The fastest sedan made in America

Well, at the time, it was, as the ads proudly proclaimed.  Most remember the original Taurus SHO and its ability to shock most vehicles sold at the time.  For model years 1991 and 1992, however, the SHO was not the quickest domestic sedan.  That honor belonged to the Dodge Spirit R/T.

This beast of a sleeper seems to have been mostly forgotten, even though it was named “Domestic Sport Sedan of the Year” by Motor Trend both years it was sold.  Maybe it’s been forgotten because of very low production numbers – the same numbers that make a nice one such a cool find today.

In any case, Chrysler took the 2.2 liter turbocharged four cylinder from the Shelby GLHS and had Lotus develop a new head for it to make the Turbo III engine.  In the US, this was only found in the Spirit R/T and limited production Daytona IROC.  The result was 224 HP and 217 lb-ft in a relatively light package. 0-60 MPH took only 5.8 seconds – better than the BMW M5 at the time – and a 5-speed manual was the only transmission available (just like the early SHO).

This is the lowest mileage, best condition example we’ve seen in a long time, so will likely show us the top of the market, whether or not the reserve is met.

Click for eBay ad
Long Island, NY
$2,550 with 3 bids, reserve not met and BIN price of $13,900.  Is the reserve close to the BIN?  It usually is…
08/01/2013 update:  Ended with reserve not met at $8,050 with 17 bids.  Reserve was too high.
08/18/2013 update:  Relisted and ended at $7,500 with 5 bids.  Did we mention the reserve being too high?

This isn’t the most subtle car on the road, but the obvious K-Car roots make it easy to ignore.

The interior is understated, but the seats belie the plain-Jane-ness to some extent.

Here’s the heart of the beast:

Ad text:

Hello, if you are looking at this very rare car I’m sure you know what it is. If not Google “Dodge Spirit R/T,” this is a great and fun car. I have for sale from my own collection a 1991 Dodge Spirit R/T with ONLY 21k original miles. This is 1 of 1208 total that were built, and 1 of 774 in 1991, in red. This car is a 5 Speed Manual, the ONLY way they come, NO automatics. This car was ONLY made in 1991 and 1992. I am the Second owner of this one, it’s in show room condition and belongs in a Museum. The car has always been garaged kept and the seats always had towels over them to protect them. The back seat was only used maybe three times total. I also have gray rubber mats covering the original floor mats (you can see them in the picture). The car still has the original tires (OEM) on it from the factory. The front bumper was never drilled for a front plate. The OEM plate bracket is still in factory plastic in the trunk. This car is 100% original except for the battery, which was replaced a few years back with an OEM Mopar battery from the dealer (I have the original battery). This is your chance to get a very Rare and Unique car in Show Room Condition. This car is hard to find in general, but it’s even harder to find all ORIGINAL. You can’t restore this car for this price! Cars only come ORIGINAL once! The car comes with both keys, window sticker, owners manual, original cassette with information about the car (still wrapped up) and a bunch of magazines that featured the car and a sign that was made displaying information about the car. I hate to sell it, but I never use it and i’m loosing my garage space (This car was always garaged and never left outside).