While you’d be forgiven for believing ever Plymouth Gran Fury was destroyed in any number of movies involving 1980s police car chases, there’s still at least one survivor left. This 1983 model is said to have just 9,949 miles from new and remain in excellent condition. There’s no way this wasn’t owned by someone’s grandmother at some point. Find it here on craigslist near Milwaukee with an asking price of $10,000 or best offer. Thanks to Barn Finds reader Rocco B. for the find.
The Gran Fury looks excellent from end to end, with a handsome light gray paint job that is said to show only minor cracking on the plastic trim between the taillight and the rear bumper. Even that is a very minor issue, but that shot of the cracking paint may give some buyers pause as it could look like a poor repaint. A paint meter would be helpful here, as such a low mileage example should have original paint.
The widely-used 318 V8 is under the hood, and while far from powerful, it’s an easy engine to work on and find parts for. The police spec cars are usually the ones to get, as they at least have some upgrades with firmer suspension and additional cooling capacity. However, you’re not buying a Gran Fury for its performance: this is solely for relaxed cruising and blowing some minds at the local cruise-in.
The interior is just plain awesome, with the additional photos showing a close-up of the instrument binnacle that reveals wood trim in impressive condition and gauges with crystal-clear lenses. The bench seat shows no flaws, and even the seat belt receptacles show nicely preserved coloring – a rarity considering how many times a day they’re grasped by sweaty hands. As they say – find a better one!
Without documentation it’s at least 109,000 miles. $2-3k car tops.
repaint,LOL 209K
That shot under the hood doesn’t jive with the gray paint on the exterior…the firewall and fenders appear to be either a different colour, or wearing some serious patina – or both.
A what?
Repainted. Somebody decided the car needed a new paint job, so they Repainted it with a new coat of paint. They decided that repainting it was the best way give the car a facelift. They sprayed the paint out of a paint gun, coating the car with a nice color of paint. When they were done spraying the paint, they determined that they were done Repainting it, and when it was dry they went out and painted the town with it. Yes. I like beer.
Hell yeah Cap! Cheers to ya!!
Early 80’s, light colored, early clear coat cars could need painting very early in their lives. Chrysler had some of the worst clear problems even late in the decade. I had a low mileage 88 D150 that most of the clear lifted on the roof and hood both. Just a thought. 🤷🏻♂️
Agree with the others; it’s worth maybe $3k. It looks decent but it’s a low spec car; no power windows or locks, no armrest bench seat. And why only one underhood and no underbody or side pics if you’re asking $10k and it really has less than 10k miles. Maybe $2k or so more if it were a cop car. Remember mentioning to a Mopar salesman at the Cleveland auto show in the late 1980s that I rarely saw one of these that wasn’t a cop car. He answered, “yeah, we sold one in the last two years that wasn’t a cop car.”
No chance this is a 10K mile car.. what is wrong with people? Also, you Barn Finds guys seem to always gravitate towards these “low mileage” claims but there are a million signs this car is a higher mileage example. The engine bay alone is the biggest indicator.. sun faded interior components and more .. dubious.
Except for the “Lean Burn”, these are very good cars. I had one as a daily driver a few years ago, until the Lean Burn started acting up. Quiet, comfortable, decent power, decent fuel economy, perfect size–not too big, not too small.
I think this guy has some ocean front property in Arizona for sale, too…
This car brings back memories of my aunt and uncle driving us on summer vacations they had a 1980 Dodge Diplomat yellow plenty of room it went everywhere it did look like the Gagney and Lacey car they drove so we were pretend police officers.
I agree the mileage isnt right . The front seat was either redone or it has a cheapo cover on it , factory seats would have had pleats. The poorly spray painted engine bay in gold makes no sense whatsoever .
I’m a Mopar guy, but these Gran Furys were hideous looking – They always remind me of what Studebaker and Nash was doing in their waning years especially with the Packards and Hudsons , trying to take an ageing body style and tack on some awful looking pieces to make it look fresh , and instead they just looked dated and clunky .The original 76-80 Volare and Aspen bodies had a lot cleaner look
500 buck parts car.
And probably 200 bucks high on that guess
Go to the Craigslist post – the seat cover is protecting original, perfect, pleated upholstery. And the yellow tint under the hood looks like aftermarket rustproofing (Zebart? Rust Jones?)
I’m not as cynical as you guys on this one.
That’s not rustproofing under the hood. This car was gold. blow up the open trunk shot. Gold.
….or a reflection of the square of yellow carpet on the trunk floor on a shiny silver grey original paint job.
The car does have a front centre arm rest. If you look very closely at the seat back you can see the outline under the cover.
The “Salon” nameplate is broken on the passenger side front door. My 1988 Caravelle Salon has both nameplates broken. The padding around the nameplate is too thick and thus they do not lay flat against the door panel, resulting in broken nameplates. A problem from the first Salon (Diplomat, Caravelle) in 1981 to the last in 1989.
I can’t speak to the value of the car, but, I agree with RNR’s comments. I was a mechanic at a large Chevy dealer in the Milwaukee area about the time this car was new. Numerous companies were applying “rustproofing” to many new cars. I’m not sure of the specific company, but this translucent gold tinted schmutz looks very familiar. This I believe could very well be a 9900 mile car.
Lovely looking car. I remember the Plymouth Gran Fury and Dodge Diplomat. I hope whoever buys this car enjoys it. :)
As a resident of Milwaukee, and a former used car dealership principal, I can attest that the gold tint seen under the hood is rustproofing. Considering the overall condition of the car, including the interior shot in the ad where the seller has the seat exposed under the seat cover, this is probably an original mile car. I still don’t feel it is worth the asking price. I sure wouldn’t pay it. And yes, I would love to own this car, just not at that price.