The Shelby You Never Knew Existed Is for Sale on BaT

For many enthusiasts, a performance-tuned Lancer is all about rally-bred heritage, preferably with the likes of Tommi Mäkinen taking the fight to Colin McRae and his blue Subaru STI in WRC action. But before the Mitsubishi Lancer, there was a Dodge, and the motorsports hero making it dance wasn’t a Flying Finn but a Texas chicken farmer.

This 1987 Shelby Lancer, up for sale on Bring a Trailer (which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos), hails from the golden age of ol’ Shel cranking the boost on various front-wheel-drive Mopars. Not only is it Shelby tuned, but it was also actually built at Shelby’s California operations, making it just that little bit more special.

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1987 was the only year for the California-made hopped-up Lancers, with the later models (badged Lancer Shelby) built in Michigan alongside normal Lancers. Just 800 examples of these first-year cars were made, split 50-50 volume-wise between manual and automatic transmissions. Survivors are rare.

This example is made extra rare by virtue of its incredibly low mileage: just 1500 miles on the odometer. According to the seller, the current owner’s father traded in a 1960s Shelby Mustang on it, then drove it extremely sparingly.

From an investment standpoint, that trade might have been the best move. However, by the late 1980s, a Sixties Mustang would have been rowdy but pretty crude. By contrast, this Shelby Lancer is crammed with goodies, from air conditioning to power windows and door locks, leather seats, and even a factory CD player. That last was a pretty rare find in 1987.

The 2.2-liter four-cylinder engine features turbocharging and intercooling, and it was good for 175 horsepower and 175 pound-feet of torque. Here, the transmission is a three-speed automatic, perhaps not the purist’s choice, but at least the Shelby Lancer got the same power output no matter how the gears were shifted. Later cars were significantly less punchy with the automatic gearbox.

As expected with a Shelby car, there’s plenty of badging along with a plaque denoting that this car is number 590 of the 800 made. However, the boxy looks are pretty reserved for the 1980s, with a mild aero-look package and tasty 15-inch basket-weave rims. It looks small, punchy, and agile.

In fact, it’s so appealing that you have to think even Tommi would approve. After all, this little pocket-rocket only came in red, the same way all the best sporting Lancers did.

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