6k: His and Hers: Dodge Spirit R/T and Daytona Iroc R/T

Wedding season is overspending season. We’re obligated to lavish the young couple with matching “bride and groom” keepsakes of sentimental value simply because the registry says so. Not even in rural Sullivan, MO would you find a bridal registry including two matching turbocharged Dodges old enough to legally toast the happy couple with Walmart champagne. However, these two Dodges, listed separately but sold by the same seller, are tempting for the creative gifter. It’s the thought that counts. Find this 1991 Dodge Spirit R/T and this 1992 Dodge Daytona Iroc R/T for sale in Sullivan, MO for $2,500 and $3,500, respectively, via craigslist. 

Seniority rules, so we’ll start with the Spirit. The last Spirit we featured was a 224-horsepower, DOHC turbocharged and intercooled white-hot ‘murican bolt haphazardly flung into a bone-dry tinder box of German performance. In other words, you all typed up very passionate tirades about its performance credentials as they relate to a certain E34 M5. Pecking order aside, this Spirit could haul. Zero to 60 in 5.8 seconds and a 14.5-second 1/4 mile are fantastic figures for 1991. Twelve years later, another turbocharged American sedan would complete both performance standards just 0.2 and 0.4 seconds quicker, respectively. Dodge called it the Neon SRT-4.

Like any bride or groom after 24 years of wear and tear wedded bliss, this car has noticeable defects. Its various squeaks and rattles undoubtedly make themselves known at every road imperfection, lovingly nagging you to get your act together and fix something for once. And why does this Spirit insist on wearing those same old red and silver wheels from its “glory days?”

Finding a Spirit R/T is a treat, but finding a 1992 Daytona Iroc R/T is a special occasion. This was the last year for the continually improving model. Horsepower began at 142 from a 2.2-liter engine in Turbo 1 form in 1984. Six years later, it had reached 174. In 1992, Dodge dropped the 224-horsepower Spirit engine into the car, and a 150-mph front-drive muscle car was born. Only 500-ish R/Ts were sold in 1992 and 1993, the best year for the car and the only years for wraparound headlights. Advice for courting a 1992 Daytona Iroc R/T goes something like this: “Once you have found her, never let her go.”

Both of these cars are oxidizing beneath the same sun their sisters were born under; Daytona production began in Dodge’s St. Louis plant, and moved to Sterling Heights, MI in late 1990. Owning one of these doesn’t necessitate becoming a Mopar nut, but there’s a good chance the seller is. He or she is probably a former plant employee who realized that torque steer just doesn’t feel the same as it did the first time. Yet there is hope in the next generation. With two trunks’ worth of spare parts and a low entry cost, this could be a great way to indoctrinate the young Mr. and Mrs. into the way of the Pentastar.

See another cheap car collection for sale? Email us at tips@dailyturismo.com.

PhiLOL actually likes the tuna here, but abhors structural rust. Save the manuals.