The Morning Call and Mcall.com's view

Dodge Division is on a roll and it intends to keep it going. A traditional strong line and several new models helped Dodge, Chrysler Motors’ performance and truck division, sell more than 1 million cars and trucks in 1986.

This was the first time in Dodge’s 70 year history that it hit the 1 million mark. This is really a big accomplishment – only three other U.S. divisions in the 90-year history of the automobile industry have topped the million mark in one calendar year.

Dodge sold 525,462 cars and 486,076 trucks for a total of 1,011,538 in 1986. Contributing strongly to the sales were the new mid-size Dakota pickup truck, the Omni American, the Aries and the subject of this week’s column, the new 1987 Dodge Shadow.

The Shadow was introduced in late summer and is a new entry in the upscale small market, a popular segment of the market that has many contenders. Basically it is a five-passenger compact hatchback available with two or four doors with a high level of performance and convenience options. And you can order a mild one or you can order a wild one.

The test car (supplied by Rothrock Motor Sales, 15th Street and Route 22, South Whitehall Township) was definitely wild. It was a sporty looking two- door with the Shadow ES package (which among other things includes a 146- horsepower turbocharge engine, big 15-inch unidirectional handling tires and a bunch of sporty stuff) that proved to be a leading contender in the ”pocket rocket” class.

But make no mistake, this is no fair weather car. The test car was driven through some of the worst conditions of the season – snow, sleet, freezing rain and just plain rain – and managed to hold its own. This, of course, is not always the case of a performance car. But the Shadow’s front-wheel drive system and those big tires certainly must have helped things along the way.

The Shadow is an interestingly styled car. The lines are more rounded than lineal and in some ways – especially in the four-door model – it resembles the Dodge Lancer. It features a sloping hood, a flush windshield rakes to 56 degrees, flush rear window and flush doors with hidden rain troughs. The rear end is cleverly done. Although it is a hatchback, it has the appearance of a notchback with a short coupled trunk. All-in-all, it does look contemporary and youthful and no doubt will appeal to younger buyers.

Dimensions for the Shadow are about the same as other compacts. It has a wheelbase of 97 inches, length of 171.7 inches, width of 67.3 inches, height of 52.7 inches and curb weight of 2,459 pounds. Cargo volume with the split rear seat in place is 13.2 cubic feet and 33.4 feet with the seat down.

The passenger compartment is quite roomy in front and driver and passenger have plenty of head and leg room. Back seat room is, well, what can be expected from a small two-door car. Three adults could possibly fit in the back i f the front seats aren’t extended fully back but I doubt if they will be too happy about it. But three children have plenty of room.

The test car proved to be an easy car to drive. The suspension was tight, handling was responsive though not tricky and because of its relatively small size, parking and maneuvering were a snap. You do have to be a little careful with the power, though, especially when the roads are slippery. If you lay on that gas pedal at the wrong time, the front wheels are going to do a lot of spinning.

The suspension system uses dual-path iso-struts and a sway bar up front while the rear features trailing arms, a beam axle with a lateral track bar, a sway bar and telescoping tubular shock absorbers. Coil springs are used front and rear. And interesting feature of the front coil springs is that they have wide coil spacing and a continuously variable pitch to prevent contact between the coils which in turn reduces noise on very rough roads. Steering is by power rack-and-pinion. The brakes – disc up front and drum in the rear – are also power-assisted and have a larger sweep on the turbo version. The standard tire is a P185/70R14 steel-belted all-weather radial mounted on a steel 14 by 5.5 wheel. The ES performance package includes P205/ 50VR15 unidirectional steel-belted radial performance handling tires on 15 by 6-inch cast aluminum wheels. This is a lot of tire for a car this size.

The turbo engine in the Shadow is Chrysler’s tried and true 2.2-liter/135 cubic-inch featuring multi-port fuel-injection and rated at 146 horsepower at 5,200 rpm and 170 foot pounds torque at 3,600 rpm. Performance as can be expected is very good. The test car was equipped with a three-speed TorqueFlite automatic, which worked very well but was somewhat of a letdown. The engine (and most driving enthusiasts) would be much happier with the standard five-speed manual transmission, which would not only provide better performance but better fuel mileage as well.

The automatic is probably as quick off the line as the five-speed manual but it is a lot less interesting. The test car on a dry road, which believe me wasn’t all that easy to find during its testing period, went from 0-60 mph in slightly less than nine seconds. Fuel mileage averaged 18 miles per gallon for city driving and 25 over the road. Not that great but you do have to consider there were sloppy driving conditions. No matter what the weather, the five- speed will provide better highway mileage (city driving will remain about the same). In either case, though, premium gasoline is required.

Standard engine for the Shadow is the 2.2-liter with single point fuel- injection. It is rated at 97 horsepower at 5,200 rpm and 122 foot pounds torque at 3,200 rpm and should provide good performance for all Lehigh Valley driving conditions.

Base price for the Shadow is $7,499, which really isn’t all that bad for an ”upscale” compact. The base includes a nice level of trim and appointments and a number of standard equipment items such as power steering and brakes, stainless steel exhaust system, side window demisters, gauges – fuel, temperature, voltage and tachometer (the standard model has an 85 mph speedometer while the one on the ES package runs to 125 mph), AM radio, removable shelf panel and precision handling package.

Full price on the test car came to $10,524, including a destination charge of $370. The largest expense was the ES package at $1,791. Other options included the popular equipment discount package at $391, which included rear window defroster, light package and AM-FM stereo; an upgraded AM-FM stereo with cassette, $244, and automatic transmission, $529. The final price also included two discounts, $250 for the ES package, and $50 for the popular equipment package. The Shadow is backed by Chrysler’s 5-year/50,000-mile protection plan.