The Dodge Lancer has been used three times by the
Chrysler Corporation before it began being used by DaimlerChrysler which wasn't even founded until 1998. The Lancer name has been linked to the 50's, giving the Dodge Lancer a very long history, indeed.
In the 50's the Lancer name was used to identify the two and four door pillarless hardtop models of the Coronet, Royal, and Custom Royal vehicle lines. The Lancer name was then dropped in 1960.
In the 1961 model year, Dodge brought back the Lancer name for its recreation of the Plymouth Valiant. The Dodge company needed a compact car to sell, and the Lancer seemed like the perfect fit since the Plymouth Valiant had experienced wild success. Lancers were equippped with round taillights and full width grilles that set the Lancer apart from the Plymouth Valiant. The Lancer was marketed with the Chryslet Slant 6 engine, but could be special ordered with HyperPack modification that gave the engine more power. Because of poor cells, the Lancer name was reitred yet again and the compacts were renamed the Dodge Dart.
In the 1980's the Lancer made another appearance in the Dodge lineup. Dodge introduced a midsized five door hatchback in 1985 as a clone to the Chrysler LeBaron GTS, and both were based on the Chrysler H platform. Production of the Lancer lasted until just April of 1989 when it was replaced by the Spirit.
In 1988 and 1989 the Lancer Shely was produced, though it's important to note that this is a different car than the Shelby Lancer of 1987. The Lancer Shelby was a factory appearance and handling package and included an upgrade of the sway bars, shorter springs, and quicker steering features, in addition to many other cosmetic and comfort features. The Lancer Shelby's were equippped with an intercooled Turbo II engine with a manual transmission. The Lancer Shelby was not a limited edition technically speaking, but you'll rarely see one as only 279 of the cars were produced the first year and just 208 of them were produced the second year.
