The Dodge Dynasty is one of those cars that littered parking lots, motor pools, and car rental garages for years when it was in its prime. These days, they have all but gone extinct, and are rarely seen for sale. The Dynasty is a somewhat maligned car, and for the life of me, I don’t know why. Perhaps the name set expectations too high, but from what I can remember and what I see today in Mopar message boards, this was a sound car overall for daily transport. This example listed here on Facebook Marketplace has the 3.0L V6 and under 85,000 miles for $4,000.
My memory bank retains a very specific scenario involving a Dynasty: we were on a family vacation to Florida and it was our rental car. My dad came upon a railroad crossing that was clearly malfunctioning, with lights flashing but the crossbars not lowering; there was also not a train in sight. He took it upon himself to absolutely roast the front tires to race across the rails for no other reason than he could justify it; from what I remember, the Dynasty hooked up pretty well for having two adults, two kids, and their luggage inside. I suspect it had the more powerful 3.3L V6, as the Dynasty seemed very well equipped from a feature standpoint.
They were spacious cars inside, but even with a somewhat upscale image, you could still find yourself cranking your own windows, as seen here. Some of the reputational damage done to the Dynasty had to do with blown valve guide seals on the 3.0L, which will cause annoying blue smoke but otherwise not harm the engine. The other issue was the transmission fluid absolutely had to be ATF+3, which should appear cherry red on the dipstick. This was not a fault of the car but rather the owners and service shops who ignored what was listed in the owner’s manual.
The 3.0L was a Mitsubishi-built engine, as was common practice with Chrysler products at the time. It wasn’t a powerhouse but it was respectable, with the SOHC engine producing 141 b.h.p. and 171 lb.-ft. of torque. This is one of those cars that you don’t buy because you’re an enthusiastic Mopar fan but rather want a reliable daily for reasonable money that seems more interesting that a late-model sedan costing $10,000 or more. It would also be an excellent first car for a young driver owing to its broad body panels and a nose that looks like it could take a beating. How would you use it? Thanks to Barn Finds reader JDC for the find.
Wow. My ex’s parents had one with the 3.0. Although it ultimately fried the head gasket, the engine was better than the transmission. The in-laws had to have it replaced 3x (maybe 4x) all under warranty as it kept failing, particularly on road trips to FL.
Not what you want ‘older’ folks to have to deal with while traveling. And he had been a ‘loyal’ Dodge owner since Dubya Dubya 2, through thick and thin.
My parents traded their Granada in on a new black Dynasty. I remember driving it a few times and it had tremendous body roll and seats that were almost too soft. It was a throwback to luxury cars of yore. No hard cornering in a Dynasty. They never had any issues with it, but eventually traded it for an Intrepid. Talk about a change in style. Had to believe Dodge went from this boxy thing to the Intrepid in one fell swoop.