Forgotten Sports Cars

  • Thread starter Thread starter Danny
  • 58 comments
  • 6,567 views
Protomoters' cars were cool cars!

2003 Spirra
spirra3.jpg

spirra8.jpg

spirra9.jpg


V8, 320Bhp@6000RPM, and Top Speed at 174Mph

2002 PS-II
ps2.jpg

ps22.jpg

ps28.jpg


V6, 250Bhp.

Both 6-speed manuals.
Not fast, but cool cars, IMO.
 
miata13B
Freaking bold doesn't work on bold. . . The Daytona Iroc R/T has been shown, the Starion, Corrado, GTI R32, Even a '04 BMW 3 series Sport Wagon that had been converted into a M3 : )
Click to expand...

Just because something made a tuner magazine once doesn't mean it hasn't been forgotten by the general buying public. The Daytona IROC R/T is an unbelievable performer - for a vehicle I've never seen or heard mentioned. Ever. In fact, until this very moment I've questioned whether they actually exist. Seriously.

R32 hasn't been forgotten yet but will be in seven years - I promise that.
 
I think the Spirra is powered by a Ford Mustang SVT Cobra engine. :) I wonder when they're going to use the 4.6-liter supercharged V8 in the new Spirra. :sly:

Also, the Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe is a forgotten sports car! :sly:

SeLd_88TCfqtr.JPG
 
MrktMkr1986
Also, the Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe is a forgotten sports car! :sly:
Click to expand...

I was considering adding that to my list but thought better of it. Among the four 'performance' models since 1983 (83-88 Turbo Coupe, 84-86 XR-7, 89-95 Thunderbird SC, 89-90 XR-7) the Mercurys are much more forgotten than the Fords, but even the Mercurys have a following. Truth be told, you'll never find a performance-oriented Ford or Chevrolet product that's truly 'forgotten'; they have too much appeal.
 
M5Power
The Daytona IROC R/T is an unbelievable performer - for a vehicle I've never seen or heard mentioned. Ever. In fact, until this very moment I've questioned whether they actually exist. Seriously.
Click to expand...

:lol:

That's hi-frickin'-larious considering Your Opinion: Do I Get It? .
 
How about a Chrysler Conquest TSi?

modified1.jpg


These were the stablemates to the Mitsu Starion Turbos.

Each one had:
Leather seats
5-speed manual
Full gauging, including Turbo boost meter!
"Turbo" Stitching on the seat belts
and rear-wheel-drive.
 
Yugo DSC Maxxer
M5Power, I thank you for recognizing the Starion.
Click to expand...

I love the Starion - in fact, an original Dodge Conquest parked next to me the other day. They're great cars; I remember when I was growing up them coming out. Of course, they had no badges so for years I had no idea what the hell they were. I don't even remember how I eventually found out, but it was within the last five or six years.

Jetboys427
How about a Chrysler Conquest TSi?
Click to expand...

Some of us already mentioned that. :p

Firebird
That's hi-frickin'-larious considering Your Opinion: Do I Get It? .
Click to expand...

The Spirit RT is a lot more well-known than the Daytona. A lot of people think that because there was a Shelby version before the IROC version, the Shelby would be faster - well it's not even close. The IROC Daytona had the same power rating as the Impreza WRX has now; they were unbelievable.

Was there ever a Shelby Dakota or a convertible Dakota?
 
M5Power
Was there ever a Shelby Dakota or a convertible Dakota?
Click to expand...
There was definitely a convertible Dakota...never heard of the Shelby though.
 
Believe it or not, but there is a Chrysler Conquest right down the street for me in a silver color.

Looks good. Until now, I had know idea who made it. Good looking car.
 
Someone is selling an imaculate TSi near me for $4,800. Pitty the insurance ratings, though. :(
 
M5Power
Was there ever a Shelby Dakota or a convertible Dakota?
Click to expand...

Yes and yes.

I've never seen a convertible Dakota in person, but I have seen a Shelby Dakota in person. The Shelby Dakota was the first Dakota to be fitted with a V8.
 
I've seen a lot of convertible Daks. They sold pretty well around here. I've never seen a Shelby Dakota, but I've seen two Shelby Durangos.
 
Would those be the 360 Durango's, Duke?
 
Ahh, the convertible Dakota... THE vehicle with the least structural rigidity ever built. Someone on my street had a banana yellow one when I was a kid, and that's pretty much the only one I've ever seen.
 
I believe I've also seen a Jeep Comanche convertible - being unibody, I would assume it was even floppier than the Dak.

And yes, those were the 360 Durango; blue with white skunk stripes.
 
neon_duke
I believe I've also seen a Jeep Comanche convertible - being unibody, I would assume it was even floppier than the Dak.
Click to expand...

Had to have been an aftermarket job. The only convertible Jeep since '87 has been Wrangler. There was a Cherokee convertible concept built, called Freedom, but it never made it even close to production.

jeep-freedom-1990.jpg


And why would a unibody be floppier than a body-on-frame?
 
Firebird
And why would a unibody be floppier than a body-on-frame?
Click to expand...
Well, as I'm sure you know, unibodies depend on the rigidity of the shell itself rather than bolting body assemblies to the frame rails. So cutting a chunk out of that shell would interfere with the overall strength, even if you reinforced the remainder.

Imagine a roof truss in your house - it's a closed system with a perimeter and inside web members. The individual pieces themselves are quite small and would never hold your roof up. But combined into a rigid assembly they hold up quite a lot. If you go in there and chop out some of the interior members, or (worse) cut through one of the perimeter chords, it seriously weakens the overal rigidity.

The alternative in construction terms is to build your roof with post-and-beam like a barn - very heavy timbers holding up the peak and outside edges of the roof, with other rafters spanning across those. It takes a lot more material, but there is redundacy and the rigidity is not dependent on being a closed system of forces.

The first is like unibody construction, the second like body-on-frame.
 
Duke, do you just pull this stuff out of the air? :lol:
 
Jetboys427
Duke, do you just pull this stuff out of the air? :lol:
Click to expand...

Seems to me he knows what the **** he's talking about. :)

But even a unibody that has been cut into and reinforced again is still going to have higher torsional and bending rigidities.

In any case the Comanche was half-unibody, half-body-on-frame. Made for an... interesting... chassis, to say the least. :D
 
I take it 'handleing' was an politically-incorrect dirty word. :lol:
 
skip0110
There was definitely a convertible Dakota...never heard of the Shelby though.
Click to expand...

89-90 convertible. Couldn't find it in Blue Book 'till now.

Yes and yes.

I've never seen a convertible Dakota in person, but I have seen a Shelby Dakota in person. The Shelby Dakota was the first Dakota to be fitted with a V8.
Click to expand...

What years did they make the Shelby? I've seen three or four convertibles but never a Shelby. In fact, when I was living in Colorado, a convertible Dakota had truck license plate 0001-AA, the very first. I thought it might've been aftermarket at the time, but I'd read in the past about a convertible Dakota. Until now it was just a matter of finding the production years, which I've done, but now I can't find the years on the Shelby.
 
M5Power
What years did they make the Shelby? I've seen three or four convertibles but never a Shelby.

...

Until now it was just a matter of finding the production years, which I've done, but now I can't find the years on the Shelby.
Click to expand...

The only year of production was '89, with 1500 units churned out.
 
Jetboys427
How about a Chrysler Conquest TSi?

modified1.jpg


These were the stablemates to the Mitsu Starion Turbos.

Each one had:
Leather seats
5-speed manual
Full gauging, including Turbo boost meter!
"Turbo" Stitching on the seat belts
and rear-wheel-drive.
Click to expand...

I have an 89 Conquest with several mods:

Aussie Magna MPI w/65mm Ford TB
Mitsu 19C turbo
Header w/3" Exh
Roller Cam

check my CarDomain link http://members.cardomain.com/hotrodtsi
 
I used to see a red Shelby Dakota every day on the way to school. It was all worn to pieces though. Paint faded, wheels extremely dirty, rear window cracked. :(
 
The Shelby Dakotas weren't all that fantastic, they were the only v8 offered in the Dakota at the time, but it was a pretty gutless one. I'd still rather have that in my Dakota than the 3.9L V6. I think the convertibles were offered from '89-'91, but I could definetly be wrong. There's a red one ripping around town here, they look ridiculous with the top up, not too bad with it down though.
 
I wouldn't say it's forgotten, but it's certainly not as well known as it deserves to be.

The ASL Garaiya
Garaiya.jpg


And, in the colors it really belongs in:
04r1m043a.jpg
 
Takumi, has the garaiya even started production? Either way it really isn't meant to sell, more to allow them to run the race car.
 
Back