I started my TD sickness back in 09 when I tracked down a Radiant Silver Shelby Daytona. The car was just a roller to start and I have taken the last four years building it up to something that is worthy for the road. It has been driving well for a while now but something has always bothered me... the body. Time has taken it's toll, causing the paint to delaminate and the rockers to rust out at those four wonderful corners. I love the car but I do not have the time or motivation to be tearing the car down for the proper panel replacement and paintjob that it deserves.
So, I decided that I would start to hunt for another turbo dodge that didn't need quite so much attention so that I could get the Daytona to a new loving home. Kijiji was checked weekly in hopes that I would find a nice clean car with decent paint. Last friday I found it.
The ad was for an 1992 Dodge Spirit ES Turbo. The parts that grabbed my attention were the clean body and 5-speed transmission. The part that got my wifes permission was that it had working A/C ( I pulled the A/C out of my daytona in favor of future intercooler piping). I called the seller to ask more about it and he said that if I came to look at the car he guaranteed that I would buy it. I made the journey to Calgary on Saturday to check it out. It was a one-owner car, purchased by the seller and his wife in the spring of '92. He said that they had haggled the dealership pretty hard, getting them down from $22,000 to $16,000 and using his wife's lack of manual driving skills as their bargaining chip. The deal was struck and SHE drove it off the lot.
This was his fourth and last turbo dodge. He had also owned A shelby charger, a GLH omni, and a turbo lebaron. He was quite happy to see that another enthusiast had taken interest in the car. After crawling all under and through it I took it for a drive and we struck our deal. He was right, I wasn't going home without this car.
Pretty much everything on the car seems to be original, with the exception of the steering wheel and valve cover. The leather wheel wore through years ago and he was only able to find a rubber one as a replacement. The original valve cover was broken after an overheating episode and the mechanic who fixed it put on a stamped steel replacement instead of the proper turbo cover. It's high on my to-do list.
After spending so much time hunting for parts to frankenstein my Daytona together it is great to have a car that is so complete! It came with all four original keys (2 valet), a full size matching spare, and an uncrumpled owners manual. And even at 223,000 kms it is the best driving turbo dodge that I have sat in to date.
That being said, it is a 20 year old car and it still needs some work. The rocker is rusted through behind the drivers front tire so it will need to be replaced. The rear bumper has been backed into and it spidered the paint. And there are plenty of rock chips. But it has aged well and I think it will polish up very nicely.
A nice and clean interior with no saggy headliner or water in sight was nice to see.
My plans so far are to:
Clean up surface rust and rock chips and power polish the paint
Transfer my stereo and go-fast bits from the Daytona
Put the proper valve cover on and clean up the engine bay
Follow the orginal owners instructions by driving it like I stole it!
Thanks for looking!