We love, love, love under-the-radar cars around here, which is why we wrote an article on an AMC Gremlin Levi’s Edition a while back.
Well, as it turns out, the owner of that Gremlin, Dena Rives, happens to be the mother of another car-loving enthusiast, Gabriel Rives.
…And you’ll soon discover that the young man shares his mom’s passion for under-appreciated classics too.
We serendipitously bumped into both of them at the 2025 Goodguys Summit Racing Nationals as they hovered around the aforementioned Gremlin—then we noticed this stunningly spotless Dodge 600 ES convertible parked nearby.
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Story Summary Overview:
- Restored 1986 Dodge 600 ES Convertible
- Rebuilt 150 hp 2.2L Turbocharged 4-cylinder Engine
- Rare Upgrades Like a Cellphone, Radar Detector & Foglights
- Gifted from Grandfather to Grandson
- Spotted at 2025 Goodguys Summit Racing Nationals
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The Dodge was originally purchased by Gabriel’s grandfather, who lovingly cared for the car for years.
“When I was, like, four or five years old, he would take me around in this thing,” Gabriel smiles.
Built on the oh-so-familiar Chrysler K-Car platform, the 600 was Dodge’s mid-tier offering, slotting in between the base Aries and the top Diplomat models.
“This one was the ‘better LeBaron’,” Gabriel jokes.
“This is the more sporty version and it’s fully loaded,” he continues. “It has the dealer-installed car phone, the five-band equalizer on the stereo, air conditioning, and power top.”
Gabriel’s grandad took great care of the car, with meticulous maintenance and subtle upgrades like Jeep-sourced KC foglights.
In fact, it even has an original Whistler radar detector cleanly tucked into the dash.
“It still works, but it gets mad if you’re driving behind a car with LED lights,” Gabriel jokes.
Gabriel’s grandfather eventually stopped driving his Dodge and put it into a storage unit, where it sat for over a decade.
With failing health, he gifted Gabriel the car several years ago.
Gabriel restored the Dodge himself and now it’s being loved and driven in his grandfather’s memory.
Things get even more interesting under the hood.
“It’s a factory turbo car,” Gabriel points out. “It makes around 150 horsepower.”
While that number may not sound like much nowadays, keep in mind that in 1985, the base four-banger in the Ford Mustang was good for a mere 88 horsepower—or you could get a Camaro with the 90ish hp Iron Duke too.
But years of sitting in storage took its toll on the 2.2L turbo four, so Gabriel pulled the engine himself.
“It was leaking from everywhere,” he laughs. “I rebuilt it from top-to-bottom—gave it new pistons, rods, cam. The whole thing is refreshed on the inside.”
With the engine sorted, Gabriel then went through the entire car.
“It took me about three years to really finish everything up,” he tells us. “I put new brakes on it, a new suspension is coming soon.”
He explains that this is the first summer that the car’s been fully registered and driving.
“I’ve put 1,000 miles on it so far,” Gabriel smiles. “With the top down, it’s been perfect.”
Already knowing the answer, we asked Gabriel if he planned on keeping the car.
“Oh, absolutely,” he exclaims. “I’ve got three cars we’ll keep for the rest of my life: that Gremlin, this 600, and I’ve got a Ranger that I built from scratch.”
Then we asked him about his future plans with his Dodge.
“Drive it as much as humanly possible,” Gabriel laughs. “I take it to work, I take it to car shows, I take it on road trips.”
…And we know somewhere, grandad is smiling about that.
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Thank you so much for publishing my story! Truly means the world to me that this car is getting the recognition it deserves! It was a pleasure talking with you!
Awesome man, glad we got to connect and glad you liked the story.
Beautiful car! Congratulations.