Whether they are genuinely coming into their own, are getting overdue respect simply because of nostalgic feelings for cars from the past or are only gaining positive vibes due to those who begrudgingly admit that they weren’t as bad as many made them out to be back in the day, the turbocharged front-drive performance models that Chrysler shipped out in the 1980s are gaining traction. Drag Week has seen a few turbo Mopars roll through over the past few years, so we know they can haul ass. I recently watched a straight-up fight occur over the sale of a 1993 Dodge Daytona IROC R/T that was in excellent condition. Strange to think that now, isn’t it? Just a few years ago, if you didn’t have a Shelby-branded car, nobody cared.
Today’s Rough Start is a Shelby car, one of the 1987 Charger GLHS hatchbacks that were put together. The outside looks super-clean, the side-pipe exhaust is a nice touch, and we’d rock this puppy in half a second. But wait a minute…how in the hell is one of these in the $5,000 Rough Start territory? Well, that’s easy to explain: the engine isn’t happy and the seller has reached their breaking point. The heads, the wiring harness, the coolant system have all seen work, but what hasn’t been seen is this car running after two minutes of operation. Simply put: if you want a hot little turbo Mopar, the deal of the week is waiting.
Now, here’s a real question: do you daily this thing or do you treat it like it’s worth coin? Small, four-cylinder, practical…looks good…I’m not going to lie, I’d daily this sucker in a heartbeat. All day long.
Why would anyone think this is worth 5 grand? These cars were trouble prone back in the day. Prolly an electrical or computer gremlins. These cars were built for maybe 100,000 miles if you were lucky. The head or head gasket was usually gone by 70-80K too…
I’d jump on this a lot quicker than I would an ’87 Camaro! I’d love to have it, and I don’t think working out it’s issues is much of a big deal…just wish it were a stick.
All Shelby GLH and GLHS’s were stick shift. It’s not an automatic as the ad states.
I wouldn’t mind having an L-body Charger for an everyday beater… but $5000 for a non running example is a bit much.
Might be a good investment for someone looking for long-shot collectible cars with the time to get the issue straightened out though.
Seeing the illustrious names Shelby and Charger on this four cylinder pile of crap makes me tear up!