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1987 Dodge Shelby Lancer - $4500

5K views 15 replies 11 participants last post by  necromancer 
#1 ·
Category: Domestic
Status: Clean Title

I have a 1987 Dodge Shelby Lancer for sale, in USA - South Carolina.

Mileage: 122000 mi


Asking price is $4500



#379 of 800. 5 sp. Great candidate for restoration. Garage kept, no rust, and all original. Daily driver for my mother-in-law until she replaced it with a Chevy Cobalt. It is roadworthy ( my wife drives it to work periodically). AC has a freon leak and window regulator on passenger side needs replaced. Everything else works.
 

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#14 ·
I'm the fella who flew out there to buy it, but didn't want to drive it home because under boost the temperature guage would climb up within 15 seconds or so to the HOT range (and then settle back down to normal range within 45 seconds or so after getting out of boost). It also misses at idle. These are a couple clear indicators that the head gasket is bad. I'm sure you could drive it around town (so long as your town is FLAT) for awhile with no real problems (which explains why his wife can drive it occasionally).

He didn't realize that the engine was missing, and it sounds like he didn't necessarily believe my assessment that the head gasket was going bad. I believe he is an honest guy who is not a "CAR" guy. He knows that he has a rare car, but if you're not a super-duper car enthusiast, you're not going to describe it in the same way that we would.

Yes, it WAS my fault for flying out there -- he sent great, thorough photos and gave me detailed descriptions. But I don't believe that he realized there were significant mechanical issues since he doesn't KNOW cars. No photo will show a missing engine or bad head gasket (a video of it running might reveal a missing engine, but probably not a climbing temp guage). So I don't blame him -- I just shouldn't have ASSUMED he was a super-duper car enthusiast. And the next time I do an out-of-state deal, I'll ask for a video!

That said: THIS CAR HAS NO RUST!!!! And it's almost all original... I am still broken hearted that I didn't get to drive it home. It needs other mechanical things here and there, is not perfect cosmetically, but it's a great solid car to start with. (I would have driven it as-is for some time -- it's not like it HAS to be restored to be driven and enjoyed) It even has the original stereo in it, although the code needs to be reset (good luck with that one!).

The owner is a nice guy who will likely shoot straight with you. I recommend paying to have him take it to AAA or somewhere to either discredit or validate my head-gasket claim, and they will also be able to identify any other mechanical issues.

Best of luck to all involved -- I think this is an excellent example to start out with!
Jerry
 
#15 ·
For $600 it could have been shipped back. I've never flown out to pick up a car. Too much risk in driving a 25 year old car that distance anyway when you weren't the one doing the maintenance on it.

I'm not belittling the person who went out to look at it, I'm just saying for the next guy, make an offer for what the car is worth knowing the engine needs to be gone through and have it shipped. Just make sure they do a thorough inspection at pickup of any existing damage. Somewhere closer to $3500 is likely more realistic for an overheating SL with no rust.
 
#16 ·
Yup I had a lebaron shipped from Texas 600.00........one thing I've learned is that its very rare/hard to find a Td owner that actually knows what he is talking about, they always think they have something great..always love the ad "rust free" except one small spot lol..so it isn't rust free! Anyhow its good to hear from a TD guy who went out and looked it over, so now we know the facts. It will probably need struts, wheel bearings sect.. this stuff ads up fast and turns a good deal into not so good BUT H bodies were well built,. GLWS.
 
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