The long standing relationship between Carroll Shelby and Lee Iacocca was legendary. It started at Ford Motor Company, and followed Iaccoca to the Chrysler Corporation. The joint venture produced some of the most iconic performance cars of the 80s. The list included the Dodge Omni GLHS, the Dodge Shelby Lancer, the Shelby Dakota and the Shelby CSX-VNT, amongst others. The relationship gave Chrysler’s reputation for affordable and fast cars, a turbo-like boost. What if, Shelby turned his attention to the Dodge Dynasty?
Specifically creating an executive sport wagon using the 2.2 L DOHC turbo III rated at 224HP, as propulsion. I’ve created a hypothetical magazine advertisement for this Dodge Shelby Dynasty GLS wagon. Or the Dynasty that ‘Goes Like Stink’. I’ve included the ghost Dynasty in the sky, to show that this Photoshopped wagon’s bodywork is entirely based upon the original Dynasty sedan forward of the C pillar. I’ve added thick bodyside molding, body colored B pillars, and early 80s Chrysler ‘pizza’ alloy wheels (as I like their style). The cargo area addition is deliberately very plain and K-Car like.
The result looks remarkably like the Volvo 850 estate wagon (or an especially large K-Car : ). The resemblance between the Dynasty and the Volvo 850 forward of the C pillar is uncanny. Unfortunately, Chrysler really hurt the design by adding plenty of chrome and brougham extras. Along with that unfortunate GM-like formal C pillar.
As you mentioned, that looks so much like a Volvo 850 wagon it’s amazing! Funny, since the sedan looks nothing like one. It could almost be an ’88 850 Turbo, if such a thing was ever made.
For comparison, here is the Volvo 850 estate wagon and the proposed Dynasty ‘wagon’. The only changes to the Dynasty being the addition of a simple wagon roof, a body-colored B pillar, thick bodyside molding, and the removal of the extra chrome trim around the windows. Plus the addition of five spoke Volvo-like wheels.
If Chrysler had created this Shelby Dynasty GLS Wagon, I think Volvo would have had to rethink the exterior design of the 850. As the Volvo would not have seemed quite so original.
Ha! This is great. The boxy Dynasty actually works pretty good as a wagon.
And here is the same Dynasty with a Volvo C pillar and trunklid applied to the Dodge. Suddenly… now it’s a Volvo! Confusing eh?
Looks like a Lancer or LeBaron GTS – much better than the actual Dynasty.
I agree, it would have been a much better greenhouse. The Dynasty body style was also used for the concurrent Chrysler New Yorker. They both used a formal roof very much like the one employed successfully on the Chrysler Fifth Avenue. It worked well on the Fifth Avenue, but not so well on the Dynasty/New Yorker.
My thoughts exactly, this looks like the Lebaron GTS/Lancer2.0. Too bad this isn’t what we got, because as long as it kept the liftback and hi-po power plants with optional manual trans, this would’ve been a slam dunk.
Which is boxier, the Dodge Dynasty or the Volvo 740?
The answer is yes.
It looks like as if a Volvo and a Dodge Aries had an offspring.
In fact, I think this Dynasty ‘wagon’ would have had a definite family resemblance to the Jeep Cherokee.
Wow… the Volvo thing is really blowing my mind. I’ve spent uncountable hours of my life staring at cars… and I never would’ve made the connection.
OK now somebody go find a Spirit R/T, the back half of a Volvo, and a bunch of welding rods and show us what you come up with.
I’ve always thought that The Band was in some ways equivalent to the British group Procul Harum, and vice-versa. Funny how these things work.
Funny, how THAT made NO sense or relevance to the topic… but I love Procol Harem…
so your forgiven. lol
Before I read any of the comments, I thought “what a great idea – a Volvo fighter.” I like the looks of that bad boy. Really, just awesome. Now I want one. A different Dodge wagon, that is.
I saw the Volvo immediately before seeing the comments. But, better. I always thought the Volvo 850 had too many odd proportions. This actually looks quite good and more modern than its 1980’s roots.
If only Carroll Shelby had rolled up his sleeves on the 3.3/3.8 V6. With their anvil-like construction and abundance of low-end grunt, they could have been the modern equivalent of the hot 60s V8s. With a transaxle that could handle the torque, this sportwagon with a hot torquemonster V6 would have been a lotta fun. Make it a stick shift and paint it brown, and I would be the first to drive past Syke’s house honking the horn. 🙂
Of course, you would have had to buy it new to count . . . . . . . .
That’s actually quite attractive, as others have noted. It would’ve been easy to use the same core support and headlights for a more sporting front end treatment, too. But after bringing the well-proportioned and restrained Lancer and LeBaron GTS to market and being ignored, they’d have had no reason to dream up a wagon like this.
And oddly enough, the Volvo 740 sedan’s shape was compromised by its being conceived as a wagon first, but the Dynasty has no such excuse for being so stodgy.
Agreed. It certainly looks equally elegant, and more ‘chiseled’ when compared to the Volvo wagon. But next to the then still new Taurus/Sable, it’s an old school early to mid 80s look IMO. I think the same issue affected the LeBaron GTS and Dodge Lancer. They were the pinnacle of K-Car based styling. But suddenly dated, compared to the aero Fords. I think from today’s perspective, we may appreciate sharp edged styling moreso, as it seems so unique in the current context.
By far the ultimate front drive Mopar is the Chrysler Imperial Lamborghini Edition. Details of the construction of this car can be found on pages 135-136 of Bob Lutz’s book “Icons and Idiots”. I just wish I could find a photo of it. I tried contacting Mr. Lutz through the “Ask Bob” column in Road and Track magazine, but didn’t have any luck. No, the car wasn’t a joke; it really was built probably around 1991. My guess is if it wasn’t crushed, its sitting in the forgotten corner of some warehouse covered in an inch of dust. It could have been sold or given to a Chrysler employee…somebody out there knows what happened to this car.
One…
…two:
I made the Volvo connection immediately too…my first thought was “badly proportioned 850” but seeing the two next to each other, neither one has ideal proportions! At least the 850 is a reasonable width for its length, unlike the Dynasty which looked oddly narrow given the height and length (probably an artifact of its K-car roots).
It’s a neat idea, though it would require quite a bit of custom fab work.
The closest they came was the Dodge Spirit R/T…
A reliable car in its own right, even as the plain version. My neighbor owned a 94, and went to NY, NJ and PA weekly like nothing… and we live in MA.
She recently junked it, due to transmission problems, which she didn’t want to deal with or could afford at this time.
Personally, it woulda been cheaper to put a used tranny in it… how much could it be, $60-100 the most?
Kinda sad, since the engine still ran well.
I would say a reliable car only in the “plain” version. My old Spirit R/T was always plagued with some issue or another. At one point it was burning oil and coolant and running rich, then the next day it’d be fine. Fun car when it was running right.
My “plain” version ’91 Spirit promptly blew up its transmission in 1996 with 102,000 miles. Too bad, luv’d that car, and still owed $5000 on it.
So am I the only person on CC that likes formal rooflines?
Nope!
Ditto. No, actually I think that a Dynasty was an enjoyable driving machine partly because of the Broughamy parts and the GM-esque formal roof line along with the cushy suspension. They actually had some scoot as is too. When out cruising with one of my HS buddies, I always called back seat. Nice and plush, considering it was a Dodge.
I agree, especially with the back seat. Had one as a free loaner back in ’94 while my Omni was in the shop. Talk about a step up! Thought it was a Cadillac, even with the anemic 4 cylinder.
In a break from all things GM, I had ’90 and a ’92 Dynasty ES high lines with the 3.3 liter. The ’90 was a great car. It was quite zippy.
The ’92 had the dreaded ultra-drive it was in the shop a lot. I finally traded it on a ’93 Intrepid ES 3.5 liter. Several others followed.
It was super fast for a full size car, and I didn’t go back to GM for a company car until the 2001 Impala.
Nice. I like it.
“Stinks like go?”
i am an admitted wagon fanboi but good god i like the looks of that. want to see rear and 3/4 shots! someone get to work as it is way beyond my photoshop or welding skills.
Love your work there Daniel! What-ifs are one of my favourite auto-interests, they’re so thought-provoking – especially when done as well as yours. 🙂