This is a car that I bet a lot of people have forgotten about, or maybe never even knew there was such a thing in the first place: a 1992 Plymouth Sundance four-door sedan with a hatchback instead of a trunk. You will not find a nicer one for sale, I’m pretty certain of that. The seller has this time capsule posted here on craigslist in York, Pennsylvania and they’re asking $9,500, about what it would have cost new. Here is the original listing.
We could debate all day long as to whether this car is collectible and most will say, “Nope, not even close.” I prefer blackwall tires on these cars, but this one has white wall tires as you can see, and it also has just 21,000 miles. After you see the photos, you’ll believe the mileage is correct and it isn’t 121,000 miles.
Chrysler offered the Plymouth Sundance to customers who preferred Plymouth products to Dodge’s Shadow, which was basically the same car for the most part. They were made for the 1987 model year until the end of 1994 and had either two doors or four doors, there was no wagon version. Dodge offered a Shadow convertible but Plymouth didn’t. 1992 was the last year of Lee Iacocca’s reign at Chrysler, which most of you knew.
The classic Chrysler-era striped/corduroy gray velour seats seemed to be in almost everything the company offered in this era. This car has an optional armrest and an automatic transmission, but otherwise, it doesn’t appear to be loaded with options. It does have air-conditioning and as with the exterior, I don’t see any flaws inside really at all other than a dirty floor mat. The back seat looks like new as does the rear cargo area under the unique hatchback.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen a cleaner engine and engine compartment. This one houses a Chrysler 2.5-liter SOHC inline-four with 100 horsepower and 135 lb-ft of torque when new. Coupled with a TorqueFlite automatic sending power to the front wheels, this one looks almost like new. Have any of you owned a Plymouth Sundance or Dodge Shadow?
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Owned the identical car, right down to the colors. Without question it was the most unreliable and downright uncomfortable and annoying vehicle ever. I gave it to my father in law and it lasted 6 more months, and probably set the record for earliest trip to the scrap yard.
I had a gray 87 Shadow with an identical interior, different steering wheel. I had it in 1997, it was a POS by then but I was 17 and loved it. I sold it less than a year later to a buddy for a couple hundred dollars, off to the scrap yard around 80k. I have a soft spot for these little cars, they were nice looking I thought and did everything asked of them.
Re: the interior anyone?
Grey with the option for gray.
Bound to boost one’s spirits.
The whole thing looks like it was molded out of one piece of plastic.
Maybe it’s a photo of a Revell model car ?
You could get a matching maroon interior with this color, and there was also blue or tan on offer.
It’s almost surprising there wasn’t a model kit of this car, although AMT/MPC would’ve been the likelier suspect as they had a lot of promo contracts. They’d have done the 2 door, but it would be an easy enough conversion to 4 that I’ve done on several of those old model kits.
My Mom had a Shadow very similar to this, but I think hers was green.
That’s how I describe it, a perfect Mom’s car.
This seller always seems to find some interesting cars. You probably won’t find a nicer one of these, if you are into them.
My father gave me his 1992 Sundance when I was like 25 yrs old. It was the biggest pos I ever owned. Power was so weak I could barely keep up in traffic, it was bone stock with no air, crank windows and an aftermarket radio. Automatic transmission went out at 68,000 miles and refused to shift past 2nd gear. Ended up selling it to a junkyard
In 1992 my Wife’s Mother’s old Buick was becoming unreliable. We told her we would buy her a new car, and took her car shopping. She told us she wanted a small car this time and when she saw a white Dodge Shadow 4 door at the dealership, she chose it. She loved the car and kept it like new until she passed in 1999. My wife couldn’t bear selling it and we still have it. It is kept inside and still looks new, inside and out. 2.5, automatic, and A/C. It’s been trouble free until 95,000 miles, when it blew a head gasket. My local mechanic was happy when I decided to fix it. He said it was too nice to go to the junkyard. Had the head done, new water pump, new timing belt, radiator flushed and new coolant, new belts, new thermostat, and a complete tune up and oil change. It runs like new again and it was $1750 well spent. It’s given us good service and has a lot of memories.
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The blue Granada is a hundred times more desirable than these things. Just my humble opinion, and I used to hate Granadas!
So, granny passed in 1993 and the family chose to keep her last car in a bubble. Wow.
This brings back some fantastic memories of grouse hunting in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with a couple of buddies. We used his Sundance to Baja on the forest service two tracks to get back to our bird honey holes. One trip left the rear bumper on the two track courtesy of some freshly washed out ruts he was not expecting in the least. I replaced his timing belt in the parking lot on a Brisk October weekend. Never ever again. Fun while it lasted, but that Sundance was one unremarkable vehicle, but saved a lot of wear and tear on my Jeep during hunting season.
I had a 1987 Shadow with the Shelby CSX modifications. It was a fast car in it’s time, but the base cars were entry level economy cars. That said, there is a market for the fwd drive cars from this era.