Even by weirdo Mopar standards, the Dodge Mirada is a strange duck. Built for four years, slower than cold molasses even on it’s best foot forward, and having the unfortunate reputation as the car that finally made Richard Petty abandon the good ship Mopar for GM products at the beginning of the 1980s, the Mirada only has it’s weirdness to carry it on. Not many people even bother with Miradas…they are so obscure that if they aren’t perfect and running, then they might as well be parts fodder. Nobody makes much of anything for them. The hard parts, sure…they are FJM cars, so the popularity of the Fifth Avenue, the restoration of old Diplomat and Gran Fury cop cars, and the design which is similar to the A-body Mopars has kept engines, transmissions and suspension parts available, but if you hurt that urethane nose, your only hope is to wait on a fiberglass company to build you one from scratch.
But if there is a lesson I know well, it’s that weird and obscure works when done right, and this Mirada is done right. Looking like a Class of 1980 Pro Stocker, from the scoop to the spoiler, this particular Mirada is race-ready, and not just in the looks department either. Packing a 500ci Wedge, a reverse-valvebody 727 and tubs for the slicks, it’s packing the gear to run too. What does this thing need? Well…if it was us, a repaint into the old-school Mopar Performance colors and license plates would be a good start. Imagine this thing on Drag Week pushing deep into single-digit quarter-mile territory in Modified Big-Block…you could leave the Demon on top of the engine and stay N/A, but it’d be a lot cooler if a Roots-style blower stuck out from the hood and the car went into the Power Adder class, don’t you think?
For some reason…I like it!
I like the colors and visual package as it is – other than agreeing that it would be even more awesome with a blower through the hood, of course. Just about any obscure ’80s coupe seems like a good choice for the ’80s pro-street treatment, and this one works better than most.
Paul Rossi from Southern California ran one in Super Stock back in the eighties. This one would make a good clone of that car and the paint is not far off from Paul’s color combo. Google Paul Rossi Mirada and you can see several pictures of the original.
Kim welch , of pro parts California ??
If so , i called you after the article came out on the 440 , i was going to put it in a duster but put it in my 69 charger lol
Kim Welch beat me to it. Rossi seemed to be the only guy carrying the Mopar banner to a bunch of wins back then, and this was his weapon. To a real Mopar guy, not weird at all!
I’d run it NA and repaint it a proper red white and blue scheme…
I remember these well growing up. I was in middle school when they came out. I was also a big Petty fan. Petty left when the magnum( the miradas b body predecessor was too slow. I always thought the miradas would have been great for Nascar, but without petty and Chrysler teetering on bankruptcy, it was probably near impossible to get factory support. I remember a friend\’s brother bought a new one. T tops, sport mags, dark blue. I thought it was hot back then, and still do today….
I would fix a few things, but mostly leave it as is and go win some bracket races.
The Mirada never saw Pro Stock because of the Arrow, Omni and Horizon.
I remember these. If you see one low mile slant six in mint condition, let me know
Never had a slant six in em man!
Yes , I personally owned a 1980 Mirada, ice blue metall ext.navy blue vinyl buckets w console shift 904. Pwr windows,locks,strg,brakes and AC. With t-tops. Beautiful car,well handling and ride,however slant 6 equals good fuel milage at the cost of being a sluggish performer. Maybe a good swap with a late model hemi to wake it up?
this is my car
I was at Gateway Classic Cars last week, the Mirada has been sold.
I had a classmate back in Florida year 1988 had one with T tops Black on Black. I liked it,but he trashed it so bad it looked like a train wreck, he wanted a camaro but his parents bought him a the Mirada instead, so he drove the shit out of it and eventually wrecked it. It ended its sad life in the Woods sinkning in to oblivion. I thought he was a spoiled brat, he at least had a car while the rest of us was on the bus. I remember it having alot of frontend damage until it blew up from a leaking radiator. It was a Nice car before that. A Real shame.