Dodge Shadow и Plymouth Sundance: История и Модификации (1987–1994)

The Dodge Shadow and Plymouth Sundance are compact 3 door and 5 door hatchbacks that were introduced for the 1987 model year by the Chrysler Corporation. For 1991, a 2 door convertible variant was added to the Shadow lineup; this bodystyle was not offered by Plymouth. The Sundance/Shadow replaced the Omni/Horizon models of their respective marque. The first vehicle rolled out of Sterling Heights Assembly on August 25, 1986. In late 1988, production of the Mexican market version called the Chrysler Shadow began at Toluca Car Assembly. The Shadow/Sundance was also sold in Europe from 1988 to 1991 as the Chrysler ES. Production ended on March 9, 1994, with the Shadow/Sundance being replaced by the Dodge / Plymouth Neon.

The Shadow/Sundance employed a variant of the K car platform, the P body, which was based on a combination of the Dodge Daytona's suspension (alongside some of its interior styling cues) with a shortened version of the Dodge Lancer's body. It had originally been intended as a direct replacement for the earlier Dodge Omni/Plymouth Horizon, but with the economy segment becoming more crowded after the recent introductions of Hyundai (and Yugo) to the US market, Chrysler chose to make the car a bit more substantial. The P platform, being a cut down version of the regular K platform, was also a bit heavier than the competition.

Upon launch, the Shadow/Sundance was offered with a variety of four cylinder engines, all with displacements of either 2.2 or 2.5 L, some were turbocharged. Naturally aspirated versions were fuel injected, except those sold in Mexico which were carbureted. The engines were tuned for torque rather than horsepower, resulting in horsepower and torque numbers that appear to be reversed from competitors such as the Honda Civic. A Mitsubishi built 3.0 L V6 engine was added later, replacing the turbocharged engines. All engines were available with a 5 speed manual transmission, while a 3 speed automatic was optional on the four cylinder equipped cars and a 4 speed automatic transmission was optional on the V6 powered cars. +1987–94 Shadow/Sundance enginesYearsEnginePowerTorqueNotes1987–942.2 L K I4earlylate1987–882.2 L Turbo I I41988–942.5 L K I41989–922.5 L Turbo I I4Shadow1989–91Sundance19902.2 L Turbo IV I4Shadow1992–943.0 L 6G72 V6

1989 – The Shadow/Sundance received a facelift, with the sealed beam headlamps discarded in favor of more aerodynamic composite units. All new grilles and tail lights were among the changes as well. 1990 – A driver's side airbag was now standard on all models and the manual transmission was modified to make shifting into reverse easier by moving from the "left of first" position to the " below fifth gear" position. 1991 – A convertible version of the Shadow debuted, the same year the hatchback "base" submodel was split into the entry level "America" or S (S was used on Canadian market versions) version and mid level Highline submodels. 1992 – A Mitsubishi built 3.0 L V6 was added to the lineup, replacing the turbocharged engines. 1993 – A low pressure Bendix 4 ABS was available.

Features varied over the years, but some features included: power windows, power adjustable mirrors, power door locks, power adjustable driver seat, cruise control, tilt steering wheel, variable intermittent delay windshield wipers, overhead console with map lights and compass/temperature display, upgraded "highline" instrument cluster with tachometer, "light package" that added lighting in the trunk, glove box, under hood mounted light and rear door dome light switches (4 door models), remote trunk release, rear window defroster, Fog lights, mag wheels, Four wheel disc brakes, Infinity sound system, a cassette player, a sunroof, anti lock brake systems and on turbocharger equipped cars, there was also a vacuum/boost gauge and a message center that monitored four vehicle functions, door ajar, washer fluid level, etc

Between April 1988 and 1991, Chrysler offered the Dodge Shadow in numerous European markets as the Chrysler ES. The ES was based on the Dodge Shadow ES and was relatively the same vehicle, only without the "Shadow" badge. Offered only as a three door hatchback, the standard engine was the fuel injected 2.2 liter version, with an optional turbocharger. For 1989, the 2.2 engine was replaced by the larger 2.5 liter unit. Engines were linked to a standard five speed manual transmission, with a three speed automatic available as an extra cost option. As European sales figures turned out to be very poor, sales of the Chrysler ES ended in mid 1991, meaning that Chrysler abandoned the segment in Europe until the 1995 introduction of the Chrysler Neon.

Carroll Shelby Enterprises modified Shadows into several performance oriented vehicles such as the Shelby CSX, which was equipped with a turbocharged 2.2 L engine producing Because of the car's light weight and powerful engine , it was capable of acceleration equal or greater than that of many contemporary muscle and sports cars. A version without the intercooler, rated at , was sold to Thrifty as the CSX T.