Summary

Powered by a 5.2-liter V8 engine backed by a 4-speed automatic transmission. The Dakota Shelby Edition was produced in 1989 only and, of the 1,475 produced, only 480 of them were Bright White.

Details

Powered by a 5.2-liter V8 engine backed by a 4-speed automatic transmission, the Dakota Shelby Edition was produced in 1989 only and, of the 1,475 produced, only 480 of them were Bright White. Per the Shelby serial number plate, this is #553 built of the 1,475. Assembled at Shelby Industries in Whittier, CA, these trucks were the first Dakotas to receive a V8 engine. They would also be the first V8 rear-wheel-drive vehicles built by Shelby since the 1960s. Since the Dakota's engine bay was smaller than the typical full-size truck, the engine's cooling fan had to be upgraded from a mechanical belt-driven unit to a smaller electric unit. The Shelby Dakotas came with a 3.90:1 Sure-Grip limited-slip differential, Shelby 5-spoke aluminum wheels and ABS brakes (which was new technology for the decade). There were two different steering wheels used for the special edition because Izumi (Shelby's steering wheel manufacturer) had leftover Shelby steering wheels from the 1988 model year. Rather than discard them, Shelby had them installed in early production, and this Shelby features the earlier steering wheel. Additional features include air conditioning, the original interior, the authentic name plate and a custom Alpine audio system. CARFAX shows damage report on 12/13/2012: Accident reported, hit a stationary object, airbags did not deploy.