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When is an American car also a Japanese car? When it's a Dodge Stealth, the fruit of an ongoing, and highly successful collaboration between Mitsubishi and Chrysler that saw both brands emerge guns blazing into the supercar-heavy early 90s.
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Unlike same-era efforts such as the Mitsubishi Eclipse/Eagle Talon twins, however, the Stealth did not spring forth from the Diamond Star Motors manufacturing venture that produced a long list of sporty compacts and affordable sedans for both automakers. The Stealth was a more traditional badge-engineering effort, with Mitsubishi supplying the car's guts and Dodge taking over styling to create one of the most unique vehicles available at a domestic dealership—and one with performance no one else in Detroit could match at the time.
Product Of The Bubble
By the end of the '80s the Japanese bubble economy was in full swing. With seemingly endless amounts of money pouring into the country's corporate coffers, its car companies were engaged in a startling cycle of technological one-upmanship, doing their best to produce the most advanced sports and luxury vehicles possible.
It's this environment that produced hallowed models like the Mazda RX-7 FD, the Nissan 300ZX twin-turbo, and the fourth-generation Toyota Supra turbo. Joining this list, and no less an achievement in terms of performance and power, was the Mitsubishi GTO. Sold in the United States as the 3000GT, it would serve as the underpinnings of the mechanically-identical Dodge Stealth.
The GTO/3000GT/Stealth's list of engineering accolades was extensive. When it debuted in 1991, the top-tier car (VR-4 for Mitsubishi, R/T Turbo for Dodge) offered a twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 that churned out 300 horsepower and 307 lb-ft of torque. Transmission choices included a four-speed automatic and a five-speed manual, and an all-wheel drive system was standard with the turbo models. So was an electronically-controlled suspension system and a passive four-wheel steering setup at the rear that offered up to 1.5 degrees of toe deflection.
This level of equipment was ultra-exotic for the time, and certainly unheard of when shopping for anything in an American showroom. Despite its heavy, grand touring dimensions, the Dodge Stealth R/T was an exceptional performer: the car could reach 60 mph from a standing start in less than five seconds, with the quarter mile flashing by in the mid-13 second range.
Of course, not all versions of the Stealth were delivered in such impressive trim. Base models were stuck with a 164 horsepower version of the 3.0 V6, while ES and R/T versions upgraded to a naturally-aspirated, 222 horsepower edition that featured dual-overhead camshafts. All non-turbo Stealths were also restricted to front-wheel drive.
Short, But Impressive Run
Dodge was rightly proud of its marketing coup, having scored a world-beating sports coupe with almost no investment other than paying a few designers enough overtime to bring its appearance in line with the rest of the brand. The company attempted to raise the Stealth's profile further by having it pace the 1991 Indianapolis 500, but such was the outcry from the United Autoworkers union about a Japanese-built vehicle headlining 'America's Race' that the entire enterprise was scuttled in favor of a pre-production Viper taking over the duties. Still, more than a few Stealths were manufactured wearing the 'Official Pace Car' decals commonly associated with Indy.
As the decade moved forward, the Stealth would see a number of small updates made to its appearance, and its drivetrain. A forged crankshaft would appear in 1993 alongside a four-bolt main bearing setup, while 1994 introduced 320 hp and 315 lb-ft from a new engine tune along with revised front-end styling that traded pop-up headlights for a new glassed-in set (and said goodbye to the fender blisters that had been necessary to clear the strut towers on the original vehicle).
Bursting Bubbles, Affordable Dreams
As with all wild parties, the Japanese economy's seemingly endless upward trajectory finally cratered by the mid-90s. As a result an entire generation of near-supercars produced within its borders were no longer financially sustainable, and their skyrocketing prices in export markets like the United States would soon doom Mazda, Toyota, Mitsubishi and Nissan's high performance badges to the dust heap. So it went with the Dodge Stealth, which would disappear from showrooms after 1996.
Today, the Stealth is a largely overlooked sports car option, for more than a few reasons. In truth, non-turbo versions of the car feel every one of their 3,000-plus pounds, and they deliver none of the advanced features found on the R/T Turbo. Unfortunately, the latter's exceptional speed and wow factor is balanced out by the complexity of repairing its various computer-controlled systems, as well as the sheer difficulty of even routine engine maintenance due to its tighter-than-tight engine placement under the hood (a common complaint for many of its high-end Japanese sports car contemporaries).
As a result it's possible to purchase an all-wheel drive, twin-turbo, four-wheel steer bullet in the range of $10,000 to $15,000 for a cared-for driver-quality example. This is an order of magnitude cheaper than a similarly-performing A80 Supra, and certainly less expansive than an FD RX-7. If you can stomach the maintenance, the Dodge Stealth R/T Turbo offers the easiest access to an automotive time period when not even the sky was the limit for cars coming from the land of the rising sun.
Looking for other rad-era unicorns from Dodge? Check out our feature on the Dodge Dakota Sport Convertible.
The explosion in the heart of America’s country music capital injured three people and damaged businesses and disrupted mobile, internet and TV services across central Tennessee and parts of four other states.
R T Smoke N Guns Firearms
With federal officials having identified the man believed to be behind Nashville’s Christmas Day bombing, authorities have now turned to the monumental task of piecing together the motive behind the explosion.
While officials named Anthony Quinn Warner, 63, as the man behind the mysterious explosion on Sunday in which he was killed, the motive has remained elusive.
“These answers won't come quickly and will still require a lot of our team's efforts,' FBI Special Agent Doug Korneski said at a Sunday news conference.
R T Smoke N Guns Gun Shop
'Though we may be able to answer some these questions as our investigation continues, none of those answers will be enough by those affected by this event.”
In just a few days, hundreds of tips and leads have been submitted to law enforcement agencies. Yet thus far, officials have not provided information on what possibly drove Warner to set off the explosion.
BREAKING: Law enforcement is now announcing that Anthony Warner, 63, of Bakertown Rd, is the man believed responsible for Friday's explosion. He perished in the blast. No one else is presently believed to have been involved. Thank you to our federal & state partners. pic.twitter.com/PwMa1MwHvd
— Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) December 27, 2020David Rausch, the director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, told reporters on Sunday that Warner had not been on the radar before Christmas.
Furthermore, officials have not provided insight into why Warner selected the particular location for the bombing, which damaged an AT&T building and continued to wreak havoc on cellphone service and police and hospital communications in several Southern states as the company worked to restore service.
Forensic analysts were reviewing evidence collected from the blast site to try to identify the components of the explosives as well as information from the US Bomb Data Center for intelligence and investigative leads, according to a law enforcement official who said investigators were examining Warner’s digital footprint and financial history, as well as a recent deed transfer of a suburban Nashville home they searched.
The official, who was not authorised to discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity, said federal agents were examining a number of potential leads and pursuing several theories, including the possibility that the AT&T building was targeted.
Korneski said Sunday that officials were looking at any and all motives and were interviewing acquaintances of Warner’s to try to determine what may have motivated him.
The bombing took place on a holiday morning well before downtown streets were bustling with activity and was accompanied by a recorded announcement warning anyone nearby that a bomb would soon detonate.
Then, for reasons that may never be known, the audio switched to a recording of Petula Clark’s 1964 hit “Downtown” shortly before the blast.
Warner, who public records show had experience with electronics and alarms and who had also worked as a computer consultant for a Nashville realtor, had been regarded as a person of interest in the bombing since at least Saturday, when federal and local investigators converged on the home linked to him.
Federal agents could be seen looking around the property, searching the home and the backyard.
A Google Maps image captured in May 2019 had shown a recreational vehicle similar to the one that exploded parked in the backyard, but it was not at the property on Saturday, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene.
On Sunday morning, police formally named Warner as being under investigation.
Officials said their identification of Warner relied on several key pieces of evidence, including DNA found at the explosion site. Investigators had previously revealed that human remains had been found in the vicinity.
In addition, investigators from the Tennessee Highway Patrol recovered parts from the RV among the wreckage from the blast, and were able to link the vehicle identification number to an RV that was registered to Warner, officials said.
“We’re still following leads, but right now there is no indication that any other persons were involved,” Korneski said. “We’ve reviewed hours of security video surrounding the recreation vehicle. We saw no other people involved.”
READ MORE:Investigators find possible human remains near Nashville explosion
This is video of Friday morning's explosion recorded by an MNPD camera at 2nd Ave N & Commerce St. pic.twitter.com/3vaXhoUOAR
— Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) December 28, 2020'Christmas will never be the same'
R T Smoke N Guns
Police were responding to a report of shots fired Friday when they encountered the RV blaring a recorded warning that a bomb would detonate in 15 minutes.
Suddenly the warning stopped, and “Downtown” started playing.
The RV exploded shortly afterward, sending black smoke and flames billowing from the heart of downtown Nashville’s tourist scene, an area packed with honky-tonks, restaurants and shops.
Buildings shook and windows shattered streets away from the explosion near a building owned by AT&T that lies one block from the company’s office tower, a landmark in downtown.
But on Sunday, just blocks from where the bombing took place, tourists had already begun to fill the sidewalks on Lower Broadway, a central entertainment district.
Some took selfies while others tried to get as close as possible to the explosion site, blocked by police barricades.
Earlier Sunday, the officers who responded provided harrowing details, at times getting choked up reliving the moments that led up to the blast.
“This is going to tie us together forever, for the rest of my life,” Metro Nashville police Officer James Wells, who suffered some hearing loss due to the explosion, told reporters at a news conference. “Christmas will never be the same.”
Officer Brenna Hosey said she and her colleagues knocked on six or seven doors in nearby apartments to warn people to evacuate. She particularly remembered a startled mother of four children.
“I don’t have kids but I have cousins and nieces, people who I love who are small,” Hosey said, adding she had to plead with the family to leave the building as quickly as possible.