Vehicle Description
Available now is this excellent 1989 Dodge Dakota Sport Convertible
survivor. This is a the rare convertible top truck dressed in white
with a black top and black bed liner. Interior is finished in a
dark red and is very clean and preserved. This truck is powered by
the 3.9L V6 engine mated to an automatic transmission. Runs and
drives well. As far as noticeable maintenance requirements
observed, there is a brake warning indicator on the dash and a
broken radiator fan shroud. Other than those items, the truck is
mechanically sound. These convertible Dakotas are becoming more and
more difficult to find and are rising in popularity with the
collector car market. This is an excellent opportunity to pick one
up at a reasonable price and would be a great platform for
restoration or just a cool little truck to cruise in. Convertible
pickup trucks are the answer to a question that the general
car-buying public has never asked. Technically the Ford Model A
pickups had a removable roof, but once that pioneering model left
the scene it took more than a half century before an automaker
decided to test the waters with a vehicle that helps you get a
sunburn while also living in perpetual fear of being permanently
injured by sliding cargo. The bridge between the working world and
the fantasy of fun and sun eventually took the form of the
1989�€"91 Dodge Dakota Sport convertible. Built in partnership with
American Sunroof Corporation (ASC), the topless Dakota was a true
oddball from Detroit's favorite mod shop. Never afraid to make the
most unusual Big Three marketing fever dreams into real steel, ASC
took a chainsaw to the Dodge and for three years helped manufacture
a vehicle that almost nobody wanted. The Dodge Dakota itself was a
bit of an outlier on the pickup truck scene. Introduced in 1987 as
a larger-than-compact alternative to the Ford Ranger and the
Chevrolet S-10/GMC S-15 twins, the Dakota effectively invented the
mid-size truck segment that continues on to this day. It also
allowed buyers to haul a 4�-8 slab of plywood or drywall without
having to leave the tailgate open, which was a stark contrast to
the more modest Blue Oval and Bowtie entries. Not only was the
mighty Dak bigger than its contemporaries, but it was unique in
offering a chest-thumping V-8 engine in the form of the
limited-production, 1989-only Shelby Dakota-something no compact
hauler could match at that time. Spreading that eight-cylinder out
to the rest of the lineup was still a couple of years into the
future, however, when Chrysler CFO Jerry York came up with the
brainwave that would become the Dakota Sport convertible. The
Dakota wasn't selling all that well, with an initial 100,000 units
in 1987 dropping to just below 90,000 a few years later in 1989,
which was less than half what General Motors was enjoying with its
S-10. York's idea to boost sales wasn't adding more power or
off-road toughness. No, Jerry went completely off script with the
idea that what pickup buyers were truly looking for was a flimsy
vinyl roof and the winking protective promise of a single-hoop roll
bar. Not many out there When it first hit dealerships as a 1989
model, you could order the Dakota Sport convertible in either
black, white, or red. The Sport designation gave you a standard
3.9-liter V-6 good for 125 horsepower, and transmission choices
included a five-speed manual or four-speed automatic. If you wanted
to go full-weird, then four-wheel drive could also be ordered;
standard equipment included velour seats, power windows, and door
locks, cruise control, fog lights, and anti-lock brakes on the rear
axle (as well as unique graphics). A scant 2842 adventurous souls
took Dodge up on its top-down Dakota offer that year. For 1990,
even with the addition of four-cylinder trucks and the color blue
to the paint options, sales fell to just 909. Depending on who you
believe, 1991 saw a final eight Dakota Sport convertibles built to
fulfill the contract with ASC, before the
