The Dodge Shadow and Plymouth Sundance are compact 3-door and 5-door hatchbacks that were introduced for the 1987 model year by the Chrysler Corporation.

In late 1988, production of the Mexican market version called the Chrysler Shadow began at Toluca Car Assembly.

It had originally been intended as a direct replacement for the earlier Dodge Omni/Plymouth Horizon, but with the economy segment becoming more crowded after the recent introductions of Hyundai (and Yugo) to the US market, Chrysler chose to make the car a bit more substantial.

Chrysler considered this a special feature and advertising literature referred to it as "hidden hatchback versatility"; the relatively large storage capacity of these vehicles was a major selling point for the company.

In its final year, the Shadow featured the new Dodge ram's head emblem on the hood, replacing the corporate pentastar.

These motorized seat belts did not comply with Canada's safety standards; Canadian-market Shadows/Sundances continued to use a manual passenger seatbelt, and 1994 Shadows/Sundances could not legally be imported across the US-Canada border in either direction until they reached the requisite age.

Features varied over the years, but some features included: power windows, power adjustable mirrors, power door locks, power adjustable driver seat, cruise control, tilt steering wheel, variable intermittent delay windshield wipers, overhead console with map lights and compass/temperature display, upgraded "highline" instrument cluster with tachometer, "light package" that added lighting in the trunk, glove box, under-hood mounted light and rear door dome light switches (4 door models), remote trunk release, rear window defroster, Fog lights, mag wheels, Four wheel disc brakes, Infinity sound system, a cassette player, a sunroof, anti-lock brake systems and on turbocharger equipped cars, there was also a vacuum/boost gauge and a message center that monitored four vehicle functions, door ajar, washer fluid level, etc.. Hatchback: Convertible: For the Sundance's first year, it was available in a single base model.

[12] The RS model, which stood for Rally Sport, came with standard features that included two-tone paint, fog lights, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel.

It was also available with a turbocharged 2.5 L inline-four engine, and other amenities like an Infinity sound system, tinted window glass, and dual power mirrors.