Lee Iacocca’s K-Cars were instant sales hits when they first hit streets in 1981, so it was inevitable that a sports car would be based on the versatile platform. That car ended up being the Dodge Daytona and its Chrysler-badged twin ( the Laser), and it debuted as a 1984 model. Here’s one of those first-year G-Cars, found in a Northern California yard.
The 1984 Daytona wasn’t the first sporty front-wheel-drive hatchback offered to American car shoppers by Chrysler; the Omnirizon-derived Dodge Omni 024/ Plymouth Horizon TC3 first hit showrooms as 1979 models. Those cars had French ancestry via Chrysler Europe, however, while the Daytona was pure Michigan.
I turned 18 in 1984 and managed to take a test-drive in a new Daytona Turbo Z that year. I recall it seeming pretty quick, but nowhere near as fast off the line as the incredibly dangerous hopped-up 1958 Beetle I owned at the time.
The Turbo Z was sold for the 1984 through 1986 model years, after which it became the Shelby Z and then the Shelby Daytona.
Daytona production continued all the way through 1993, with the final factory-hot-rod version called the Daytona IROC. Yes, there were non-Camaro IROCs!
All 1984-1989 Daytonas were powered by the Chrysler 2.2/2.5-liter SOHC straight-four engine. The Mitsubishi 6G72 V6 became available for 1990 through 1993.
This is the Turbo I engine, rated at a respectable-for-the-time 142 horsepower.
The MSRP for the 1984 Daytona with Turbo Z package was $11,494, which is about $35,606 in 2024 dollars. That got you a Daytona Turbo with a bunch of luxury interior goodies that I couldn’t photograph because some nimrod of a junkyard customer locked all the doors and I didn’t feel like jimmying a lock or breaking a window.
The list price for a 1984 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 and its 190hp V8 was $10,608 ($32,861 after inflation), but it was no trick to option-up a ‘maro to well beyond Daytona Turbo Z prices. Meanwhile, a new Ford Mustang GT Turbo started at just $9,958 ($30,848 in today’s money) and it had three more blow-dried horses than the Turbo Z.
I used to find quite a few Daytonas during my junkyard travels, but now I may run across just one every couple of years.
The fantastically balanced, performance-bred Dodge Daytona Turbo Z. It’s an American Revolution (though, in hindsight, its minivan cousins proved to be much more influential).
1984 Dodge Daytona Turbo Z in California wrecking yard.
1984 Dodge Daytona Turbo Z in California wrecking yard.
1984 Dodge Daytona Turbo Z in California wrecking yard.
1984 Dodge Daytona Turbo Z in California wrecking yard.
1984 Dodge Daytona Turbo Z in California wrecking yard.
[Images: The Author]
Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.
Source: The Truth About Cars
Speaking to io9, showrunner Russell T Davies confirmed that a new documentary will look back…
As someone who grew up in the late 90s and early 2000s, I played a…
iOS 18.4 packs a lot of new features, but one of my top picks is…
Award-winning actress Tilda Swinton to curate gallery exhibition featuring portraits of herself titled Tilda Swinton…
Scientists assumed most forms of life before the Great Oxidation Event didn't metabolize oxygen—but recent…
The Trump ally says he wants to "ensure Congress has a voice in trade policy."