glhs87 Posted May 13, 2008 Report Share Posted May 13, 2008 Just thought I'd jot down some thoughts on the first Shelby Dodge offering. I had one new back in the day and as you may have heard from older friends and relatives - "I should of never have sold that car", well, I shouldn't have either. Here is why I say the 83.5 Shelby Charger is more "Shelby Like" than the other Dodge based cars, it was simply totally different than a regular Charger! Same way a Shelby mustang was different than a regular mustang - especially in the later models. Dodge in 84 then made the exteriors basically the same. Unique parts: Exterior - Different Nose - Ground effects - Rear Spoiler - Sail panels (which covered the quarter windows of the "normal" charger) Unique parts: Interior - Two tone dash - Two tone door panels - Fabric covered panels in Quarter panels (again to cover where glass was located in normal chargers) - Chrome exhaust tip - Shelby specific wheels w/low profile Goodyear Eagles I think i covered everything as I was going by memory. One of these days I would like to get a Silver on Blue 83 again. When new and you saw another Shelby going past, you most always would get a wave! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shel-b001 Posted May 13, 2008 Report Share Posted May 13, 2008 How many did they make? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glhs87 Posted May 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2008 How many did they make? Well, documentation i have shows 8251 (3,069 Silver, 5182 Blue). For some reason i had in my head 9350 or 9830 or over 9k. One thing i did hear is that they would of made more but Goodyear couldn't make the tires in time and that was the reason only so many were made. The dealers were supposed to only have 3 and that was based on that dealer sales performance. When i bought mine they didn't have any with AC or the sun roof and other dealers were sold out. When i brought my shebly back for its first service they had like 6 on the lot ALL with AC and sun roofs - pissed me off! ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stump_breaker Posted May 14, 2008 Report Share Posted May 14, 2008 Here is an 89 Shelby Charger I'm considering pulling the trigger on. Unfortunately my wife is coming p on a lot of medical expenses so now I'm leaning toward no. Anyone interested? http://dallas.craigslist.org/car/674666741.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelbymotorsports Posted May 14, 2008 Report Share Posted May 14, 2008 Here is an 89 Shelby Charger I'm considering pulling the trigger on. Unfortunately my wife is coming p on a lot of medical expenses so now I'm leaning toward no. Anyone interested? http://dallas.craigslist.org/car/674666741.html Stump, thats a Daytona. The last Charger was in 1987. Also that Daytona being an automatic car has the Turbo I motor which is rated at around 150hp. Unless you have to have an automatic trans you would be better off looking for the 5 speed intercooled turbo II motor rated at around 175 hp. You will not only be getting 25 more hp but the T-II intercooled motor is a much stronger engine and can be modded easier than the T-I engine. Steve PS- Before you pull the trigger you can always post what you find and we can help you on things like if its priced right, trouble areas to look at, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelbymotorsports Posted May 14, 2008 Report Share Posted May 14, 2008 Well, documentation i have shows 8251 (3,069 Silver, 5182 Blue). For some reason i had in my head 9350 or 9830 or over 9k. One thing i did hear is that they would of made more but Goodyear couldn't make the tires in time and that was the reason only so many were made. John I want to say production was 9200-9300 units for the first year which to me is a lot for such a short production model year. One of these days I hope to get all the production info into an excel spreadsheet so that it can be sorted by vin #, color, options, selling dealer, etc but that task will take some time but one day I hope to have it available for everyone. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stump_breaker Posted May 14, 2008 Report Share Posted May 14, 2008 Stump, thats a Daytona. The last Charger was in 1987. Also that Daytona being an automatic car has the Turbo I motor which is rated at around 150hp. Unless you have to have an automatic trans you would be better off looking for the 5 speed intercooled turbo II motor rated at around 175 hp. You will not only be getting 25 more hp but the T-II intercooled motor is a much stronger engine and can be modded easier than the T-I engine. Steve PS- Before you pull the trigger you can always post what you find and we can help you on things like if its priced right, trouble areas to look at, etc. lol, that was silly of me. It even says Daytona in the add. Brain fart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GLHS0136 Posted May 14, 2008 Report Share Posted May 14, 2008 Just thought I'd jot down some thoughts on the first Shelby Dodge offering. I had one new back in the day and as you may have heard from older friends and relatives - "I should of never have sold that car", well, I shouldn't have either. Here is why I say the 83.5 Shelby Charger is more "Shelby Like" than the other Dodge based cars, it was simply totally different than a regular Charger! Same way a Shelby mustang was different than a regular mustang - especially in the later models. Dodge in 84 then made the exteriors basically the same. Unique parts: Exterior - Different Nose - Ground effects - Rear Spoiler - Sail panels (which covered the quarter windows of the "normal" charger) Unique parts: Interior - Two tone dash - Two tone door panels - Fabric covered panels in Quarter panels (again to cover where glass was located in normal chargers) - Chrome exhaust tip - Shelby specific wheels w/low profile Goodyear Eagles I think i covered everything as I was going by memory. One of these days I would like to get a Silver on Blue 83 again. When new and you saw another Shelby going past, you most always would get a wave! Yeah but, the '87 Charger GLHS has these things and more. The 83.5 came from Dodge and the GLHS went through Shelby Automobiles factory and received the Koni's like in the 60s and serial numbering and more power :burnout: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glhs87 Posted May 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2008 Yeah but, the '87 Charger GLHS has these things and more. The 83.5 came from Dodge and the GLHS went through Shelby Automobiles factory and received the Koni's like in the 60s and serial numbering and more power :burnout: Yes this is true but the 83 had much more unique parts compared to the production charger. The 84 up chargers did have the 4 headlights so yes this is different for the Shelby but the 83 inside and outside was different. First year for the Shelby-Dodge partnership and its first "product" was unique. When Dodge made the regular chargers (including the charger 2.2) look like the 83 Shelby (sail panels to cover the quarter window, the spoiler) i was bummed as the shelby was basically the same. Thankfully the Shelby's kept the 2 head light nose. I saw rederings of the 4 headlight nose on a Shelby and it wasn't that nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glhs87 Posted May 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2008 John I want to say production was 9200-9300 units for the first year which to me is a lot for such a short production model year. One of these days I hope to get all the production info into an excel spreadsheet so that it can be sorted by vin #, color, options, selling dealer, etc but that task will take some time but one day I hope to have it available for everyone. Steve Steve, This would be cool. The documentation I have gives the break down of all the L-Bodys. I got a copy of it back at SDAC 2. It appers to be a printout of a dodge document - the old line printers companies used back in the day. This is where I looked up my car and noticed that only 189 87's did not come with AC! In fact at SDAC 2, I received many comments about the lack of AC in my car! I was going to put AC in it but with the comments and documentation I received I left it as is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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