Most American sports cars from the 80s, while good performers, are derided for their lack of cutting-edge innovation. Dodge's Daytona Turbo Z, however, embraced innovation and had more than enough performance to make it fun, but it is now largely forgotten.
In addition to the oil crises of the 70s, emissions restrictions were another bugbear for performance cars of the era, with several manufacturers feeling the horsepower pinch. The 80s saw a gradual rise in performance, as engineers had the technology and know-how to meet emissions standards while improving performance. Chrysler was right at the beginning of their resurgence as a brand and that was mostly thanks to their line of K-cars, so it made a lot of sense to come up with a hot version based on this highly versatile platform. After creating a bit of a buzz around the purported sports car, they finally unleashed the K-car-based Dodge Daytona Turbo Z in 1984.
10 K-Car Platform
As much as the vast majority of the K-car based cars were very boring, they were perfect for the time when other brands were slow to adapt to market needs.
It was a resounding success, and their ability to build these cars in such large volumes meant that they were able to keep prices down, even for the Daytona sports car. Above all else, the Turbo Z offered exceptional performance value at the time.
9 Classic Wedge Design
The 80s automotive design language was very much a hangover from the 70s, with the wedge still very much in vogue.
The Turbo Z was no exception and much like pretty much every Japanese sports car made in the 80s, Dodge set the Porsche 944 as the benchmark for design and performance.
8 Intercooled Turbo
As with other 80s performance cars, Chrysler went to turbocharging to allow a small engine to make relatively big power along with good fuel economy.
Other than the addition of the turbo, it was a pretty simple, robust, 2.2-liter inline-four. Boosting it made all the difference, as power went up to 142 horsepower.
7 Balanced Performance
By modern standards, 142 horsepower isn’t much, but in the mid-80s it was a lot for a four-cylinder engine and indeed a breath of fresh air.
At the time, some V8s barely made much more than that, so to have it in a small, relatively lightweight sports car was a rare treat. It wasn't so much power, however, that it caused the annoying torque steer usually associated with high performance front-drive cars.
6 Big Emphasis On Technology
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This was both a good and a bad thing, as they incorporated more electronics than pretty much any other cars made before them in a time before the more efficient CAN-BUS system existed.
The result was a lot of wiring running all over the place, and naturally a lot of electrical gremlins as time went on. The digital dash was prone to failure, so some cars might have impossibly low mileage if the repair wasn't carried out by the dealer.
5 Shelby Z
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For the 1987 model year the Shelby Z was introduced and brought an intercooled turbo engine with a bump in horsepower and improved handling.
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With 175 horses this added some more performance to the budget-friendly sports car, the suspension upgrades meant it could now also keep up with contemporary performance cars in the corners. It remains one of the most affordable cars that bears the famous car builder/ tuner's name.
4 Big Seller
These cars sold incredibly well, and there are few sports cars in this world that are able to say they sold more than 380,000 units.
The upshot of that is that there are still a fair few still rolling around, and they are in no danger of suddenly becoming pricey collectible classics.
3 Coveted IROC R/T
One model that is likely going to increase in value over time is the very rare IROC R/T, with only around 250 of them made.
It got a Lotus built DOHC head that helped push power up to 224 horsepower; equal length drive shafts (like on the Shelby Z) helped mitigate the dreaded torque steer. These cars represented the swansong for the Daytona.
2 Imperfect Sports Car
Although the IROC R/T is a bit of a 90s legend, it is not what the Daytona was all about. These more common cars had no desire to be exclusive.
They are all about affordable fun for everyone and that is why we love them, and with the right mods they're genuinely fast. Just prepare yourself for the horsepower/reliability balance.
1 Accessible Classic
Not only are these cars still relatively easy to find, but they are also proper 80s classics with all the quirks that go along with that.
The best part of these cars is they offer enthusiasts an opportunity to experience a proper turbocharged sports car on a shoestring budget. When they do invariably go wrong, spares are also still pretty affordable.