1987 Shelby Lancer | Retro Review 

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They talk to each other like they are at the dinner table with another couple and one of them has cheated.

"How cheesy can you be?" John and Beth in the 80's Motorweek: Yes.

"0-60 in a very fast 8 seconds"...we've come a VERY long way😅

That sexual tension between Beth and John is palpable...

Those “interviews” at the beginning are so unnatural it’s insane!

I like the Omni GLH and the fact is stands for 'goes like hell.

“Thanks Beth” “You’re welcome John”

I love that they referred to a CD player as a LaserDisc player. I wonder, was this the first car featured on MotorWeek with a standard CD player? It would've certainly been a high-end feature at that point, only a few years into the launch of the format.

Nostalgia is dripping of this one! I love these good old videos!

Laser Disc🤣🤣🤣

There is nothing more 1980s than the fact that this car came fitted with a laserdisc player

@1:12 Good thing it had the special Shelby suspension and Goodyear tires. Otherwise you'd hear tires screeching....

The lancer/gts were very overlooked and underrated cars.5 door hatch...very useful layout.

I've always wanted one of these. I know, it's a really strange car to want... But they're interesting to me.

I had a GTS. Loved it. My first new car.

Would love to find one of these today!

Young people commenting don't realize that the vast majority of mainstream cars were doing 0-60 in the 10-15 seconds range in the 80s. So 8 seconds was considered fast. 170hp from a 2.2L 4cyl was a lot back then. The non-turbo version of this engine made 93hp.

Thank goodness for the Shelby Touring suspension package with all that power one can only wonder what might’ve happened without it.

I had a Dodge Lancer ES and I loved it. I still miss it today. Though I am back in a Dodge and happy as I'm in a 2012 Durango.

lmao at them talking about the upgraded handling as it chews right through the front tires

OH MY GOD BETH'S VOICE IS SO FREAKING CUTE!!!!!!!

Back in the 90s, my dad had a black turbo Lancer for a couple years. Nice little sedan!

The only Laser Disc Player I remember, are the ones we watched videos in school with and they were definitely too large to fit in a car stereo lol. I'm guessing she meant CD player. 🤷🏾‍♂️

For a performance-tuned suspension, that car was plowing its way through that course!

Imagine if there was a new modern version of this car

Comes standard with a laser disc player! Dude!

I loved my Chrysler LeBaron GTS with the 2.2 Turbo, it had leather seats and every option available.

I had an '86 Dodge Shelby Charger 2.2L turbo in Silver. That was a cool car back in the day. That's one I wish I had kept.

Still kicking myself over not buying one of these beauties a couple years ago

Wait; did she say a laser disc player? As a child of the 80s who was always into cars; I have never heard of that in a car. What on earth would it be used for? And where would you put it? And how would you change discs?

Cool car. And an in-dash cd player in 1987 is insane.

Beth sounds really relaxed

These discussions are quite funny to see. Terrible when looking back. And only getting 20-30hp for a completely different motor and hearing 8seconds 0-60 is fast is quite funny

0-60 in 8 seconds, TopSpeed 130 mph, in a performance car, crazy that’s about average now.

This was the BMW five series fighter. It only lasted a year. 8 seconds was stock. Direct Connection had kits that could raise the turbo 2 HP to 300 if you wanted to spend the cash.

I always get a kick out of those retro reviews

I never realized how sweet these were as a kid.

incredible video quality given.

For this and the other 4-doors (Omni GLHS, Spirit, and a 4-door Shelby Shadow would've been plug and play) Shelby should've chucked the "one color, limited edition" policy in favor of "build to order, choose any standard Chryco color and trim option and there'll be only one discreet Shelby emblem on the trunk lid" one. They'd have been the ultimate sleepers. Save the huge screaming windshield banners for the coupes.

At 16-17,000 dollars cost the equivalent $39,145 today ! And being “Limited Edition “ probably was a dealer markup even back then! It cost the same as a back then Nissan Maxima SE.

800 lucky people bought one of these. I wonder if any are still on the road? This is the predecessor to the limited production 91-92 Dodge Spirit R/T. That was quite a sleeper too and used a modified version of the same 2.2L engine with 224hp. For perspective, the Mustang 5.0 made only 1hp more.

"a very fast 8 seconds" hard to believe just a few years later Neons were doing 8 second 0-60 runs, cost about half the price, and getting damn near 40 mpg

I want one of these

The Lancer/LeBaron GTS was a really competent, roomy, versatile and comfortable car in its day, but like many Chrysler products of that time, was let down by poor quality. The 2.2L turbo - in non-Shelby form anyway - had significant turbo lag but was fun to drive. The cabin of the Lancer/LeBaron GTS was plasticky, in an upscale K-car kind of way (which is what they were) and the seats were very comfortable. I've owned more than a half dozen cars since my 1985 LeBaron and none have had better front seats. In my example, which was admittedly four years old when I got my mitts on it, the list of things that went wrong over the next few years was extensive even though it was relatively low mileage. Everything from the AC giving up at 50K miles to the turbo itself disintegrating on a road trip at 110K several years later. No wonder the Honda Accord became America's best selling car during this era. The Shelby Lancer was obviously a low-volume specialist tuning and I'm sure the extra 30hp was fun (even though 177hp and eight seconds 0-60 hardly equates to modern performance) - but there was far too much stock Lancer and even K-car roots in there to be considered truly a classic. I guess the same could be said of the slightly better selling Spirit R/T which came a few years later.

Please rcr, review one .

"Maye the next Shelby Lancer will have four wheel drive."- Note back then everybody thought 200 hp was the limit of what you could do with front wheel drive due to excessive torque steer and traction issues. These Turbo four banger Mopars already had significant torque steer. Not sure where Chrysler would have gotten their AWD system back then.. because you want a sophisticated AWD not a crude 4WD to battle torque steer. Mitsubishi?

Nobody mentioned torque steer; which you know was a very big problem with that car. It was a problem with lower powered versions

Back when 80s had 'affordable', sports-cars.

Yes. This is fantastic. More exposes please.

That Shelly Lancer was pretty expensive back in 1987. $16,995 for the manual, add $1,000 for leather interior and automatic. How much did the Dodge Spirit R/T cost in the early 90's?

That ain’t a laserdisc honey

The same top speed of a stock Acura Integra same year and normally aspirated 👀

Please a review of the 94 Galant

Good luck finding one nowadays

$16k was a lot of money for a domestic car like this in 1987. A Camaro IROC-Z or Mustang GT only cost around $12k-$13k at that time. Even with the Shelby components and exclusivity I don’t think I would have spent that much on one of these cars.

The lack of a leather cockpit with a manual transaxle put the kibosh on this car for me when I was considering one of these back when they were new. I went with a BMW M5 instead, which thankfully didn’t such issues. I get that they were probably thinking of resale value when deciding what interior goes with what transaxle, but a driver’s car without leather? Unthinkably uncivilized! Lee must’ve been slipping in his old age.

@2:36-2:42 "And I'm willing to bet that future Shelby Creations will be more upmarket than the Lancer." You have nnnnoooo idea....

1:26 It came with a CD player, but they kept the tape storage case underneath the radio... You'd think for the price, they could include the trip computer.

My mother had a 1988 Lancer but it was the regular Dodge version and had it for a few years before I was born. Now I can't find any other Lancers around in the wild anymore and the only proof that I had that my mother had one is in pictures. LOL

Laser disc😂

is this older than the mitsubishi lancer? i like this one better lol

thats a nice looking steering wheel

I was a huge fan of the 80s Chrysler turbos and owned both a 1985 Chrysler Laser XE Turbo and a 1990 Plymouth Sundance RS Turbo and I still own a 1990 Dodge Daytona ES V6. A funny thing about this video is the comically tiny track they are throwing that Lancer around. Was it in someone's driveway? That poor car was squealing around 30 mph corners that probably required the steering wheel to be turned fully to the left or right, what were they thinking? That said, the Shelby Lancer was an amazing car, recently saw one on Autotrader available in Phoenix, I inquired but it was already gone at a price of $28K with 59,000 original miles.

There must be 1's of these left in existence🤔

Laser Disc player, GY Gatorbacks and 0-60 in a very fast 8-seconds. Just need a mullet and acid wash jeans to make it more like ‘87.

I laughed at "laserdisc player" I'm guessing it has no spare tire in the trunk.

Damn i regret not buying one now only 400 made, I had a chance back in 2014 to buy a 1987 red manual for $1500 Canadian, good shape and full running condition.

My dads friend has the auto version of this car. Been sitting under a tarp since 1999. Begging to be driven

In an interview Shelby said they got a lot of hp out of this motor with his engineers. A lot more than the 224 hp that the Daytona 2.2 got a few years after this

$16000 is a lot of money at that time. That would probably be $45000 today

Hold on! The Shelby Lancer was available with an automatic? I want that one! If the Shelby Lancer continued into 1992, it could have gotten the 2.2 liter turbo four with 224hp and a sport suspension.

We have a black one ! Never seen another black one.. only red and white

I saw no screen for the laserdisc player....

Now it is hellcat trucks and chargers

" 0-60 Drops to a very fast 8 seconds " hahahahaha! OH just gotta love the 80's cars!

My parents Plymouth Voyager had the same engine, minus the Shelby business.

It won me over when I heard “Laserdisc” player.

Crazy Cd player in 87

Zero to sixty in "a very fast eight seconds." Very good, all right . . . . . . for 1987, that is.

I'm pretty sure at 1:28, that's not a laser disc player.

Didn't even know about these. Are there any left?

My dad has one of these.

"Shhh....I'm watching John and Beth on 'As the Wheel Turns'!"

130MPH she says I wouldn’t put my life in danger like that

I thought Dodge had a 2.2 turbo back then with 224 HP? Maybe it was later.

Laserdisc player? I'm assuming she meant CD, Laserdisc was for video.

Lol laser disc player. I havent seen a lamcer since i was a kid

The 80's seemed old when they where brand new.

You can watch Lazer Disc movies in this thing?

LaserDisc!? Damn this thing really was top of the line. "I don't know where you'd watch the LaserDisc's thought. Didn't see a little CRT in the dashboard." That's a real safety hazard if you watch them while the car's in motion. I'm going to assume that she meant CD instead.

The 2.2 liter turbo engine may have had some grunt, but it was very crude.

Sooo haven't Lancers always been Sporty??

Classic and sleek...

That lady spritzed the heck out of her hair! 😐

Is this car has something to do with japanese lancer?

I would love to have this in #GranTurismo7

Mosler engine?

Rather expensive for that time.

$17,000??!??!?!?!?!