In 1986 and 1987, Shelby Automobiles modified about 500 Dodge Omnis in their California based factory for shipment and sales directly through Dodge dealers around the country. These econobox legends were outfitted with a modified engine, upgraded wheels, brakes and suspension and given a factory Shelby VIN…so don’t call it a tuner car or a kit car. Find this 1986 Shelby Omni GLHS offered for a starting bid of $8000 in Fredericksburg, VA via craigslist.
In the early 1970s the automotive world was reeling from the twin crises of new smog laws, safety laws, and increasing fuel prices…whoops, that’s three crises. Anyway, this meant that the performance of the late 1960s was gone and so Chrysler did what any reasonable domestic OEM would do…and that was the replace performance with slap-on gaudy cosmetic pieces of trim and pray that people didn’t realize that European and Japanese auto makers were building better product. What you see next is a resurrection of the Road Runner name on a Plymouth Volare, which was a rebadged Dodge Aspen. Find this 1977 Plymouth Volare Road Runner offered for $11,500 in Rockville Centre, NY via craigslist. Tip from Cory.
This next car comes as a tip from Rock On who writes: Nobody will question your ability to grow chest hair when they see you driving this! Yes, this next car is like a Rogaine infused wife beater for the guy who needs something to haul around old dirt or gypsum or whatever. You just gotta fix it first to prove your man cred and then you can drive it. Find this 1969 Dodge Power Wagon W100 offered for $5,000 in Hollister, CA via craigslist.
It seems that Hugh’s old diesel Dodge truck got everyone in the mood for some classic grungy trucks that are meant to do work instead of look good…so here is an oddball that you don’t see very often — it comes as a tip from Carter who writes: Hard to categorize: Not often one sees a dropped, stacked, and blinged out orange 90’s Dodge Cummins service truck. Find this 1990 Dodge D250 Service Truck offered for $9800 in Western KY via craigslist.
The 4th generation Dodge Monaco was a big malaise era equivalent of striped velour v-neck shirt. This thing reeks of chest carpets and overgrown man-hair held back by a tennis headband (see Bjorn Borg at Wimbledon in 1978 for reference in case you weren’t alive back then or lived under a rock)….and I love it. Find this 1978 Dodge Monaco offered for $9900 in Greenville, SC via craigslist.
The Dodge Colt was an imported Mitsubishi Mirage with a Dodge emblem and is either an interesting cheap classic if you never had to rely on one for daily driving use or a total pile of garbage if you needed drive one for many miles a day. The little pony is covered in TURBO stickers, but the “twin-stick” (it is a 4-speed gearbox with a 2-speed transfer case controlled by that dainty lever to the left of the stick) is either a neat trick to entertain your passengers or just something else to break…depending on how you feel about this kinda thing. Find this 1984 Dodge Colt GTS offered for $3950 in Elk Grove, CA via craigslist. Tip from Jason.
This next car come as a seller submission from Hugh, who wants $500 or trade for Miata for his truck: It is time to deaccession this Dalton highway spec Dodge Ram 250 Cummins turbo diesel pickup from the family fleet. My uncle, who crewed on the Garretson Enterprises LeMans ( Paul Newman) and IMSA (1981 24 Hours of Daytona win with Bob Garretson Brian Redman and Bobby Rahal ) teams, drove on the one lap of America a few times, and did the great American cross country race in a Studebaker Indianapolis race car and numerous other auto adventures, bought this for a trip to the Arctic circle because he really liked driving to out of the way places.
The Dodge Omni is was a fun little compact from Chrysler that wasn’t expensive or refined, but it was at least light in curb weight. From 1984-1986 the Omni had additional help from Carroll Shelby who helped build a GLH version, which was short for Goes Like Hell and was powered by a 146 horsepower 2.2 liter turbo. Today’s example has been given an eye-bending wheelbase reduction, but it seems the perfect car for clowning around. Find this 1985 Dodge Omni Custom offered for $6,250 in New Berlin, WI via creepyface marketbag. Tip from Courtney
The conventional wisdom is that if you want to drive a classic late 60s/early 70s American muscle car, then you need to drop a big pile of money into your heap of choice. But that isn’t exactly true. Because there are some good classic Muscle cars that you can buy for less than the price of a new economy car and this next thing is a perfect example. Find this 1973 Dodge Charger SE offered for $16,500 in Eunice, LA via craigslist. Tip from Ramjet.
It is said that the Thomas Howard, the Duke of Norfolk first put in a letter to Thomas Cromwell in 1538 the expression “you can’t have your cake and eat it too.” Shortly afterwards, Cromwell was beheaded by mad King Henry VIII, so I’d like to use this car to emphasize that cake statement and perhaps add the corollary; “You can have your cake and someone can take your cake, eat it, and behead you too.” Because you can have modern reliability or vintage style, but you can’t have both…well…unless you are billionaire who can afford an Icon or Singer or Lynx Eventer, but here we are. We’ve got a $4k budget and car that looks like it came from Leepu and Pitbull’s custom shop. Find this 2000 Dodge Dakota Sport offered for $3995 in Sturtevant, WI via faceforradio marketbarf. Tip from Matt C.