Shelby Automobiles was a performance trailblazer in the 1980s. Shelby introduced the first application of a V-8 engine in a mid-sized pickup with the Shelby Dakota in 1989. The 1989 CSX was the first American production car to use a Variable Nozzle Turbocharger (VNT), as well as the first application of composite wheels on a production car.
Shelby Dodge vehicles also were well equipped with suspension, brake, tire and wheel packages that were in concert with the additional power the vehicles produced. All the performance of the Shelby vehicles provided Dodge Division with the performance image Lee Iacocca desired.
