Think Caroll Shelby, and you will probably think snarling V8s. Snarling V8s in Cobras, snarling V8s in GT350s, snarling V8s in Super Snakes. If it's a V8, and it snarls, then Shelby probably had something to do with it. But during the '80s, Shelby took a break from all this snarling. This was a time when the legendary race car driver and automotive designer trod a different path and immersed himself in the world of forced induction four-cylinder engines almost exclusively — let's call it Seven Years In Turbot — apparently turning away from V8s. But in the late '80s, Shelby rekindled his love for the V8. However, it wasn't a race program or a new sports car that would light the path to eight-cylinder muscle again. It was a pickup truck.HotCars used secondhand experts Classic.com for prices in this article. This feature is not designed as investment or buying advice. The Shelby Dakota Is A RWD Muscle Truck That Costs Just $10,000 In 2025 Bring A Trailer Shelby is possibly the best known name in the world of American fast cars. You don't get Matt Damon playing you in a film about your finest hour without getting a bit of recognition from the public. But before the 2019 film Ford v Ferrari, which charted Shelby's winning Le Mans with the Ford GT40, he was already a household name. The son of a US Postal worker, Shelby was born in East Texas in 1923 and got one of his first tastes of real speed after joining the Army Air Corps in 1942. Having become an accomplished pilot, Shelby went on to become a racing driver after the war, piloting Ferraris and Maseratis in competition. Shelby's first big success was taking a lightweight British AC Ace and shoehorning a powerful, reliable American V8 under the hood, thus creating the Shelby Cobra CSX 2000 in 1962. Shelby Turned His Attention To Turbocharged Four Cylinder Motors In The '80s A few years later, Shelby went into a kind of semi-retirement, spending time in Africa and helping to found the world's first Championship Chili Cook-off held in Terlingua, Texas. But then Dodge called and asked if he could help bring the company back from Malaise Era purgatory and reboot it as a serious performance brand for the '80s. But things were different — big V8s were out and the en vogue solution to big power was turbocharging. This meant that Shelby also had to restyle himself as a forced induction guru, creating four-pot whizz-bangers like the Dodge Omni GLH (for Goes Like Hell!) and the turbocharged Shelby Charger. But while Shelby was making his name again with engines that were half the cylinders of the engines he became famous with, he had never forgotten his love of V8s. The Dodge Dakota Was An Unlikely First Step Back To V8s For Shelby Bring A TrailerThe rekindling of Shelby's passion for commercial V8s arrived in an unlikely form. The Dodge Dakota was a mid-sized pickup for anyone who didn't need to chop up a whole tree and transport it, rather, they just needed a few bits of 2x4 from the store and maybe move a lawnmower or two. Dodge was serious about bringing an element of performance to almost anything that would wear its badge, so Shelby was called in to work his magic on the Dakota. The fact that it had a bench seat for three people in the front didn't seem to matter; this would be a proper V8-weilding sporty Shelby whether it liked it or not. These Shelby Trucks Are Insanely Cheap In 2025 The Shelby Dakota was available for just one year only, so it remains pretty rare. Only 1,500 examples were built for the 1989 model year, says Classic.com. But that doesn't mean that the eight-cylinder Dakota is a pricey classic — far from it. These pickups only sell for an average of $11,742, says Classic.com. While the most expensive examples seem to sell for between $15,000 and $20,000, it would appear that $10,000 buys the majority of these trucks. There are even some that dip below that, selling for $7,000 or less. One thing is for sure, the Dakota is the cheapest way to get entry to the V8 Shelby club, and it's not half bad either. The V8 Is Powerful Enough To Light Up The Truck's Tires On Command Bring A Trailer For most people, the Dakota's powerplants would probably suffice. There was a choice of either a 100-horsepower 2.5-liter four-pot or, if you needed a bit more grunt, a 125-horsepower 3.9-liter V6 under the hood. With Shelby on board, it was decided that what the truck really needed was a V8 in its engine bay. It was time to shake off the years of underpowered American cars, and reintroduce some real muscle. Well, not quite. The throttle-body fuel-injected 5.2-liter V8 in the Shelby Dakota pumps out just 175 horsepower.These days, that's the kind of power you would expect from a pretty low-level Toyota Corolla, let alone a full-blown muscle truck. But in 1989, when the Shelby Dakota was launched, it was a rootin' tootin', brawny truck. Doing the shifting was an A500 four-speed automatic with a locking torque converter. Dodge also included a SureGrip limited-slip differential in the package too, with all the power going to the rear wheels only. Shelby And Dodge Had To Get Creative To Fit A V8 In The Dakota Bring A Trailer Getting that V8 into an engine bay designed for at least two fewer cylinders wasn't easy. The conventional belt-driven fan had to be removed and replaced by an electric-powered pusher fan in front of the radiator to help with cooling. This had a useful effect, in that it actually boosted the engine by five horsepower, so it was a win-win. The upgraded suspension was borrowed from the Dakota Sport. You can tell the Shelby Dakota from the rest thanks to the five-spoke 15-inch wheels, fade graphics, a blacked-out air dam, and a set of driving lights. There was also a sporty-looking bit of plastic that ran from the back of the cab to the bed, giving it the look of a coupe if you squinted. The $15,813 Shelby Dakota was available in either white or red. Here's How Quick The Shelby Dakota Is Bring A Trailer While the power figures would barely get the Shelby Dakota into warm hatch territory today, the truck has a surprising turn of speed. The dash to 60- mph was completed in around 8.5 seconds and the hot Dakota would cover the quarter-mile in 16.5 seconds at 82 mph. Period reviews noted that the 175 horsepower was also more than enough for the Dakota in some situations, saying that the unladen wheels would spin up at anything more than a dab of throttle. To put its pace into perspective, a 1988 Porsche 924 S has a 2.5-liter engine - no not the one out of a VW van - that produces roughly 158 horsepower. The small Porsche would be less than a second ahead of the Shelby Dakota to 60 mph, reaching that speed in around 7.7 seconds. For a truck of the '80s, the Shelby certainly has some punch, and for ten grand could be an easy way into Shelby muscle vehicles.Source: Classic.com