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. For 1991, a 2-door convertible variant was added to the Shadow lineup; this bodystyle was not offered by Plymouth. The Sundance/Shadow replaced the Omni/Horizon models of their respective marque.

The first vehicle rolled out of Sterling Heights Assembly on August 25, 1986. In late 1988, production of the Mexican market version called the Chrysler Shadow began at Toluca Car Assembly. The Shadow/Sundance was also sold in Europe from 1988 to 1991 as the Chrysler ES. Production ended on March 9, 1994, with the Shadow/Sundance being replaced by the Dodge / Plymouth Neon.

The Shadow/Sundance employed a variant of the K-car platform, the P-body, which was based on a combination of the Dodge Daytona's suspension (alongside some of its interior styling cues) with a shortened version of the Dodge Lancer's body. 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. The P platform, being a cut down version of the regular K platform, was also a bit heavier than the competition. The lineup also had more equipment across the board than expected for the class, at least until the 1991 introduction of the stripped-down America model.

While they appeared to have a trunk, it was actually a hatchback. 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. The Peugeot 309 which had been developed to replace the European Chrysler Horizon used a similar layout. While mechanically identical, the Sundance and Shadow were differentiated by their front grill, which featured brand consistent designs, Dodge using a crosshair design and Plymouth an "egg crate" design. They also had different tail lamps. In its final year, the Shadow featured the new Dodge ram's head emblem on the hood, replacing the corporate pentastar.

In the original lineup, the three-door only Shadow ES was the sportiest model, only available with the turbocharged engine and with wider rims and tires than other models.

Upon launch, the Shadow/Sundance was offered with a variety of four-cylinder engines, all with displacements of either 2.2 or 2.5 L, some were turbocharged. Naturally aspirated versions were fuel injected, except those sold in Mexico which were carbureted. The engines were tuned for torque rather than horsepower, resulting in horsepower and torque numbers that appear to be reversed from competitors such as the Honda Civic. A Mitsubishi-built 3.0 L V6 engine was added later, replacing the turbocharged engines. All engines were available with a 5-speed manual transmission, while a 3-speed automatic was optional on the four cylinder equipped cars and a 4-speed automatic transmission was optional on the V6-powered cars.

A motorized passenger-side seat belt was added to US-market Shadows/Sundances in 1994, to comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208's requirement for passive restraints. 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.

At the time, the Shadow/Sundance was the lowest-priced car on the market with a standard driver-side airbag (optional on Canadian-market models), which had been made standard on all US-market domestic Chrysler Corporation cars in 1990, giving them a remarkable crash test rating for a car its size at the time.