks were available for it in 1986. Still have it and it runs in the 11s @120+ mph now, gotta love'em
Sweet car! I had an 85 Shelby Charger Turbo tricked out for the day and ran 13:89@99mph. I loved it but went through fuel pumps like crazy as there were no aftermarket fuel pumps made that could handle it. I had 205s on mine but wanted to go to 225s. Fear of snapping the front axels stopped me lol Super sleeper too...looked/seemed entirely stock at the light. Many 5.0L and Vettes got left wondering wtf when they heard me pulling away from them. Got lots of real muscle cars (older) and a few 911 Turbos to race me. I was always close though...much to their chagrin at times. One guy in a 69 440 Charger that was gorgeous, gave me a run after we joked about mine being called a Charger. I stayed at his door the entire run. He was shocked but high 5-ing me for such an unassuming "toy" looking car being that fast lol Fun times in deed!
I still have one of those computers that I had run in the '85 Lebaron GTS I had for a first car. That could be a nasty little car and would take anybody who wasn't familiar with it, didn't matter if they were in another car, riding shot gun, or trying to drive it. Last Non Family Member to drive it looked like he had seen a ghost and might have needed to go change his underwear a second time just telling me about the drive.......
GreenJeep1998 lol! my father nearly shit himself! I told him it was finally time for him to pay me back for all the beating I had done to his over the years. I told him to wait until we got out to the main street and just go easy till we got there. Then once to the main road, I said "don't hammer it in 1st" He then laughed and tried launching it and instantly the engine went to redline and the wheels in smoke. He said "holy shit!" and let right off the gas. I said I told him not to and then said to wait till he got into 2nd before flooring it. This time he putted away in 1st and then shifted too early to 2nd. This caused lag and he was about to say something when the engine erupted and both front wheels let loose with him trying to point the car straight! He then let off and pulled over shaking lol. He said he never wanted to try driving it again. I then switched places and took him for a proper rip from a dig to the end of 3rd gear. He turned white and never got in it again. Great and massively fun car!
MrThumbsofThunder My Lebaron had the 3 speed in it, but it had this habit of dropping from 3rd to 1st, hitting full boost, and getting into the power part of the cam at the same time. If you were driving and not ready for it, well your Dad kinda found out how that was, if you were the passenger and the car let loose.......one passenger was holding on for dear life after changing lanes, and he wanted to put a blower on a 5.0l Fox Body, lol. Had a couple kids in a 302ci Camaro RS that I unknowingly walked away from, they were trying to pass me when I got on it and it cut loose for a short burst, the driver tried getting me to race after that while his passenger kept looking at me with a "WTF is that thing?!" look on his face. Dad even gave a mid-90's LT1 B-Body Impala SS one hell of a run for it's money with it, the people in the Impala were giving Dad the above WTF Look, he had no idea how fast they were going, since the needle only went to 85mph.
GreenJeep1998 I know what you mean. One time at 3am I got stupidly brave on an empty and straight highway. I kept on it till the tach hit 6500rpm in 5th. I tried to calculate my speed based on RPM and gearing and it came out to 155mph! Seemed like forever till the speedo moved from 85 lol I could even notice/feel the aero at work above 85...seemed as though it just sorta squated down a bit and was extremely stable too. On one occasion I took a 30mph off ramp at about 55. it was a 270degree curve and as soon as I lifted the rear end suddenly went hard left...it was a right hand curve! Then it dawned on me about fwd! Got back on it and immediately corrected the slide and I came off the curve going even faster. All this time my buddy was passed out beside me in the passenger seat with his jacket over his face. Suddenly he said "you fucking asshole!" I burst out laughing and he said to look at his right hand...he was white-knuckled holding on for dear life!
I had an ‘83 GTI with 90hp when Carroll Shelby threw this out. He had also done the smaller GLH - GOES LIKE HELL!! There’s a reason Shelby was such a legend. 🏁🏁🏁
One of my all time favorites from Chrysler. I owned a 1986 Dodge Omni GLH Turbo. Palamino Blue. Love these classic gems. No one appreciates them till now. #MOPAR Love them "L" bodies. Cheap to modify and fast as hell !!
Back then there was not as much aftermarket performance parts for them as there is now gotta love the internet too for all the tweaks and tips that were really hard to come by back in the 80's and 90's
Thanks for the memories! A used '86 Dodge Shelby Charger was the first car I ever picked out on my own. It was also the first car I ever drove in competition when I started autocrossing mine while in college. I took it with me from MA to CA when I moved west for a job at performance tuner HKS, and I sold it shortly thereafter to an SCCA showroom stock racing team. I wish I still had it!
Bought mine from a dealer used in early 87. Then met a guy that night with an 86 but with an aftermarket intercooler and straight dual exhaust! I was like wtf??!! We talked and he asked if I wanted to "go fast?" I said I thought it already was. He laughed and said "let's go" It was on and he smoked me! I caught up at next light and said "hell yeah I wanna go fast!" lol It turned out he also knew how to bleed the wastegate pressure to make more hp. He commented he had run a :14.9 quarter with his. Then he also hollowed out my catalytic and had me buy NGK V-groove plugs (brand new on the market then) and a K&N air filter. Turned out even without the intercooler I was now faster by a full second! 13.89@99mph in the quarter! We rationalized it down to factory discrepancy from one to another lol It was sooooo much fun smoking the 5.0 Mustangs with it too! They'd get so pissed off at me hehehe Great fun for a couple years then had to get rid of it for something more family friendly. Was an absolute blast to drive though kinda retarded in 1st gear lol
Kevinb1821 Haha the 2016 ford work truck has 380hp, who needs that? Oops I sound old I love power, it’s just not for everyone. Haha I kept with a mk4 Jetta vr6 till 70 pretty easy, and I have an automatic trans vs the vr6 with a manual. These chargers look cool, I remember how radical they were when they came out. On the other side, I’ve got a 91 Jetta diesel that shows you can still get by with 60hp in normal traffic these days.
+Valery Vodonos Agreed...ever since James Bond - For Your Eye's Only, been in love with that shape. Promised I'd get one by the time I was 40...I've got 2 months left. Would like a Turbo S4S, but they are hard to find.
black and silver 1985 DSC = my first car. got out of college, got hired Friday, bought the car new on Saturday, picked it up Monday in March 1985. It was a great car in that day. Still my favorite car that I've owned (something to do with 'first love'). Enjoyable throwback video!
@@crisbeveridge I was so excited in 1984 when they started offering that lovely hue and even more amped up when the black came out in '85 with the turbo. Nothing against Radiant silver and Santa Fe blue, but the additional color choices were very nice.
I remember seeing one of these on the Ortega Hwy in CA back in 85. It passed us and my father tried to keep up with it afterwards in our Volvo 740. The Shelby just was far too quick through the hairpins and it just screamed up the hills. I would love to drive one.
Always liked these cars...still do. I'm a hardcore Turbo Dodge fan. I've got an 87 Shelby Z and a 85 GLH, both with Turbo II's (both modified a bit). Will own one of these 86-87 Shelby Charger or GLHS at some point...I'll take it in any color as long as it's black. Yeah people crap on them, and they always will. I would say the Chargers of the mid 70's were the disgrace to the name. They were RWD V8's making around 125HP, 10-12 MPG, and slow enough to struggle against grandma on her rascal in the 1/4-mile. I'm in agreement that bringing back the Charger as a 4-door doesn't make sense...Coronet would have been a better choice. Not that I wouldn't drop the cash on a Hellcat Charger SRT if I had it, but until this point Chargers were never a 4-door. Yeah these have "repair me often" issues sometimes too, but after hearing horror stories from friends - and working on some of them myself - the newer cars weren't designed with a mechanic in mind, or even a DIY'er in mind. These are. You can say that they don't break down as often, but when they do, watch out, and good luck fitting your hand in there. These are just good, inexpensive cars that are fun to drive, easy to fix, and easy to modify, not to mention surprise the shit out of a lot of people as you walk on buy them...both on the street, and the gas station. I just hope the upcoming Dart SRT4 will be as fun, and easy to modify to the tune of 400+ HP. Thanks for reading!!
notsigningupforshit, your comments do not make sense and, as vile as the 1975-1978 Dodge Charger was, the 1981-1987 Dodge Charger was a MUCH worse design, on par with the 1977-1983 Mitsubishi Galant Lambda and Plymouth Sapporo badge swapped, Ford Mustang/Mercury Capri (US Second/Third Generation) wannabe, so kindly go play in traffic, okay? Thank you.
Good news...found a 87 Shelby Charger in black and picked it up!! It needs restoring, but made good on my promise. Going to pull the 2.2 T1 and drop in a worked over '04 SRT4 engine and tranny. Unfortunately the Dart SRT never showed up...bummer. Had to settle on a Dart GT Sport Blacktop. Sorry...did not play in traffic...that's just crazy.
This car was cheap thrills for sure. It had a lot of idiosyncrasies. If you looked under the front air dam you could see it was simply bolted onto the stock Charger lower bumper. As it wraps around the fender there is no thought given to integrating the shape. It just has a slab of plastic with a hole cutout for the side marker, stuck to the fender. The paint was obviously gaudy, but it was the '80s - what wasn't? The biggest offender on the interior was the huge and ugly steering wheel. Runner up oddball feature was the cabin vent lever located on the passenger side footwell. It was completely invisible to the driver. If you wanted the fresh air to stop coming in, you had to lean way over and fumble around for it. I got mine in '89, already four years old and the stock stereo (made by Audiovox!) barely worked. You really had to hold onto the wheel to keep it going straight on hard acceleration. My technique was go grip the wheel hard and brace my elbow against the door to keep it from steering into the ditch - again, thrilling! It wasn't too easy to launch without wheel hop that would shake your fillings loose. In spite of all this, you had to love the thing because it was so ridiculously fast for its time. It was like a small sledgehammer: blunt and imprecise, but manageable. I can remember a guy in a '66 Mustang GT who wanted to embarrass this punk kid in his so-called Shelby: it was a dead heat. Whether you like them or not, they definitely have character. It's very rare to see them around anymore.
+Chris Davis The original 911 Porsche was full of idiotic features as well such as the engine was totally in the wrong place for a sports car "Porsche had even hidden an iron weight behind the 912's front bumper to keep the back end from coming around". It was uncomfortably cramped. Annoyingly thin tires etc. But, if you are a European you buy a car not because it is a good car but you like the car against its quirks. So if this Dodge, in that sense, had a Euroepan badge on it people would have bought it like crazy.
Torque steer was a very big deal in the first decade of front wheel drive. Slap on a turbo like Chrysler did, and it was a HUGE hand full to keep the car aimed in the right direction.
I'd love this car today. Had a friend in the early 90s who had one and it felt so fast to us. Also had a friend with a turbo Lancer that too felt so fast for the time.
I've owned 5 Dodge Shelby Chargers. I still own my 1985 which was my first car and a 1987 Charger GLHS. They are a blast to drive and have been very reliable. The 2.2 turbo 4 banger is nearly indestructible.
I had an 83 with a 5-speed and it was fun as hell to drive. Looked great, too. But reliable? Um, not so much. It was one problem after another with that thing, and everybody I know who owned them had the same experience with them. I have to wonder how reliable yours have been if you've gone through five of them, too.
Hmmm...where did I say I've "gone through five of them"? Go back and read my comment. I stated that I own two that have been a blast to drive that have been very reliable. Other than a power module (computer underhood) going bad in one of them, they both have been great cars that I wouldn't worry about driving anywhere. The others I've owned weren't owned long. They were purchased cheap and sold for a profit. Most 2.2 turbo Mopars I've known have been great cars unless the owner beat them to death or neglected them.
niceprince No. That is a common misconception. Both the Chrysler L-body and the 2.2 liter were Chrysler designs. Mitsubishi has zero to do with these cars. To be honest, the 2.2 liter has more in common with the old Volkswagen 1.7 liter (Chrysler put those in Horizons/Omnis early on) than it does a Mitsubishi. It's basically a larger beefed up 1.7 liter VW.
GLHS592 I've kept up on the maintenance on every car I've ever owned, even when I was a young punk who didn't give a shit about anything. This one was light years worse than the second worst one I've ever owned. It was only a few years old when I owned it. Got it with about 50K miles on it if I remember right. Could be that the previous owner abused it, but that's true for any used car you buy. Electrical, cooling, alignment, exhaust, fuel system...just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Through it all was the engine light which stayed on all the time and nobody could diagnose. Finally gave up on it when the engine seized and needed to be replaced. Could have just been a lemon, but the tales I've heard in person and read about online tell a different story. It's a shame really, because they were otherwise very cool cars (especially for a fwd) in a dismal era for cars in general.
I miss my GLH-T omni. so easy to make them fast. Wish i could find a GLHS close for sale. id snatch it up fast.MotorWeek you made my day with this one!!!
MotorWeek’s comments on the Shelby Charger’s handling (Very commandable in corners, road feel is excellent, flat fast sweeps and precise tracking of the lightly loaded rear end) were on par with those of other magazine reviews of the day. In MotorTrend’s Shelby Tribute Magazine in 2012, the editor recalls a road test during the original Shelby Charger review in which they stated “We’ll venture a bet that no other Shelby street car on street tires ever…had more sheer cornering force”. “At high speeds in cornering, the car [Shelby Charger Turbo] steers neutral and goes slightly understeer at the very limit of tire adhesion” - Popular Cars , Jan 1985. “The Charger was surprisingly neutral for a fwd car” Motor Trend Oct 1984. Popular Mechanics’ Magazine Battle of the Super Cars in July 1986 placed the Shelby in 2nd place in track testing just behind the RX-7 turbo but at less than half the price. The following cars in order where the IROC Z 350, Toyota Supra, Mustang GT, Porsche 944, 300 ZX Turbo, Alfa Romeo GTV6, and Mitsu Starion ESI-R. At nearly half the price of most cars in the test except for Camaro and Mustang, the Shelby Charger had Shel’s recipe for more bang for the buck. It took a GLHS to take down the ’65 GT-350R at Willow Springs Raceway, but a Turbo Shelby Charger came close to matching a GT350 at Lime Rock. The test was held by Autoweek Magazine in Aug 1984. The GT-350 had a best lap time of 1:10.9 Vs. the Charger’s 1:13.5. Upgrade the Shelby Charger with an intercooler, as found standard on a Shelby Charger GLHS, and the Shelby Charger is tough to match. With the intercooler and mopar performance Super 60 bolt on kit, you had 300 horsepower. Not too bad for 80s technology…
Fascinating but also hard for me to believe. My brother had one of these things and although it was cool it looked and felt agricultural compared to the Japanese or German vehicles of the era. Keep in mind all these reviews were made by American companies performing on American tracks to an American audience. I have to take all these rave reviews with a heavy dose of salt.
@@XXXXHHHHHTTTTTHHHHHH 1985/84 (2 wrecked cars "clipped" together) turbo Omni...second overall at the 1991 One Lap of America. Stock GLH-S chassis parts...and the motor was basically a stock T-II with the boost cranked up and burning race gas. A little crude, sure...but the GLH RIPPED.
@@XXXXHHHHHTTTTTHHHHHH The numbers don't lie: 63.5 mph in the slalom was a record which wouldn't be surpassed for at least 2 years - and that was against Mustangs, Camaros, Corvettes, Porsches, Lamborghinis - and yes, even Ferraris. There's a good goddamned reason you still see 2- and 4-door L-bodies dominating at autocrosses.
i had one of these when i was 16. about 22 years ago. The car really did boogie. i remember the torque steer like it was yesterday. another weird problem it had i remember was it used to loosen up one of the spark plugs. I beat the snot out of that poor little car and eventually spun a bearing. it still ran for a while before I finally sold it to my friends father. He rebuilt the motor. My first car and i had a shitload of fun in it. I've had about 30 mustangs since and currently own a 2015 mustang gt and a nissan juke. I would buy another one for the right amount if it came my way.
I had the same year non turbo but the so called hight performance 2.2 with a bit more than 100 hp if I remember correctly. It had the four headlights and it hugely improved the front looks. It was as reliable as can be, albeit with some rattles and had a beautiful exhaust note, like an Alfa Romeo! It was fast enough, handled OK and had eno
Those were a cool car for the 80's I had one in the mid 90's and I wish i would of kept it they were a sporty car mine was Santa Fe Blue w/silver stripe and it was a 86
The Shelby Charger has the best look of all the Mopar FWD L Body Sports Coupes. The two tone paint, with front air dam. It's georgous. It's styling is on par with any JDM of its era! Supra, ZX, RX7, etc... I unique car that was ahead of its time...today, FWD sports cars are the norm.
I had a couple of these back in the day....loved them. Now, we need the review of the 87/88 Mitsubishi Turbo Colt, these were the players of the 80's like the EVO/STI of today...
@the Game, Review and Reallife Channel My friend had a Reliant with the 2.2 and a 4spd manual. He put over 200k miles on that car. It was super reliable - and he bought it used.
I had a friend who bought one of these for $500 in the mid 90's. I had a 5.0 mustang and we used to go light to light all the time. He would beat me off the line frequently. Fast little car. He had it for a couple years; the turbo died, he kept running it. Then second gear went so he would have to rev it out in first and then dump it to third. Then he took it "off roading" and got hung up on a rock. He left it there for a few months and then scrapped it. A lot of fun for five hundred bucks.
I had an '87 and now have a '87 GLHS. Fun little cars for sure! My 1970 Charger and 2 1969 Coronets are all long gone, but I don't think I'll ever sell my GLHS.
Please remember that in the eighties the EPA killed production car track numbers.When we uncorked and modified these cars they went like a bat outa hell.Everyone seemed to be running around in 12 second cars.My 12 second Iroc, Trans am gta, and low 13 Shelby charger . Each one had a clean girly girl in the passenger seat wearing a mini skirt.NEW music on the stereo with NEW bass systems . Money in my pocket and the time and privacy to use it. Yeah, the eighties sucked. It's so much better now.
A friend of mine used to have one just like that and Omni GLH/GLHS' The two things I remember from those days ('87-89 when he owned them) was you could easily "wax" a 'vette on entrance/exit ramps and that you couldn't get 3rd gear while turning left. These cars were a 'riot' especially when playing Quiet Riot on the Infinity based stereo system!
I drove one of these, bought a 5.0 Stang instead. The buzzy over-boosted power came on too late and the lag was annoying. Handled OK, but had a lil chasis flex. That steering wheel is beyond feeble. Would a thick leather wrap Momo with a Shelby center logo have busted the budget?
Ole John Davis was worried the Shadow Turbo wouldn't be as good. Hope his fears were laid to rest when that pocket rocket came out. Love to see a test of that car.
I had an ‘85 identical to the red one featured at the end of the video. Hands down, it was a great little sporty car. Fast for its time and great handling. Engine was bulletproof... And it was AFFORDABLE... Folks who trash this car forget that. Everyone who had one loved it...and drive it hard!!! As for longevity, those 2.2s weren’t so bad if you kept clean oil in them. Mine gave me no trouble. It was my first car with fuel injection...Loved it. My mother got 225,000 miles out of her ‘85 2.2 Reliant. Good cheap cars
You guys should really throw up the video for the 1993 Daytona IROC R/T with the Lotus-cylinder head Turbo III engine. 224hp in front wheel drive in the early 90's? = Fun.
Not a bad 1/4 mile time for a little 1980's 4 cylinder shitbox even if it is a turbo. (if the dude in this video ever stopped spinning the wheels off the line). V8 Mustangs and Camaros barely ran 15's back then. These cars torque steered like mad though and that 2.2 engine would develop bad piston slap (even when warm) before 30,000 miles.
+scdevon WTH I don't know who drove those but mine was tits on with 75K on it, although it was rebuilt after 65K due to a blown head gasket. I only have the turbo 1 engine but i can easily upgrade the block up to turbo 2 standards and the cylinder head off of a chrysler TC.
+jakebrakeify LOL! VW GTi was a shit box after the first generation. Performance wise the next GTi that could be considered as good was MK6 and after. However, they are shit boxes regardless to the model due to VW being one inherently unreliable piece of shit car.
Saw one on the road a couple of years ago. It reminds me of "Wait long enough and any car will be collectable". I mean some guy near me loves his hot rodded Pinto. He put some bucks into that. It also fits the "Penny on the Dollar " loss he will take when he sells it.
These ran 15 flat 1/4's....and 7 sec flat 0-60...Tire spin and Turbo lag.. Add a Mopar computer these ran 14's and 6 sec 0-60's...Quick for a 4 cyl car...Reliable as well,320,000 miles out of a 86 Shelby Charger and my parents got 340,000 miles from a Turbo Daytona,problem free to 250,000 then Turbo failed,replaced that it still ran good but 320 it needed a rebuild so off for a trade it went in 1997.
Before he died, it was revealed that he had at least one GLHS in his collection and he was very proud of those hot hatch cars. Shame on Chrysler for dropping the ball. They could have dominated that segment for years. VW had NOTHING at the time that could compete.
Great cars, I had one and it was a blast. Sad thing is, the head gasket was a huge weakness on the 2.2 / 2.5 series engines, and almost EVERY one of these blew the head gasket by 100k miles, and if they survived that, you then blew head gaskets as frequently as most people got oil changes. So most ended up in the scrapyard by the 90s.
I had an 86 Plymouth Duster/Turismo (same as the charger). it had the 2.2L non-turbo and auto. fun to drive, but one of the slowest cars I have ever owned.
This car is a great car. It's performance is a bit underwhelming especially compared to later Shelby Chrysler vehicles, but it looks so awesome. This is a great car design, and the engine is actually decent. A car worthy of love, for sure.
The new 4 door Chargers handle light years better than anything made in the 60's and 70's also is FASTER and gets better MPG!! (I drive cars for a Chrysler dealer) So how are they "crap"??
In 1984 I married my wife. The next summer I was tired of her old beater Opel and my junk heap C20 Chevy. She let me shop for a new car. Mustang GTs were off her list due to price, but she was good with the Dodge Shelby Charger so we bought one. She wrecked it once while new, so we had the RH FT suspension replaced. Otherwise that car was great. I was very impressed with that car. At the time I had a 1967 Mustang GT 390 with a rebuilt 2 barrel engine in it and that Shelby could take down the Mustang. It also handled better than any car I had before the Shelby. It was a superb car for the day. It was the 1980s that brought performance back into new car showrooms, and that Shelby was one of those cars.
How many head gaskets did it need so far? Mine needed 3 before I sold it! LOL. Still fun little car, and faster than the one they tested in this video I think.
BWX ... it was more likely a cracked head, between the valves in the combustion chamber. true, they were infamous for blowing head gaskets, but the underlying problem wasn't the head gasket, it was the head cracking which blew the head gasket. and yes I DO KNOW what I'm talking about. I've had more of them than you've probly ever seen.
for those of you putting down this car, let alone the 2.2 Turbo in all it's forms, you have absolutely no clue whatsoever. those of us who who've owned, driven them, or just in the know, these cars and motors were one of the main reasons why muscle cars made a comeback. I've embarrassed many a bigger, much more powerful car, especially v8's, in the ones I've owned and still own. so have a good laugh and hopefully have time to read my license plate as I pull away from you. and yes, I DO know WHAT I'm talking about. I've owned Mopars of all kinds since the early 70's and have had everything from a 69 road Runner 383, 340 Dusters, Newports, Polaras, Omnis, Dart Swingers to New Yorkers, Horizons, Rampages, Lebaron's, etc. at least these Chargers still had 2 doors! altho nice cars, the new rwd Chargers are an insult to the nameplate. CHARGERS DO NOT HAVE 4 DOORS!! CALL IT SOMETHING ELSE!! now the Challengers... that's a different story. Mopar got that one right!!
92bluestrat like I said they wish their cars today actually looked hot. They don’t. Most suck ass. Corolla Mazda Ford. U can’t tell them apart. Lame and shitty looking
Wrong time frame. Cars went downhill (fast) in the early 70s. And then got worse by the late 70s. Except for a few exotics, speed was gone. Things started picking up again in the early 80s. The buildup was slow, so I understand your timing, but optimism, and performance, was on the rise since then.
I would say that cars started going downhill in 2004-5, thats when most of the 1990s designs were discontinued. It seems like the 2000's took away car companies knowledge of making comfort and performance at the same time. Cars nowadays don't stay in their class, look at all the new Cadillacs, they are sports cars, not a luxury car. Personally, my favorite car is a 1995-7 Town Car, White exterior with a white and grey two-tone interior. My Favorite sports car on the other hand is either a Grand National (Used to hate them, dad loved them and it grew on me) or my personal favorite, a 1992 Camaro Z28, Red and white exterior with the red carpet and black dash interior.
I sold these things in the 80s that came out with the Dodge Omni glhs that was a Carroll Shelby special, that little car would haul ass but we didn't want to do it going around the corner. At Full Throttle too much torque steer. But a hell of a lot of fun for $7, 800. In 1987
It would pass it in reliability, fuel economy, comfort, practicality.... I'm probably missing something. So basically its better in every way that matters in REAL LIFE.
Pretty car great visibility and TEN times better looking that the cheap plastic bubbles they make today which all look like pregnant bugs with their bloated rear ends lousy visibility where you have to rely on mirrors just to not hit something backing up in a parking lot. Maybe this wasn't popular back then but compared to the ugly shit they make now it's gorgeous.
Twaddles, you're giving modern drivers too much credit. These days they're too stupid to look in their mirrors, if the car doesn't look for them and stop for them as well, then they'll just plow right into whatever is behind them.
I was the original owner of a 1985 CHRYSLER LASER SHELBY. I have never seen a video of anyone else having the Chrysler version. We absolutely loved the car. Would still have it except a clueless driver hit us from behind while we were stopped at a red light. The dashboard was digital and way ahead of its time. It was very easy to read still better than anything out today. The magazine writers of the time did not like it and criticized it out of existence. We had the leather interior and to this day the seats were the most comfortable. We have owned a Z-28, Supra and Crossfire since and still remember the Chrysler Laser as the best to drive any length of distance.
Well, for the 80s it was. This was after gas prices shot up. There were some cars, especially muscle cars from the 60s that could do a 13 second QM. Tuned cars could do 11s.
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That stopwatch guy really puts everything into his job.
His body English shaves 0.2 sec. off the 0-60 runs on average.
Andrew Boehmer hahahahaha. He’s like......annnnnnnd YEAH!!!!!!
😄
And he was wayyy late on the 200PSI force he hit that button. Pressed it after the car had already passed the cone
he s lucky he didnt get run over
If you were ten in 1985, you knew this was a cool ass car. I sure did. My friends older brother had one it was awesome
When I was in high school in the mid 90s, I had a 84 dodge Daytona turbocharged of course, fun little car. My buddy had a 86 or 87 dodge charger, same engine/ turbo. His car was always a little faster than mine, than I realized his car was like 500 lbs less than mine.
Oscar Sanz Nice! I too was in high school in the 90's but the early 90's 91-94. I had an 83 Celica gts and I liked it so much I saved up all my money and bought an 84 Supra that had a Jap spec replacement motor because the guys wife drove it without oil. He was a truck driver and used to drain the fluids before he went on long trips or some shit and she needed the car. Anyways it was like new condition on the interior as well. Blue on blue beautiful car. It was pretty quick with the straight 6 but no turbo of course. 80's cars were amazing even if a little slow.
I was 16 in 1985 and it was a cool ass car.
People calling this a POS aren't giving Dodge enough credit. Consider what was out there at that time...as another post stated this car was pulling the same times as a Corvette only 2 years older. Big body V8 muscle cars just were not good this era due to govt regulations. Dodge circumvented this by making an EPA friendly 4 cyl car fast as hell. So you could still get your speed fix and enjoy some twisty roads as well. We don't know how good we have it today, I certainly lived through that time and I can promise you while they may not have been without faults it was a bold move by Dodge to carry a few go fast cars
Chris Laib at Chrysler we were testing a turbo K-car to run as a PPG Pace car. Im not sure of the 2.2 package they used but it out accelerates the turbo Firebird in PPG test. I like that.
The mustang was out and was way better
And the camaro
And the firebird
And the monte carlo
I still own my 1986 that we bought to race in the SCCA show room stock series. With a few modifications and 20lbs of boost It embarrassed the Corvettes on the first Race, Chevrolet was the series sponsor so we were banned. So we went Rally racing and Professional Auto Cross racing. For years I used it at NASA events as a pace car and broke in many students to Road racing. Top Speed with full boost, 152 mph. !/4 mile 13 seconds 103 mph, As I said this car had a few modifications by.Shelby including struts and springs,a very special gearbox and a water cooled inter cooler, The car resides in my garage it has 89K miles. The transmission is what is keeping it in the garage. I put a stock one in it and lasted only a day. I will have to make a trans-axle that can take the 400 foot pounds of torque.
Miguel Caparros Use the gearbox out of a 1987 Dodge Daytona. The A555 will handle that torque easily. Easy bolt-in.
Thanks for the suggestion.
Miguel Caparros To make the A555 daytona trans fit, use the left side half shaft(axle) from an 1988 Automatic Omni or plymouth horizon 2.2. You will need to cut a little notch in the frame for clearance. Other than that you can beat it all day and won't have to worry about breakage. turn up the boost and enjoy ! Take the intercooler setup from any Daytona Z as well. Lots of power on that light body makes it go like stink. You'll have a reliable 13sec car all day and good gas mileage. The A525 can only handle so much before it breaks the internal gears.
+Miguel Caparros Do you want to buy a original 1985 shelby charger? original paint is faded and rubber seals need replacing but it has brand new suspension and brakes. New injectors and fuel pumps. New engine management computer. Just change the oil recently before i let it sit with mobil 1 synthetic with a KnN oil filter and it has a fairly new kenwood sound system. I can't drive it because the shifting linkage is all broken right now. Let me know if your interested.
How many miles and is it derivable.
The true Shelby GLHS versions that came from the Whittier, CA Shelby factory had 175HP Turbo II engines that could be upgraded to over 300 HP with help from Chrysler's Direct Connection Performance division. These cars were about 2200lbs soaking wet. So the power to weight ratio was very beneficial.
Whittier had a shelby factory, I grew up here and didn't know this. Where was it in whittier?
These were the “dark times.” 146 hp was considered good then.
Cars were so much lighter then.
CHIPMUNK RAPIDS MADMAN meh. 7.9 second 0-60 is about as crappy as that shit box looked
@@k.j.g.9601 That was a great time for handling but not huge for horsepower. The 'Vette only packed 200-215hp, Mustang, 200.
The best quarter mile time I've seen with a Shelby Charger 15.16 by Popular Mechanics in July 1986. Camero pulled 14.44, Mustang was about 14.75. And those were the 1, 2, and 4 in the test. The 3rd was a Mazda RX7 Turbo. Those were exemplary times for the 80s. This After smog controls insurance premiums had gutted performance out of cars from the 70s and 80s.
Without all of the restrictive emissions equipment choking it down i'd be willing to bet the number would have been closer too 200 horsepower.
@@Hammerhead547 For sure. Remember, that engine was pre-direct gas injection.
So strange to see a car that looks like this carry the name "Charger".
+David Hoffnung or Shelby
+David Hoffnung You both got that right. What were they thinking? Take such an iconic car and name in cars and creat a car like this. They both woke up and took a bottle of stupid pills that morning.
Why put a turbo on something is your only going to get 40hp out of it?
+68Barracuda11s i would too.
+68Barracuda11s You'd take this 80's shitpiece over a car with 707 horsepower because of 2 extra doors? Wow. Pull the stick out of your ass and break it over your head. It's obviously hard enough...
+68Barracuda11s LOL!! Thanks for proving my point, buddy. Be sure to tell my mom I said "hi".
Bought GLH Turbo new, added $145 Mopar 10/11psi computer. Results 14.87 @ 93 mph,this was on the 195-50 tires, no drag radial or slicks were available for it in 1986. Still have it and it runs in the 11s @120+ mph now, gotta love'em
Sweet car! I had an 85 Shelby Charger Turbo tricked out for the day and ran 13:89@99mph. I loved it but went through fuel pumps like crazy as there were no aftermarket fuel pumps made that could handle it. I had 205s on mine but wanted to go to 225s. Fear of snapping the front axels stopped me lol Super sleeper too...looked/seemed entirely stock at the light. Many 5.0L and Vettes got left wondering wtf when they heard me pulling away from them. Got lots of real muscle cars (older) and a few 911 Turbos to race me. I was always close though...much to their chagrin at times. One guy in a 69 440 Charger that was gorgeous, gave me a run after we joked about mine being called a Charger. I stayed at his door the entire run. He was shocked but high 5-ing me for such an unassuming "toy" looking car being that fast lol Fun times in deed!
I still have one of those computers that I had run in the '85 Lebaron GTS I had for a first car. That could be a nasty little car and would take anybody who wasn't familiar with it, didn't matter if they were in another car, riding shot gun, or trying to drive it. Last Non Family Member to drive it looked like he had seen a ghost and might have needed to go change his underwear a second time just telling me about the drive.......
GreenJeep1998 lol! my father nearly shit himself! I told him it was finally time for him to pay me back for all the beating I had done to his over the years. I told him to wait until we got out to the main street and just go easy till we got there. Then once to the main road, I said "don't hammer it in 1st" He then laughed and tried launching it and instantly the engine went to redline and the wheels in smoke. He said "holy shit!" and let right off the gas. I said I told him not to and then said to wait till he got into 2nd before flooring it. This time he putted away in 1st and then shifted too early to 2nd. This caused lag and he was about to say something when the engine erupted and both front wheels let loose with him trying to point the car straight! He then let off and pulled over shaking lol. He said he never wanted to try driving it again. I then switched places and took him for a proper rip from a dig to the end of 3rd gear. He turned white and never got in it again. Great and massively fun car!
MrThumbsofThunder My Lebaron had the 3 speed in it, but it had this habit of dropping from 3rd to 1st, hitting full boost, and getting into the power part of the cam at the same time. If you were driving and not ready for it, well your Dad kinda found out how that was, if you were the passenger and the car let loose.......one passenger was holding on for dear life after changing lanes, and he wanted to put a blower on a 5.0l Fox Body, lol. Had a couple kids in a 302ci Camaro RS that I unknowingly walked away from, they were trying to pass me when I got on it and it cut loose for a short burst, the driver tried getting me to race after that while his passenger kept looking at me with a "WTF is that thing?!" look on his face. Dad even gave a mid-90's LT1 B-Body Impala SS one hell of a run for it's money with it, the people in the Impala were giving Dad the above WTF Look, he had no idea how fast they were going, since the needle only went to 85mph.
GreenJeep1998 I know what you mean. One time at 3am I got stupidly brave on an empty and straight highway. I kept on it till the tach hit 6500rpm in 5th. I tried to calculate my speed based on RPM and gearing and it came out to 155mph! Seemed like forever till the speedo moved from 85 lol I could even notice/feel the aero at work above 85...seemed as though it just sorta squated down a bit and was extremely stable too. On one occasion I took a 30mph off ramp at about 55. it was a 270degree curve and as soon as I lifted the rear end suddenly went hard left...it was a right hand curve! Then it dawned on me about fwd! Got back on it and immediately corrected the slide and I came off the curve going even faster. All this time my buddy was passed out beside me in the passenger seat with his jacket over his face. Suddenly he said "you fucking asshole!" I burst out laughing and he said to look at his right hand...he was white-knuckled holding on for dear life!
I had an ‘83 GTI with 90hp when Carroll Shelby threw this out.
He had also done the smaller GLH - GOES LIKE HELL!!
There’s a reason Shelby was such a legend. 🏁🏁🏁
One of my all time favorites from Chrysler. I owned a 1986 Dodge Omni GLH Turbo. Palamino Blue. Love these classic gems. No one appreciates them till now. #MOPAR Love them "L" bodies. Cheap to modify and fast as hell !!
Back then there was not as much aftermarket performance parts for them as there is now gotta love the internet too for all the tweaks and tips that were really hard to come by back in the 80's and 90's
I had the '85 GLH turbo in red. Fun car!
goes like Hell Some more.
I'd buy that for a dollar!
lolololol
The Dollar Guy lmao
Hahah funny fucker.
The Dollar Guy lmao
Sorry its not made in China there Dollar Guy
Dude with stopwatch looks real accurate
it was the 80's. i drove a 79 firebird. with a chevy 350. cared more about girls than my 1/4 mile time. damn im old.
:-)
These were pretty quick for the time period, and looked nice too. Thanks for the throwback Thursday vids, Motor Week!
@the Game, Review and Reallife Channel I love this Dodge Shelby Charger
Thanks for the memories! A used '86 Dodge Shelby Charger was the first car I ever picked out on my own. It was also the first car I ever drove in competition when I started autocrossing mine while in college. I took it with me from MA to CA when I moved west for a job at performance tuner HKS, and I sold it shortly thereafter to an SCCA showroom stock racing team. I wish I still had it!
I Owned one of these, in the 80's... Fun Car 👍
Loved the Dodge Omni GLH-S
Fantastic car the Dodge Charger 85
I had one of those I purchased new in 85. I loved that little car. Seemed fast at the time.
i hadda 85 daytona and they were fast for 146hp..
Now Altimas have 300 hp. Crazy how things have changed so much.
Bought mine from a dealer used in early 87. Then met a guy that night with an 86 but with an aftermarket intercooler and straight dual exhaust! I was like wtf??!! We talked and he asked if I wanted to "go fast?" I said I thought it already was. He laughed and said "let's go" It was on and he smoked me! I caught up at next light and said "hell yeah I wanna go fast!" lol It turned out he also knew how to bleed the wastegate pressure to make more hp. He commented he had run a :14.9 quarter with his. Then he also hollowed out my catalytic and had me buy NGK V-groove plugs (brand new on the market then) and a K&N air filter. Turned out even without the intercooler I was now faster by a full second! 13.89@99mph in the quarter! We rationalized it down to factory discrepancy from one to another lol It was sooooo much fun smoking the 5.0 Mustangs with it too! They'd get so pissed off at me hehehe Great fun for a couple years then had to get rid of it for something more family friendly. Was an absolute blast to drive though kinda retarded in 1st gear lol
El Guapo Did you have a plethora of Chargers?
Kevinb1821
Haha the 2016 ford work truck has 380hp, who needs that?
Oops I sound old I love power, it’s just not for everyone.
Haha I kept with a mk4 Jetta vr6 till 70 pretty easy, and I have an automatic trans vs the vr6 with a manual.
These chargers look cool, I remember how radical they were when they came out.
On the other side, I’ve got a 91 Jetta diesel that shows you can still get by with 60hp in normal traffic these days.
love the Lotus in the back
+Valery Vodonos Agreed...ever since James Bond - For Your Eye's Only, been in love with that shape. Promised I'd get one by the time I was 40...I've got 2 months left. Would like a Turbo S4S, but they are hard to find.
+Valery Vodonos Yeah! Look at that piece of shit.
The Lotus is a DeLorean.
+Kurt Evans Lotus Esprit.
Kurt Evans Lotus Espirit HC Turbo (1985)
I was OBSESSED with this car when I was 5!
Back when I was 15 my older cousin had one of these. Man were they fast for its time. :-)
@Santiago Giuntoli That was fast for 1985 mane. Lol
@Santiago Giuntoli I was 14 or 15 at the time. That was the fastest thing I road in. So for ME at least, it was fast.
black and silver 1985 DSC = my first car. got out of college, got hired Friday, bought the car new on Saturday, picked it up Monday in March 1985. It was a great car in that day. Still my favorite car that I've owned (something to do with 'first love'). Enjoyable throwback video!
blaine kelley I own one exactly like the one you did. It’s in my garage today!
My first new car also; I had a ‘70 Roadrunner also. I put a Direct Connection computer in that thing and it was definitely fast!
Mine was Garnet Red
@@crisbeveridge I was so excited in 1984 when they started offering that lovely hue and even more amped up when the black came out in '85 with the turbo. Nothing against Radiant silver and Santa Fe blue, but the additional color choices were very nice.
Thanks a lot motor week for these Throwback vids! Please keep them coming!
87-89 Trans Am GTA Next!? :)
I remember seeing one of these on the Ortega Hwy in CA back in 85. It passed us and my father tried to keep up with it afterwards in our Volvo 740. The Shelby just was far too quick through the hairpins and it just screamed up the hills. I would love to drive one.
Track guy's enthusiasm @1:57
Lololol...
Always liked these cars...still do. I'm a hardcore Turbo Dodge fan. I've got an 87 Shelby Z and a 85 GLH, both with Turbo II's (both modified a bit). Will own one of these 86-87 Shelby Charger or GLHS at some point...I'll take it in any color as long as it's black. Yeah people crap on them, and they always will. I would say the Chargers of the mid 70's were the disgrace to the name. They were RWD V8's making around 125HP, 10-12 MPG, and slow enough to struggle against grandma on her rascal in the 1/4-mile. I'm in agreement that bringing back the Charger as a 4-door doesn't make sense...Coronet would have been a better choice. Not that I wouldn't drop the cash on a Hellcat Charger SRT if I had it, but until this point Chargers were never a 4-door. Yeah these have "repair me often" issues sometimes too, but after hearing horror stories from friends - and working on some of them myself - the newer cars weren't designed with a mechanic in mind, or even a DIY'er in mind. These are. You can say that they don't break down as often, but when they do, watch out, and good luck fitting your hand in there. These are just good, inexpensive cars that are fun to drive, easy to fix, and easy to modify, not to mention surprise the shit out of a lot of people as you walk on buy them...both on the street, and the gas station. I just hope the upcoming Dart SRT4 will be as fun, and easy to modify to the tune of 400+ HP. Thanks for reading!!
U r right at least with the 4c engine to start with
notsigningupforshit, your comments do not make sense and, as vile as the 1975-1978 Dodge Charger was, the 1981-1987 Dodge Charger was a MUCH worse design, on par with the 1977-1983 Mitsubishi Galant Lambda and Plymouth Sapporo badge swapped, Ford Mustang/Mercury Capri (US Second/Third Generation) wannabe, so kindly go play in traffic, okay? Thank you.
Good news...found a 87 Shelby Charger in black and picked it up!! It needs restoring, but made good on my promise. Going to pull the 2.2 T1 and drop in a worked over '04 SRT4 engine and tranny. Unfortunately the Dart SRT never showed up...bummer. Had to settle on a Dart GT Sport Blacktop. Sorry...did not play in traffic...that's just crazy.
This was the ultimate shelby. what a great legacy it has left. makes my spine tingle just imagining driving one!
Ultimate my ass!
I owned an 84 and two 85's. Loved them all, just a bunch of fun to drive. Would love to have another one!
This car was cheap thrills for sure. It had a lot of idiosyncrasies. If you looked under the front air dam you could see it was simply bolted onto the stock Charger lower bumper. As it wraps around the fender there is no thought given to integrating the shape. It just has a slab of plastic with a hole cutout for the side marker, stuck to the fender. The paint was obviously gaudy, but it was the '80s - what wasn't?
The biggest offender on the interior was the huge and ugly steering wheel. Runner up oddball feature was the cabin vent lever located on the passenger side footwell. It was completely invisible to the driver. If you wanted the fresh air to stop coming in, you had to lean way over and fumble around for it. I got mine in '89, already four years old and the stock stereo (made by Audiovox!) barely worked.
You really had to hold onto the wheel to keep it going straight on hard acceleration. My technique was go grip the wheel hard and brace my elbow against the door to keep it from steering into the ditch - again, thrilling! It wasn't too easy to launch without wheel hop that would shake your fillings loose. In spite of all this, you had to love the thing because it was so ridiculously fast for its time. It was like a small sledgehammer: blunt and imprecise, but manageable. I can remember a guy in a '66 Mustang GT who wanted to embarrass this punk kid in his so-called Shelby: it was a dead heat.
Whether you like them or not, they definitely have character. It's very rare to see them around anymore.
+Chris Davis The original 911 Porsche was full of idiotic features as well such as the engine was totally in the wrong place for a sports car "Porsche had even hidden an iron weight behind the 912's front bumper to keep the back end from coming around". It was uncomfortably cramped. Annoyingly thin tires etc. But, if you are a European you buy a car not because it is a good car but you like the car against its quirks. So if this Dodge, in that sense, had a Euroepan badge on it people would have bought it like crazy.
it only had 140 HP. in a small lightweight econo car base...so your description of its odd behavior makes it a scary ride & not in a good way
Worth money now...
"it takes two firm grips to handle this whooper".... that's what she said!...hahahaha
BK tagline back then was 'it takes two hands to handle a Whopper'.
Yummy
Jeff Smith heeeeyyyyooooo
Torque steer was a very big deal in the first decade of front wheel drive. Slap on a turbo like Chrysler did, and it was a HUGE hand full to keep the car aimed in the right direction.
I'd love this car today. Had a friend in the early 90s who had one and it felt so fast to us. Also had a friend with a turbo Lancer that too felt so fast for the time.
I had and 86 Shelby...it’s one of my favorite cars I ever owned...I wish I still had it.
Always wanted one of these, or the Dodge Omni GLH, even when I started driving around 1993 these cars were rather hard to find.
I've owned 5 Dodge Shelby Chargers. I still own my 1985 which was my first car and a 1987 Charger GLHS. They are a blast to drive and have been very reliable. The 2.2 turbo 4 banger is nearly indestructible.
I had an 83 with a 5-speed and it was fun as hell to drive. Looked great, too. But reliable? Um, not so much. It was one problem after another with that thing, and everybody I know who owned them had the same experience with them. I have to wonder how reliable yours have been if you've gone through five of them, too.
Hmmm...where did I say I've "gone through five of them"? Go back and read my comment. I stated that I own two that have been a blast to drive that have been very reliable. Other than a power module (computer underhood) going bad in one of them, they both have been great cars that I wouldn't worry about driving anywhere. The others I've owned weren't owned long. They were purchased cheap and sold for a profit. Most 2.2 turbo Mopars I've known have been great cars unless the owner beat them to death or neglected them.
GLHS592 Are these cars basically Mitsubishi's?
niceprince No. That is a common misconception. Both the Chrysler L-body and the 2.2 liter were Chrysler designs. Mitsubishi has zero to do with these cars. To be honest, the 2.2 liter has more in common with the old Volkswagen 1.7 liter (Chrysler put those in Horizons/Omnis early on) than it does a Mitsubishi. It's basically a larger beefed up 1.7 liter VW.
GLHS592 I've kept up on the maintenance on every car I've ever owned, even when I was a young punk who didn't give a shit about anything. This one was light years worse than the second worst one I've ever owned. It was only a few years old when I owned it. Got it with about 50K miles on it if I remember right. Could be that the previous owner abused it, but that's true for any used car you buy. Electrical, cooling, alignment, exhaust, fuel system...just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Through it all was the engine light which stayed on all the time and nobody could diagnose. Finally gave up on it when the engine seized and needed to be replaced. Could have just been a lemon, but the tales I've heard in person and read about online tell a different story. It's a shame really, because they were otherwise very cool cars (especially for a fwd) in a dismal era for cars in general.
0-60 in 7.9 seconds was fast back then lol. The good ole 80's.
I miss my GLH-T omni. so easy to make them fast. Wish i could find a GLHS close for sale. id snatch it up fast.MotorWeek you made my day with this one!!!
We had one at a car lot for many years collecting dust. Sold a few years ago
MotorWeek’s comments on the Shelby Charger’s handling (Very commandable in corners, road feel is excellent, flat fast sweeps and precise tracking of the lightly loaded rear end) were on par with those of other magazine reviews of the day. In MotorTrend’s Shelby Tribute Magazine in 2012, the editor recalls a road test during the original Shelby Charger review in which they stated “We’ll venture a bet that no other Shelby street car on street tires ever…had more sheer cornering force”. “At high speeds in cornering, the car [Shelby Charger Turbo] steers neutral and goes slightly understeer at the very limit of tire adhesion” - Popular Cars , Jan 1985. “The Charger was surprisingly neutral for a fwd car” Motor Trend Oct 1984. Popular Mechanics’ Magazine Battle of the Super Cars in July 1986 placed the Shelby in 2nd place in track testing just behind the RX-7 turbo but at less than half the price. The following cars in order where the IROC Z 350, Toyota Supra, Mustang GT, Porsche 944, 300 ZX Turbo, Alfa Romeo GTV6, and Mitsu Starion ESI-R. At nearly half the price of most cars in the test except for Camaro and Mustang, the Shelby Charger had Shel’s recipe for more bang for the buck. It took a GLHS to take down the ’65 GT-350R at Willow Springs Raceway, but a Turbo Shelby Charger came close to matching a GT350 at Lime Rock. The test was held by Autoweek Magazine in Aug 1984. The GT-350 had a best lap time of 1:10.9 Vs. the Charger’s 1:13.5.
Upgrade the Shelby Charger with an intercooler, as found standard on a Shelby Charger GLHS, and the Shelby Charger is tough to match. With the intercooler and mopar performance Super 60 bolt on kit, you had 300 horsepower. Not too bad for 80s technology…
Fascinating but also hard for me to believe. My brother had one of these things and although it was cool it looked and felt agricultural compared to the Japanese or German vehicles of the era. Keep in mind all these reviews were made by American companies performing on American tracks to an American audience. I have to take all these rave reviews with a heavy dose of salt.
@@XXXXHHHHHTTTTTHHHHHH 1985/84 (2 wrecked cars "clipped" together) turbo Omni...second overall at the 1991 One Lap of America. Stock GLH-S chassis parts...and the motor was basically a stock T-II with the boost cranked up and burning race gas. A little crude, sure...but the GLH RIPPED.
@@XXXXHHHHHTTTTTHHHHHH The numbers don't lie: 63.5 mph in the slalom was a record which wouldn't be surpassed for at least 2 years - and that was against Mustangs, Camaros, Corvettes, Porsches, Lamborghinis - and yes, even Ferraris.
There's a good goddamned reason you still see 2- and 4-door L-bodies dominating at autocrosses.
i had one of these when i was 16. about 22 years ago. The car really did boogie. i remember the torque steer like it was yesterday. another weird problem it had i remember was it used to loosen up one of the spark plugs. I beat the snot out of that poor little car and eventually spun a bearing. it still ran for a while before I finally sold it to my friends father. He rebuilt the motor. My first car and i had a shitload of fun in it. I've had about 30 mustangs since and currently own a 2015 mustang gt and a nissan juke. I would buy another one for the right amount if it came my way.
I had one of these, an 84. Loved it. You don’t see these anymore.
I had the same year non turbo but the so called hight performance 2.2 with a bit more than 100 hp if I remember correctly. It had the four headlights and it hugely improved the front looks. It was as reliable as can be, albeit with some rattles and had a beautiful exhaust note, like an Alfa Romeo! It was fast enough, handled OK and had eno
Those were a cool car for the 80's I had one in the mid 90's and I wish i would of kept it they were a sporty car mine was Santa Fe Blue w/silver stripe and it was a 86
I remember seeing a lot of these in the junk yard
It makes me wonder how many decent examples are still left in the wild
The Shelby Charger has the best look of all the Mopar FWD L Body Sports Coupes. The two tone paint, with front air dam. It's georgous. It's styling is on par with any JDM of its era! Supra, ZX, RX7, etc... I unique car that was ahead of its time...today, FWD sports cars are the norm.
couple of guys brought these to the 1/4 mile & threw icepacks on top of the engine ( or aftermarket intercooler ) & were running consistent mid-13s
I had a couple of these back in the day....loved them. Now, we need the review of the 87/88 Mitsubishi Turbo Colt, these were the players of the 80's like the EVO/STI of today...
I had an '89 Colt GT with a 4G63 motor swap. Made over 300whp and weighed under 2000 Lbs.
sick
daredevil7442 these were great cars in their day
the 2.2 turbo frigin screamed
@the Game, Review and Reallife Channel My friend had a Reliant with the 2.2 and a 4spd manual. He put over 200k miles on that car. It was super reliable - and he bought it used.
I had a friend who bought one of these for $500 in the mid 90's. I had a 5.0 mustang and we used to go light to light all the time. He would beat me off the line frequently. Fast little car. He had it for a couple years; the turbo died, he kept running it. Then second gear went so he would have to rev it out in first and then dump it to third. Then he took it "off roading" and got hung up on a rock. He left it there for a few months and then scrapped it. A lot of fun for five hundred bucks.
I had an '87 and now have a '87 GLHS. Fun little cars for sure! My 1970 Charger and 2 1969 Coronets are all long gone, but I don't think I'll ever sell my GLHS.
can't believe how calmly he spoke back then... why does he have to yell at us now?
I know man. He's actually a really good narrator when he isn't suffering from Voice Immodulation Syndrome.
Maybe he lost some hearing as he got older.. ? Dunno. He is good at his job though.
great observation.....I can hardly stand watching the new ones because he's such a cornball now.
I had one! OMG I loved it! I wish I had it still
I love these Throwback Thursday videos.
Im a Ford guy but Id love to have one. Good luck finding one.
I love these 80s dodges idc what anyone says
Me too
Please remember that in the eighties the EPA killed production car track numbers.When we uncorked and modified these cars they went like a bat outa hell.Everyone seemed to be running around in 12 second cars.My 12 second Iroc, Trans am gta, and low 13 Shelby charger . Each one had a clean girly girl in the passenger seat wearing a mini skirt.NEW music on the stereo with NEW bass systems . Money in my pocket and the time and privacy to use it. Yeah, the eighties sucked. It's so much better now.
I had an '87 and absolutely loved it
A friend of mine used to have one just like that and Omni GLH/GLHS' The two things I remember from those days ('87-89 when he owned them) was you could easily "wax" a 'vette on entrance/exit ramps and that you couldn't get 3rd gear while turning left. These cars were a 'riot' especially when playing Quiet Riot on the Infinity based stereo system!
I drove one of these, bought a 5.0 Stang instead. The buzzy over-boosted power came on too late and the lag was annoying. Handled OK, but had a lil chasis flex. That steering wheel is beyond feeble. Would a thick leather wrap Momo with a Shelby center logo have busted the budget?
Such an awesome 80's car
Ole John Davis was worried the Shadow Turbo wouldn't be as good. Hope his fears were laid to rest when that pocket rocket came out. Love to see a test of that car.
Those iron block engines could take a butt load of boost! I think 30 plus psi! They could seriously rock many exotic cars back in the day!
Crazy how far we come.
Model A.
60s boats.
Then this.
And today’s hell cat demons.
I had both the 85 shelby and the 87 glhs.
The GLHS fn SCREAMED!!
Closest thing to a musclecar between '73 and '08.
My 2c
I had an ‘85 identical to the red one featured at the end of the video. Hands down, it was a great little sporty car. Fast for its time and great handling. Engine was bulletproof... And it was AFFORDABLE... Folks who trash this car forget that. Everyone who had one loved it...and drive it hard!!!
As for longevity, those 2.2s weren’t so bad if you kept clean oil in them. Mine gave me no trouble. It was my first car with fuel injection...Loved it. My mother got 225,000 miles out of her ‘85 2.2 Reliant. Good cheap cars
I had one with some mods and it was damn fast. Most fun I ever had.
You guys should really throw up the video for the 1993 Daytona IROC R/T with the Lotus-cylinder head Turbo III engine. 224hp in front wheel drive in the early 90's? = Fun.
whoohaaXL yes i remember the Daytona looked nice i thought for the day i did not even like mopar
Next up a Dodge Shadow CSX please!!
1/4 mile time is about the same as a 2014 kia soul with the 2.0 liter which was called "sleepy" in its motor week review. Amazing
I remember these kicking serious ass.
that was the same 1/4 time the 82' corvette ran in its motorweek review.
Not a bad 1/4 mile time for a little 1980's 4 cylinder shitbox even if it is a turbo. (if the dude in this video ever stopped spinning the wheels off the line). V8 Mustangs and Camaros barely ran 15's back then.
These cars torque steered like mad though and that 2.2 engine would develop bad piston slap (even when warm) before 30,000 miles.
+scdevon WTH I don't know who drove those but mine was tits on with 75K on it, although it was rebuilt after 65K due to a blown head gasket. I only have the turbo 1 engine but i can easily upgrade the block up to turbo 2 standards and the cylinder head off of a chrysler TC.
Barely ran 15's? My new for 85 Mustang GT ran a 14.8 at the track bone stock with nothing more than a good tuneup.
+scdevon Yep shitbox applies to about every car from the '80's except for maybe the VW GTI.
+jakebrakeify LOL! VW GTi was a shit box after the first generation. Performance wise the next GTi that could be considered as good was MK6 and after. However, they are shit boxes regardless to the model due to VW being one inherently unreliable piece of shit car.
+jakebrakeify LOL. Well, I had one of these Shelby's, and it had NO trouble running down any GTI
Saw one on the road a couple of years ago. It reminds me of "Wait long enough and any car will be collectable". I mean some guy near me loves his hot rodded Pinto. He put some bucks into that. It also fits the "Penny on the Dollar " loss he will take when he sells it.
These ran 15 flat 1/4's....and 7 sec flat 0-60...Tire spin and Turbo lag.. Add a Mopar computer these ran 14's and 6 sec 0-60's...Quick for a 4 cyl car...Reliable as well,320,000 miles out of a 86 Shelby Charger and my parents got 340,000 miles from a Turbo Daytona,problem free to 250,000 then Turbo failed,replaced that it still ran good but 320 it needed a rebuild so off for a trade it went in 1997.
Just remember this....Shelby put his name on everything, even toilet paper! Google that!
Before he died, it was revealed that he had at least one GLHS in his collection and he was very proud of those hot hatch cars. Shame on Chrysler for dropping the ball. They could have dominated that segment for years. VW had NOTHING at the time that could compete.
Yeah and everything that had his name on it was pretty cool
looked great going through the cones.
I used to own one of these in black/silver. Wish I still did. Handled quite well.
I spit out my coffee at that 0-60 and quarter mile time. And 25mpg is good? Oh how far we've come.
"...and YES it IS fast!" LMFAO
Let me just hop in my Camry and whoop this thing
Right as it bogs off the line lol!
for what its worth i just bought one today and its still a blast 36 years later!
I always liked these cars. It would be fun to have one now.
"VERY QUICK!"
....... 16 seconds @ 86mph. :- /
That was pretty damned hot back in '85, there were V-8's that didn't make much more power than that!
That was quick for the 80s. Plus these things could be modified to run a LOT faster. I've seen some L-body's run in the 9s before.
+Harey0407 lol in the 70s and 80s v8s produced 290-500hp XD they went backwards in the 80s
Yeah, the power went down because of all the emissions junk. I meant it was quick in its day compared to other factory cars.
Benjamin your funny.... 145 HP in a small car... 16 sec 1/4 is fast LOL! even big heavy turbo coupes did 16's
I'd drive it, but.... first I'd have to find one. They are almost non-existent. Ain't nobody got time fo dat!
Great cars, I had one and it was a blast. Sad thing is, the head gasket was a huge weakness on the 2.2 / 2.5 series engines, and almost EVERY one of these blew the head gasket by 100k miles, and if they survived that, you then blew head gaskets as frequently as most people got oil changes. So most ended up in the scrapyard by the 90s.
Not non-existent... just that the people who have them (the nice ones) aren't willing to give them up.
I had an 86 Plymouth Duster/Turismo (same as the charger). it had the 2.2L non-turbo and auto. fun to drive, but one of the slowest cars I have ever owned.
CamaroAmx Wise men have said, it is more fun to drive a slow car fast than to drive a fast car slow. My current ride, a Fiat 500 Sport, proves this.
it would of been a lot more fun if it had not been an automatic. besides it looked a lot like a fox body mustang, but didn't move like one.
This car is a great car. It's performance is a bit underwhelming especially compared to later Shelby Chrysler vehicles, but it looks so awesome. This is a great car design, and the engine is actually decent. A car worthy of love, for sure.
while some folks be dissin' i think it's pretty cool.
They had the nerve to call that a Dodge Charger
The L body charger
the new 4 door "chargers" are crap too
The new 4 door Chargers handle light years better than anything made in the 60's and 70's also is FASTER and gets better MPG!! (I drive cars for a Chrysler dealer)
So how are they "crap"??
Considering they call the new chargers, chargers....i say its alright.
Gordon Greninger i agree. the new charger very ugly.
1:30 “And yes, it is fast” *bogs off the line*
That was so well-timed that it seemed sarcastic lol! It was fast for the day, though!
In 1984 I married my wife. The next summer I was tired of her old beater Opel and my junk heap C20 Chevy. She let me shop for a new car. Mustang GTs were off her list due to price, but she was good with the Dodge Shelby Charger so we bought one.
She wrecked it once while new, so we had the RH FT suspension replaced. Otherwise that car was great. I was very impressed with that car. At the time I had a 1967 Mustang GT 390 with a rebuilt 2 barrel engine in it and that Shelby could take down the Mustang. It also handled better than any car I had before the Shelby. It was a superb car for the day. It was the 1980s that brought performance back into new car showrooms, and that Shelby was one of those cars.
I've got an 86 that I bought new w only 14K on it!
Black & Silver!
Cool you guys!
How many head gaskets did it need so far? Mine needed 3 before I sold it! LOL. Still fun little car, and faster than the one they tested in this video I think.
None!
BWX ... it was more likely a cracked head, between the valves in the combustion chamber. true, they were infamous for blowing head gaskets, but the underlying problem wasn't the head gasket, it was the head cracking which blew the head gasket. and yes I DO KNOW what I'm talking about. I've had more of them than you've probly ever seen.
for those of you putting down this car, let alone the 2.2 Turbo in all it's forms, you have absolutely no clue whatsoever. those of us who who've owned, driven them, or just in the know, these cars and motors were one of the main reasons why muscle cars made a comeback. I've embarrassed many a bigger, much more powerful car, especially v8's, in the ones I've owned and still own. so have a good laugh and hopefully have time to read my license plate as I pull away from you.
and yes, I DO know WHAT I'm talking about. I've owned Mopars of all kinds since the early 70's and have had everything from a 69 road Runner 383, 340 Dusters, Newports, Polaras, Omnis, Dart Swingers to New Yorkers, Horizons, Rampages, Lebaron's, etc.
at least these Chargers still had 2 doors! altho nice cars, the new rwd Chargers are an insult to the nameplate. CHARGERS DO NOT HAVE 4 DOORS!! CALL IT SOMETHING ELSE!! now the Challengers... that's a different story. Mopar got that one right!!
92bluestrat like I said they wish their cars today actually looked hot. They don’t. Most suck ass. Corolla Mazda Ford. U can’t tell them apart. Lame and shitty looking
Star Wars 2018 tide pod eaters wishes his civic was actually cool
When 4 door cars u asshats fix up are the gayest of all
SSmaro I had a 68 charger and believe me it was no faggoty 4 door like it is today.
Nobody who wanted a hot car said dad I want a 4 door cause the engine sounds good. Gay. So were station wagons back then. Pathetic.
Station wagons had hot v8’s too but no kid w a brain actually wanted one
R.I.P Mr. Lee Iacocca 🙏🏻😔
R.I.P
To me the Shelby Charger GLHS will forever be my favorite fwd car of all time
looks like something Homer would design
i feel like almost every car went down hill from 91-2012 and we are just now picking up on the good cars
+cody N It started earlier than that, when Americans took European car makers as their mentors in the early 70's.
+cody N What lol. 91-2012? American cars went to shit in the early 70s and started recovering in the mid-late 90s.
Wrong time frame. Cars went downhill (fast) in the early 70s. And then got worse by the late 70s. Except for a few exotics, speed was gone. Things started picking up again in the early 80s. The buildup was slow, so I understand your timing, but optimism, and performance, was on the rise since then.
cody N more like 1980's.
I would say that cars started going downhill in 2004-5, thats when most of the 1990s designs were discontinued. It seems like the 2000's took away car companies knowledge of making comfort and performance at the same time. Cars nowadays don't stay in their class, look at all the new Cadillacs, they are sports cars, not a luxury car.
Personally, my favorite car is a 1995-7 Town Car, White exterior with a white and grey two-tone interior.
My Favorite sports car on the other hand is either a Grand National (Used to hate them, dad loved them and it grew on me) or my personal favorite, a 1992 Camaro Z28, Red and white exterior with the red carpet and black dash interior.
I sold these things in the 80s that came out with the Dodge Omni glhs that was a Carroll Shelby special, that little car would haul ass but we didn't want to do it going around the corner. At Full Throttle too much torque steer. But a hell of a lot of fun for $7, 800. In 1987
That dramatic stopwatch motion ⏱ though
My new corolla could keep up with this thing..then pass it. Lol. Amazing what 30 years of tech does.
Your corolla would never pass it in character, soul, or fun factor.
It would pass it in reliability, fuel economy, comfort, practicality.... I'm probably missing something. So basically its better in every way that matters in REAL LIFE.
kma198199 No, it makes you fall asleep.
kma198199 I'd rather DD this Charger, Corollas are awful and generic.
This car is fucking ugly.. Im sorry.
Pretty car great visibility and TEN times better looking that the cheap plastic bubbles they make today which all look like pregnant bugs with their bloated rear ends lousy visibility where you have to rely on mirrors just to not hit something backing up in a parking lot. Maybe this wasn't popular back then but compared to the ugly shit they make now it's gorgeous.
Twaddles, you're giving modern drivers too much credit. These days they're too stupid to look in their mirrors, if the car doesn't look for them and stop for them as well, then they'll just plow right into whatever is behind them.
Keep telling yourself that, twaddles.
@Star Wars 2018 hes not funy hes tellin the truth Kid
Well said
I was the original owner of a 1985 CHRYSLER LASER SHELBY. I have never seen a video of anyone else having the Chrysler version. We absolutely loved the car. Would still have it except a clueless driver hit us from behind while we were stopped at a red light. The dashboard was digital and way ahead of its time. It was very easy to read still better than anything out today. The magazine writers of the time did not like it and criticized it out of existence. We had the leather interior and to this day the seats were the most comfortable. We have owned a Z-28, Supra and Crossfire since and still remember the Chrysler Laser as the best to drive any length of distance.
Back then my buddy had a GLH, had some performance for bright blue box
Too think a 16 second QM back that was "fast".
Well, for the 80s it was. This was after gas prices shot up. There were some cars, especially muscle cars from the 60s that could do a 13 second QM. Tuned cars could do 11s.
0-60 in 7.9..... Love it more than I love my mangina