Japanese cars have long occupied a very small niche of the U.S. collector car world, but as the Japanese supercars of the early ’90s—the Acura NSX, 4th-gen Toyota Supra, Z32 Nissan 300ZX, FD Mazda RX-7, and so on—crest 25 years old, we’re seeing a rapid change. If you want to be sneaky about hopping onto this bandwagon, how about a Japanese sportster wearing an all-American label? This 1992 Dodge Stealth R/T Turbo is a near-twin to the vaunted Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4; it could be yours for $10,000, a nice discount from the VR4’s $18,000 NADA “high retail” value. Find it here on craigslist in Castro Valley, California (archived ad).
Your eyes do not deceive you: that is a transverse-mounted V6! In their base form, the 3000GT and Stealth were front-drivers, but VR4 or R/T Turbo spec came with an upgrade to all-wheel drive. 296 twin-turbocharged ponies galloped through a five-speed manual to put power to all four wheels, good for a 5.2-second sprint from 0-60 when Car and Driver compared a Stealth R/T Turbo with a Nissan 300ZX Turbo in 1991.
This Stealth has covered just 62,000 miles, and remains in the care of the original owner—and it shows. The optional leather upholstery still has that ’90s-tastic gathered look without any popped seams, much less anything so unsightly as a tear. Looks just as good from the passenger side, too. It seems weird to be considering the collectability of cars with airbags, but it was bound to happen, I guess. I remember the owner’s manual of my ’96 Volvo (the oldest car I’ve had with airbags) recommending replacement of the modules after ten years; I wonder if anybody ever actually did that?
In any event, I think the collectability of this Stealth R/T Turbo is deservedly considered. Frankly, the Dodge badge likely lessens its Japanese supercoupe cachet, and it will probably never be as prized as its Mitsubishi-badged twin—although I bet it’s easier to find Stealths like this one that haven’t been modded and abused than it is VR4s, relatively speaking—but it’s got the performance, the techno-trickery, and the swoopy style to definitely become an under-the-radar (there I go again!) classic very soon.
When I was picking up my new ’91 Eclipse, the dealer had just put their first 3000GT on the showroom floor. It was even the same bright blue color.
My first reaction was not to take delivery of my car and get one of these instead, but the bank account overruled emotions.
There is a mint 3000GT in that same nice blue that I see around here once in awhile.
I had a number of second gen turbo/AWD Talons when these and DSMs were fresh – I remember at the time swapping for a test run with a friend, who had one of these.
The Stealth pulled harder, but the weight of the car couldn’t be denied – to me it came off as a grand tourer rather than a “sports” car. That’s not to say the Talons didn’t feel portly either.. nice cars but to me more of a 90’s time capsule than a sports car.
I’ve always loved these and all their variants – My boss had the 3000GT – and they are nice, well-built, fast cars.
I remember the first-gen Laser, but am drawing a blank on Plymouth for this second-gen body style… Did the marque get one, or were they just Eagles and Dodges?
I think you may be mixing up chassis.
These were Dodge Stealth/Mitsubishi GTs
There were 2 generations of the more pedestrian (yet still available in turbo and turbo AWD configurations) DSM cars — Mitsubishi Eclipse/Eagle Talon/Plymouth Laser – the later, the Laser, was only produced in the first generation.
Yup; wrong chassis. I get it now – The ’90’s were getting to be a while ago – So many “obscure” cars to keep straight. Thanks!
The 3.0 was a great engine except for head gaskets. In my short bottom of the line Plymouth mini van I could out accelerate most of the early nineties cars.
I have the exact same pearl white twin turbo with 40k miles. Love it.
Nice looking Stealth Bob. I had a buddy with a non-Turbo stealth in 92/93 and it was cool. Backseat was tiny, but it handled well and was sporty for sure. If I had one, I’d hold onto it! Fun!
One heck of a better way to spend money than on the crunched red car posted a couple of days ago.
https://barnfinds.com/future-asset-mitsubishi-3000gt-vr4-spyder/
That clunker could never be made to look this good, without spending three times this money. $6900 BIN! Bwahahaha!
This is a good buy for someone who wants one!
Nice car, but I believe it’s been on CL a number of times. Wonder why…?
My Dad bought one of these new as his mid-life crisis car, in red with tan leather. It was a blast to drive with the AWD ! As he has always done, he drove it about three years then moved on to his next desire. He keeps them spotless and rigorously maintained (former military), and drives low miles, so they’re always easy to sell on. Fun car.