Junkyard Find: 1993 Dodge Shadow ES
We often forget about the P-body version of Chrysler’s mainstay-for-15-years K platform, though Shadows and Sundances once roamed North American highways in huge numbers. I still see plenty of completely trashed Ps in self-service wrecking yards— for example, this ’91 Shadow, this ’92 Sundance, and this super-rare Sundance America— but it takes something special to make me willing to do a Junkyard Find on a P. Early-90s factory tape graphics on a crypto-sporty Shadow sold just before the advent of the Neon? Yes, there’s some historical significance here.
The El Cheapo Plymouth Sundance America was Chrysler’s attempt to follow up the even more El Cheapo Horizon America (Jack Baruth explores the fate of the Horizon America and similar attempts at the creation of super-affordable compacts in this piece), but meanwhile the slightly more upscale Dodge Division was aiming for a few more bucks with cars like this optioned-up Shadow ES.
I believe ES is supposed to stand for “Executive Sedan.”
222,592 miles on the clock, which is quite respectable.
That mileage figure is even more impressive when you consider that this car has a Mitsubishi heart: the 3-liter 6G72 V6 engine, the naturally-aspirated version of the engine that powered the 3000GT/Stealth and countless minivans.
With 142 horsepower hauling just 2,690 pounds, this ’93 Shadow ES was quick enough to deserve its decklid wing.
Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.
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Back over the summer I saw a Shadow convertible. Basically a shorter LeBaron convertible. I think they were done by ASC. Nice shape but you could see the door fit at the latch area was a bit off. Maybe it was old age. Future collectable? Who knows? Maybe there is a market out there for AMC Alliance convertibles as well.
Chicago dealers had alot of Sundance Dusters and Shadow ES's in green with gold trim. They called them 'Dusters' for short. Were a popular buy for entry level customers, until the Neon came. But, as with most cheap 'cool' cars, they disappear as fast as they flood the market.