Most of us don’t think of a Dodge Omni as being a Dodge Charger, but that’s the way the ol’ cookie crumbled in the 1980s. This 1987 Dodge Charger Shelby is listed on eBay with a buy it now price of $1,800 or offer and it’s located in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania.
1987 was the last year for the Chrysler/Shelby Charger experiment. Some enthusiasts would say that it was a success and others, who have never been a fan of having the Charger name on anything but a rear-wheel drive stoplight-to-stoplight bruiser, never liked these Omni-Chargers. They couldn’t go away fast enough for the latter crowd but there is still a market for these cars.
As a last-year car, all of the Dodge Charger Shelby cars received rear window louvers and a tinted-glass sunroof. Just over 2,000 examples were made that final year as Chrysler wanted to concentrate on the Plymouth Laser and Dodge Daytona. 1,000 of those cars were taken by Shelby for further upgrades and they sold them as the Shelby Charger GLH-S through certain Dodge dealerships. The seller mentions that this Charger “sat in a barn for many years. I traded it for a z28 Camaro” and they wanted to have it as a project with their son, but that didn’t go over too well so it’s for sale.
It was “the guys wifes car, she passed away and he drove it for a little after that, until the shifter linkage kept popping off the transmission, he got sick of it and parked the car. It sat for many years ( he stated over 10 years) in a barn on his property until it was sold to the man who quickly flipped it to me for my z28. I picked it up from the barn it resided in and got to talk to the previous owner.” The interior and the seats look great, front and rear, but there is rust underneath that will have to be taken care of.
This isn’t a Shelby Charger GLH-S with 175 hp, this is the “normal” version which is still turbocharged and had 146 hp. The seller says that they “got it home, disconnected the fuel line and tried to crank it…it turned over. I checked the compression: surprisingly they were all within 15 psi of each other. ok, it’ll run I thought. So, I purchased a new fuel pump and found a spare computer on ebay just in case it lost spark and planned to drop the tank, clean it out and replace the pump.” Now it’s on to the next owner to finish up. Have any of you owned a front-wheel drive Dodge Charger?
I had one. It was a much better car than people think. Quick, handled well and got relatively good milage.
Does anyone know where to find an 85 for sale? I’m dying to own one again that I can make pristine!
Steve steverounds16976@gmail
it’s been three years, but if you’re still interested in a dodge charger 2.2 not sure of the year,person posted one from 82 to 87, on craigslist pa pocono pa!
I liked them when they were new and like them now. I prefer them in silver/blue though.
I had a non turbo plain 83 Charger with the 2.2L. I loved that car! That thing was really pretty quick with the 5 speed. I got my fair share of tickets in it. The best one (or worst one) the cop just put 100+ for the speed. I would love to have this one now that I am a tad bit older and just slightly wiser.
Nice little snapshot of Chrysler Turbo car history there. Had an 86 Shelby Turbo Z it was a great car till the map sensor started filling up with oil… then it became a major headache. Ran like stink for the time it was made. I upgraded the computer to a Mopar Performance box, was getting “18”# of boost so much fun with the torque steer. Id say this is a good price for someone who has access to parts for it.
Sounds like you did what I did with my Shelby Z…but I was pushing oil out the crankcase breather under boost. Turns out I cracked two OEM cast pistons right at the ring lands. I was drag racing a 67 GTO with a tri-power 389 at the time…which I walked on by : ). Problem is I look behind me and I’m smoking (oil on the exhaust manifold), luckily I didn’t oil down the track, and I could nurse it home…staying out of boost. IF you were running 18 psi of boost without an intercooler…that’ll rock your pistons good!! One of these days I’ll pick up an 85-86 Turbo Z with the CS package too!! Love that look! Yeah…any of these turbo dodges would torque steer something fierce under sudden boost…especially if your wheels are turned, and the ones with unequal length driveshaft’s.
I have an 1988 Shadow CSX T with the same engine. It is not the fastest but still fun to drive with the Shelby suspension upgrades. I drove it from the 33,000 miles I got it at, to about 48,000 miles on the original tires. I could not afford that style at the time and chose the type a few price levels down and it still handles well but not like it is on rails like the original tires did.
A friend of mine lived with me and my wife for a year, he bought a new one then went on vacation. He threw me the keys and said teach your wife how to drive stick shift. So on a Saturday morning I took her out of town to the only road that had a slight incline with a stop sign. We drove around for hours on that road until she had the hang of it. She hasn’t drove a stick shift car since. It was a nice driving car but even the Shelby name couldn’t make it fast.
I love a car that you never know if the door handle is going to break off in your hand. It makes it just that much more exciting.
Had a new ’85 Charger 2.2 in high school thru 1990; hands down the worst car
I’ve ever owned. Went through alternators & brake pads like nothing I’ve ever
seen. Blew a head gasket early on (still under warranty). Was supposed to
get a V6 Mustang, but it was the end of the year and they had sold out of those, unfortunately.
I’d like to see the underside to balance the gamble, but the price doesn’t seem to be too bad for what I do see. It would make a fun DD.
I had an ’86 Omni GLH-T. Basically, the same car in a 4 door package.
Was a very fun car to drive, but that car was the dictionary deifnition of torque steer.
Not a bad deal if all checks out.
’83 Charger 2.2 (no turbo) was my first new car. 5 speed transmission felt like a broomstick planted in a bucket containing a couple of loose bricks, but I got used to it. Surprisingly fast and fun! I drove it in some local SCCA solo events. Once I mastered the heavy understeer and massive torque steering, I could compete with much faster MKI GTI’s that always had trouble keeping four wheels on the ground.
I had a 84, Blue and Silver, Pulled it out of the showroom and right into the garage, Had the dealer install the Super Charger Kit….Smoked alot of 5.0’s with it and even more Bowties…Loved it, But Clutches and Tires Got to be $$$$$
Bought my 87 Shelby Charger GLHS IN 87. It now has 61k miles. Did a few upgrades and the hp is now 300.
In process of having it repainted.
Love the car and have surprised quite a few low riding loud muffler kids.
I had the 87 Shelby csx with the same set up and it was totally fast.Unfortunately i blew a rod.Put in another engine from a earlier year Daytona and it wasn’t quite as fast anymore so I sold it .I don’t think that engine didn’t hade the horsepower ratio that the csx did.
I’ve owned a few Turbo Dodges. Daytona CS, which got sold to get an 87 Shelby Z which now has a worked over Turbo II. A 91 Dodge Spirit R/T which got sold to live on with another…a 85 Omni GLH which has a Turbo II implanted for motivation…super light and super quick!! I haven’t had a Shelby Charger until I bought this one…yes this very one. Plan is to bring it back to glory with some of the same medicine the GLH and Shelby Z have. Was right about the rust underneath : ). From the front cross brace…nice and solid…from cross brace forward…needs some new floorboards. Would be nice if they made replacement panels like they do for older Chargers…but here’s to hoping for that day when they do. In the mean time I’m looking in the junkyards for solid examples to borrow from!!
Had a ’73 (bought new in Oct ’72.) 318 automatic and it FLEW. Bought an ’87 in ’86 (new) 2.2 automatic,garnet red with red interior. LOVED it 10 years until I got totaled in a T-bone. Only problems I ever had was door handle broke off in my hand and went thru shocks every 10,000. Other than that, no problems.