One of the most enjoyable parts of the annual Scottsdale auction frenzy is just how many under-the-radar cars pop up to be noticed. How many of you have spent time thinking about what Carroll Shelby might have had as a daily driver in the late-8os? Right. Well, here’s at least one answer: A 1988 Dodge Shadow, but no ordinary one at that, it’s a Shelby CSX-T, devoid of any Shadow badging. It will be headed to Russo and Steele in the coming week.
Carroll Shelby’s Shelby CSX-T
There were a grand total of 1001 of these built, all but this one, #475, being sent to Thrifty Car Rental. As these cars were scarce to begin with, and nearly 30 years of attrition have taken what must be a heavy toll on the population, there aren’t many data points as to value. A search of eBay gave up only one result, a better-than-you-might-expect but still not all that great 139,000 mile example which sold for about $1,700. It had signs of Mopar’s late-80s, early-90s paint adhesion disease, but wasn’t in too bad of shape, all things considered.
This car in particular would have to be the high-water mark of value for these cars. Lots of documentation supporting ownership by its very creator, obviously impeccable condition if it presents as well in real life as it does in the images shown, and being sent to a well-known collector auction.
Read the full description and view more images on the Russo and Steele page.
Once the auction is complete, this article will be updated with sales results if they are published.
I thought that the Shadows (and even better, the Plymouth Dusters) of this era were nifty little cars. The CSX-T, though, was unknown to me until now. Thumbs up
I knew a few people with Shadow/Duster cars back in the day and I liked them, too. They were peppy for the time and looked good. They were a step in the right direction with Omni-like economy (with sporty options) and Charger/Turismo-equivalent sporting looks. You couldn’t ask for much more in a sensible car.