A lot of us in the Barn Finds family of readers and writers are big fans of police vehicles. Not as in being cuffed and riding in the backseat, but as in collecting them, showing them, and their often interesting history. The seller has this 1988 Plymouth Gran Fury ex-police car listed here on eBay in Bellevue, Washington and the current bid price is $5,800.
The title is one of those “duh” moments for a lot of people. “Of course, this is a former police car, look at it!” I meant it isn’t a tribute car, this was actually a police car that the seller drove and has been restoring for an unknown period of time. They say that it was decommissioned in 1991 and the restoration is 95% done.
By 1988, the big, somewhat clunky, rear-wheel drive Gran Fury was on its way out. It was really a different product than what Chrysler had been pushing and selling for years: small, front-wheel drive vehicles. I don’t know if a four-door Plymouth Caravelle would have worked for a police car, though. Although in Canada, the Gran Fury was known as a Caravelle but the Caravelle in the U.S. was a front-drive E-body or K-body car. The M-body Gran Fury was made in the U.S. from 1981 for the 1982 model year through 1988 for the 1989 model year.
This must be part of the 5% that hasn’t been restored yet. This is scary to me, but for those of you who have restored vehicles, this is probably less than a day’s work to get back to how it should look. The seller says everything is the way it should be and the details are actual products that would have been used, such as the “interior center console jockey box, window kick guards, clipboard holder, etc.” The back seat in a police car is a place I’ve never been and hope to never see firsthand, but this one looks authentic.
The engine is Chrysler’s 318-cu.in. OHV V8, which would have been factory-rated at 175 horsepower and 250 lb-ft of torque. It sends power through a three-speed TorqueFlite automatic to the rear wheels. The seller says this one is running but that’s all they say about it. For any collectors of 1980s police vehicles, this could be a fun way to jump into the hobby.
I grew up around people who had big fast sedans. Newports, Ninety-eights, Pontiac Bonnevilles and Catalinas. Police shows on TV, too. So, cop cars were fast? Sure. What sealed the deal on wanting a police package ride was Motor Trend’s test of the ’76 9C1 Nova. Right side up was auntie’s car. Underneath was brother’s Z-28. That’s the kind of thing that will stay with a budding teenage driver.
I had a retired ‘76 9S1 Nova and it was one of the most fun cars I’ve ever owned!
I have a few friends who drove them on Duty and they still rave about them to this day. These Mopars on the other hand? Not so much…
Correction; 9C1!!
These last Chrysler Corp RWD vehicles were one of the best revisions ever. The Fifth Avenue was the ultimate expression. Had 83 and 85 Fifth Avenues. Not only luxurious, comfortable and dependable. The 318 had plenty of power. Not surprised police used the Gran Fury. Virtually indestructible.
These things had absolutely nothing on the 9C1 Chevys. The guys that I know who drove them hated them
Scotty, I had an ’81 Diplomat police model.
I drove a 1985 Grand Fury for 3 years as state patrolman and was happy when it was replaced with a 1988 Caprice! The Grand Fury had a nice cloth interior unlike the vinyl disaster this car has. In 1985 the 318 was fitted with a quadrajet carb (from the factory) and there issues with drivability. Punch the gas to the floor and half the time the engine would load up, no acceleration until you took foot off the pedal then tried again. Top speed was 110mph. A slug that handled well. After 3 years of cutting the median to chase speeders, the right rear quarter panel developed a stress fracture from the lower right corner of the back window, thanks to lack of a full frame. Ko
My ’81 did the same thing! Never seen that before or since. I fixed it once, but it split again.
Are the rammers on the front bumper in the first picture included?
Bob, if you click on the seller’s eBay link in the first paragraph you can see everything that’s included. It looks like they are.
Remember when my local town switched to Crown Vics in 1990 and started auctioning their Diplomats, like Elwood said, they were practically giving them away. Marines used some Chrysler “K” cars for Police duty in the 80’s, was sort of humourous seeing a huge Marine MP with all of his gear, trying to get in and out of one.
Used to drive 1961 Plymouth Fury State Police cars and as I recall they were all column straight shift cars. No sissy automatics back then. Always a good choice. There was this dude car thief in a Roy Rogers parking lot looking for and asking who had an automatic because he couldn’t drive stick shifts. Keeps some criminals away.
I never heard the term “Straight Shift” until I
moved to Virginia.
I was a police officer at the University of Georgia. In 1982, we got two Gran Furys off the state contract for vehicles. We had two Chevy Malibus with 350s that would fly, and some Plymouth Aspens that were pooches. We were excited to get the Gran Furys, but quickly learned that the best accessory in the car was the AM-FM radio. Admittedly, we were not near any interstates or other highways that required high speed capability, but while these 318 powered cars sounded great when you put your foot in the carburetor, the expected kick in the seat acceleration was sadly lacking.
I once worked for a towing company/bodyshop. I had the midnight shift, so in idle time, I helped with the final detailing of the repaired cars. There was a sherriff Diplomat patrol car that had a repair from a minor fender bender that I did the finish detailing on. I decided to take it for a spin at 2 am just for fun. I was expecting the proverbial overpowered exciting driving experience that’s portrayed in every tv show or movie ever made. What a letdown. My pickup truck was a much faster machine with a 305 engine in comparison to the 318 .
This era of dodge police cars were best used on college campuses or intown precincts.
Hey let’s go easy on these cars….i bought an ex-WI Ste Patrol ‘88 Diplomat with 92K on it at the Wisconsin State Vehicle Auction in about ‘93….i put over 100K on it for work and all it ever asked for was an A/C switch and a fuel pump and regular maintenance. Sold it to a buddy with 200K on it a she put another 100 on it and sold it still running! It was a great car….not particularly fast, but what was in ‘88?? You couldn’t kill the thi g.
Auction update: this one sold for $6,500.