Dodge Mirada
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| Dodge Mirada | |
|---|---|
 1981 Dodge Mirada | |
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | Chrysler Corporation |
| Model years | 1980–1983 |
| Assembly | Windsor, Ontario, Canada |
| Body and chassis | |
| Class | Mid-size |
| Body style | 2-door coupe |
| Layout | FR layout |
| Platform | J-body |
| Related | Chrysler Cordoba Imperial |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | 225 cu in (3.7 L) Slant 6 I6 318 cu in (5.2 L) LA V8 360 cu in (5.9 L) LA V8 |
| Transmission | 3-speed A904 automatic 3-speed A727 automatic |
| Dimensions | |
| Wheelbase | 112.7 in (2,863 mm)[1] |
| Length | 209.5 in (5,321 mm) |
| Width | 72.7 in (1,847 mm) |
| Height | 53.3 in (1,354 mm) (1980) 53.2 in (1,351 mm) (1981–83) |
| Curb weight | 3,373 lb (1,530 kg) (1980) 3,380 lb (1,533 kg) (1981–83) |
| Chronology | |
| Predecessor | Dodge Magnum |
| Successor | Dodge 600 (in 1983) |
The Dodge Mirada is a mid-sized, rear-wheel drive coupe manufactured and marketed by Dodge for model years 1980 to 1983 sharing the Chrysler J platform along with its badge engineered variants, the second generation Chrysler Cordoba and the Imperial. Production of the Mirada reached just under 53,000 units, staying relatively unchanged during its 4-year run, with the exception of paint colors and engines. The Mirada was marketed as a sporty personal luxury car with limited advertising and marketing during a period when Chrysler was in deep financial difficulty.
Trims and options
The base models all received a basic metal roof with a chrome beauty strip extending from the bottom of the opera windows and across the roof. Those who chose to have their Mirada look a bit sportier could opt for either a power sunroof, or a glass T-top roof; and those who wanted a more luxurious look could choose either chose a vinyl Landau roof or a Cabriolet roof, which was basically a mock convertible top. The T-tops and Landau would be offered every year except for 1983, and the Cabriolet top would be offered every year. A power sunroof was offered for 1980 and 1981.
Base models came with 15” steel wheels with turbine-like hubcaps, or polished ten-spoke, 15” aluminum wheels with painted section and bright chrome center caps.
Mirada was offered in the following trims:
- Base
- S (also referred to as "SE")
- CMX
Interior
The base model dashboard was black with a faux woodgrain finish, which surrounded the gauges and center console, but the CMX came with a brushed aluminum finish replacing the woodgrain. The seat options were either vinyl bucket seats, leather bucket seats, or a 60/40 split cloth bench seat. Since the Mirada could be chosen with either a column shift or floor shift, the bench seat was only offered with the column shifter. Buyers had the choice of either an AM/FM stereo or an AM/FM/cassette stereo, an AM/FM/8-Track stereo, and a Chrysler CB radio could be chosen as well. The steering wheels offered were either an interior-matched two-spoke wheel with horn buttons in the spokes. The standard steering wheel for the CMX in 1980 and 1981 was the Mopar “Tuff Wheel”, which was similar to the sport wheel found on the vintage Mopar muscle cars such as the early 1970s Dodge Challenger. Manual windows were standard on the base model, but the power windows from the CMX could be ordered on the base models as well. An optional Cabriolet mock-convertible roof, featured a blocked-out quarter window.
Powertrain
The 3.7 L inline slant-6 engine was available in the base Mirada, with the 5.2 L V8 offered as optional, and the Code E58 360 5.9 L V8 available in the Mirada CMX, though only in 1980. For un-explained reasons the 360 was not available in any Chrysler automobiles from 1981 and on. All of these engines were mated to the A904 automatic transmission except the 360 (5.9L), which received the beefier A727.
| engine displacement, type, carburetor type |
max. motive power at rpm |
max. torque at rpm |
transmission |
|---|---|---|---|
| 225 cu in (3,687 cc) Slant 6 I6 1-barrel |
90 bhp (67 kW; 91 PS) (1980) 85 bhp (63 kW; 86 PS) (1981–83) @ 3,600 |
160 lb⋅ft (217 N⋅m) (1980) 165 lb⋅ft (224 N⋅m) (1981–83) @ 1,600 |
3-speed A904 automatic |
| 318 cu in (5,211 cc) LA V8 2-barrel |
120 bhp (89 kW; 122 PS) (1980) 130 bhp (97 kW; 132 PS) (1981–83) @ 3,600 |
245 lb⋅ft (332 N⋅m) (1980) 230 lb⋅ft (312 N⋅m) (1981–83) @ 1,600 | |
| 360 cu in (5,899 cc) LA V8 4-barrel |
185 bhp (138 kW; 188 PS) @ 4,000 |
275 lb⋅ft (373 N⋅m) @ 2,000 |
3-speed A727 automatic |
| [1] | |||
Suspension
The suspension of the Mirada utilized transverse torsion bars in the front and leaf springs with a sway bar in the rear. A "Sport Handling Package" was offered, which included heavy-duty shock absorbers, torsion bar bushings, springs, as well as anti-sway bars in both the front and rear. The braking system used power assisted disc brakes in the front and drum brakes in the rear.
NASCAR
It was hoped that the Mirada would reopen the door to Dodge success in NASCAR racing, as the nameplate had not won a race since November 1977. Lee Iacocca personally called Richard Petty, a longtime Dodge driver, in late October 1980 and asked him to build and test a race spec Mirada, saying Chrysler would supply Petty Enterprises the necessary body sheetmetal and engine parts Petty would need to build and campaign the car. Petty, who had left Dodge for General Motors in 1978, agreed, and had his team immediately set about and built a Mirada-based race-car. A few other teams including Junior Johnson's team built race-spec Mirada's to test. Johnson's team would have been a major coup for Dodge, as they had been running GM cars since the team's inception and the team had just signed Darrell Waltrip away from DiGard Motorsports to drive for them (Waltrip having won 22 races in GM cars prior to this).
After their car was built, the Petty team thought the Mirada looked like a great race car, and some initial testing pleased the longtime Dodge driver. A January 17, 1981 test session at Daytona Speedway (where 15,000 or so Petty fans showed up to watch) however, showed the Mirada to be 8 mph (13 km/h) slower than the GM and Ford cars of the day.[2] This testing of the car, as well as the Junior Johnson teams testing, revealed that while it looked fairly aerodynamic, the bodystyle actually had a very high coeficient of drag that made it incapable of speeds over 185 mph. The Petty team removed the Mirada sheet metal (passing it to Buddy Arrington) and like the Johnson team elected to build GM G platform bodied racecars (as shared by the Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Pontiac Grand Prix, Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme and Buick Regal), and this put an end to Chrysler's attempt to re-establish itself in NASCAR. However, two small and independent racing teams, Arrington Racing (which was using, strangely enough, secondhand rebadge Petty Dodges) and Negre Racing, decided to make a go of the car and campaigned it during the 1981 to 1984 racing seasons. Buddy Arrington managed 17 top-ten finishes during those years, though all were on short (1 mile or less) length tracks. A few other drivers (Dave Marcis in four races, and Dick May in three) ran Mirada's occasionally in 1981, but the cars were either plagued with mechanical issues, or finished several laps off the leaders. Up until the end of 1984, Miradas raced from time to time, but without much success, and ultimately lead to Dodge disappearing from NASCAR until 2001.
References
- ^ a b "Dodge Mirada, Specifications and Dimensions". Archived from the original on 2010-09-25. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ The Earnhardts: A Biography - Google Books. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
External links
