In 1987 The Chrysler Corporation announced a new compact car, the Dodge Shadow. The first Dodge Shadow actually rolled off the assembly lines of the Sterling Heights, Michigan factory on August 25, 1986. There was both a three and five door model offered which were both based on a variant of the K-car platform, which was known as the P-body. The Dodge Shadow vehicles looked like either a sedan or a coupe, but they were both an actually hatchbacks. This was a marketable feature because the hatchback offered more storage space than one would expect for a compact car.
The Shadow was equipped with a variety of four cylinder engines, all of which were either 2.2 or 2.5 litre and a few of them were turbocharged. The Dodge Shadow engines were typically tuned for torque instead of horsepower. Later in the production a Mitsubishi 3.0 litre V6 would be added which was also the end of the turbocharged option. All of the Dodge Shadow models were offered with either a five-speed manual or a three speed automatic. In the 1993 model the manual transmission was updated to make shifting into reverse a bit easier and in 1994 a motorized seat belt was added to the passenger side of the vehicle. A convertible version of the Shadow was made available starting with the 1991 model in addition to a driver's side airbag.
The Shadow was very popular from the time it was introduced to the market, partly because of its sporty looks but also because of its modest price. Despite its popularity, the Shadow failed to be all that profitable. Finally, production of Dodge Shadow ceased in March of 1994 to make way for the Dodge Neon.
