When you hear the name Carroll Shelby, undoubtedly images of the iconic Cobra and modified Mustangs come to mind. That’s not the only thing Shelby is known for, though. For a brief stint in the 1980s, Shelby got to work putting his spin on Chrysler products, giving us hot hatches like the Omni and Charger Goes-Like-Hell and Goes-Like-Hell-Some-more, and sport compacts like the Shadow. He also showed the world his interpretation of what a pickup truck should be, and gave us a tuned Dakota pickup truck, and beat the iconic GMC Syclone to market by a couple of years. This truck is number 78 out of a total of 1500 produced, and you can find it here on craigslist. Thank you, Matt H. for letting us know about it!
The Shelby Dakota was already far from stock when it left Shelby’s facilities, sporting a fuel-injected 5.2-liter V-8 engine instead of the standard 3.9-liter V-6. The seller is the original owner, and did their own work on it. In the place of the original 5.2 V-8 is a Mopar 360 V-8 with a supporting mod list almost as long as the drag strip that this truck lived at. It’s not running, but the seller says that all it needs is a new driveshaft. It won’t be able to use a stock driveshaft, though, because between the new engine and stock limited slip 4.10 rear end is a new ATI competition transmission.
The interior retains the stock red velour bench seat with Shelby inserts, but a new floor-mounted shifter, gauge cluster, and auxiliary gauges are present to help with the truck’s racing personality. Aside from an accumulation of junk that just happens naturally to any car that’s been sitting for a while, it looks remarkably clean for a 32-year-old racer, and that’s to be expected. Again, this is the original owner, and it’s a rare vehicle. Seldom is that combination of defining characteristics partnered with neglect.
Let’s talk about neglect for a minute. Some cars are designed for the daily commute, some are designed to be fun to drive, and some are designed to go fast. Regardless of whichever your car is designed for, the entire point of a vehicle is to be driven. The seller clearly understands this, because they used it as it was designed. They raced it, they cared for it, and they made it their own. I’m sure Carroll Shelby would approve.
$30k? lol
Missing the drive train, butchered interior and beat on the track? That guy needs to take a zero off that to even find a sucker.
He ruined his truck
5.2 is 318 dodge engine 5.9 is 360 engine get your facts straight
I will probably get some hate for this, but Shelby put his name on some real duds. Even in great condition I wouldn’t pay big bucks for this.
You don’t get in trouble for me he did put his name on some real garbage
True, Chrysler was liberal with the Shelby name, but anything that he actually had his hands on were far from duds.
Cars like the GLHS should not be lumped into the “dud” category, if you are referring to that.
Actually, Shelby himself referred to the GLHS as one of his favorite projects.
$30K asking price and the seller couldn’t even be bothered to vacuum the carpets?
I had an 1989 Shelby Daytona that I really loved.
Shelby worked with what he had been given in its Day the Omni GLH-S stood toe to toe with the hot hatchs of its day like the VW Rabbit GTi. His Daytona put out 200hp from a 2.4 l engine. In todays numbers maybe not so impressive. But back then they were lighter and making the same hp as the V8’s of their day. And were the prelude to Viper the car many still see as the true descendant of the Shelby Cobra.
5.2 is 318 and 360 5.9 get facts straight
Located in Blodgett, OR
Asking $29,900