While it can sometimes seem like certain vintage and enthusiast cars are only getting more expensive, there are others that seemingly continue to remain affordable despite having respectable pedigree. The lineup of Shelby-kissed Mopar products from the 1980s are a great example of emerging classics that can still owned and enjoyed without a massive budget, which is why it’s worth checking out this 1986 Dodge Shelby Charger here on craigslist for $8,500.
The turbocharged powerplant responds well to tuning, but most of these Shelbys that turn up for sale remain fairly standard. If such a car were introduced today, the landscape would be much different: almost every turbocharged four-cylinder is supported by a vast aftermarket that allows for a simple device to manipulate the engine computer and unlock untold amounts of additional performance. Carroll Shelby was a pioneer in so many ways, even effectively building an entire segment of high-performance economy cars decades before that would become a dominant segment.
The interior of the Shelby Chargers were distinctly different from non-Shelby models, with unique colors and deeply bolstered sport seats. As the Shelby brand evolved, cars like the turbocharged Lancer would gain actual Recaros and Momo-style steering wheels; the Charger was a few years before those slick enhancements took place. The interior of the seller’s car is in excellent shape, especially for a driver with close to 90,000 miles on the clock.
The color scheme of blue with a white stripe is about as authentic as it gets for a Shelby product. The rear window louvers are period-correct and almost a requirement for owning a car like this. The seller calls it a survivor, and perhaps it is – the supply of Shelby Mopar products grows smaller every year, and I’ve seen enough of these in salvage yards to know they were disposable at one point in time. For the money, it’s hard to go wrong with a car like this. Thanks to Barn Finds reader Tony Primo for the find.
Pretty cool, for a “nose heavy lead sled” as Carrol Shelby himself called them. But 8500 dollars for a ninety thousand mile car, even as well preserves as this one? IDK.
I had one identical to this same vehicle. Same rear hatch louvers as well. Mine had a custom more sportier steering wheel.
Loved those cheese grater wheels and the paint scheme too. Mine had the factory sunroof that was removable too, had a padded leather satchel to go on and tie downs in the trunk area. The 2.2 was potent but the 2.5 was more and later came in the limited edition with signed dash plaque from Carroll Shelby himself. They only came in black with matt black decals is memory serves me correctly. They had a beefier 5 speed from Gertrag.
But none the less my 86 like this one turned heads. It wasn’t as fast as my roommates SVO but we still drew crowds at Roger’s Park in Danbury on weekends or the cruise up to north street.
Ah those were the days.
Mine would meet it’s demise when a drunk driver Tboned it and bent it on half. It was fixed but the sun roof leaks every time it rained.
Traded it in on a Dakota Sport Pickup that fall at Robert’s Dodge in Southington.
Robert’s Dodge was in Meriden
Just an FYI. The 87 GLHS Shelby Chargers had converted 2.2 Turbo I’s, and they never got the Getrag equipped A555. Currently trying to resurrect my Black 87 Shelby Charger, which had fewer numbers built then the 1,000 GLHSs. Red ones are even fewer. Unfortunately, the LMC’s of the world haven’t started producing replacement steel for these…not sure they will…but here’s me hoping!! Front floorboards on my are gone.
I remember being extremely disappointed and scared when these things started hitting the market I thought gone were the days of a nice V8 and comfortable riding car, this one doesn’t seem to have the bad primer problem that hit the big three during these years. I personally would call the mileage suspect because 5 digit odometer and it predates carfax and auto check I have seen some really clean cars well taken care of that had high mileage, I myself had a Honda accord with 200k miles on it but it looked almost showroom new. Hope it is a good car for its new owner.
Cool little cars for their time. My high school girlfriend’s mom had a Laser Turbo. It was quick off the line and handled as well as the imports of the time, once you learned to deal with the FWD issues. However, the interior does not look to be in “exceptional condition” and it is not “all original” and “bone stock.” There is a very not-original two pod gauge set up which is attached to the front pillar with screws. The interior looks OK from distant shots, but up close, the steering wheel looks like it is about to simply disintegrate, there is a bit of yellowing on the gray components, and the center dash just looks dirty. I note the ad does NOT say “never smoked in”. The close up interior pictures looks like a “smoked in” car to me.
I absolutely loved the look of these cars. They were so cool! My Buddy had that same exact car in same exact color and after my wife and I got married in 1984 our first car together was a Dodge Omni 024. It was yellow with black accents and a black interior. So cool for those days. I’d grab this if I had the extra money. Honestly I would put that in my garage.
Worked with a guy who had one of these. His Dad had the GLH. Quick for sure. Hold on tight as it will torque steer like mad.
Looks like a lot of rogue wiring going on under the hood. Back in the day owners of these cars installed nitrous kits to out run the Grand Nationals and seventies muscle cars hence the rogue wiring under the hood.
Talking about lD theft this is the worst product that’s been associated with the Corral Shelby name out of all the cars barring his name.
It’s good that Carroll didn’t feel the same way as you.
A large well-known auto parts yard in Atlanta GA had one in their yard, basically complete and decent looking, still had the Carroll Shelby name at top of the factory bucket seats, also had the factory production number plaque on the dash. Couldn’t believe it ended up there. But Atlanta GA car part yards were always full of rust-free surprises, including a really nice complete mid 80s K5 blazer! This was around 2012 or so.
Correction Carroll Shelby
The turbos had bad head gasket problems from the factory, and the way they were driven made that even worse. The Omnis of this generation were good enough with a 2.2 non turbo, at least with a five speed stick. Too bad Chrysler didn’t offer a nice 2.5 in this platform. A Fuel injected five speed 2.5 would have had more pull in the most used power ranges for those days, and no torque steer problems. Would have been a sweet car. I deovw a friends Daytona with a 2.5, it was really nice, in a smaller car it would have been great. (of course the Daytona was supper comfortable)
We traded one in, non turbo, and got more money for it. Dealer said a turbo version was no good after 60000 miles.
My younger brother had one exactly like this-what a blast. Autocross was a hoot and never a problem.
3 years later traded it in on a SR5 Toyota 4WD and saw the sales manager with it afterwards!
The left front fender looks askew, so I’d be careful and make sure it didn’t take a good whack to the front. The way these were driven, that wouldn’t be unheard of. I remember them when they were new. Very affordable and one of the faster cars of the time period. Of course, that meant young drivers were drawn to them from the start, and of course as second and third owners. So very few managed to make it past the early 1990s, much less to today.
I got a set of these rims when they were brand new, from the factory, with Eagle GT tires on them and they bolted right up to an ’82 Chevy Citation. Years later, they went onto a ’91 Cavalier.
I’ve owned two of these back in the day. Both black and both with the Sun, Sound and Shade packages. (Sunroof upgraded radio and louvres). These were little pocket rockets but felt like riding in a tin can with all the rattles. Still a fun car with the manual trans and turbo.
Not Mopar. Mitsubishi. Imagine the diverted K-car based disaster.
Not sure what you mean, are you saying these were Mitsubishi? Definitely not, these were Dodge Omni/Plymouth Horizon. An inhouse developed compact to replace the Mitsubishi sourced Colt.
I had heard that the 2.2 was Volkswagen derived, not Mitsubishi
The 2.2 was a Chrysler engine. The 1.7 that was in all early Omnirizons was VW sourced.
The 2.2 was patterned after the 1.7 VW motor. Everything in the same place. My experience was that the 1.7 was more durable. Ran the snot out of the 1.7 and it still ran fine after I crashed the car.
These Shelby versions were like the mustang to falcon or mustang to fairmont ideas; take a cheap high volume car and breath a little life into it. I had a 1984 Shelby charger. All the looks and handling but but much horsepower change. The turbo wasn’t out yet so you got a bump in compression to 10:1 via a milled deck height. Extended duration/lift on the cam and a different tune for the carburetor. Premium unleaded required, and I believe 110hp vs 90 something for the non Shelby. The arrival of the turbo the next year was a game changer. The GLHS with its intercooler was next level stuff.
I had an ’87 I purchased off a Dodge dealers used lot in 1990. Lots of fun to drive, a little tinny but boy would that slap your head into the seat when it was wound up! Surprised more than a few Camero’s at stop lights when I smoked ’em! Seems the head gasket went belly up @ 75K miles which was a major disappointment as I was quite vigilant about maintenance, one of the 2,2 turbos weaknesses! Now the GLHS Omni and Charger were supposed to be quite the handful, I recall reading an interview with Carrol Shelby taking about his time with Dodge, and he said the GLHS stood for “Goes like holly shit”!!!
I had a black and silver 85 Charger HLH AND an 86 Omni GLHS. Both were fun cars, but the GLHS ran a 14.6 qtr mile when an 86 Vette only ran a 14.4 qtr mile and a stock 5.0 Mustang watched the tail lights of both in the qtr mile.
I had an 86 OMNI GLH back in ’91 and it would eat Z28 and V8 Firebirds all day long and I would have three or four friends in the car with me. I sure do miss the looks that came from people with their V8 GM and Ford products once I got to the next light!
Brian, I was right there with you, in my ’86 GLH-T.
Yeah the turbo in that car was amazing for being from the factory. And when I would take it on back roads in the Daniel Boone National Forest it handled like it was on Rails. The only two cars that I’ve had that were faster than that that were Factory were my 2001 Buick Grand Sport supercharged and my 2014 Buick Grand Sport Turbo
When I was car shopping in ’86 the other car on the list was a Buick T-Type Turbo. I could not find one on a dealership lot, but found the GLH-T nearby, so grabbed it. Glad I did, saved some $$ and had a lot of fun with that car.
I still have never owned a Buick, but I really like the supercharged ’95 – ’99 Riviera.