The Dodge Mirada is a mid-sized, rear-wheel drive coupe manufactured and marketed by Dodge for the model years 1980 to 1983, sharing the Chrysler J platform along with its badge engineered variants, the second generation Chrysler Cordoba and the Imperial. Production of the Mirada reached just under 53,000 units, staying relatively unchanged during its four-year run, with the exception of paint colors and engines. The Mirada was marketed as a sporty personal luxury car with limited advertising and marketing during a period when Chrysler was in deep financial difficulty.

__TOC__

Design

To help Chrysler meet the ever stricter Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, the Mirada/Cordoba were downsized considerably from their predecessors, with the new models sitting on a modified version of the Dodge Aspen/Plymouth Volaré's platform that shared the sedan and wagon's 112.7 inch wheelbase. Since the Mirada could be chosen with either a column shift or floor shift, the bench seat was only offered with the column shifter. Buyers had the choice of either an AM/FM stereo or an AM/FM/cassette stereo, an AM/FM/8-track stereo, and a Chrysler CB radio could be chosen as well. Available steering wheels included two iterations of base 2-spoke wheels, an optional 3-spoke Mopar "Tuff Wheel" and an optional 4-spoke sport wheel. Manual windows were standard on the base model, but the power windows from the CMX could be ordered on the base models as well.

Production Figures:

{| class="wikitable"

|+Dodge Mirada Production Figures

!

!Yearly Total

|-

|1980

|28,633

|-

|1981

|11,899

|-

|1982

|6,818

|-

|1983

|5,597

|-

!Total

!<u>52,947</u>

|}

Powertrain

The 3.7 L inline slant-6 engine was available in the base Mirada, with the 5.2 L V8 offered as optional, and the code E58 360 5.9 L V8 available in the Mirada CMX, though only in 1980. For unexplained reasons the 360 was not available in any Chrysler automobiles from 1981 and on. All of these engines were mated to the A904 automatic transmission except the 360 (5.9L), which received the stronger A727. With the 185-horsepower 360, it was one of the fastest American cars available in 1980, on par with the Chevrolet Corvette.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; width:100%;"

|-

!engine displacement, type,<br>carburetor type!!max. motive power<br>at rpm<br>!!max. torque<br>at rpm!!transmission

|-

| slant 6 I6<br>1-barrel|| (1980)<br /> (1981–83)<br />at 3,600|| (1980)<br /> (1981–83)<br />at 1,600||rowspan=2|3-speed A904 automatic

|-

| LA V8<br>2-barrel|| (1980)<br /> (1981–83)<br />at 3,600|| (1980)<br /> (1981–83)<br />at 1,600

|-

| LA V8<br>4-barrel||<br />at 4,000||<br />at 2,000||3-speed A727 automatic

|-

!colspan=4| This testing of the car, as well as the Junior Johnson team's testing, revealed that while it looked fairly aerodynamic, the bodystyle actually had a very high coefficient of drag that made it incapable of speeds over 185&nbsp;mph. The Petty team removed the Mirada sheet metal (passing it to Buddy Arrington) and, like the Johnson team, elected to build GM G platform bodied racecars (as shared by the Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Pontiac Grand Prix, Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme and Buick Regal), and this put an end to Chrysler's attempt to re-establish itself in NASCAR.

However, two small and independent racing teams, Arrington Racing (which was using secondhand rebadged Petty Dodges) and Negre Racing, decided to make a go of the car and campaigned it during the 1981 to 1984 racing seasons. Arrington managed 17 top-ten finishes during those years, though all were on short (1 mile or less) length tracks. A few other drivers (Dave Marcis in four races, and Dick May in three) ran Miradas occasionally in 1981, but the cars were either plagued with mechanical issues, or finished several laps off the leaders. Up until the end of 1984, Miradas raced from time to time, but without much success, and ultimately led to Dodge disappearing from NASCAR until 2001.

References

  • Mirada page at Allpar.com