This 1984 Dodge Daytona Turbo Z is a nicely kept survivor with just 41,000 miles on the clock. The Turbo Z was a respectable performance car when new, and they’re hard to find today in condition like this. The paint shines nicely and the Daytona is equipped with the preferred manual transmission, making it a must-have item for any turbo Dodge fans. Still, the following for these cars isn’t exactly growing, so it will be interesting to see if the seller gets his asking price of $11,500 listed here on eBay. In the land of 1980s front-wheel-drive performance cars, the turbocharged Mopar lineup was the one to beat.
The seller reports he uses the Turbo Z sparingly, which is apparent in both the condition and the low miles. The Turbo Z was the top dog in the Daytona lineup, featuring both the turbocharged mill and a firmed-up suspension that supposedly made it capable of going toe-to-toe with the likes of the Porsche 944. Quick steering, fat tires, and equal-length half-shafts all contributed to the Turbo Z being a composed handler at the limit, and quite quick, too. The turbocharged Daytona could storm to 60 in under nine seconds and go onto a top speed of almost 130 miles per hour. That’s respectable today, but especially for the era in which it was made.
The low mileage matches the low “projected” top speed on the speedometer, a reminder of where many manufacturers were focused in the 1970s and 1980s. Still, that didn’t stop Mopar from finding any way possible to drive as much performance out of its humble lineup as possible. The front-drive, four-cylinder models certainly paled in comparison to the 440s and Hemis of Mopar’s past, but at least they build new models with enough horsepower to spin the tires. The seller reports that the Turbo Z has been driven carefully and benefits from a host of recent tune-up parts, including belts, hoses, tires, and more.
Inside, these were well-equipped cars from the factory, and this being a peak 80s model, it absolutely came with a boost gauge. The seller reports the air conditioning does not work and the headliner is drooping, but that seems to be the extent of the cockpit flaws. The Turbo Z will make for a fine weekend cruiser that should prove fairly easy to live with and is a compelling alternative to a Z car or a Porsche 924 of the same era. I’m not sure I’d choose one of these over a Porsche 944, but road test editors of the day certainly made it out to be a tempting alternative. Which would you choose?
Our black on black ’86 had the new computer display which gave you information on everything about the car and time and distance numbers. It also calculated speed. On a winter trip to Chicago from Oklahoma we dialed it up to 142mph. Fun car, crew chief loved the big trunk area, and when we didn’t have our foot buried to the moon turned in 28 to 32 mpg at 70 mph.
142 mph…… yes drugs were more potent back then.
With so few pictures and none of the interior or underside, I would imagine it would be challenging to sell at that price. It is though, a very nice looking specimen.
Forgot to mention that the seats are the most comfortable of any of the ’80s cars we’ve ever been in.
Does Sgt. McCall come with the car?
Oh man I was thinking the same.. One of the great beauties! Would only make the price more acceptable!
The endearing ” Your door is ajar ” , it was cute at first, then you wanted to rip it out of the dash. These were nice little cars and quite fun to drive. 11500.00 is a kinda steep, you sure don’t see many of them today. If it brings back someone good times, so be it.
Storm? Under 9 seconds? More like drizzle. Still a cool car though.
The 85 mph speedo wasn’t Mopar’s idea. All mfg’s of that era were forced into this by the same tyrannical idiots still known widely as the U.S. Gummint. Everything they touch…
I had a 1980 TR7 with a 140 speedo. I touched 3 digits on the San Diego freeway.
I did like these at the time, but there were so many better choices. The starion comes to mind. This car certainly could hit 140mph, and they were comfortable. Terrible door hardware, and prone to early rust. The asking price is a stretch. The real interesting model is the pick-up truck version.
How do you guys know your doing 140 mph in a car with a speedo that tops out at 85 mph ? I’ve been up to 110 -120 a couple times in cars with 120mph speedos that were built to racing standard way above most domestic factory set ups and any faster 120 on even the nicest of highways Is really moving,almost flying. I’ve been in these cars and they are no Porsche .I dont believe they have the horsepower to push through the wind at much over 120 mph
These cars were ahead of the times. I did not even know they were out in 1984. My sister had a 1993 dayton iroc, and thought it was a POS compared to my Eagle Talon AWD TSI. Had know idea that platform was that old. Nice write up.
The twin of this one was the first car I topped 100 mph in. On the track, of course. Yeah, that’s it.
Bought our 84 used after we got married in 86. Tranny went out and cost us $1200 to get fixed. Then the rear spoiler was torn off in the car wash. Liked the car but it was a good day when we traded it off.
Still looking for mine! Had an 86 CS. Gun metal blue metallic, black Mark Cross interior, analog gauges, ttops, 5spd……sold it to help with college bills in ‘94 on Long Island. Still miss it and wish I had it now. Wonder if it’s still around. Anyhow, had everything from old Chrysler big block cars, to 2nd and 3rd Gen f-bodies, tons of 60’s Stangs…. an actual K code 66 Stang. 32 cars later, this is one I still wish I had. It was a great daily.
That was a VERY rough “41k miles”…Missing the lower skirts, multiple cracks and damage along with fading of the matte black trim around the windows and the mirrors.. No interior pics except for the dash which shows far too much wear for the claimed mileage (look at the radio buttons for example). Missing the radio antenna, etc., etc….Very optimistic ask!
Was there a worse motor for head gaskets? Turbos blew every couple thousand also. Other then that….
Yes Northstar Cadillac engines has more head gasket issues by far.
I had a black 85 that I had a love/hate relationship with. In a weird way I loved that car and I still miss it, but it stranded me many times and eventually caught fire with me in it. It was 10 years old and had maybe 70K miles on it when I got it. It made it to 110K with me. But the hilarious part is that when we parted ways, the only things wrong on the inside were that the air conditioner had quit working and the headliner was drooping.
Back when the Daytona was new, there seemed to me to be as many of these on the road as new Mustangs.
Very popular car.
Back in 86 I had a new Mustang Gt .I used to love it when one of those things tried to race me.
I love fox bodies. Owned over a handful in different forms from convertible to hard top, and they were fast. But my 5spd CS 86 Daytona with exhaust, turbo two upgrades, including intercooler and pulling consistent 12 lbs after tuning….well on more than one occasion….. walked some fox bodies. Aside from the tuning, the rest was weekend wrenching in my garage with parts sourced from totaled cars.
But hey, if it wasn’t for my love of four eye mustangs, I wouldn’t have ever looked at my 1st 86 Daytona…….. this four eyes to me….. so cool……just want my blue 86 Daytona CS back, I’ll get rid of all other toys to relive my Junior college days
You must have really felt like you had a real hotrod. A V8 mustang that would bearly beat a 4 cylinder Daytona.
Ended: Sep 25, 2021 , 10:42PM
Price: US $11,500.00
Best offer accepted
Located in:Sellersville, Pennsylvania