1989 Dodge Shelby Dakota

shelby-dakota-3Carroll Shelby will forever be remembered as the maker of fast Fords, particularly the Shelby Mustang and Blue Oval-powered Cobras. But during the 1980s, Shelby lent his name to another, rival automaker, Dodge, helping Chrysler boost profits on otherwise unremarkable products, like the Dodge Shelby Charger. For a single year, Shelby even modified a Dodge Dakota pickup, though less than 1,500 examples were ever built.

shelby-dakota-1A particularly clean survivor has cropped up for sale over at Hemmings, where the owner is currently asking $9,500 for one of the rarest, yet least-desirable Shelby products of all time. If you’ve ever wanted a genuine, drivable Shelby though, this might just be your ticket to good times.

The ‘89 Dodge Dakota came stock with a 3.9 liter V6, which Shelby quickly ditched in favor of a 5.2 liter fuel-injected V8 from Chrysler’s parts bin. The engine bay was so cramped that the Shelby team had to remove the mechanical fan, replacing it with an all-electric setup instead. But the resulting swap gave the Dakota 175 horsepower and 270 ft-lbs of torque, a big improvement over the V6 engine’s paltry output.

But that wasn’t all, as Shelby wanted the world to know this was a truck done by him, so he added special wheels, badges, and plastered his name all over the place. Just 1,475 Shelby Dakotas were built, and only for the 1989 model year, and of those just 480 were white (the other 995 were red), making this one of the rarest Shelby vehicles you can buy. But at just $9,500, it’s also one of the most affordable.

Can you dig it?

 

About the author

Chris Demorro

Christopher DeMorro is a freelance writer and journalist from Connecticut with two passions in life; writing and anything with an engine.
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