Durango SRT Hellcat

Make
Dodge
Segment
SUV

Carroll Shelby, the renowned chicken farmer and racing driver-turned-tuner, is best remembered for his relationship with Ford - an auspicious tie-up that led to such superb cars as the Shelby GT350/GT500 Mustang and the Ford-powered Shelby Cobra.

Lesser known is the crop of performance-oriented Mopars that Shelby and his company had a hand in creating - vehicles like the Dodge Omni GLH ("Goes Like Hell") and Shelby GLH-S ("Goes Like Hell S'more"). But in addition to those, Shelby American also had a go at producing a high-performance version of the first-generation Dodge Durango, bolting a supercharger onto the R/T's 5.9L Magnum V8 and gracing it with a slew of other mods both aesthetic and functional. The result was the Shelby SP-360, and just 300 examples were built.

Now, one of those Durango SP-360 models is up for sale through BJ Motors of Tomball, Texas. It's a stunning 1999 example in GTS Blue with two white Le Mans stripes and is a fantastically well-preserved spiritual ancestor to the 2021 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat.

You might have guessed it already, but the SP-360, with its 5.9L Magnum V8 and Kenne Bell twin-screw supercharger, put out 360 horsepower in its day - about 90 horsepower better than stock. At 61 horsepower per liter, and some 35 horsepower less than FCA's modern 5.7L Hemi, it's far from an impressive volume-specific power output by today's standards. At the time, it was a road rocket, capable of scooting to 60 mph in under seven seconds, thanks in part to its AWD system and absolutely no thanks to its four-speed slushbox.

Of course, with a good amount of power comes a good amount of responsibility, and to help drivers effectively wrangle all 360 of those horses, Shelby fitted the SP-360 Durango with stiffer suspension bushings and high-performance Eibach dampers, while a set of six-piston front calipers from Stillen handled braking duty.

The price for this uniquely rare, well-preserved performance machine today is $24,995 - a bargain considering its condition and the scant odometer reading of 28,203 miles. But you'd better move fast; if you miss out, there's no telling how long it might be before you spot another for sale.