Elwood Blues once famously said, “It’s got a cop motor, a 440 cubic inch plant, it’s got cop tires, cop suspensions, cop shocks. It’s a model made before catalytic converters so it’ll run good on regular gas“. He, of course, was talking about a 1974 Dodge Monaco known as the Bluesmobile. Well, that’s not exactly the case here – yeah it’s a Dodge Monaco with a former “A38” police car life but not quite the same as the mobile star of 1980’s hit film, “The Blues Brothers“. Regardless, it’s still worthy of a look-see. Found in Metairie, Louisiana by Pat L., this 1978 Dodge Monaco is available, here on eBay for a current bid of $6,900 with nine bids tendered so far.
Dodge’s Monaco was a well-known full-size model introduced for the ’65 model year. In ’77, the name moved to a midsized B-body structure while the older full-size C-body version was knighted with the new moniker of “Royal Monaco”. Body styles for ’78 included two and four-door sedans as well as a four-door station wagon and production was fairly brisk with a total run of about 42K units.
Owned for about ten years, the seller doesn’t divulge much about this car’s past. The 190 net HP, 400 CI V8 was rebuilt a number of years ago and it still runs strong and starts right up. The seller mentions, “I only put racing fuel in it, holds up a lot better when not driven every day“. Seems that a fuel stabilizer would make more reasonable sense. This engine’s original compression ratio was only 8.2:1, so unless the powerplant received a significant increase, racing fuel would seem to be expensive overkill. Of note is the “Chrysler Industrial” decal on the driver’s side valve cover. The “B” block engine is backed up by a TorqueFlite automatic transmission which we are told slips on the 2-3 shift. It’s suggested that a rebuild may be lurking in the future.
The exterior images, other than the slotted steel wheels, give no indication of this cruiser’s past life. It was probably an unmarked unit and it’s now showing signs of age with finish fade and rust spots blooming in various different places. The seller mentions, “Has some rust issues in the doglegs between the back doors and wheel openings, also where the quarters wrap around the top of the rear bumper“. All-in-all, it doesn’t look bad as the body is at least straight, the chrome is still pretty strong and the grille hasn’t suffered the misfortune of missing teeth.
Well, the interior does look like it has cop seats. The front and back are mismatched but the front, in particular, looks about as one would expect to find in such a fleet car. It’s keeping in character, right along with the rubber floor mat. Interestingly, the front seat looks like it has power controls – how un-cop like for this era, and there is what appears to be an AM/8-track radio in place, another seemingly out-of-place item. Then again, it may not be original.
The seller states, “I’ve owned this car for over 10 years, it’s time for it to go to someone who can give it the attention it deserves” I would agree; old police cars have a following and this example, built in an era when Mopar had a substantial interceptor-type vehicle market share, is still in reasonably good shape. So, to all of you someones out there, is anybody interested in taking this one on?
Engine should be blue, there were no orange engines in that era (the last orange Mopar engine was in 1971). The “Chrysler Industrial” decal is completely bogus and does not belong on any car, let alone this one. The rust on this car doesn’t look too bad…most are way worse. The original PB9 Starlight Blue/Sunfire Blue Metallic Paint would be beautiful if redone correctly. If it were a numbers-matching 440HP car it would have been sold already and would be well worth restoring. This one is still worthy, but won’t command top dollar.
These are very desirable cars. The ’77-’78 B-Body Dodges and Plymouths seem to have always been the Holy Grail of cop cars. I’ve owned many.
This is very cheap for this car. I’ve seen other real police package Monaco’s go for almost double this. Somebody needs to get this before they’re all gone.
Its reminds me of the car from the TV show Hunter and of course the Sheriff car from Dukes of Hazzard. Very cool!
The back seat of a cop car can get pretty nasty. Hopefully it was swapped out or at least fumigated.
Indeed so. My brother was a 25 year vet of the Pa. State police and told the saga of many of the degenerates they apprehended. Among the details he shared was that it was uncommon for those back seat travelers to become incontinent either willfully or not. Some choosing to defecate as a means of protest over the arrest. Not to mention a drunkard vomiting was also a treat. Good times.
Amazing someone would bid almost $7K on this bomb. Money to burn & my tricks for free !
That’s a Roscoe P. Coltrane car if I ever saw one…. Interesting.