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Grandma-Owned: 1987 Dodge Daytona Turbo Pacifica

Quick, name the first front-drive American-made car with a turbocharged engine. If you said the AMC Hornet you’re way off. If you said the Dodge Daytona you’re right! This 1987 Dodge Daytona Turbo Pacifica is posted on Craigslist, or here on the CL archive, in beautiful La Habra, California with an asking price of $3,500. Thanks to Pat L. for this find!

I can still remember driving a new Dodge Daytona in 1984 and it was quite a change from my beat-up 1974 Dodge Tradesman van with a 225 slant-six and a three-on-the-tree that had been converted to a floor shifter, which had to be put in backwards to work. Yeah, the Daytona was nice. In 1987 Dodge redesigned the Daytona with pop-up headlights. This fantastic looking car is all “original condition, has never been modified or altered.” The seller also says that every “option every button still works, has lots of cool options that 1987 had to offer.”

Chrysler made a sister car to the Daytona in the Chrysler Laser but when that model went away in mid-1986 they added a luxury package to the Daytona to try to retain those former Laser customers. The interior on this car is stunning. Chrysler thought about redesigning the Daytona and came up with this prototype in 1987, but they ended up not moving forward and by the end of the Daytona’s run in 1994 they had the Eagle Talon and Plymouth Laser coupes, products of their Mitsubishi marriage.

Screeeeech! I know, it’s an automatic but to the defense of this car, the Pacifica was marketed towards more luxury-sport car buyers and this particular “was owned by our grandmother since 1987 and has always taken care of it.” All is forgiven. And, the condition of this car appears to be as close to new as it gets. But, the interior is really fantastic in condition and overall design. The back seats look like something out of a Maybach. Well, maybe not quite that level, but I bet that 9 out of 10 readers wouldn’t have guessed that they were in a 31-year old Dodge Daytona. The hatchback area looks great, at least above the cover. The “A/C, power windows and door locks, on board Command Center, AM FM tape cassette… that still works.” Unfortunately, there is no engine photo but come on, it was grandma’s well-maintained car, it’s going to look like new and it should have been a 2.2L inline-four with around 145 hp. The seller says that this is “an absolute cream puff, garage kept since day one.” From looking at the photos it sure looks like this may be one of the nicest examples out there.

Comments

  1. Avatar Rick

    And gone!

    Like 0
  2. Avatar dgrass

    Dang, that was quick. Good price.

    Like 0
  3. Avatar Mike

    Omni GLH, Charger were turbo FWD before the Daytona, no?

    Like 0
  4. Avatar DRV

    I thought the Shelby Omni GLHS turbo was a few years earlier.
    This Daytona was cooler looking than anything in 1987.

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    • Avatar The Walrus

      Daytona’s debuted in 1983 as 1984’s. It was the first one to get the Turbo 1. GLHS’s were 1986… they were the first with the intercooler 2.2 that made 174 hp vs 146 of the Turbo I.

      Like 0
  5. Avatar Beatnik Bedouin

    “Owned by a little old lady from La Habra…”

    Obviously, cars like this one are getting interest, as it disappeared pretty damned quickly.

    Scotty, I chuckled at your comment about the back-to-front floor shift conversion. Back in the 1960s, that was more common than one might imagine.

    Like 0
  6. Avatar glen

    I was going to leave some remark about your Maybach comment, until I looked at them, they ARE nice. Granny likes turbos, that’s cool.

    Like 0
  7. Avatar Comet

    Classy mud flaps.

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  8. Avatar Rodney

    Had one of these in white as a demo in 87. Great car for the time and gathered a good bit of attention, believe it or not. Took my wife-du-jour to work on Sunday in downtown Boston and read the Globe while she did paperwork. Downtown Boston was practically empty Sunday mornings back then. Came downstairs to find the car gone. Called the police and after doing the report we took a cab home and I had to tell the boss the next morning that his car was MIA. Showed up two months later in Quincy, Mass. sans tires, wheels and radio but reasonably intact. Only car I ever had stolen and from a nearly empty street. WTH?
    The upside was that I got a new Shelby Lancer as a replacement demo. Kick-ass car with the latest thing, a “compact disc changer”. Had to go buy all new music to replace my cassettes though, durn it.

    Like 0
  9. Avatar Ralph

    1979 Buick Riviera S-Type had FWD and turbocharging 5 years before this car ever saw the light of day…just saying.

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    • Avatar Scotty Gilbertson Staff

      Thanks, Ralph! I got that from Allpar: “The Dodge Daytona would become the first American-made front-drive sports car with a turbocharged engine, when the turbo 2.2 was installed.”

      One could argue that the Riviera S-Type was a long way from being a “sports car” so there is still a chance that we’re both right. Although, a Daytona Turbo with an automatic may not be considered a sports car, either.. Thanks for the info, I didn’t think of the Riviera S-Type.

      Like 0
      • Avatar B. Robinson

        The 1984 sunbird had a 1.8 turbo. 150hp.

        Like 0
  10. Avatar Danton J A Cardoso

    I thought that Hornets were rear wheel drive.

    Like 0
  11. Avatar Mike D

    What was it doing idling angrily at 3k? My buddy had a 93 Shadow ES that ate distributors every now and then. On the ‘way I’d spot the tach jumping up and down.. new dizzy, and I’d see it start twitching ever so slightly cruising @ 3k.

    He dumped the car for a 2001 S10. Big big expensive mistake mostly parked in the drive.

    Do not buy from Hertz!

    Like 0

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