There are chapters in history that almost always make me nostalgic for the 1980s, with most of them being obvious things like music, fashion, and general attitude of society at the time. However, another meaningful footnote in history at this time was Chrysler Corporation’s relationship with Carroll Shelby and the econoboxes they were churning out across the lineup, giving otherwise ordinary vehicles a serious shot in the arm performance-wise along with creating some special limited-production models. Chief among them was the Dodge Shadow Shelby CSX-T offered in partnership with Thrifty car rental.
The turbocharged Dodge Shadow offered in partnership with Shelby was a production model sold over three years in the late 80s. This relationship spawned numerous incredibly cool cars, the most notable of which is the Dodge Omni GLHS, one of the most iconic hot hatches of the 1980s. Yes, they were all front-drivers, but Shelby’s team was quite thorough in making other enhancements to ensure the chassis could handle the additional thrust. The upgrades included upgraded front and rear sway bars, high performance shocks and springs, aggressive tire and wheel combos, and much more.
The Shelby Dodges were also treated to niceties like a three-spoke sport steering wheel, special shift knob, and in some cases, Recaro seats. Those desirable buckets are limited to the later year cars, and I don’t believe the Thrifty models ever had them. The other key difference with the allocation for Thrifty was the lack of an intercooler, which also became standard equipment in later years for the cars sold by your local Dodge dealership. The seller notes he has made numerous improvements to this car while in his care, “….including all suspension and lowering springs, fuel system (new tank and Walbro pump) and exhaust.”
But that’s not all he’s done: the CSX-T has also been treated to a host of OEM+ upgrades. The seller notes he “….converted the car to a A-555 with a Spec stage 3 clutch,” along with adding an intercooler, rebuilding the steering rack, and replacing the power steering pump. The air conditioning was also recently rebuilt, but in light of the upgrades, the listing notes that the Dodge still runs the factory Mitsubishi turbocharger. Overall, this is a time-warp specimen with a host of upgrades that don’t dramatically alter its personality while absolutely making it more pleasant to drive. Find it here on eBay with bids to $9,250 and the reserve unmet.
I owned one of these and also the 1989 version known as the Shelby CXS VNT, which stood for Variable Nozzle Turbo. The ’87s were white, the ’88s were black, and the ’89s were red. The red ’89s also came with gold composite wheels known as fiber rides, I believe. My ’89 would run circles around my ’87, mostly due to the much better turbo system. These Shelby’s are another forgotten piece of front wheel drive Mopar history
That’s some nice hardware that you’ve owned, Doug.
I had an ’86 GLH-T that was a blast!
Malaise era for Shelby. Did he ever build a Yugo GV-GLH?
Wow, I learned something today… I didn’t know there was such a car and I didn’t know they were rented out. Most of us are familiar w/ the Hertz Shelby GT350H, etc. but I never heard of these. Thank you BarnFinds and thank you Jeff for the write up!
I have thought about people buying former rental / performance cars and always thought they might have been beat on. I guess in a way, that’s kind of what they were made for though, assuming they stayed on the road and gears weren’t ground, etc.
I had a beater Dodge Shadow Convertible for about three years. It was an ok car- nothing broke except the heater blower motor which I could handle myself- until the automatic transmission went. It took the trained chimps at the repair place about 4 tries before they finally gave me back a properly shifting car as evidenced by my drives home from the shop. I don’t think there’s a good excuse for not properly road testing a vehicle before handing the customer the keys. I sold it once everything was copacetic and probably moved onto the next headache. :)
Have a good day!
I managed a division of a company that worked on emergency vehicles. I always had the interior wiped down on vehicles after the repairs were complete and typically road tested them. On one test drive, I didn’t notice that the detail guy had hit the “Master” switch on the dashboard, turning on all of the emergency lights after I started the vehicle. I drove for some time until realizing what was happening. The puzzled looks of drivers at four way stop signs was my first clue. “No really, you have the right of way- you were here first.” Duh…
John Elder- that’s a great story! I’d have given you the “thumbs up” but it doesn’t seem to be working for me today. Maybe it wasn’t tested after repairs either. :)
Mopar Turbo time here on the Barnfinds↩️
Ended at $11,225.
Reserve Not Met
Relisted at a fixed price of 14K, or B.O.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/135300984134