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AMC winged warrior? Fact or fiction?

a "Shelby" ? If I recall, 90 was the first year with the 3.0 but not on a Shelby, the model was replaced by the IROC
You're right! It was an IROC.
Were they not Shelby Irocs?? I should have taken apic lol
 
You're right! It was an IROC.
Were they not Shelby Irocs?? I should have taken apic lol
Yes... and no.... Some cars still had Shelby decals on them, even though they transferred to model badging to IROC, I think in 91... Nevertheless, I wish I bought a IROC R/T with the Lambo/Lotus ? head which only a few hundred were made, in 92 I think
 
Had to add this,
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And the 224hp motor was a lotus head
 
I read the article but not the comments, seems the original builder did it for fun. No problem there. I do have a problem however, with whoever wrote that article criticizing the restoration work alluding it was substandard when they have never seen the car in person. I absolutely hate condescending people like that. If they could do a better job, buy it and prove it!
I also hate liars, like the person who sold this car, trying to pawn it off as if it were some factory superbird prodigy. Sheesh. Whoever bought it is in for a rude awakening.
Jmho.
 
I think that AMC is an interesting build. The builder appears to have presented it as an "I-built-this-to-my-desires" car and had fun with it. The guy who bought it from the builder conjured up a 100%-BS "backstory" concerning the car's imaginary and non-existent provenance, to include that "AMC museum" in Manitoba, Canada. Plus, anyone with a brain knows (or can figure out!) that nose piece is a modified Daytona R/T nose cone. I would drive this, just based on its outrageousness! Even AMC products need and deserve a little love, right?

Look at all of the "Super Bee/RoadRunner wagons" out and about! How many of these are presented as a "never say never where Mopars are concerned!" factory-built cars? I know of at least one in Texas where the owner insists his is a "real" '69 RR wagon...obviously, it isn't. No such critter!
 
OK.

Been playing with the 2.2 / 2.5 turbo cars for decades. Still have my one-owner '91 Daytona 2.5 turbo, as well as my '90 Voyager turbo, as well as an 86 GLHS project car. Have owned CSX's, VNT's, Lancers, and Spirit R/T's in the past.

Here's the info on them.

2.2 / 2.5 liter 8v four cylinder turbos were MOPAR motors.

Turbo I: non intercooled, 2.2 or 2.5. 2.2 draw through cars had a garrett turbo; 2.5 blow-through cars used a Mitsubishi TE04H turbocharger.

Turbo II: intercooled, 2.2 only, Garrett turbocharger, blow-through. 175 hp stock.

Turbo III: intercooled, 2.2 liter, 16v DOHC Lotus cylinder head, Garrett turbocharger. 225hp stock. The only interference version of these motors (all the 8v motors are non-interference; break a timing belt, nothing hits, simply re-time, install a new belt, and go). Blow-through throttle body. Available only in 91/92 Spirit R/T, and '92/93 Daytona IROC R/T

Turbo IV: intercooled, 2.2 liter, 8v, Garrett VNT25 Variable Nozzle Turbocharger (first production vehicle ever to have a VNT). Premiered in 89 Shelby CSX-VNT, then available in '90 Shadow and Daytona. Same 175 hp as t2, but MUCH quicker spool up due to the VNT. V8 levels of torque response off the line.

DODGE turbo cars: 84-91 Shadow, Sundance, Daytona, Lebaron, Spirit, Acclaim, Reliant and Aries K cars, Caravan and Voyager minivans.

SHELBY turbo cars - body-in-white from Chrysler, shipped to Carroll Shelby / Shelby Automobiles, Inc. in Whittier, CA, and converted with wheels, tires, suspension upgrades, quick ratio racks, interior trim, and re-titled (new MSO) as SHELBY cars:

86 Omni GLHS (turbo II; all black; 500 units)
87 Shelby Charger (turbo II, all black; 750 units)
87 Shelby CSX (Shadow) (turbo II, all black)
87 Shelby Lancer (turbo II; 400 cars stick/cloth, 400 cars automatic/leather, all red)
88 Shelby CSX-T (Thrifty rental, all white) (2.5 turbo I)
89 Shelby CSX-VNT (turbo IV, all red with gold Fiberide fiberglass composite wheels)
89 Shelby Dakota (first Dakota to have a V8, 505 units white, 495 units red).

Carroll Shelby worked with Cosworth (England) to develop his own 16v DOHC head, that WAS going to be in a 1990 CSX with a VNT turbo attached. The prototype was dark blue with silver Fiberide (fiberglass) wheels like the 89 CSX, but Carroll and Chrysler parted ways before production could begin. Carroll's personal Shelby GLHS had a 2.2, Cosworth head, and a 60 trim VNT turbo that I sourced for him back in '01, when he saw my CSX-VNT with a 60 trim turbo on it (stock was 42 - think "tennis ball versus softball" for size difference) and asked his engineer who was with him "we didn't put that on there, did we??". That led to a great conversation with the man, as well as an autographed dashboard, and a panicked phone call from my turbo guy the next day - "dude, you will not BELIEVE who just called me!!!!".

Fun times. Went through a LOT of front tires. Make sure you're pointed where you wanna go, though, cause when that boost comes up....you're going THERE!

And NO, "Daytona Shelby"s were NOT Shelby-built cars. They were Dodges. The ONLY cars that were built by Shelby Automobiles, are the ones listed above. And as noted, they are TRUE Shelby cars, with Shelby Manufacturer Statement of Origins, and titled as Shelby, not Dodge. I have a copy of the VIN lists somewhere, if anyone ever finds one and wants to know "is it real?".
 
Thanks for the education guys. You all never fail to impress with your knowledge (and free entertainment along the way lol).
 
Yeah, these weren't 2.2L or 2.5L Turbo Shelbys, but we can't forget the '89 Shelby Dakota trucks with the first 318 in a Dakota. No Turbo, but late '80s fun as good as it got! Before I was stationed in West Germany in 1989, I tried real hard for several months to order a Shelby Dakota convertible pickup (none were built). Many phone calls, plus a pretty helpful dealer, failed to get one approved. You could get a Shelby Dakota. You could get a convertible Dakota Sport. But not as one vehicle! I had a line on a totaled Shelby several years back that I would've bought (it was in Nebraska), had I been able to talk one of my co-worker buddies out of his very nice convertible Dakota. My plan was to fix the Shelby, swap the convertible cab to the Shelby truck, and boom! Home-built Shelby convertible Dakota! That would've been a conversation starter at car shows.

Another cool swap would have been to take an early four-cylinder, manual trans Dakota ('87 - '91) and swap in a Turbo III or IV engine. I guess that would still be a possibility to build in 2023, but sourcing a four-banger Dak and a Turbo III/IV engine would both be hard to source.
 
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The "big deal" that allowed Carroll to put the 318 in a Dakota?

Electric fans.

Seriously. That was his big change. Took off the pulley-clutch-fan, stuck on a shorter water pump, put electric fans on the radiator...done.
 
If you read in the comments of the article the original builder, Rodney Snyder, chimes in several times...

Rodney Snyder
Jul 9, 2016 at 10:04pm
I am the real Rod RAMBLER Snyder , the the sole builder of the REBEL 500
I sold the car on EBAY I gave the new buyer all the info as to why I built the car
in the manner that you see it now.
Boy was I suprized when I saw the bull crap that he was trying to pass off about
the car all I ever printed in my add when I sold the car on EBAY was that i might
did it like you see it now.the nose is from three Dodge Datonas all the rest is
69 ambassador
I was 74 years old at that time my e mail is ([email protected])
Iam RAMBLIN ROD

This article is from 2016
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The AMC is cool and I would do burn outs in it every day. I wonder if it drives nice or if it drives like a factory 69 AMC lol.

Shame on the slickster trying to gain on the backs of others. The older I get, the more I despise the type.
 
Someone just made a million dollars selling a car with a fictional history and the movie will follow, we will be seeing more of this kind of BS as cars cross the auction blocks in the future!
 
Someone just made a million dollars selling a car with a fictional history and the movie will follow, we will be seeing more of this kind of BS as cars cross the auction blocks in the future!
So does that make this car the Red, White and Blue Ghost??
 
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