In the late 1980s, the European-designed Dodge Omni and Horizon seems to have lost its popularity and Chrysler needs to introduce an entirely different car design. The answer for their problem came in 1987 as Chrysler introduced their P-body cars. These cars never outsold the A-bodies that they have introduced in the earlier years for a variety of reasons.
One of the P-bodied cars manufactured and sold by Chrysler is the Dodge Shadow. It was introduced in 1987 together with the nearly identical Plymouth Sundance. Among the two cars, the Dodge Shadow was considered as the sportier and probably sold more.
The Dodge Shadow was introduced in 1987 as a four-door hatchback. Later, a 2-door hatchback also became available. Either was equipped with a standard 2.2 liter 4-cylinder engine or an optional 2.5 liter 4-cylinder engine. A turbocharged version was also available for the 2.5 liter. Standard transmission is a 5-speed manual while a 3-speed automatic is also available.
The Dodge Shadow received a major redesign in 1990. A turbo version of the 2.2 liter engine became available for that year, although available only for the premium ES trim and for other special competition package models. A year later, a Dodge Shadow convertible was introduced but sold only until 1993.
The performance of the Dodge Shadow was not impressive, and its assembly quality cannot match its Japanese rivals. But for its considerably low sticker price, it performs well and looks good enough. It is actually aimed for the young first time car buyers who want a decent subcompact car at an affordable price.
Except for the first few year models, there apparently is not much problem with most of the Dodge Shadows, no matter how old they are. If you own a second generation Dodge Shadow, restoring or maintaining it is simple and not very costly. A few high performance Dodge Shadow parts will do if you want to further boost its performance. The older Dodge Shadows, however, are harder to repair and if you plan to restore one, we advise that you rather let an expert do the job. Once restored, however, repairs and maintenance would be easy. Equip it with Dodge Shadow auto parts from Parts Train and it will perform just the way you want it.
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