(first posted 11/9/2011) Two hundred dollars. A hundred and fifty dollars – ten for each mile per hour over the speed limit – and fifty for a “head injury surcharge.” And the dread accompanying the unpleasant task of informing my grandmother that I had jeopardized her good standing with her insurer, after being issued a speeding citation in her – what else? – a Plymouth Sundance.
To date, my only speeding ticket ever (paid promptly and disposed of), I achieved this rather hefty (for a college student) bill in a 1994 Plymouth Sundance. The last of the P-bodies, the Sundance was at that time nearly gone from my area of the Northeast. My grandmother’s example, though showing under seventy thou on the odometer, was rapidly rotting from the ground up. Grandma never washed it, and wasn’t afraid to drive on salty winter roads.
For a small car, even in base trim, the Sundance was heavier than most of the competition. Short gearing and torquey power plants gave more than adequate acceleration; an overbuilt suspension turned in competent handling if a slightly wallowy ride.
The Sundance was the last in a long line of Chrysler products for my grandmother, replacing an ’86 Horizon (which replaced a ’78 Horizon which replaced an even older Plymouth of indeterminate model and vintage). It was a great concept, but its execution left much to be desired.
Grandma was the target customer for this car, though perhaps somewhat older than the demographic it was intended for. The P-bodies were intended to replace the Omni/Horizon duo (although our friends at Allpar hint at Aries/Reliant replacement, those cars were supplanted by the Spirit/Acclaim). Available from late ’86 as 1987 models, the Sundance and Dodge Shadow were a compact variation on the K-car platform, with sedan styling and hatchback practicality. Visually, the cars are somewhat similar to the new-for-’91 Ford Escort hatchbacks, although the P-body hatch looks more like a sedan – and probably is the reason no sedan was ever offered.
Numerous power plants and trim levels were offered, including 2.2L, 2.5L, and turbocharged Chrysler four cylinders, and in the later model years, a 3.0L V6 (yes, the same Mitsubishi mill as in the minivans). A manual transmission was available with all engine combinations, with the antiquated three-speed automatic a popular option.
As much as this type of car is not to my liking – American manufacturers are not known for their successes in producing homegrown econoboxes, in my estimation – it was a respectable package that offered decent comfort and value. Interior materials were hardly Corolla quality, but the layout and packaging made ergonomic sense. Seats were comfortable, if somewhat soft, and the driving position felt natural and confidence-inspiring.
Compared to the quirks of the Omni/Horizon twins – with the ventilation controls to the left of the steering wheel, and a significant height differential between gas and brake pedals – the P-bodies were light years ahead of their forebears in comfort and convenience. One quibble with the interior, though: In the later facelifted models, the Chrysler corporate gauges – with major markings at the 5 (mph) and 500 (rpm) intervals – were used, contributing at least in part to my speed violation above.
Over the course of their lifespan, models were available as strippers for fleet buyers and value-conscious individuals; as sports and turbo models (even Carroll Shelby was in on the act with the Shadow CSX, more or less a Shadow GLH); as luxury compacts in ES V6/automatic trim;
and as fun-in-the-sun beach cars, with a “coach built” (ASC- the Sawzall specialists) convertible joining the Shadow line, sold from dealership floors from 1991.
My grandmother’s Sundance was only a step above a fleet buyer’s special. Our local telephone company had a large fleet of white, two-door Sundances with zero power options. Grandma’s car added remote, non-power mirrors; an infuriatingly complicated dealer-installed Audiovox cassette player; and emerald green paint. Her specimen even lacked air conditioning – which, while not a critical option in New England, is certainly nice in hot, humid July and August, when the mercury regularly rises over 90.
Shortly after the ticket incident, Grandma decided to move on from the Sundance, and from Chryslers in general. I thought her decision was wise; the gas tank in her car was rusting from the top, and a combination of indifferent build quality and shoddy dealer repairs led a persistent water leak into the trunk, that went from bad to worse. Having known the car since elementary school, I was somewhat sad to see it go, but it no longer suited her needs. And even though I had learned it was easy to drive fast, it wasn’t particularly fun.
Much later did I learn that her decision was also motivated by her own encounter with the law – likewise her only violation in over six decades of driving. Thus did the Sundance lose Chrysler a customer twice over – once with an incompetent eye towards assembly, and once with a class-defying delivery of performance and handling. Perhaps with better marketing, or more clearly-defined goals, this car would have sold better. Certainly, with Honda-like materials and quality control, it might have have earned a loyal following for its builder.
[pictures by Paul Niedermeyer]
Is it me, or does the car on the last photo seem really disproportionately short? I get the idea they’ve been trying to reiterate the K-car’s somewhat awkward proportions in a smaller version… The small size is probably the reason Chrysler also tried selling it in Europe, badging it as Chrysler ES, not very successfully although it could be seen on the road sometimes. It wasn’t exactly cheap for its size: in 1990, an ES would cost fl. 35,995 in the Netherlands, whereas no Escort except the sportiest versions would cost more than fl. 30,000, and even most Sierras were cheaper than that (1fl equals more or less 1€ of today, cars are expensive in NL). The Neon sold considerably better out here for some reason, maybe it was better priced.
Was the Shadow/Sundance still technically related to the Horizon in any way actually?
To me it looks like the front end is drooping a bit…
The K-Cars (and derivatives like this Sundance) and the L-Cars (Omni/Horizon) shared some of their engines (the 2.2L I-4 and the turbo version), but they were developed separately. However, I believe both had a similar suspension setup (MacPherson struts in front, solid beam in the back), so certain parts were probably interchangeable.
Edit: Right – that steering wheel was used in many Chrysler products during this era – it appeared not only in the K-Cars/derivatives and the L-Cars, but also in the 1988-1989 M-Cars, 1993-1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee, and 1995-1996 Jeep Cherokee (XJ).
The transmissions and some interior components (the airbag steering wheel from the ’90 Omni/Horizon) were also shared.
I think its the long coupe doors on a compact car, they look like the same doors used on the LeBaron coupes from the same time.
Chrysler also tried selling it in Europe, badging it as Chrysler ES
Any idea which markets in Europe BeWo? I’m pretty certain this model never graced British roads, and haven’t ever seen one in my travels on the continent (though if as you say it wasn’t successful, that’s possibly not surprising)
Just curious where in Europe ChryCo thought they could sell a model like this in the early 90s, given that it looks comparable with early/mid 80s C-segment European market offerings
Not sure about the exact markets. Definitely in the Netherlands, France and Germany, most likely it was also available the other European Community States of the time, save for those that drive on the left. It actually was changed a little to make it look a bit more European, it got different tail lights for instance. Didn’t help the slightest bit, can’t find any exact numbers but I doubt more than 10 remain on the roads in NL.
I can confirm seeing a German spec gunship grey Shadow on the streets of Hanover in 1995. The reason I knew it was a German spec. was from the marker lights on the front fenders which is standard fare on all cars over there. It definitely stood out in a sea of Euro hatchbacks and wagons, but not in a good way.
Price was what sold these cheap cars in the US… same for the Neon… as for “it was a respectable package that offered decent comfort and value”… Not! Let’s see: plastic radiator which blew up at 50,000 miles (but saved the company $50 a unit); aluminum head which would get hot and crack; horrible interiors, so cheap and poorly put together that it was depressing to drive… I could go on and on… since then (1985), I have never owned another Chrysler product…
“since then (1985), I have never owned another Chrysler product…”
The Shadows and Sundances weren’t produced until 1987.
Yes. The 2.2 was used in the P and K cars.
These were reasonably attractive cars. I like the design, simple and yet somehow sporty. A friend of mine had one in high school from the final model year. She promptly smashed it in an accident that I am sure she maintained was not her fault (though I have my own doubts about that). Hers may have had A/C, although since it was only a few months before she smashed it/”it was smashed,” I cannot be certain. I can be certain that it probably would not have made it to graduation before needed a major repair…
I always have a minor emotional response to these cars because when I graduated from college in 1989, it came down to two new cars: a blue Sundance and a maroon Chevy Beretta. The Beretta was $2000 more, but felt a lot more substantial and was more fun to drive, so that’s what I bought. I happily drove it for 150,000 miles. But every time I saw a Shadow or a Sundance on the road, I wondered what if. Then I saw fewer and fewer on the road while my Beretta kept on rolling, and realized I’d made the right choice.
“not as good as a Beretta” – well, I’m paraphrasing here, but geez, talk about damning with faint praise….
I have never driven one of these, but considered them good looking cars. The 2 doors in particular. In truth, I have always kind of wanted one of the convertibles. They remind me of a modern take on the old Valiant ragtop.
The Sundance/Shadow was built on the 97 inch wheelbase of the Chrysler Laser/Dodge Daytona rather than the 99 inch wheelbase of the Aires/Reliant. It certainly could have used the extra 2 inches for legroom in the back seat and the longer wheelbase would have helped the rather odd proportions from the side view. I bought an ’89 Sundance in the fall of 1988 with the 2.5 liter engine and 5-speed manual. It was a reasonably quick and good handling car for its time, but after two years of shifting the agricultural 5-speed in Boston traffic, I sold it and bought a 1990 Plymouth Acclaim LX (V-6, Ultradrive), still one of my favorite cars that I’ve owned. Despite the poor reputation of that drivetrain, I drove the Acclaim for 8 years and 125,000 miles with no problems and when I sold it it did not have a squeak or a rattle, something I can’t say about any other Chrysler vehicle I’ve owned.
My babysitter had one of these! A turbo convertible. The door seals were as solid as… Swiss cheese. But still, a turbo convertible, which is fundamentally awesome, especially to a kid. The best part is that this was the first car I ever drove (sort of): she let me reach over from the passenger seat and steer us down the road.
In the late ’80’s, we actually thought about buying one of these, as we were into smaller cars and Chrysler could do no wrong (in my mind). A yellow sedan as a nod to my (and my wife’s) avatar’s color. We liked the convertible version, too.
Wisely, in retrospect we didn’t and held off a few years and bought our 1990 Acclaim (in dark quartz, an incredible car we owned for 10½ years), which was the right thing to do. Never looked back.
@Zackman: In response to you and Fred, those Acclaim/Spirit models have got to be some of the toughest Iacocca-era cars on the roads. 20 years later, and I still see them being daily driven here in the rusty midwest.
There are few other cockroaches (early Luminas come to mind) of the roads (I can use that for free!) that can say that. If it didn’t succumb to rust or an idiotic owner, it will run and keep on running.
@geozinger:
Ha ha ha! I lost count of how many beers I owe you, but you won’t be thirsty when our spring meet-up is over!
@Zackman: No worries. I just hope Van Wert has a good microbrewery or something! The wife and I may make a weekend out of this…
If they do, it should be called Van Wort 🙂
@JP: Clever! I wish I had thought of that!
Back in the day when I worked in the car rental business, these were the bread and butter compact car. The company I worked for was in Cocoa Beach,, FL. During the Space Shuttle heyday, we had several European companies come to the area who rented cars while here assembling their satellites to be launched. My favorite memory was teaching 30 or so Germans how to drive these cars on the back lot. Many if not all of these folks had never driven an automatic transmission equipped car before. Nice people, fun times!
I had never driven an automatic until 1989. I needed a lesson as well!
Step on the brake, put it in D and go with the flow!
The most amazing thing for us high strung Autobahn fu fighters was the fact that you could arrive at your destination in time and with all nerves in a calm state.
My girlfriend (later to be wife) got one of these from her Dad. 2.5L with the 5spd which made it reasonably rapid for what it was. Handling as mentioned was respectable but certainly not inspiring with lots of body roll. The interior was bare bones but quite well laid out. Hers was a light blue colour and the the paint flaked off in several places to expose primer. Paint formulation was not great on a few of the colours. The exposed primer spots gave it a sort of bovine inspired look. The engine eventually overheated and she keep restarting and driving until it didn’t go anymore. From what I remember they refused to take the old one as a core when we got a replacement engine installed. Eventually the electrical system became so flaky she sold it.
We had that thing in México, i like them, all the allegations made about Ford being superior in quality are laughable now, you still see these cars on the streets on a regular basis, and all the Ford Tempo´s, Mercury Topaz and Ford Escorts at the junkyards ( planned obsolescence?).
I like their tank suspension, torquey engine ( we only had the 2.2 MPFI or the TurboII ), big interiors, trunk space, and the Turbo/Manual tranny combination.
it’s like a not so wise student but a really hard working one. Honest car.
Interestingly, up here in Pennsylvania it’s the reverse – these cars, along with other Chryslers from that era, are long gone now, while there are still Ford Escorts and Ford Tempos/Mercury Topazes on the road as daily drivers.
I haven’t seen one of these in years. But then, even as new cars they didn’t interest me. They simply weren’t on the radar.
It was the Scion tC of its time!
The only one that I ever entertained in my mind was the “Duster” version with the V6 and available in what I thought was a rather fetching shade of green. I knew compared to my Iron Duke Celebrity it would have felt like a rocket ship. And when you’re a teen boy trying to win impromptu back-road races against other teen boys in cars from the 80s that was all that mattered.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1993_Plymouth_Duster_green.jpg
OMG, I had forgotten that you could get a Duster “sedan.” Oh the humanity!
Dan, that’s the same color as my grandmother’s was. Without the alloys, spoiler, V6, and interior niceties. (Also, without the two rear doors.)
And I only would have desired the coupe. I recall that when I was student teaching in 1999 one of the high school girls I was teaching had one just like the yellow one pictured with the option of a sunroof, although it looked like an aftermarket hack job. (She was a blonde cheerleader, FWIW.)
That reminds me–in high school, someone asked a friend’s sister and I which we would rather have, a sports car or an SUV. She replied, “an SUV. I have a sports car now, and it’s crap.” She drove a Shadow convertible…
That’s the dark jungle green color that defined cars from the 90s.
I actually admit to STILL wanting a Duster like this, but my sister had a ’93 Shadow SE 2-door with swoopy star-shaped allows…
She was able to get 244,000 miles out of it before we screwed up and fed it Dextron transmission fluid–thus throwing it into limp-home mode (tricking us into thinking the thing was shot when it only needed a flush).
It was a color we called “Toxic-Turquoise” and used to glow in the dark before getting terrible sun-damage. It was built in Mexico and they received the new 1994 paint colors a year before the Sundances built in New Jersey did.
The exact paint color was called “Aqua Pearl Metallic II”, it was a redesign of the original Aqua Pearl Metallic, but with a heavier aluminium content with the new urethane required for the 1994 paint colors.
If I could find a “Toxic-Turquoise” Duster with a stick-shift & 2-doors, I’d be all over it.
The P body was offered in a 4 door sedan, it looked a lot like the 85-89 Lancer/LeBaron.
I liked these but they weren’t a fitting replacement for the L bodies though. This was a quick chop job on the Daytona to get a cheap small car. It worked, they got a good small car. But demand for the L body kept them in production until 1990.
(Shelby/Mopar used these cars pretty effectively and introduced a couple of firsts even on the P based CSX line. The VNT turbo and Fiberide composite wheels, as well as the CSX-T the spiritual succesor to the GT350H.)
I worked for a Tier 1 supplier back in the late 80’s, and we supplied all of the big 3 and Honda, Toyota and Mazda. We got to see many of the cars we supplied parts for, and sometimes we’d see early build cars before the general public would see them.
I got to see (and ride in) a VNT Shelby Shadow that way. A friend who worked in our engineering department took me for a quick spin one lunchtime. It was a zippy car. But since I didn’t drive it myself, I never got to find out HOW zippy it was.
That’s probably why I liked the four-door so much..reminded me of my Lancer ES Turbo. Going through college, I thought I was big stuff with that four-door, gun-metal blue car. Turbocharged, cool front bucket seats…I dropped a seriously stupid-expensive stereo system into it and sharp five-spoke rims. Of course, all of my bad-ass-ness was immediately shot to hell when my sister let me borrow her new 1989 CRX Si! After that, the transmission and clutch on the Lancer felt more akin to a John Deere while the Si bordered on the sublime…
I always liked these cars, but I hated their tail lights. The occurrence is rare now, but being behind one of these P bodies in sunlight made for a maddening experience; the lights always seemed to be recessed too far back in the housings to do any good.
Many of them also had a very poorly made seal between the reflector and the lens, leading to light bleeding through from the taillight section to the reverse lights. Similarly maddening at night.
The taillights and grille are the only way to tell the later Dodges from Plymouths – two ridges for the Shadow vs. three for the Sundance, and a body-color crosshair vs. chrome eggcrate vs. body-color eggcrate (Shadow/Sundance/Duster).
Though there are Shadows with chrome crosshairs too, my friends grandmothers had a chrome crosshair, it was an 87 though, so it might be on the early cars only.
Yes. The differentiation was for the later cars – from the ’91 facelift to the end of the model run. Earlier cars had more chrome, lacked the aero headlights, and had different taillight treatments (more reminiscent of the then-current Omni and Horizon, with debossed squares on the Shadow lights and more numerous horizontal ridges on the Sundance).
I remember talking my way out of a Speeding ticket on the Mass Pike for going 91 mph in a Dodge Spirit when they first came out.
Back when I had my 5.0L Capris, a close friend bought a Shadow ES Turbo (2.2L Turbo I with 5 speed). We had so much fun hooning in that car it inspired me to get a Lancer ES Turbo for my then soon to be expected family. The cornflower yellow pic at the top of the post brought back good memories of the red Shadow coupe, as it looks exactly like it, less the red paint, of course.
Maybe if Mr. Parker had sampled one of the turbo models (IIRC, there was a Sundance Turbo also) he may have had a better opinion of it. The Shadow Turbo gave a performance that was not that far off of the mark of my (unmodified) 5.0L Capri, although the FWD setup would occasionally let it down. OTOH, you could drive the Shadow Turbo in the snow, the 5.0 was stranded.
I thought at the time and for the money, it was a great little car. The ‘hidden’ hatchback was a real plus on a car that small, you could get a lot more into that car than most current small cars today.
As time went on, Mopar cheapened the car out considerably. I didn’t like the minor restyle that was done in the early 90’s. It seems after 1990 you could only get the “America” strippo model on the lots, no dealer stocked an ES or Turbo ES model after that time. The Plymouth Duster models seemed expensive to me when new. I remember driving one at the time, it was quick enough, but it didn’t have the punch the turbo models did.
By the time the Neon arrived, I was glad to see the P-cars go. The cheapo ones at the end of the line ruined it for me.
I think the problem for me was that the only one of these I ever drove was an end-of-the-line, totally stripped ’94. Was the suspension any better on the Turbo models?
The only 2 I ever drove were both ES models and seemed under-damped, but they were also tired, so the dampers may have just been worn out.
Now you know why I’m such a Plymouth fan, as back then, they were always nicer trimmed than the Dodges – classier – if that’s not too strong, but you get the idea.
The one I drove when new was an excellent handler. The P-cars were supposed to come from the factory with two suspension set ups, something like “normal” and “firm”. You could order the “firm” on any car, but the turbo cars had the “firm” setup mandatory.
I can understand your lack of enthusiasm now, as I thought by the time the last P-cars were sold, they had been turned into awfully bland appliances. Kind of like a Chrysler Corolla.
Maybe if I had never blasted through the hills of Northeast Ohio in a turbo model, I guess I would be down on them too…
Here’s a pic of what her car looked like new. It’s a factory shot, but the car looked just like this…
I realize now looking at the cornflower yellow car, that it is a 1989 or later Shadow. Still fun.
And the pix for the post are a weird mash up of a post 89 Shadow nose, with a pre 89 Sundance body…
The things you see when you look twice.
The Duster 3.0 with the manual is the only other car besides a Tempo V6 manual that really did it for me out of the small domestic cars. I think the Duster wins my vote for being much better looking, and that Mitsubishi motor always sounded fantastic…
My mother had a 1987 Sundance which my parents bought new and eventually passed down to me. IIRC, they got it in the summer of 1986 — the Sundance and Shadow came out a little earlier than Chrysler’s other ’87 models. I don’t think I had ever encountered one prior to seeing it on the showroom floor; I initially thought it was some kind of Mitsubishi captive import. I was 15 years old when they got it. The Sundance replaced a 1978 Buick Century 4-door sedan which my parents kept and parked in anticipation of giving to me when I got my license. The Buick, which they had bought used in 1982, suffered from numerous annoying problems from they day they got it. My mom had become expasperated with it. It was fit only to be driven by a teenager as a first car; she wanted a new (emphasis on “new”) car.
My parents got the Sundance on a lease, which was still a somehat new concept at the time. It was the first Chrysler product my parents had ever owned. My dad had a longstanding distaste of Mopars, supposedly derived from an old DeSoto he had as a youth, but my mom persuaded him that this was the car she wanted. My recollection is that it was a decent vehicle in both form and function, probably not up to the standards of leading Japanese competitors from that era, but not a bad car for the money. I always thought that it felt more solid and substantial than a lot of similarly sized cars.
My parents bought it outright when the lease was up, drove it until around 1995, parked it in anticipation of my younger brother taking it when he got his license — which ultimately never came to pass — then gave it to me in 1997 when my ’87 Cavalier died. I drove it for about two years, surviving an episode in which the cause of a knocking engine turned out to be a lack of oil (I haven’t been back to Jiffy Lube since; my mechanic was somehow able to get it running at a level in which I wouldn’t have trusted it for a long trip, but it was OK to run around town in). In the end, I gave it to a friend of mine who needed something to tide him over while he was “between cars”. I’m not sure what became of it after that, but I don’t think he kept it for long, and I’m sure it was junked when he was through with it. This would have been around 2000.
It was a 4-door with the 2.2-liter and automatic. In terms of equipment, it did not have air conditioning, and it had an AM/FM radio with no tape player. We’re from Massachusetts, and no A/C wasn’t that big of a deal here back in the ’80s. The only car my family had ever owned before this that had A/C was the Buick, and it never worked right anyway. As Andrew noted, though, there are times in the summer when you can certainly use it. One of my most vivid memories of this car is being stuck in a traffic jam on the Maine Turnpike on a hot, humid summer day in 1989. An overturned truck was blocking the road ahead and things came to a complete standstill until the a path could be cleared. (People were shutting their cars off, getting out and walking around, for lack of anything better to do.) IIRC, the back windows rolled partway down, so we at least had that. This was an improvement over the Buick, whose back windows didn’t roll down at all.
The car wore light metallic blue paint, which eventually began to peel in various places, most notably the trunk lid. My grandmother and I later acquired a used 1986 Plymouth Reliant and 1985 Plymouth Turismo, respectively, in the exact same color. I always wondered if Chrysler got some kind of a discount on that particular shade….
My friends grandmother had one of these, it was an 87 light blue metallic Shadow, it had digital AM mono radio from the factory, I had never seen that in a car before, this was at the time that most AM radios were still needle and dial affairs.
Good writing, never thought I would read about a Sundance!
My girlfriend, now wife of twenty years, and I bought a Dodge Shadow for her in 1988. I negotiated, she bought. She drove it and after we were married we both drove it; although, I had a Ford F-150 that I mostly drove. I still have fond memories of the car. It was very reliable with the four banger and the three speed auto. Not fast but not slow; not luxurious but not spartan. Gave us about 130,000 miles for about ten years before I sold it to a guy for $1,200. I have nothing but good to say about that car except for the automatic shoulder belts that were a bit of a pain.
“Good writing, never thought I would read about a Sundance!”
Nor I. Frankly, that was one mass-market car that just passed me up completely. Never drove one; never sat in one; never looked at one close-up, except at odd traffic encounters.
For some reason, it wasn’t overly popular in my neck of the Ohio woods. Other ChryCo cars outnumbered it; seemingly even the Rampage pickup car.
It was all the more odd because my ex’s family were MoPar, through and through. At the time they had: TWO Omnis, a 1978 and a 1985; an Omni 024; and a 70s-vintage Duster. Grandma had a 1980 Aspen; and back behind the barn sat her old car, a 1960 Dodge Dart wagon. Sadly, this last was too rotted to be a true restoration candidate; but even in its abandonment, it would start up. Brake issues kept it off the road and sealed its final fate…
Anyway. With two kids in college, the family needed to go car-shopping again; but this time Lew, the patriarch, found a deal on a year-old Scirocco, this just as mid-life crisis hit. He was pleased; and so pleased, he authorized the two of us to dip into the Family Bank (yep, that’s how finances were handled) for a loan on a new Fox. Apparently Lew wasn’t so impressed with Iacocca-ChryCo products. And the Sundance/Shadow was never to find a home on their farm.
In used state, I’d never come across a well-cared-for one with a bargain price. And now, they’re all but gone…I regret never getting a Rampage truck; but this model never spoke to me. It was an appliance; and it just happened I didn’t need that model at that time.
http://tinyurl.com/bvg4gxz
For those who care there are a grand total of 12 in the USA for sale right now. Condsidering production numbers, that’s tiny.
I, too, would have loved the convertible. I always looked at the LeBaron as too disproportionate.
My second car after my Dasher, and my first new car, was a 1989 silver 3-door Sundance. LOL, def a granny car – 3 speed auto, 4-speaker AM-FM stereo cassette player, no air. But hey I was stationed at the naval base in San Diego – no air necessary. I loved the way it handled – truly a good ride/handling compromise for its size, but I hated the plasticky IP parts, especially surrounding the instruments and stereo and on the console – like they were made by Fisher-Price or something. The car behaved admirably for three years. I was honorably discharged in 1992, and my uncle flew out from Philly so we could drive back together. The car behaved admirably. I had only driven it for pleasure – there were no commuter miles on it ever, until I got my first civilian job in the suburbs outside of Philly. Then after about a year or two, things started to fall apart – first the water pump, then the transmission. AAMCO repaired it, but I could no longer put it into 1st gear. Then the tripod fell apart – the mechanical piece that connects the wheels to the steering – causing the front wheels to shake violently. The sunroof sprung a leak and the heater started to fail. One night, while driving to the local convenience store to get ice cream, I rolled down the windows, and both of them FELL out of their tracks. I had just paid it off too. I needed a car for my 52-mile commute to work. A couple of days later, I ended up with a Plymouth Neon Sport sedan – a disaster which deserves its own thread. I should have learned my lesson with the Sundance.
Not a bad car, though I was never a fan of the older Mopar offerings. My mom had an ’87 Sundance with the turbo 2.2 and 5-speed manual. It took a second for the turbo to wind up, but when it did…hang on!. The clutch was kind of heavy, and it had the usual crappy American front-drive cable shifter but it was still fun to drive, and she put over 200,000 km on it. A much better car than the ’85 Omni she had before. My wife had a ’90 Shadow with the 2.5 liter automatic that she bought new. It ran forever. It was easy to work on, and had no major problems other than needing a new timing belt once and going through a battery every few years. We kept it for 13 years and over 300,000 km until the transmission died.
Friend in Vancouver had a 91 base, 2 door Sundance after a Dodge Colt that sprung oil leaks,unusal for a Jap design. The head gasket blow just out side the warranty period,what bad luck!…. He know drives a Matrix.. gone back to Jap cars!
My brother-in-law bought one of these new…the Dodge Shadow America low-priced promo edi, in dark metallic blue. On the first day he had it, he took it out for a fast test drive, lost it on a sharp bend in Nantmeal Village PA, and got broadsided by an oncoming Plymouth Volaré. The impact tore off the driver’s door, and since the driver’s seat belt was attached to the door, he got unbelted. Fortunately he suffered no major injury except to his pride when he had to tell his wife that he’d wrecked their new car on Day One. The Shadow was declared a borderline total loss but he talked the insurance adjuster into fixing it. A wrecking-yard door was reclad with the Shadow America inner panels and trim, and some fancy work with a torch got it all back together. The Shadow went on to another 195,000 miles of daily commuting after that inauspicious start.
my mother has a 1987 Plymouth Sundance but only 40,000 miles on it it has been garaged since new and is in great shape there’s absolutely no rust what is the value on this car thanks everybody
my moms Plymouth Sundance
Uh, you guys aren’t bats are you? lol
My wife’s grandmother was given a new ’91 Sundance from her nephew, who owned a Chrysler dealership, as thanks for taking care of his ailing mom before her passing. My wife eventually inherited the car and passed it on to me when she got a wild hair and decided she wanted a truck. Since I really liked the car’s utility and function but was not so enthused with its drab appearance and fairly weak 2.2 liter engine I replaced it with a well cared for metallic emerald green ’93 Duster which I am still driving today. Car and Driver Magazine ran the quarter mile in about 14 and a half seconds in a 3.0 V6 Duster in 1992 and, with the firm handling package that came with the V6, performance is more than satisfactory. It has a hair more power than the first generation turbos (before the intercooled models) and response is instantaneous without the lag and reliability issues of the turbos. Easily lighting up the front tires on rare occasion is a particular thrill. Outside of the engine management system there are virtually no fancy electronics, motors, relays or solenoids to go bad so it has always been quite trouble free. Their worst quirk, as mentioned above, was trunk leaks from overly large gaps between the taillight housings and the rear panel. The gaps were so wide that the foam gaskets, although initially thick enough, would eventually sag and allow rainwater to run into the spare tire well. Fortunately I caught my Duster before the trunk rotted through. From a practicality standpoint I like that, with the back seat down, it can swallow up a bicycle or my wife’s wheelchair with the hatch fully closed and latched, something my Crown Victoria cannot do. And occasionally I even get a comment on it, from the tuner kids who like the ‘retro’ look to the oldsters who liken it to a shrunken fox body Mustang.
While these cars had their weaknesses, they’re still on of my favorite K-cars. Interiors were penalty boxes, but the exterior styling was attractive, especially in 2 door form. Sundance RS was by far the most exciting.
My sister had one of these as her first car. She bought it at an auction with 80,000 miles. It was a Shadow America with no options. She put over 200,000 miles on it until it finally had to be retired. She did not have any problems with it what so ever.
These were the predecessors and successors to the Dodge Shadow 2 Door Hatchback Coupe. I also included the Mitsubishi sourced subcompacts as well for comparison purposes from their respective eras as well.
My dad traded our 1st new car, a 1971 Dodge Dart Swinger, with the bulletproof Slant 6… for a 1979 Dodge Omni 024.
While the Dart was troublefree, the 024 was not… thanks, Lee Iacocca. 🙁
The Omni 024 was an attractive car for the times, yellow with black lower panels… but the checkered interior looked like some old golf pants.
Funny, the interior of my 1973 AMC Hornet had the same ugly plaid interior. 😛
Gotta love the 70’s. lol
Now the 4 Door Hatchback Sedan versions. It is affirmative that the current Fiat sourced Dodge Dart is the spiritual successors to the subcompacts pictured here except the Mitsubishi sourced versions which virtually complemented the Chrysler based models from their respective eras as well.
My dad bought a Shadow new with zero options….because even with his GM discount the Shadow was the cheapest car he could buy. It wasnt a bad car.
I liked the looks of the L-body 2 door better. I still have mine. I did put a It V8 into it as well as a 5 speed. I have only had it to 150 and it held the road quite well. It still gets 26 mpg on the highway and 20 around town. People always tell me they don’t see them around anymore, but I understand that. I had to do some body work recently and the sheet metal is really thin, but I guess that’s what it takes to make the car light.
The Sundance/Shadow, like the Acclaim/Spirit, were commuter cars. Comfy seats, capable air conditioning, good ergonomics, a torquey four and durable auto transmission with fast throttle response just right for stop-and-go driving, and relatively cheap to buy and run.
CC effect, here’s my neighbor’s Dodge Shadow convertible. This little guy actually has a V6.
(Note this was purchased at the local Mini dealer, and it really is very similar in size.)
I knew a family that owned a brown Shadow sedan along with a Reliant at one point in time. The dad was actually a math teacher now that I think about it, as these were some low budget, point A to B, used cars if you cared about the numbers and saving money.
My friend’s mom had also owned an early 90s Chrysler Sundance sedan in a faded silver or gold colour with the exact same wheel covers as the first car pictured. Around 2001 it looked and felt every bit like an old car. Nothing fancy about it, but it ran. I liked the metal wheel covers (and two of them were later stolen).
At the time we had just gotten our licenses and my friend was still young so he managed to abuse that car till the last dying day. He cracked a taillight by backing up into a small tractor. He put a small hole in the drivers side fender by hitting a small pillar at the end of the driveway when reversing at his parent’s old house, which his dad later fixed. He bumped into another car while driving which was minor. The grand finale was when he intercepted an oncoming van while making a left turn, thus totalling the car. This was around 2001, so his mother replaced it with a new 2001 Civic which she still drives today.
The Shadow/Sundance was not a bad car for what it was. It was cheap transportation and to be honest with you all, one of the best hidden hatchback cars made. It blended the hatch so well that most people(myself included) thought it was a coupe or a sedan with a regular trunk.
The Shadow looked ALOT more manly to drive than the goofy, feminine Neon that replaced it.
Recently, I saw an ad for a MINT black 1991 Sundance Duster for only $1500 or best offer.
Great find… but, I noticed it was probably sold already. About time, the ad was around for a month or two.
Gotta love the wildly inaccurate speedo markings 100kmh is 62mph not 56.
Who cares, still a slow car.
My sister had a Sundance as her first car, which she later gave to our dad (interesting reversal of fortune 🙂 ). Drove it a few times, didn’t impress me as anything special but didn’t insult my sensibilities either. Almost made it to 200k, not bad for living it’s entire life in the Cleveland area.
I had a 1988 Sundance in black with those real metal full wheel covers. It had a whorehouse red interior. I loved that car and didn’t get rid of it until 97, when it had about 140,000 miles on it. Replaced it with a Hyundai Accent another car with a bad reputation that served me well.
I’m ZO CONFUZED! That red car shown in the beginning of this well-written article has the Plymouth Sundance tail-lamps and hubcaps, but has the front cross-hair grill of the Dodge Sundance. Huh??? Here is a photo of my first new car: the 1989 Plymouth Sundance “Highline” (that was a Canadian trim package). Mine had white-wall tires, pop-up sunroof, and a chrome trunk rack. It had the “larger” 2.5 litre 4-cyl. engine. It was lots of fun to drive, and lasted me 9 good years!