The ad for today’s Nice Price or No Dice Stealth states it’s an automatic, while the pictures plainly show three pedals and a five-speed stick. In fact, the shift knob boot for that gearbox is the only thing showing any wear on the car. Let’s see how well its price wears on us.
I recently read about a worm that had been locked in the Siberian permafrost for over 46,000 years, that researchers were able to thaw out and then observe making worm babies. Some things just can’t be killed. Take MG for example. For many Americans, that formerly British brand died back in 1980 when the last MGB rolled off the boat. Truth be told, MG went steaming along ever since even without U.S. sales to bolster its modest success.
Today the marque is owned by the Chinese automaker SAIC, which builds a series of hatchbacks and soft roaders under the formerly British MG brand. The company just released the MG4 EV Xpower, an inscrutably-named electric vehicle that is purported to be the most powerful in MG’s history. The 1974 MGB GT we looked at yesterday harkened back to simpler times when MG was just a cog in the British Leyland machine and the B was a straightforward and easy-to-maintain sports car. The latter is still the case today, and at $13,000, quite a few of you felt our restored example was well suited to its asking, earning the MG a solid 68 percent Nice Price win.
Sports cars of any ilk changed during the 1980s. That was when traditional British roadsters and coupes saw their position in the pecking order usurped by sedan-based coupes from Japan that both outperformed and out-featured those older models.
A prime example of such a killer car is this 1991 Dodge Stealth ES. Yes, Dodge is a traditionally American brand, but the Stealth was a Dodge in name only, having been based on the 3000GT sports coupe built by long-time Mopar partner, Mitsubishi. Both cars are based on the Diamante sedan.
The ES is really the Goldilocks’ Mama Bear of the Stealth line. Below it sits the base model, powered by an uninspiring 164-horsepower SOHC 3.0-liter V6, while above it rests the rowdy 300-horse turbo R/T with its niggling and expensive electronic suspension and other questionably-reliable features.
For anyone interested in the Stealth, that makes the middle-of-the-road DOHC 3.0 222-horsepower edition all the more appealing. This one is even more so as it rocks a mere 33,212 miles, has an engaging Getrag-sourced five-speed gearbox, and presents in the ad in what looks to be almost-new condition. Plus it comes pre-awarded with a car show trophy in the trunk.
The dealer selling the Stealth describes it as being in tip-top condition and claims it “runs and drives excellent.” The Firestorm Red paint is claimed to be all original as are the alloy wheels which show no curbing at all. One bit of weirdness is the ride height, which looks crazy high, especially in the back. It’s as though someone replaced the struts and then didn’t properly reset the suspension angle. Looking at others online, however, that seems to be par for the course.
With its cloth upholstery and clean presentation, the cabin comes across as exceedingly inviting. Everything is stock, right down to the radio, and all looks to be in great shape save for the shifter boot which is definitely showing its age and sticks out like a turd in the Stealth punchbowl. Interestingly, that’s easily and cheaply fixed with a quick trip to eBay.
There doesn’t seem to be anything else amiss with this clean-title car, save for perhaps its maintenance history which is undisclosed. If it needs a timing belt change or other major service, that could end up being expensive.
At $13,000, the car isn’t all that expensive to buy. But is it a value? What do you think, is this Stealth a deal at the dealer’s asking? Or, at that price, is its cover blown?
You decide!
Indianapolis, Indiana, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Rookie Blunders for the hookup!
Help me out with NPOND. Hit me up at [email protected] and send me a fixed-price tip. Remember to include your Kinja handle.