eBay Find: Showroom new 1993 Dodge Stealth R/T

The early 1990s wasn't a bad time for sports car fans, at least if you were willing to look past the aging domestic muscle car offerings to a rapidly developing breed of Japanese performance cars. Like most of us, as they aged, they gut a little portly, but in their prime they were something to behold.

But if a Mazda (RX-7), Nissan (300ZX) or Toyota (Supra) name plate was a little much for you - or if you lived in small town America, where your only logical offering came from Detroit, Dodge had an answer: The Mitsubishi-built and engineered Dodge Stealth.

Based on the Mitsubishi 3000GT, one of the most aggressive if not best driving of Japan's any man's supercar quartet, the captive import Stealth never gained quite the foothold in the marketplace its killer looks and high-tech performance should have given it. When it was launched in 1991, Dodge intended to use it as a pace car at the Indianapolis 500, but UAW workers protested the foreign-built car and Dodge was forced to substitute a prototype Viper. Curiously, the body of the 1992 Indy 500 pace car, the Cadillac Allante, was built in Italy.

The Stealth was offered in three flavors, but the only one that ever mattered to enthusiasts was the twin-turbo R/T. Cranking out an astounding 296 horsepower and 306 lb-ft. of torque, the 3.0-liter Mitsubishi V6 nearly topped the magical 100 horsepower per liter mark - and this was in 1991, mind you. A mild refresh in 1994 saw a 25 horsepower boost, helping the Stealth crack that figure.

Although hampered some by its curb weight - around 3,600 lbs., depending on model year - the Stealth scooted pretty well by early-1990s standards. Although probably serving as more of a reminder about just how how fast 2010 cars are, we are still nonetheless impressed with the low-14 second quarter mile and sub-6 second 0-60 sprints. Those figures are pretty much par with the 1993 Chevrolet Camaro Z28, which used a 5.7-liter, 275-horsepower V8 to get about its business in a vastly different way than the Stealth.

This 1993 Dodge Stealth R/T is, in every sense of the phrase, a proverbial time warp. Still riding on its original Goodyear Eagle VR45 "Gatorback" tires (which should probably be swapped out immediately if you plan to drive it), it looks showroom fresh inside and out. Check out that exotic color combination - bright red leather with a menacing gloss black exterior. The period cell phone just adds to the appeal.

We aren't entirely sure why someone would buy a Stealth R/T - which wasn't a cheap toy - and barely use it, although we question the seller's claim of just 700 miles accrued annually. In our experience, most old cars with low miles spent a lot of that time sitting unused - so expect to replace lots of hoses and seals.

Still, we're hooked on this piece of "vintage" nostalgia.

It helps that the seller did a heck of a job shooting photos of it, although we wish they were higher resolution so we could print them and pin them up on our bedroom walls and on the inside of our lockers!

Source: eBay