Ride Of The Week 06/20/2022: Les Glena's 1989 Shelby Dakota

A TRUCK THAT GOES LIKE HELL

The name Carroll Shelby is synonymous with Ford and Mustang, but in the 1980s, it was all about Mopar. Carroll added his go-fast expertise to Dodge’s Omni, Charger, Lancer, and Shadow with the GLH and GLH-S editions of those hot-hatches. However, the only Shelby vehicle that could be had with a V8, was the Dodge Dakota.

I spotted this Shelby Dakota at the Cavalcade of Cars in Hamburg, NY last winter and it was a very clean truck. The owner, Les Glena of Lockport, NY, says it came from South Carolina. He was drawn to it because of the styling of the truck with the cab-extending faux roll bar added to the front of the bed. “It goes like hell, I’ll tell ya…” Glen says of the performance in the very Shelby-esque description of the 318 powered truck.

The pickup is #1211 of 1475 produced in 1989 and 1 of 480 finished in bright white. The interior is full of Shelby call outs and is all original. The whole truck is original, well, save for the center caps. It was missing one and Glen had a time trying to find a replacement. “I found a guy on ebay with a full set, and he refused to sell me just one. I had to buy all four for over $300.”

So, if you’re restoring a Shelby Dakota and need one or two or three original center caps, well, I know a guy.

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