The ad for today’s Nice Price or No Dice Neon SRT-4 claims it to be ‘senior owned.’ Whether that’s a senior citizen or a kid in their last year of high school or college is to be determined. What we’ll work on first is whether we like this clean car’s asking price.
The 1970 Chevy C20 pickup we looked at yesterday wasn’t a time machine of the caliber of Doc Brown’s DeLorean. It did, however, partially turn back the clock, as at one point in time it had been fitted with a front clip from an earlier 1967 edition. A newly-kitted cab interior and spiffed up engine bay added to the truck’s old-but-new appeal. A need for new wood flooring in the bed seemed to be the truck’s only glaring flaw, and that made the seller’s $14,500 perfectly palatable for many of you. Ultimately, that resulted in a solid 57% ‘Nice Price’ win.
Neon Knight
Chrysler introduced the Neon in 1995 as essentially the same car under both the Dodge and Plymouth brand names. That carbon-copy cloning was one effort towards cost savings, which was important because the Neon was Chrysler’s full-court attempt to compete with an American-made car in the compact market dominated by imports. Small but roomy, cheap but cheerful, the Neon proved a modest success for Chrysler, enough so that the marque pushed its sales outside the U.S., offering it in Europe, South America, and Southeast Asia markets.
The Neon also proved popular with the boy (and girl) racer crowd, an attraction not lost on the savvy engineers and marketers at Chrysler. The company soon was offering enhanced performance ACR and R/T models of the car. A major refresh for the 2000 model year continued the model’s sporting aspirations, culminating in the introduction in 2003 of the range-topping SRT-4 (Street and Racing Technology 4 cylinder) performance model.
More than meets the eye
This 2003 Dodge Neon SRT-4 is painted in Solar Yellow and sports its factory 17-inch alloy wheels. According to the ad, the tires wrapping those wheels are new, as are the brakes behind them. Power for the SRT-4 comes from a 2.4-liter DOHC 16-valve four-pot with its volume turned all the way up by way of a Mitsubishi TD04-L-16GK turbocharger, dumping into a low-restriction two and a quarter inch exhaust.
In this first model year, the SRT-4 made a claimed 215 horsepower and 245 pound-feet of torque. That’s possibly specious, as dyno tests from the time indicated the engine was capable of closer to 230 horsepower at the wheels. Later model years (the Neon and hence the SRT-4 left the market after 2005) made even more.
Whatever the number of ponies in this Neon’s corral, they are all fed through a Sachs clutch and New Venture Gear five-speed manual gearbox to the front wheels. Later models would rock a limited-slip diff, but that was absent on this initial model year.
Un-hooned
The ad claims this one to be a one-owner, “senior-owned” car. With just 81,000 miles on the clock, it’s also laudably not wrung out. It’s far more typical of the breed to see these cars beat to heck, fart-canned up the butt, or just generally turned into the automotive equivalent of a flat-brim cap.
It’s nice to see this one still looking factory all these years later out in the wild. The bodywork appears clean, and the wheels are unmarred by scrapes or build up of brake dust. Despite the deep front valance, large hoop spoiler, and center-scoop hood, these cars still look kind of chintzy. That’s because they were built to a price. That cheapness does remain part of the model’s charm. What other four-door in the U.S. at the time had power front windows and manual cranks for the rears?
Part of the SRT-4 package included highly bolstered front bucket seats modeled after those in the Dodge Viper, and a sliver cueball for a shift knob. On this car, those are still in the game, although the driver’s seat does show some wear on the side bolsters. More SRT-4 specific elements include silver-faced gauges and a whole bunch of suspension upgrades down below.
Tho only obvious aftermarket tomfoolery here seems to be the intake tube and cone air filter. Hopefully, the seller will include the factory parts in the sale.
Dodge dollars
That sale demands $8,700 and gets a new owner a clean title car. This seems to be a rare opportunity to buy a Neon SRT-4 that hasn’t been molested in any major fashion. That would make for a fun car to kick around in, or something that might prove popular at car meets full of people who grew up watching ‘The Big Bang Theory.’
What’s your take on this opportunity and that $8,700 asking price? Does that feel like a good deal to add a little Neon brightness to a gray existence? Or is that price too high for even this nice a Neon?
You decide!
Los Angeles, California, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Don R. for the hookup!
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