The name "Shelby" is one of the most revered and respected when it comes to performance versions of production cars. Ever since his legendary Cobra, Shelby's vehicles have gone down in history as innovative, and brutally fast.
While names like the "Shelby Mustang GT500" are well recognized among car enthusiasts, not every vehicle Shelby has had a hand in making has gone down as one of the car industry's legends.
While making race cars was his business, the 1970s and '80s brought massive change to the automotive business as a whole, reshaping what performance meant. While these were dark times for the car industry, Shelby did his best to bring a ray of hope to horsepower addicted car enthusiasts. One such glimmer of days gone by, and days to come, has been almost completely forgotten by the car world as a whole: The Dodge Shelby Dakota.
Based on Dodge's now well known mid-size pickup, the Shelby Dakota may have seen like a desperate move, but the true story reveals a much deeper motivation, and an attempt to salvage the car building philosophy that made Carroll Shelby such a legend.
A Change Of Pace For Carroll Shelby
During the 1960s, Carroll Shelby rose to fame as one of America's greatest performance car builder. While his initial Cobras were based on small British roadsters, with a big American Ford V8 slapped in under the hood, it was Shelby's work with Ford on projects like the GT40, and GT350 Mustang, that solidified his fame. Not only that, but his work earned him a friendship with then Vice President of Ford North America, Lee Iacocca.
But in 1970, Carroll Shelby had had enough. His greatest projects seemed to be behind him, and Ford's direct control over marketing and production of the Shelby Mustangs just didn't sit well with him, and didn't match his personal vision. Shelby decided to retire from the car industry, leaving the USA to explore Africa, and start his own Chili company (yes, really).
In 1978, Lee Iacocca was hired by Chrysler, essentially to save the company, a feat achieved with his K-Cars. But Iacocca's second way of saving the brand was by revamping Dodge to be the performance brand it had gained legend for once being. In 1982, Iacocca convinced his old friend, Carroll Shelby, to join him in this mission to turn Dodge into a performance brand once again. In 1983, the first Dodge Shelby Charger is debuted, marking the beginning of an odd chapter in Shelby's history.
A Change Of Pace For Trucks
Shelby going from car builder, to retired, to car builder once more was not the only change the American car industry was seeing. At the time, if you wanted a truck, you had a choice of full-size, or compact. In 1987, Dodge changed this with their new Dakota mid-size pickup truck. Bigger than compacts like the Ford Ranger, yet smaller than the massive full-size ones, the Dakota became an instant hit, with production continuing until 2011.
But while the Dakota was exciting for its innovative new market segment, it was not a powerful vehicle, with engine choices of either a 2.2L inline 4 or a 3.9L V6. While Dodge would try to make the Dakota seem more exciting by adding a convertible version to the lineup, the realization of what was missing would soon come by the hand of Shelby himself.
A Historical Footnote Is Born
Until 1989, Shelby hadn't made a V8, RWD American performance vehicle for almost two decades, as the previous Dodge Shelby models had used smaller turbocharged engines. To make the Dakota into an exciting vehicle, he would return to his roots. That same year, a $3,933 upgrade pack was introduced and made for one year only: The Dodge Shelby Dakota.
Turning to his past for inspiration, Shelby lifted the 5.2L "Magnum" V8 from the full-size Dodge Ram and did his best to fit it under the smaller hood of the Dakota. The squeeze was so tight, that the traditional mechanically driven radiator fans had to be ditched in favor of (at the time) advanced electrical ones. This new V8 Dakota produced 175 HP, and 270 Lb-Ft of Torque, which was pretty impressive for the time, although not so much today.
Other upgrades the Shelby Dakota received included a unique body kit and decals, special edition Shelby wheels, a limited-slip differential, and a customized Shelby themed interior. Only 1,500 of these special trucks were produced, available only in White or Red.
Gone, And Mostly Forgotten
Since the Dodge Shelby Dakota had only been around for one year, and with limited numbers, it did not stick around long enough, or have enough success for people to appreciate what it really stood for. The thing is though, in the 1980s, performance trucks were a strange concept, with no real options available. In that way, the Shelby Dakota was seriously ahead of its time, with brutal performance trucks like the Ford F-150 Lightning and Chevy 454SS being released just years later.
While the main legacy of the Dodge Shelby Dakota is that the Magnum V8, which had been shoehorned in, became an optional engine for all Dodge Dakotas starting in 1991. But that's not a legacy that brings high prices among collectors, and clean Shelby Dakotas can be found today for around $15,000.
Although, today you can buy a brand new Shelby performance truck, from Ford. The new Ford Shelby F-150 is almost the ultimate evolution of what the Shelby Dakota stood for, with a supercharged 770 HP V8 under the hood, and a suite of similar upgrades, including custom wheels, body kit, decals, and interior trim. Who knows, maybe one day the unloved Shelby Dakota will be as collectible as his Mustangs are. Probably not, but i'd still bet it'll be a future classic.