To me, Chrysler Corporation is the most entertaining of the big domestic brands, seemingly having way more fun than the other guys when it comes to letting their skunkworks teams build actual production vehicles. This 1994 Dodge Neon may not look like a collector car, but it is one of the 200, sedan-only American Club Racing (ACR) examples ever made. It’s seen more track duty than most of us have ever visited, and you likely won’t find a more fun beater to commute or race in. Find it here on eBay with bidding over $2K and the reserve unmet.
The seller is a Dodge dealer who bought the car right off the showroom floor, along with one other ACR example. He and his team flogged the Neons around the best tracks the country has to offer, referencing how he collected time at iconic tracks the way golfers might fly to Scotland for a round. The ACRs were lighter, rougher, and faster than their standard production brethren, stripped of niceties like air conditioning and sound deadening materials.
This example has been extensively refurbished, with the seller mentioning how he went slightly overboard in “restoring” a Neon with brand-new, OEM parts after it spent several years as an errand-runner in his dealer’s vehicle fleet. Relegating it to beater status seemed too much to bear considering the good times had in the Neon, so new carpeting, headliners, weather-stripping and more were all sourced and installed. The Neon retains its original Archer Brothers roll cage and will need harnesses re-installed if you wish to take it racing.
The sedans came with the SOHC, 132 b.h.p. motor; the ACR coupes received the livelier DOHC, 150 b.h.p. mills. Still, these were light-weight vehicles that loved to rev, and the ACR upgrades made them incredible handlers for a FWD econobox. Fatter anti-roll bars, adjustable shocks and a four-wheel disc brake delete – along with quicker steering and shifting – gave you a cheap, racecar-with-a-warranty package that’s near impossible to duplicate today right off the showroom floor. You may snicker at the Neon’s cheerfulness, but the ACR cars were no joke. Wish I could take this one home.
Just wow! There’s a seat for every arse they say. Im pretty anti NEON (Never Ever Own Neons), but the guys attention to detail is pretty impressive.
This thing is awesome! I had a buddy than ran an ACR Neon in SCCA Showroom Stock racing. These things OWNED their class back then, very fun memories. I am thinking that this a 1995, there was no 1994 Neon.
Build date in pic on eBay says 4-94…
They were 1995 Model Year. Long model year for the first year.
These were a real hoot when they came out. The ACR came with AC and a radio/cassette that you could order as delete items if you wished. I think the figure is 2000 made, not 200.
I wouldn’t drive one of these knowing what abysmal crash test ratings these were given back in the day.
Ok that pretty much eliminates you driving anything made before 1990.
Dont crash it no problem
theres newer vehicles with worse ratings
Acura RSX…
First model year for Neons was 1995.
My first impulse was, wouldn’t matter with a roll cage and racing harness. Then I looked at the Youtube crash tests….and this is the 2000 “improved” model
I was on business travel in San Francisco. I’d just bought a new Neon for my wife a few months earlier (remember the “Hi” ad campaign?).
I had come to an intersection where just minutes before there had just been an accident. A big Crown Vic had T-boned a Neon, same model and color as my wife’s new car. The driver side door was pushed clear over to the passenger side, mere..and I mean MERE inches from the passenger door.
Upon returning home at the end of the week, we put the very-low mileage Neon up for sale on the cheap. After a very quick sale, a Volvo 960 appeared in its place in our garage…..
I won a regional championship in a Neon ACR in 1995. My car was a pre-production 1994 mule. the 3rd ACR built I was told. It went back to Chrysler to meet it’s fate in the crusher afer many successful race weekends.
Probably the most lackluster car of the 90’s. Don’t have a lot of experience with them, except, I knew people that burned them out left and right.I suppose, like anything, maintenance was the key, and most people drove them until they quit.
150 k miles on the ’97 I owned, brakes and oil changes is all it needed. Oil seal and moving caused sale to a friend
(85 mph to and from work)
Great car.
Most Neons were treated as disposable transportation and many people dismiss them as unimpressive little cars, but anyone who was – or is – “in the know” on 1990s cars knows that these were great little auto crossers and the ACR ramped things up a few notches.
This is an awesome example! I wonder whether one could get child seats past the cage for daily use…
Wow! I can just see myself crusing Main Street catching admiring glances from pretty women and envious glares from men who wished they were me in a Neon. Said no one EVER.
I’d live to see what you’re driving.
Well, if you insist. Chicks dig me.
I want to be like you when I grow up !
IF the price is right this would be a fun, agile little car…not the fastest, or sexiest car but definitely a fun one to drive aggressively. They can’t all be big blocks or Euro hotties… diversify your collection some, or it gets boring.
I owned a half dozen or so of these cars BITD. We raced them in a series sponsored by Chrysler, great fun and you could actually make money racing…not many can say that! I got to know them inside out, and surely they had their faults. But they provided some great times and bring back lots of memories. Isn’t that what the cars on this great site are all about?
BTW, there were better cages than the Archer cage this one has, but I’ve seen the Archer cages stand up to some pretty severe track crash tests. The safety concerns mentioned here so not relate to this car with a full cage (the real issue with this car on the street is protecting your head, you have to wear a helmet to go to Wal-Mart for a loaf of bread). Say “Hi” to Neon! LD71 :D
The ACR was one year only and only available to people with a SCCA competition license. The next year it became the Competition Coupe which had the creature comforts but with the competition parts and 150 hp with no rev limiters as in the regular production neon. 136 mph top end from the factory. For anyone saying that they didn’t handle or fly never drove one. The adjustable konis at each corner were $375 each.
The konis were available in 96.
The standard Neon was a horrible handling, lackluster car. The act and competition coupes were a blast to drive.
A bit off subject, but did the SRT4 models have some of the handling parts from this model?
4 wheel disc brake delete ?! Why would you want to do that ?
Factory ditched the ABS on the ACR kept discs all round
Daily driver not collectible
Wow this car brings back memories for me. Back in 1995 my sister was looking for a car. We went to the local Dodge dealer and they had a White Neon Coupe with all the good stuff on it parked on the showroom floor. I heard about the ACR but I never seen one in person. We took the car on a test drive and I was impressed with the way it drove and we bought it. There was no maroney on the car when we bought it and I had no clue what options the car had. I was telling my cousin how nice this car drove and handled so he wanted to check it out. As soon as he saw it he goes this is an ACR! How did you find it? I just told him I saw big motor, alloys and they were giving the car away so we bought it. I was jealous at that point because it was much more fun to drive than my car. Three years later I ended up getting a 1998 ACR coupe for myself and I started to race it. I wanted to see what it would do in the quarter mile so I took it to union grove and I did some runs with it during an import event. As I pulled up to the line I could see people snickering at me. I did my first run and it felt pretty good…….as I am pulling up to pick up my slip I seen the guys that were laughing standing at the booth where you pick up your time slip. I looked at the slip and I was shocked. I ran a 15.3 at 89.9 MPH. Not fast mind you but compared to the Civics that were running that day this was quick. There was another Neon there that day with an automatic and he couldn’t get into the 16’s which made my car look even better. I had a crowd around me trying to figure out what I had under the hood. It also had a good top end. One day I was on the highway and I was behind a 300ZX non turbo. I had the speedometer needle pointing straight down at one point IN FRONT OF THE Z. We got off the highway and he pulled me over to ask me WTF is in that car….LOL
used to have to run against these in D-stock autocross with my 200sx se-r I had to always pray for rain or a dusty track as the only way i was faster was to let the LSD do its job.
Wet roads and snow were a challenge on those wide tires that they had.
I haven’t autocrossed in years. I had a 200SX SE-R and a Sentra SE-R that I autocrossed. I also “borrowed” my sisters car and autocrossed it a couple times LOL.
I autocrossed a Nissan 240 SX in Street Touring class which allowed suspension and exhaust work as well as different wheels. After a season or 2 of winning every event against the usual Civics and Golfs, I got beat by 2/1000 of a second by a bone stock ACR.