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.
You can almost smell that peculiar super sweet old lady perfume, and see the blue hair poking up above headrest.
I think this is a base model because of the bench seat.
That dark red velour (?) upholstery looks to be in good shape, and almost…. “inviting”?
Thanks Jeff.
There’s a reason why Bryan Cranston drove one in Malcolm in the Middle.
I’d guess the reason it was unfairly maligned is that the styling was 10 years out of date on the day the first one rolled off the line.
Always loved that back window 🪟 angle 📐
I remember the Dynasty’s muffler seemed to rust out quite frequently. The cure was to replace the bad one, then hold a level on the bottom of the new one and locate the low point. Then, drilling a very small diameter hole at that point would allow moisture and water to escape, thereby prolonging the muffler’s service life.
The 3.3L engine also needed regular oil and filter changes. Neglecting this maintenance would create strain on the valvetrain and lead to broken rocker arm stands. A coworker’s Dynasty pulled that stunt and he had to replace a cylinder head. Adhering to regular oil and filter changes nipped the problem.
We had hundreds of these on the fleet over the years. You really want a 3.3. The 3.0 was fine if you maintain it properly but the 2.5 Cars will give you a new appreciation for the term “under powered”. Mopar was still parts bin engineering when the Dynasty came along so lots of k-car parts are interchangeable. One of the first ones we had demonstrated Chrysler’s lack of thorough research. A renter was entering the highway (while it was raining) at “a brisk pace” when the transmission suddenly shifted into first causing all sorts of mayhem. The trans computer was poorly protected and the amount of water drowned the thing. Fortunately, it was a regular customer who was an engineer and actually more interested in what happened than in how dangerous the defect was.
I’ve probably rented a hundred of these cars in all different trim levels. All I remember is terrible torque steering when cornering, and vacuum shifting under heavy acceleration that would affect the a/c. But, even with the standard bench seat, the car was comfortable on long drives.
Worked at a Chrysler dealership in the early 90’s and these were everywhere, good cars but as has been said, they were 10 year old looking new cars. They were cheap to finance and people mistreated them like beaters when only a couple years old. Properly maintained they really had very few issues. Our premier had one and I’d drive him to catch the helicopter to the capital from the dealership in it when he brought it in for service.
When I first met my ex wife back in 2000 she had one of these. I think it was a 90′ or maybe a 91′. Same color interior but had a black cherry body color. Overall it was in great shape and fully loaded. Ran great too. It was already all bought and paid for, but like most women, within a short amount of time she wasn’t happy with it and wanted something newer and more sporty. Wasted no time in going into debt.