How many “great ideas” in automotive history have been just unbeatable on paper and then financially made no sense? The answer is a very large number and weirdly the 1991/1991 Dodge Spirit R/T is among them. The Dodge Spirit itself was a good seller and as it sat on a stretched version of the K-car platform, it was not a very big financial risk for Chrysler when it was rolled out to replace stuff like the venerable Dodge Aries. People responded to the larger passenger area, trunk, and more modern styling. The company decided to offer a performance option for buyers as they looked around and saw cars like the Ford Taurus SHO doing well.
Never shy about throwing the sink at the competition, Dodge did not screw around with their factory hot rodded Spirit. After all, there were people who definitely understood the coolness of the R/T badge and what it meant in the muscle car era and while this machine would not have a V8, it sure as hell would have the guts to hang with the competition and likely embarrass them if the driver was worth his salt.
Firstly they went to Lotus and had them design a bad ass cylinder head for the 2.2L four cylinder engine. Then they strapped a Garrett turbocharger and intercooler onto the engine, gave it some slick tuning and ended up with a still today potent 224hp! This, mated to a manual transmission built by New Process that had Getrag internals made up the drivetrain. The suspension was tweaked, the tires and brakes were larger, and next thing you know, you had a car that could basically run with Camaro and Mustang competitors as well as right up next to the Taurus SHO and Gallant VR-4.
How did this thing not sell?! Only 1,400 examples over two years. All of them made in Mexico.
These are really fun cars and if you ever get to drive one we know you’ll be impressed with the power!
I think their main problem may have been trying to bill this as a BMW M3 competitor – it’s good to aim high, but I’m not entirely sure they hit that target. This was a very cool car but one with a somewhat unclear target market. Factory sleepers tend to be a hard sell.
I was aware of them, I wanted one, I needed a new car, but I could barely afford the gas for my rusty 81 Escort to get to a dealer to see one. So I was part of the problem.
I had a Spirit ES, same body cladding, but with the 141 hp V6. I liked the car, never gave me any problems.
Oklahoma Highway Patrol had turbo Spirit’s they used for pursuit vehicles on the Tulsa to OKC Turnpike. Badass little bombers!