1985 Dodge Shelby Charger Test Drive
The Shelby Charger was an example of a modern day hot rod from the Iacocca/Shelby mold, built within the confinement of EPA, NHTSA, DOE, and DOT, to name but a few. In the early Cobra days when the 289 Cobra started to lose a few races, Carroll went directly to Lee and asked for the 427 motor. In answer to a similar question today from Shelby, we can imagine a conversation something like “but, Shel, we don’t have a 427. No, the 318 will not fit. The absolute best I can do for you is turbo charging.” So for 1985 the charger became the Dodge Shelby Charge with turbo. It seemed a natural, anyway, the Daytona Turbo Z engine was identical and had been turbo’d since the 1984 model year. Dodge engineering claimed the reason the Charger was UnTurbocharged until 1985 was due to a problem with fuel tank size and fuel pumps. Since the Daytona Laser design started with a clean sheet of paper and electronic fuel injection was a part of the program from the outset, a large tank was incorporated so the pumps for the EFI would fit comfortably inside. Not true for the Charger; it was carbureted from the beginning and had no provisions in the tank for EFI fuel pumps.
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