(first posted 10/19/2015) You may be thinking, why is this instalment of the “Obscure Special Editions and Limited-Run Models” simply called “Mopar Edition”? While researching this article, two things became clear. Firstly, there has been a lot of obscure metal from the Chrysler Corporation, especially over the past 40 or so years. Secondly, Chrysler generally made less of an effort to distinguish a Dodge from a Plymouth (and sometimes even from a Chrysler!).
Sure, it wasn’t always that way, but it felt disingenuous to include, say, a Plymouth Neon in a Plymouth article when in some years it was badged as a Chrysler or a Dodge (or both!) Chrysler wasn’t the only company guilty of badge engineering – not by a long shot – but Ford and General Motors were generally more willing and financially able to distinguish their brands.
As a result of these conclusions, these instalments will be known as the Mopar Edition and will be split into several parts covering the Chrysler, Dodge and Plymouth brands. As for those after some Jeeps, stay tuned for a future instalment.
Plymouth Arrow Jet
Years produced: 1978
Total production: ?
Somebody in Highland Park was cognizant of Plymouth’s sporting heritage when they signed off on the Arrow as their captive import offering for 1976 instead of the frumpy Colt sedan and wagon. The opposite occurred in Canada, where hot snow falls up and Intrepids are badged as Chryslers. The Arrow, a rebadged Mitsubishi Lancer Celeste, was mechanically similar to the Colt but featured a modern, angular and rather fetching body. Its relatively low list price, subcompact size and pleasing lines naturally gave the Arrow an appealing base for a series of special editions and option packages. These included the GT, the striped GS, the bold Fire Arrow and this: the Arrow Jet. The Jet made the others look almost subtle. Available only with raised white-letter tires and road wheels, and in eye-catching Spitfire Orange paint with black lower paint, bumpers and a flat black hood, the Jet package was distinguished even more with an unnerving number of decals as pictured. They were going for some kind of aviation theme, but the end result more closely resembled a child’s coloring in of a Plymouth Arrow.
While for 1978, Plymouth promotional material listed the GS and GT as trim levels and not option packages, the Jet was merely an option package on the base Arrow. As such, it appears to have only been available with the smaller 1.6 “Silent Shaft” four-cylinder and four-speed manual or three-speed automatic. The GS and GT were available with a larger 2.0 and a five-speed stick. The following year, the Fire Arrow would receive an even larger 2.6. Thus, for all its silly “Caution: Restricted Area” decals, the Jet was pretty low on the totem pole of performance although even the 1.6 had Mitsubishi’s new combustion system, appropriately named MCA-JET. But even in a decade of often tasteless tape-stripe specials, the Jet didn’t appear to be very successful and the option package disappeared after 1978.
Dodge Charger Daytona
Years produced: 1976-77
Total production: ?
It’s funny how a few decades passing can alter one’s perspective. The second-generation Dodge Charger and first-generation Dodge Challenger are lauded as some of the most desirable American cars of the muscle car era. Enthusiasts cried foul when Dodge dared to use the Charger nameplate on a four-door sedan in 2006, despite its competitive chassis and available Hemi V8. But let’s rewind to the 1970s for a minute. The first Challenger was a belated entry to the pony car segment, sold well below expectations, and was axed after 1974. A few years later, Dodge dusted off the nameplate and slapped it on a Japanese captive import. For 1975, to arrest a sales slide in a market dominated by personal luxury coupes, Dodge restyled the Charger with very formal styling. To retain some degree of performance credibility, though, Dodge recycled the Charger Daytona nameplate. Now, it seems like an affront. Then, it didn’t seem quite so offensive: the now-legendary ’69 Charger Daytona, like its Plymouth Superbird counterpart, was a slow seller and languished on dealer lots. Why not re-use the name?
The Daytona wasn’t initially available with the standard Charger SE, instead arriving in late 1975. All Daytonas received two-tone paint jobs: for 1976, the roof, hood, rocker panels and trunklid were painted a different color from the rest of the body, while for 1977 the Daytona received wilder tape striping and the second color was shifted to the fenders and roof.
The treatment was entirely cosmetic, as a heavy-duty suspension set-up was only an option. Engine offerings were the same as the SE: 318, 360 and 400 cubic-inch V8s. A three-speed TorqueFlite was the only transmission, and the Daytona came standard with a column-shifter. A floor-shifted automatic was optional, although Daytonas came with standard vinyl bucket seats. Slick Urethane-styled road wheels were also optional and the standard tires were whitewalls.
The specifications made for a somewhat confused attempt at a “sporty” car, not helped by the Charger’s very square-rigged, formal styling shared with the Chrysler Cordoba. The Cordoba ended up dramatically outselling the cheaper Charger, and by 1978 the Charger was replaced with the redesigned (but still very similar) Magnum. There was officially a 1978 Charger SE, but no Daytona. The Magnum GT would represent more of an effort by Chrysler in producing a sporty mid-size model.
Dodge 024 De Tomaso
Years produced: 1980-81
Total production: 1952
Before the Chrysler TC by Maserati, there was another Italian-American tie up between Lee Iacocca and Alejandro de Tomaso. This one was actually delivered on time, but that was because it was simply an appearance package on the Dodge Omni-based 024 coupe.
The 024 De Tomaso was available in either bright yellow or bright red, and each example was outfitted with unique cast aluminum wheels, wheel arch flares, blackout air dam and grille, and rear spoiler and window louvers. There was also a brushed metal, wraparound “targa” roof band, a rather perplexing fad that appeared at various times throughout the 1970s and 1980s (see: AMC Hornet AMX); another faddish item were giant text decals, spelling De Tomaso, festooned all over the body.
Inside was a little more subtle, with unique features limited to black vinyl bucket seats, a special dash plaque, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob. Underneath was completely indistinguishable from regular 024s, with the same 65 horsepower 1.7 Volkswagen-sourced four-cylinder and four-speed manual transmission. As far as “European” special editions go, the 024 De Tomaso was vaguely convincing in that the Omni’s mechanicals were indeed very European (four-wheel independent suspension, front-wheel-drive). After all, the Omni/024 was based on the European Chrysler Horizon.
The rarer 1981 models had a shot in the arm in the form of Chrysler’s 2.2 four-cylinder, but this was still the pre-turbo era at Chrysler: power went up to just 84 horsepower. The De Tomaso option was retired after 1981.
Plymouth Scamp
Years produced: 1983
Total production: 3564
A one-year wonder, the Scamp was a Plymouth-badged version of the short-lived Dodge Rampage. This segment of front-wheel-drive, car-based pickup never truly took off: in its debut year, the Rampage mustered only 17,636 sales. Despite these figures, Chrysler saw fit to give its Chrysler-Plymouth dealerships a version, dusting off (no pun intended) the old Scamp nameplate last seen on a two-door hardtop version of the Valiant in 1976. This new Scamp effectively replaced the Mitsubishi-sourced, utilitarian Plymouth Arrow Truck.
Scamp sales amounted to only 3,564 units, of which 1,380 were GT models. The Scamp was marketed more as a sporty li’l ute than a serious load-lugger, although it had a legitimate half-ton load rating. Sadly, the Rampage and Scamp were both sold in the pre-turbo era at Chrysler so the only engine was a 2.2 carburetted four-cylinder with 96 horsepower.
The sporty Scamp GT added a standard five-speed manual transmission, sporty cloth-and-vinyl high-back bucket seats in black and red (all-vinyl buckets were optional), tape stripes, non-functional hood scoop, full instrumentation and 14-inch wheels. Air-conditioning and power steering remained an option, as did a three-speed automatic; regular Scamps had a standard four-speed stickshift.
The Scamp had made even less of an impact than the Rampage, and Rampage sales had actually declined considerably for 1983. The mini-pickups were effectively Dodge O24/Chargers with a pickup bed and a simpler leaf-spring rear suspension. Although their coupe origins made them vastly more fun-to-drive than other pickups like the Ford Ranger and Chevrolet S10, it made them less practical. However, the Scamp and Rampage were still priced similarly to the Ranger and S10. Perhaps it was this lack of ability and practicality, perceived or otherwise, that sounded the death knell after such a short time on sale.
Chrysler Sebring Limited AWD & Dodge Avenger R/T AWD
Years produced: 2008
Total production: approximately 925 (Avenger) and 500 (Sebring)
It’s not often an automaker introduces an entirely new drivetrain offering in one of their models and then ditches it after only a year, but this occurred with the all-wheel-drive variants of the Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Avenger. Offered only in high-end Sebring Limited and Avenger R/T trim levels, AWD had such a low take-rate that Chrysler saw no point in bringing it back for 2009.
The low take-rate shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Firstly, all-wheel-drive mid-size sedans have rarely been offered outside of Ford and Subaru showrooms. Secondly, the 2007 Sebring was a catastrophic misstep and the 2008 Avenger was little better. Despite trick technology including optional heated and chilled cupholders and a hard drive-based infotainment system, the Sebring and Avenger were victims of cost-cutting. Their interiors were filled with hard and brittle plastic. The 2.4 four-cylinder “World Engine” was hardly refined and the optional 2.7 V6 was woefully underpowered for the segment. Build quality and driving dynamics were far from class-best. The Sebring’s exterior was almost universally derided as a mess of epic proportions. Chrysler paid dearly for their errors: the Sebring and Dodge Stratus each sold around 100,000 units per year in the early 2000s, but in 2009 Chrysler sold 27,460 Sebrings and 38,922 Avengers.
The Sebrings and Avengers they were selling were budget-friendly (and Budget Rent-A-Car-friendly) four-cylinder models, the worst such models. The 3.5 V6 all-wheel-drive Sebring Limited and Avenger R/T were the best Sebring and Avenger, respectively, but for $27k there were much better offerings in the extremely competitive mid-size segment even if most of them didn’t have all-wheel-drive. And unfortunately, all-wheel-drive didn’t have a transformative effect on the sedans’ fun factor: despite having a rear-wheel bias at speeds above 25 mph, the sedans’ dynamics were still hampered by an uncertain transmission and fairly lifeless steering.
To add insult to injury, the AWD sedans achieved an EPA rating of 15/24 mpg. The FWD 3.5 V6 models achieved 16/26 mpg. Their 235 hp/232 ft-lb V6 engine had to haul around a surprisingly hefty 3700 lbs and even a modern six-speed automatic didn’t aid fuel economy: for comparison, the 4000 pound Buick Lucerne with a 4.6 V8 and four-speed automatic had an EPA-rated 15/23 mpg. Fuel economy was also worse than rivals like the all-wheel-drive Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan.
The Borg-Warner-sourced all-wheel-drive option had a 1.5% take rate in the Avenger and an even more abysmal 0.7% take rate in the Sebring. This was despite Ford reporting a 20% take rate for all-wheel-drive in its Fusion and Milan sedans. The Dodge Journey, mechanically related to the Sebring/Avenger, had a similar all-wheel-drive take rate. So, the blame can be laid less on the unpopularity of all-wheel-drive and more on the unpopularity of the Avenger and Sebring.
For 2009, the Sebring and Avenger were front-wheel-drive only. For 2011, the sedans were were heavily revised: the 2.7 V6 was dropped and the 3.5 was replaced by the stronger 3.6 Pentastar V6. The Sebring was rechristened 200 and the exterior styling dramatically changed; both 200 and Avenger received completely redesigned interiors with vastly better quality materials. For all the narrow-minded criticism these cars still received from some voices in the automotive media, they were now competitive offerings. Buyers agreed, and sales leapt back up to the 90k range. Offering three different engines and optional all-wheel-drive didn’t help the 2008 Sebring and Avenger. As it turns out, refinement, quality and good presentation sell cars.
Did these Mopars deserve obscurity, or is there one you would happily clear a space for in your garage? What limited editions and short-lived models do you hope to see in the next instalment?
Related Reading:
1974 Plymouth Satellite Sebring Sundance
1992-94 Plymouth Sundance Duster V6
Obscure Limited Edtions and Forgotten Limited-Run Models: AMC, Buick (Part 1 and Part 2), Lincoln-Mercury (Part 1 and Part 2)
I was wondering this morning why automakers are stuck on the sportiness theme. Why don’t they even TRY appealing to the real motives of real buyers?
The Petty endorsement is a perfect example. Richard Petty made his Mopar bones by cleverly using the ’49 Plymouth’s reliability and economy, not by raw speed. He won races because he pitted less often than the Chevy and Ford drivers.
Chrysler could have used those facts to appeal to its actual customers, but chose not to.
Nit picking: Richard’s Dad, Lee won the NASCAR race at Heidleberg, PA in 1949, running an 87 hp Plymouth. Little can be found on the net about the race, but my Dad, a lifelong Mopar fan told me proudly that Petty beat much more powerful entries by running the entire race on a single set of truck tires without a pit stop. The second place car was 5 laps back. A classic example of brains over brawn. Petty had flipped his Buick Roadmaster in an earlier race, and vowed to never to run a big, heavy car again. Heidelberg was a former horse racing track so it’s turns were too tight for the heavier cars, and his Plymouth coupe ran away with it.
I think you aretthinking about Lee Petty, Richard ‘ s father. Richard didn’t start racing in NASCAR until 1960 or so.
However, Richard may have endorsed the square-rigged Charger, he kept driving the more aerodynamic 74 model for the three year maximum allowed. The newer cars were not competive, which pushed Richard into Pontiacs.
Depending on the “mood” of the customer, 1 or 2 things are sure to sell a new car…..even today. 1 is sportiness, as witnessed by the explosive sales of Sport Utility Vehicles, which weren’t really all that sporty. And 2 is safety, though back in the 40s-50s it was POWER.
Oddly, when my parents bought their 1949 Plymouth business coupe in the early 60s, reliability and economy were the big reasons why they bought it. When it came time to replace that 49, it was superceded by a 51, then a 53. The folks realized those Plymouths were almost impossible to kill and therefore perfect for teenage drivers.
Whats wrong with that? Boring appliances are FAR too prevalent anyway and those will only appeal to a certain caliber of consumer. Granted that may be the ‘majority’ but enthusiasts’ money spends just the same.
The Japanese have built their business on dependability and efficiency, which is all well and good. But the Big 3 tend to play up excitement in at least some offerings. Sportiness, whether real or perceived (don’t get me started on the ‘bold’ camry) is something to get excited about. Selling dependability and economy is basically trying to play up the absence of a negative, as opposed to positive benefits.
Ultimately, no matter how fierce the anti-car pressures are – societal or governing through the guise of environmentalism, safety or just civilized behavior, chances are somewhere in a vast automobile corporation, a person or two within like cars for more than the money it nets them.
The one positive hope I have as a car enthusiast is real home appliances never were anything of aspiration or fantasy, a fridge really is and always has been just a fridge, a car to most is just transportation, but there’s always going to be someone who can and will hoon the hell out of it, no matter what it is.
The reality is the irrational sportiness aspect of the automobile defines us as a species. Human nature is one giant act of irrationality, never succumbing to a dead end existence in the food chain like the rest of the animals, we figured out how to run faster than the cheetah, fly like the birds and swim like fish. The automobile is unique in that it’s accessible to all, no need to pile together and share this ability in a plane, train or ship, unless of course you’re wealthy, whereas cars are ours, a detachable evolutionary leg up. No matter how bland a Camry is, when you’re driving it you’re still doing something utterly superhuman. Reliability and efficiency are merely means of making the concept of going fast work better, selling cars on that alone tend to have mixed results.
I can’t seem to work out if I love or hate that Arrow Jet.
I do love the fact Richard Petty decided to dress up as Demis Roussos AND the Bee Gees for Hallowe’en. His look does suit the car.
I saw the Arrow Jet when new, I thought it was over the top,but cool in a goofy way.
I thought the same thing. Why is one of The Bee Gees in a car advertisement?
I didn’t recognize him without his cowboy hat and sunglasses.
Same here. I didn’t click on the image to enlarge, so I had *no freaking idea* that was The King. How often do you see him without the hat, unless he has climbed out of his car and removed his helmet immediately prior?
Also, the clothing. Even in the 70’s…a turtleneck, blazer, and plaid pants? He’s always seemed more like a jeans and boots kind of guy.
The King looks like a dead ringer for Bradley Cooper’s character in American Hustle…..
I know the current Chrysler 200 has optional AWD but didn’t realize that you could get it on the “old” Avenger platform.
I’ve seen all these “special editions” at some point, but it’s like they all disappeared after the early 90s.
I think the Charger Daytona was a little underrated/ undiscovered. With the 360 and 400 still available and a trim package that sets the car apart from the more baroque Cordoba, this should at least be on a level with the Can Am or the Starsky and Hutch style 400 inch LTD II. Wonder if the 360 beat the 400 the way the 340 beat the 383 on the Barracudas we have been thinking about lately.
Being a B body at heart with hd suspension and T-tops, it is easy to see a cool order form individual package coming together. With the better looks of the Magnum coming, it only got better. Not many cars could say that in the late 70s.
Maybe it has the most potential due to the underpinnings, but I think the noteworthy thing about that car is how at odds the “sporty” paint and options were with the ultra-formal baroque looks of the car. The ’77 edition with the tape stripe-delineated two-tone jumps into the realm of the absurd. It makes about as much sense as would an Electra 225 with racing stripes and white-letter tires.
Wow, as into Mopar as I was in the 70s, the only one of those I really remember was the Scamp, which came out when I was still driving a “real” Scamp.
Minor nit, any planning from Auburn Hills in the 70s was probably done in a field. Chrysler’s HQ was still in Highland Park then. Auburn Hills was not built until the 90s.
Whups! Forgot about the move. Fixed, thank you.
My neighbor has a ’77 ‘Daytona’ and thinks he is sitting on a pot of gold; I told him not to cash in his 401K, haha. Im far more offended that the Charger name was slapped on a Cordoba clone than the modern 4 door sedan; at least at GM, when they badge engineered cars, they changed at least some of sheetmetal around; all Chrysler did was slap on a different grille and taillights and called it a Charger. Needless to say, I never liked Chardobas.
I remember when the Rampage and Scamps came out. Thats an idea that should have taken off.
Car guys all over Chicago howled when the ’75 Charger SE came out. “YUCK! thats no Charger!!”
Worked better as a Chrysler, and should have brought out the Magnum instead.
And LOL at the advert about the ’75 Charger’s “racy look”! Mid-’70s American cars with formal grilles, opera windows, whitewall tires, button-tufted seats, and simulated-woodgrain dashboards have a descriptor, and “the racy look” isn’t it……
Racy is about the last word I’d use to describe that look. It isn’t *so* bad from the back (though that formal roofline…) but that grille and lamp treatment are about the least racy styling I can think of.
That’s not particularly surprising that Chicagoland Mopar enthusiasts would be in an uproar over the Cordoba-based Charger. After all, Chicago was the home of the famous Mr. Norm’s Grand Spaulding Dodge where it was possible to get such things as a dealer-installed 440 in a 1968 Dart GTS (known as Mr. Norm’s GSS), a full year before you could get the same car from the factory.
Pretty sure no one in Auburn Hills was cognizant of Plymouth’s sporting heritage when they signed off on the Arrow as their captive import offering for 1976 as the headquarters was in Highland Park at that time.
There were two Chargers in ’75-76; the Charger SE and Daytona which used the Cordoba look and the “regular” Charger which was a Coronet two-door sedan in all but name. That ended when the Coronet/Charger was rebranded Monaco for ’77.
I seem to remember Arrows as mostly metallic bronze or bright blue with white vinyl interiors. I did see one or two Fire Arrows which replaced the Jet when the car got its’ square-light facelift.
The Rampage/Scamp and related small FWD pickups were a really good idea since they’re *low* and have low bed heights. Most suburban pickup users load from the ground far more often than they have access to a loading dock.
I’ve heard from people-who-know-insiders that the Sebring and Avenger along with other Daimler-era Chryslers had weird styling fillips and interiors that were made cheap and nasty *with intent*, so that they wouldn’t be seen as bargain-price Mercedes, especially in export markets.
The plain 2 door Charger, which looked like the ‘small Fury’ was a one year wonder, 1976. For ’75, Dodge called them Coronet 2 doors.
I had one of the 1976 Dodge Chargers(nee Coronent) in the late 1980s to early 1990s. It was a completely decontented version with only options being the 225 Slant Six (fuel economy option),automatic transmission, and rear window defroster. No passenger side exterior mirror, lacked alot of engine splash shields (around and infront of radiator), no A/C, only AM radio, bench seat, etc.
One downside of those models is how badly they rusted out behind the rear wheels which introduced water into the trunk and rusted the rear spring pearches to the point they would go through the trunk floor. I saw a few in Northeast US junkyards with the springs through the trunk floor.
One thing the deTomaso package did for the TC was clean up the side window area a bit, an area saddled with too many complicated lines. Adding that gratuitous halo at least drew the eye away from all the joints and framing. The C pillar in all K coupes was also a flimsy applied moulded plastic piece that covered a window. One sidelight/highlight of the Rampage/Scamp was that its single side window eliminated the problem. These coupes simply never had the finished look of GM’s J coupes.
I once met an acquaintance of my dad’s, a middle aged school marm, who traded in her ’72 Barracuda on an Arrow!
More rarer, would be some dealers who did some regional models like the Plymouth Snapper. A 1969 Fury jazzed up influenced by the Road Runner. The only proof I saw is this vintage advertising from a old newspaper. http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/18640959/ and there some mention of it at http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1969-1973-plymouth3.htm
Snapper? Really? Wow. Brings to mind either a turtle, a fish, or a lawnmower. And while the “turtle shell” vinyl roof might have looked interesting, no one wants to drive a car named after a turtle.
I guess someone wanted to step on the opportunity to ride on the popularity of the pop-rock band The Turtles, hence the Snapper.
It’s probably because they were so much smaller than Ford or GM but, of the domestics, it seems like Chrysler’s obscure, special trim cars just aren’t as memorable or well-known, although the Cordoba-based Charger Daytona is noteworthy, considering how different it was from the original. Wouldn’t it have been interesting if Chrysler had tried to glue a real NASCAR’style aerodynamic nosecone onto the front of the Cordoba-Charger Daytona, maybe with a big, high wing in the back, too?
I never heard of the ‘The Snapper’ Plymouth Fury, though. It would have been a good one to have gone national. Seems like it would have went along well with ”The Dude’ pickup truck (complete with a 1970 Super Bee-style side stripe and advertised by none other than Don Knotts). I’m sure ‘The Dude’ will be covered in one of the future installments.
And speaking of Dodge pickup specials, one of the more recent was yet another Daytona package, complete with a rear wing over the rear of the bed that had an original style black stripe with the ‘Daytona’ lettering, as well as the so-called ‘Rumble Bee’ package.
Don’t forget the 2004-06 Dodge RAM1500 SRT-10 using the Viper V10 engine, made in the same era as the Daytona and Rumble Bee.
There was a Ram GTX also. But they weren’t ‘factory’ packages…rather farmed out to a 3rd party customizer, much like the last El Camino SS’s which were done by Choo Choo Customs.
Not stock, it’s been lowered and fitted with gorgeous 17″ repro Magnum 500’s. Guess I have an evil twin…
I like yours a lot better, the bumblebee stripe goes with it being a Dodge(GTX is and always be a Plumouth to me) and generally I think that stripe is both lost in the mass of the truck and busy looking where it’s placed, and mag 500s really need RWL tires to pop
What Matt said exactly. That stripe and the other mods make the green truck look fat on the bottom.
I don’t think the Ram SRT-10 really fits the criteria. Seems like what’s being sought are the superficial trim and appearance packages from the factory on an otherwise run-of-the-mill vehicle that just didn’t go over too well.
Look at the previous articles in this series. It just happens to be that a lot of forgotten special editions were just tacky, overpriced or regional appearance packages, so that’s what dominates the series.
The Sebring and Avenger AWD in this article were normal looking cars that featured a mechanical upgrade package, but buyers of these cars weren’t interested in paying for AWD, at least not at the price premium for the option.
In the previous articles, one of the featured Lincolns was special and obscure because it had a stick shift. There was also the Cougar XR7 with supercharger and available stick. The Marquis LTS was a plain 4-door sedan with a High Output V8. The Grand Marquis LSE was another performance package that looked virtually indistinguishable from a regular Grand Marquis. A lot was also written about turbocharged Buicks that looked pretty plebeian, and the Buick Estate Wagon which had unique sheetmetal that was only used for one year.
I agree, the Fury “Snapper” was a missed opportunity to go national.
I spotted the same vintage ad, this time from the Toledo Blade, April 9 1969 on page 9.
https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19690409&id=MQkkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=rgEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7551,491339&hl=fr
A Collectible Automobile article about the 1969-73 Plymouth Fury from December 2001 also did a mention of another regional model, a 1969½ “Plymouth Diplomat” where an ad from July 1, 1969 of the Toledo Blade is published on page 23. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=8_tS2Vw13FcC&dat=19690701&printsec=frontpage&hl=fr
The Arrow Jet is begging for the same treatment that a few old Chevette’s received: Drop a ridiculous V8 into it and go to the drag strip.
Sox and Martin ran an Arrow in NHRA Pro Stock division. So did Bob Glidden.
Grumpy Jenkins ran Vega hatchbacks then, too. Arrow was Plymouth’s compact, after the Cricket was dropped.
Think how cool that would have been with the “Arrow Jet” paint and stickers. 😛
I thought the same thing when the Arrow was new, but Paul once put it in perspective when I wondered why Chrysler (who were actually the distributor for the Sunbeam Alpine) never had a version of the small-block V8 Ford Sunbeam Tiger. Ford managed to come up with a much narrower configuration for their small-block which could easily be stuffed not only into the AC Bristol, but the Sunbeam Alpine, as well, versus the wider SBC and Chrysler LA-series V8s. Later, for some bizarre reason, the Vega (and even the Chevette) seemed to have a wide enough engine bay to easily accommodate a SBC swap, but Chrysler never really could get their small V8 into their smallest cars (even though it fit well into the A-body).
Unless you were a professional drag racer, it was just too tough to create your own home-built V8 Arrow.
The Charger is promising if you check off the right boxes on the order sheet, then get out the aftermarket performance parts catalogs. I’m torn on whether the 2-tone paint suits the car. As for the rest, I will pass.
The AWD Avenger and Sebring in particular would be automotive kryptonite to me, especially if I was shopping for a daily driver. One year only drivetrain parts do not make for a happy ending. Same with the short-lived (2 model years) AWD Pontiac 6000. A coworker had one of those. His mechanic told him flatly, “Get rid of this before something breaks.”
I covered a few other obscure Mopars in my recent post, “Oddities of Moparfest”.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/car-show/car-show-classics-oddities-of-moparfest/
Other ones I can think of:
– 1956 DeSoto pace car replica
– 1958 Mopars with Bendix electronic fuel injection
– 1960 Chrysler 300-F Special with Pont-à-Mousson 4-speed manual transmission
– 1968 Dodge “Bengal” Charger (a dealer-made package)
– 1970 Plymouth Sport Fury with the 440-6 pack
– 1970 Chrysler Newport Cordoba
– 1971 Dodge Challenger Indy pace car
– 1973 Chrysler Mariner (there is debate as to whether this was a one-off show car or a limited run was made)
– 1973 Chrysler Newport Navajo
– 1974-75 Dodge Dart “Hang 10”
I heard of the Bengal Charger, a Dodge dealer Tom Kneer in Cincinnati wanted to celebrate the arrival of the Bengals in the AFL (not yet fully merged with the NFL) in 1968. It got even some diecasts/toy cars versions. http://tommyscarblog.com/2012/10/30/1968-dodge-charger/
1979 Cordoba 300
That’s another good one. Wikipedia says less than 2900 built, but a Hemmings article claims 4292 built, including those sold in the Canadian market.
I just thought of another one: The 1955-56 Dodge LaFemme.
Also the 1970 (?) Chrysler 300 Hurst. Oh well, he did say “Part 1”.
I didn’t list the 1970 300H because, though it was one year only and definitely a special edition with the unique parts and paint, I didn’t feel it was “obscure” enough. It’s relatively well-known, though not to the extent of a 1969 Charger Daytona or 1970 AAR ‘Cuda of course.
There were several one-offs on the F-cars:
Volare kit car
Volare Sport Wagon (never seen one)
Volare Road Runner/Aspen R/T
Aspen Super Coupe
couple of others that come to mind:
05-06 Power Wagon
Duster Twister
Feather Duster/Dart Lite
Shelby Dakota
Ram R/T
1969 Mod Top cars
I will absolutely be covering those F-Bodies very soon…
http://oldcarbrochures.org/New-Brochures—October/1978-Dodge-Aspen-Street-Kit-Poster
cc effect-look what just got posted at Old Car Brochures
Also a Duster that was based on the Volare coupe
One that wasn’t a limited-run model at all but feels like one, even though it was offered continuously for ten years: the Plymouth Voyager full-size van that was for sale until the like-named and far more popular minivan arrived in 1984. Even when they were still made, only once in a blue moon would I see a Dodge Sportsman van that inexplicedly had big PLYMOUTH lettering in the grille.
I always found the Plymouth-badged vans/trucks more than a little unusual. The Voyager, the Trail Duster, the Arrow pickup… As you said, always prompted a double take, especially as I didn’t come along until ’80 so they were all older models by the time I was noticing them.
Don’t forget the economy-minded ‘Feather Duster’. Like the Vega and Chevette ‘Scooter’, because of the special lightweight parts to help with fuel economy, old Feather Dusters were popular with drag racers who would yank the Slant-Six and swap in a built V8 for strip duty. They even had the special transmission tunnel to accommodate a manual floor shift.
Are these really special or limited editions–I’m sure if every car had been ordered with these packages Chrysler would have built them. I’m hard pressed to think of a real limited edition car from Chrysler. Maybe what makes a L/E or S/E is announced finite number to be built or the edition is announced later in the model year and does not appear in the regular dealer brocher. Ford used to do Mustang spring specials to peak interest in the winter–The 2001 Bullitt was not in the regular dealer brocher and a limit of 5000 was announced.
The Arrow was not a ‘limited edition’ car, it was a compact line to replace Cricket.
The Charger Daytona was an option package to try to get former ‘fuselage’ Charger owners to trade in, since the formal look didn’t work with the name.
While this post isn’t crystal clear on this point, the first post in the series makes clear that it includes models unintentionally produced on a limited basis:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/automotive-histories/top-10-obscure-special-editions-and-forgotten-limited-run-models-amc-edition/
“Every car company has released a special edition or limited-run model at some point. These range from mundane gold-badged anniversary editions to models that were originally intended to run for much longer but failed spectacularly. In this series, we are going to look at a wide variety of short-lived models that were launched to arrest flagging sales and/or generate interest, but have been almost entirely forgotten due to low production volumes and, in some cases, scant publicity.”
Unfortunately, most special editions are rather simple affairs and wouldn’t make for a terribly interesting article. Which is why I’ve included short-lived models in the scope of my series (and even in the title!)
There was a gold 65 300L with 4 speed on Britain’s south coast in the late 90s/early 2000.
Also a Hurst 300 which went to Australia a couple of years later.
My brother snapped a Scamp pickup with a part dismantled classic Maico motocross bike in the back at a show & swap meet on holiday a few years back.
Those 2 tone Chargers don’t quite come off, they’re rather like the “billboards” of the early 70s Mopars which I don’t think were very popular
Man oh man does that tutone on the Daytona look terrible. 2 big rectangular chunks right over the wheels….looks like Groucho Marx! Ive never been a fan of the DobaCharger/Magnum in the first place though. I have to say that the rear 3/4 view WOULD come off low slung and sporty if not for that awful paint scheme.
Never knew of the DeTomaso 024s. Too bad they didn’t actually have any extra performance or handling upgrades but they did look slick.
The Scampage twins were grossly underappreciated. Its too bad that the stillborn Shelby edition never saw the light of day. Shelby Chargers went like stink, and would easily embarrass the Mustangs and F bodies of the day.
When I lived in Memphis, a neighbor had a Shelby-look Rampage. I’ve seen these “Shelby-look” Rampages in both silver/blue versions….silver as the main color and the other is blue as the main color.
I wonder if it was legit, or just pieced together from Shelby Charger NOS parts? There are a few examples of those also.
Boy, that Chrysler Leasing Society sure looks like a swanky club. Could they be a little more vague as to what the benefits are? A free newsletter and a chance to enter contests doesn’t quite seem worth being tied to ’77 Chrysler product.
You need to really like sports, and spending money.
What happened if you leased a Dodge Street Van? Buying one got you a year’s membership in the Dodge Van Clan….
I don’t know…in the accompanying photo, the Cordoba appears to be levitating over the field, bathed in light, as compared to the conventionally parked Charger. Maybe the Leasing Society has divine benefits?
I’m intrigued by the “biggest sporting events in the world” and “top sports celebrity” as part of the Chrysler Leasing Society – did Chrysler ever give exact details for these?
I find the Arrow Jet particularly sad since the Fire Arrow was a genuine performance package that was a very successful rally car in SCCA events. This tape stripe kit reminds me of the early oughts Mitsubishi Lancer OZ Rallye package which was a bog standard Lancer with fancy wheels and some badging, to try and ride the coat tail of the Lancer Evo.
In Australia we get a Ralliart Lancer which seems to offer some mechanical benefits – sort of three-eights of the way between a regular Lancer and an Evo. It’s been in the range for some years now, and crops up in magazines and on an internet search, though I’ve never seen one. But then Lancers aren’t exactly common any more.
I’ve never understood how some Japanese companies can come up with absolutely outstanding range-toppers while the rest of their product line is pure eau-de-meh.
Interesting that you haven’t seen any Ralliart Lancers, as they’re quite common here in the US. Well, common in the context of Lancers, which aren’t exactly an everyday sight. We also have the “Oz Rally” edition. Both more frequent sightings than true Evo’s.
Really, the Fire Arrow was just a plain old Arrow with a big (for the time) 2.6 liter engine. No other performance features, it was a 4 cylinder version of that old Detroit muscle car philosophy of big motor in a a small car. I was racing SCCA Showroom Stick at the time and the Fire Arrow was briefly popular as it was classified to run with 1.6 Rabbits and Sciroccos and Saab 99’s (non-turbo). The big motor helped it but brakes and cornering were pretty bad. The 258 Gremlin ran in the same class, and was faster, as did (later) the Peugeot 505 Turbo which was very competitive.
“… cognizant of Plymouth’s sporting heritage when they signed off on the Arrow…”
Plymouth was a “low priced 3” brand, with some sporty models, but not really overall ‘sporting heritage’, compared to Dodge and Chrysler. In fact, Plymouth was sold at DeSoto, Dodge and Chrysler stores until 1960 as their ‘cheap car’.
So, the Plymouth Arrow was just another compact. It really replaced their Cricket. Just having a slanted hatchback didn’t make it any more sporty than a Vega/Gremlin/Pinto. The ads of the time pushed the car as a “Imported for Plymouth” economy model going against other hatchbacks, like Mustang II. Wasn’t marketed as ‘sporty car’ like the Datsun Z.
Sure, there were drag raced Arrows, but then so were Vegas, Pintos and Mustang II’s.
Barracuda, Road Runner, GTX, Sport Fury, were all pretty sporty models and older than the Arrow, making for some heritage.
I don’t see it mentioned anywhere that Plymouth was a performance brand only defined by “sporting heritage”. Similarly, the article never calls the Arrow a “sporty car” and the author refers to the featured Arrow Jet as “pretty low on the totem pole of performance.
Yeah, we all know about the 60’s muscle cars. But, Plymouth dates back to 1928, and was meant to compete with Model A. There was no “1928 Road Runner GTX 440-6 pack”. So, from 1928 to maybe 1956 [?], there were no ‘sporty Plymouths’. Sport Fury was the first.
Point is that the Arrow was meant to be a compact car to compete with Japanese and Pinto/Vega. Was not “signed off” due to any ‘sporting heritage’. The Arrow was plain and simple compact car. It was “signed off” as a cheap car to get buyers into showrooms, to be upsold into a Duster/Fury
And yet Plymouth got the sporty-looking (if not overtly sporty) Arrow instead of the plain Colt sedan and wagon. Only ex-Chrysler executives would be able to confirm exactly why this was the case, but it is not much of a leap to consider it was because Plymouth had some success in sporty offerings in the recent past, particularly with the Duster.
It may have been a “plain and simple compact car” but it was dressed up with a multitude of sporty appearance packages and it looked a lot more racy than the Colt.
Plymouth may have never had as strong of a sporty/performance image as Dodge (or Chevrolet, Ford or Pontiac), but it had its share of cars in that category during the muscle car and pony car eras, as Brendan listed in his post, and in the late ’70s that was all still fairly recent history. OK, Plymouth wasn’t in the same category as the brands cited earlier, but it’s not like Plymouth was being delusional in thinking they had some kind of sporty/performance car heritage to look back on.
To the extent that Plymouth didn’t really have any sporty/performance cars before the mid ’50s, you could say that about a lot of brands, because that’s right around the time American manufacturers began paying attention to performance. Chevrolet didn’t have any SS models with big block V8s in the 1920s, either.
As for the Arrow, while I agree that it was an economy car at heart, not a sports or high performance car, I think it was intended to have a “sport coupe” image in terns of style, akin to the Celica, Mustang II or Monza. If you were cross-shopping it with Datsuns, it wasn’t intended to compete with the 280Z, but with the 200SX.
The “Adult Toys” line of Dodge trucks could probably warrant its own post. Everyone knows the Lil’ Red Express, but there were several other much more obscure offerings to emerge from the corner of Mound Rd and 8 Mile in the late ’70s….
Midnite Express – a black and gold version of the LRE
Street Van
Macho Package pickup/Ramcharger. It was even available on the Plymouth Trailduster
Warlock pickup – a wood-trimmed predecessor to the LRE
Jean Machine pickup
Four By Four Ramcharger
Arrow Jet a strong contender for worst body art
I thought it was cool at the time. 🙂 Seventies, man – you hadda be there!
I considered buying an Arrow (Lancer hatchback here). But then I worked with a girl who had one – she was such a pain that any car she drove I didn’t want!
Reading through the comments, I must be one of few who really likes the Arrow Jet and its mini 2nd-generation Barracuda fastback look. The decals are on just the correct side of 70’s kitsch – certainly no more offensive than / as likable as AMC’s Levi’ package. Even without the “Jet” package, I have always thought the Arrow had at least as much style as the Celica, and much more than some other cars in its class.
Agreed there. As 70’s small coupes go, the Arrow is definitely one of the more attractive ones. Though I’d prefer a Fire Arrow to the Jet for a little more “go” along with the show.
I also really like the Fire Arrow on its own merits. I can’t remember where I had read this statistic, but I read somewhere that the 1979 Plymouth Fire Arrow was the fastest car to 60 in Chrysler’s stable that year. Given what was going on with Chrysler at that time (with their domestic offerings), there probably wasn’t a lot of internal competition (360 Dodge Magnum? Volare Road Runner Super Coupe?). But I liked that the great-looking Arrow was respectably quick for its day.
Wow, I just noticed the nose of the 024/rampage/scamp is nearly a clone of that used on the 1974 firebird
Only in a “Fourth Doug” sort of way.
We got something called a Dodge Caliber R/T in New Zealand. Wikipedia seems to suggest it was a regular model in the States, but down here it was a very limited special edition. I only remember it existed because my cousin’s one just got totalled:
Those were seen from time to time here, a regular model albeit not a very common one. The Caliber always had kind of an image problem anyway, so the R/T model was even more of a conundrum.
After all these years, I still own my ’75 Road Runner. It’s a P-code 400 with a TorqueFlite, power steering and brakes, Sundance interior and not a lot more. I have finally gotten around to starting a resto on it.
I was an A&W manager in 1976, and a salesman showed up at my place of work with a Charger Daytona. That guy went to work on me and I was tempted, but I am glad now that I kept my Road Runner. Although basically the same car, it’s way more interesting than that Charger was.
Dave
The “Star Wars” graphics must be cool again considering the new installment coming out…
I do like those, even if they aren’t quite the terrors that the older models were. The copper color on yours works well also.
“Somebody in Highland Park was cognizant of Plymouth’s sporting heritage when they signed off on the Arrow as their captive import offering for 1976 instead of the frumpy Colt sedan and wagon. The opposite occurred in Canada, where hot snow falls up and Intrepids are badged as Chryslers.”
As I understand it, in this time frame Canada had both Dodge Colts and Plymouth Colts, and both Plymouth Arrows and Dodge Arrows. Part of the long-standing tradition of each of Chrysler’s two dealer networks in Canada having a full range of more-or-less equivalent vehicles to sell, which explains most of the uniquely Canadian Mopar variants over the years.
I’m not sure how it came about in the U.S. that the Colt was a Dodge exclusive and the Arrow a Plymouth exclusive. Was Chrysler just trying to give each dealer network its own unique products, to give people a reason to shop both? (If so, they certainly weren’t doing that in this era with their domestic products.) Were there production/import capacity restrictions that made it inadvisable to sell the Colt and Arrow through multiple dealer networks? Was Dodge promised exclusivity over the Colt in the beginning, and Chrysler-Plymouth dealers were then given a different Mitsubishi product to sell?
I guess the original arrangement was that Dodge had the Colt and Plymouth had the Cricket. When the latter turned out to be a quality disaster and was withdrawn from the U.S. market, Plymouth was left with no subcompact at all. Then energy crisis hit; at some point after that, Chrysler management presumably decided that Plymouth couldn’t be without a small car, and the Arrow was located as something for Plymouth to sell.
After reading about these short-lived special editions, I was wondering what has been the longest running special edition or model name. Might be Impala, which first appeared in 1958 and is still with us. Olds “88” also had a long run, from 1949 to the end in 1999. Chrysler “300” started in 1955 and is with us today, but had quite a missing gap in the ’60’s and ’70’s.
Off the top of my head, the obvious answer is Ford Mustang, entering its 53rd year–*if* you consider the Mustang II to be the same nameplate. As “Mustang II” was the official name of the car as far as I know, I consider them to be two separate models, so there’s a gap. Beyond that, Olds 88 may be the champion with its 51 year run. I can’t think of any longer-running names (unless you count something like “F-Series” as a model name which is sort of cheating.) 300 is the oldest model name still in use that I can think of, but it was missing from the early 70’s to the mid 90’s except for a brief resurrection in 78-79.
However, the champion of models currently in production is drawing close to the 88’s record. The Toyota Corolla has been around since 1966 (1968 in the USA) with no interruptions. It’s entered its 50th year of production for the 2016 model year, and will surpass the 88 as the undisputed longevity champion at the beginning of the 2017 model year (unless I’m forgetting something).
Which also brings up an interesting point about how Honda and Toyota stick to established model names and build brand currency, whereas the American manufacturers forgot to do that for so long, throwing away so many names in the 80’s only to pick them back up later. The Corolla is in its 50th year of production. Honda has been making the Civic since 1972 (44th year). Mazda revamped their numbers 10-15 years ago but they’ve settled back into a stable system. And Subaru, not to be disimissed, has been making the Legacy continuously since 1989. Even the Koreans have joined in–the Hyundai Sonata has, like the Legacy, been in continuous production since 1989 (27th year).
American manufacturers? Other than Mustang and F-150, the longest continuous run for a current nameplate is Chevy Malibu, which has been around in its current incarnation since ’97 (19th year) That’s not really all that long when you consider that two different Hyundai models have been around longer!
VW Beetle
1941-2003…62 years
Chevy corvette
1953-2015…62 years
Ford Econoline
1961-2015…54 years
Jeep CJ
1944-1986…42 years
ford thunderbird
1955-1997…42 years
Citroen 2CV
1948-1990…42 years
BMC Mini
1959-2000….41 years
No freaking idea how I forgot Corvette for current and Beetle for all-time. Good call.
I wonder if the Dodge DeTomaso has enough room to accept a 5.7L Hemi V8 with performance mods from Arrington Performance? Chassis would have to be modified in such a scenario, however. 🙂
Never had any of these cars. But I still have my Hobie!
I’ll put this here.
Wow! Has anyone ever seen or photographed one in modern history?
Not that I know of. I certainly haven’t! Tough to see from the grainy old newspaper ads, but it looks like that upholstery “never before seen on a Valiant” might have been just the ’61 Dodge Lancer pattern (in whatever which colour was deemed sufficiently southern).
This page cites sturdy-as-all-hell Jeffrey Godshall on the subject (search the page for Dixie).
Me, I don’t like the idea of a car with a confederate flag on it—not even a Valiant.
LOL!
Is that real or something from “The Onion”?
It’s not from The Onion or any suchlike. It’s an actual, real newspaper ad I ran across while slogging through many, many old newspapers for a genealogical research project; see here. And it ran in multiple locales, with local dealer names. See here, for example.
Wow — that’s quite a find! As someone who reads a great deal of both automotive and Civil War history, I find this fascinating.
From what I can tell, 400 Dixie Specials were produced, and sold in four Southern states (Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee). The reason for this geography was that the Dixie Special was the idea of Chrysler’s Charlotte regional office.
Here’s another image:
Neat! Where’d you find the added detail (which four states, how many cars, origin of the idea…)?
It’s hard to get firm information on this car, but here’s what I found:
A brief article in Automotive News from 1961 attributed the Dixie Special to the Charlotte office. As far as I can tell, those are the four states from the Charlotte region, and I didn’t see any dealership ads promoting the Dixie Special from any other states.
Some of the ads I saw said something like “own one of 400 specially-made Dixie Specials…” – so I’m assuming that number has some accuracy to it.
And I think the interior was upholstered in two shades of blue.
Wow, a lot of good ‘ole boys, ala Sheriff Buford T. Justice. I wonder how many were KKK members?
I don’t!
I know it isn’t Mopar, but Ford did ‘Dixie Special’ cars too:
Not quite as overt as the Valiants though.
I don’t have a ton to add here, other than I far prefer the Cordoba, which just seemed to fit its image better than the Charger, and wasn’t even fully aware of the Chardoba’s existence until a friend’s family purchased one as a third car in the 1990’s. I mostly remember it for its Fuel Pacer option, which made the left fendertop turn signal indicator glow steadily most of the time you weren’t idling (think of it as a binary vacuum gauge).
And the Mitsubishi Astron 2.6 liter Silent Shaft with MCA-Jet technology… I seem to remember them tending toward the unreliable side. Our very elderly neighbors had a 1985 or 86 Plymouth Voyager with the 2.6 (Its got that Mistabushi engine, he would say) that suddenly started chuffing blue smoke, then thrashing, about two weeks before it gave them the Silent Shaft and conked out for good in about 1999. They fortunately traded up to a newer model with the 3.3, which managed to last them through the rest of their days without coughing up one Ultradive transmission.
What about the “Western Sport Special ” ?. A special version of the Dart. And did anyone mention the “Hang Ten” Dart ?
Though not these special models, for someone who has never owned a Mopar, I have some experience with a lot of these, mostly because most are a bit older. Other than the Arrow, which is right up my alley but I’ve never driven, my Dad had an ’80 Omni 2 door (his mid-life crisis car) of which I came close to duplicating, before going with the original (’78 Scirocco) instead. My niece had an Avenger (albeit a bit earlier version than the 2009), and when I worked for Hertz in the 70’s I drove a Dodge Magnum which is similar to the Charger, albeit a few years later.
One of my regrets is that I never bought something like the the Magnum when they were still available…I jumped into the FWD small car club early on, would have been nice to have one of these when they still roamed the roads. I was surprised I liked it so much, but only drove it one time (it was a rental pickup when I worked for Hertz). I was living up North back then, and was suffering with a lightweight RWD car, a bit heavier vehicle despite being RWD might have worked. But of course everyone was predicting high fuel prices and worse limited availability, so my practical nature prevailed, such that I never owned anything like these. I think others were more cognizant than I about these being the “end of an era”, I just assumed I’d be able to buy something similar later on, which never occurred (the Mirada would have been OK, a co-worker had one, but prefer the old school Magnum).
Arrow, yes would be nice, liked the style but again, lightweight RWD cars didn’t do well in Northern climate I lived in at the time. When I eventually moved South, a co-worker had both a Plymouth Sapporo and a Dodge Charger (same Mitsubishi import) he bought new in the early 80’s…but by then the Arrow was history. That’s been my problem time and time again, models available that I like but withdrawn quickly before I’m ready to buy
One of my buddies in high school was part of a family who owned an AMC dealership just south of Baltimore, and we used to hang around there a lot. I’ve always been interested in rare cars and special editions, but I don’t think we ever saw a Mariner Special.
As for the Dixie Special, while in the Roanoak, Virginia area about 25 years ago, I remember finding a battleship gray 1967 Mustang hardtop with a black vinyl roof. There were decals on the car that said Dixie Special, and the owner insisted it was a genuine Ford special edition, not something cooked up by a local Ford dealer. However I’ve never seen a Ford Mustang brochure featuring this option.
Scroll up and see Scott McPherson (NZ)’s comments in this present thread.