This is a car that I haven’t seen in years if not decades. There weren’t many of them made so maybe that’s why, or maybe it’s because it’s over four decades old now. This 1981 Dodge Diplomat Salon wagon would draw a crowd at any car event. The seller has this one listed here on eBay in Ansonia, Connecticut and they’re asking $7,999 or you can make an offer. Here is the original listing.
I can’t remember the last time I saw an M-body Dodge Diplomat wagon, Plymouth Gran Fury wagon, or a Chrysler LeBaron, or Town & Country wagon, easily three decades. When was the last time you saw one in the wild? This is the only glimpse that we get of the passenger side but it doesn’t appear that they’re hiding anything, they must just not have thought about photo fanatics like me. Most people are more forgiving than I am for online vehicle listings.
The seller says that this is a garage find and it’s from the city where it is right now. It was sitting for two decades before the seller bought it recently, or I’m assuming fairly recently although they don’t say how long they’ve owned it. They do say that they are only the second owner which is fantastic. This car really looks like a nice, original survivor. There is a little rust on the bottoms of the quarter panels and some fading on the woodgrain, but overall it looks really nice.
The Dodge Diplomat came in several flavors, both four-door and two-door styles, and a wagon, including a Salon wagon like this woodie version. Fancy! This was a transition era for Chrysler as you know with K-cars coming out of the woodwork and the company almost going bankrupt and then having overflowing cash reserves all within just a few short years. The interior looks great in this car, although I’m not sure what the fabric is on the driver’s side of the front bench seat. The rear cargo area looks basically like new.
This isn’t a 318 that most of us were hoping for, although I’m a big fan of Chrysler’s 225 slant-six. This one would have had around 90 horsepower and I’m amazed that this 3,600-pound car could even move under its own power but it does. The seller has done a ton of maintenance work or had it done by a shop and this one sounds like it’s ready to go to the next owner. When was the last time you saw a 1981 Dodge Diplomat wagon, if ever?
My grandpa had the Chrysler T&C wagon dark blue with blue velour interior. I remember his had the 318. The only reason he traded it in was to support Lee Iacocca bringing Chrysler back to profitability. His purchase was a dark blue Chrysler T&C K-car wagon.
I admire the loyalty but man, that was not a step up I bet.
LOL! I dig that comment. I certainly didn’t care for it. My grandpa was the kind of guy who used to use the local Exxon station to do his service work. In the 80’s the station finally closed out the shop side of business and I told him I would work on the T&C K car to bring it up to date. When I pulled up to the shop and got out it locked me out with the keys in the ignition. That was the beginning of a very tumultuous relationship.
$8k and that thing has body rot oozing from it. God only knows what lies under that “wood grain” and undercarriage.
Still has the wood bead mat on the seat that everyone had in the 1980’s
The top of the car may be worth $7999 but not the bottom!
With that Slant Six pushing it around, you’d better live in Kansas.
‘pushing’ is the key word here. I could not imagine the slant 6 in anything over 3k lbs…..We had a ’74 valiant, growing up & it had the slant 6 engine. Although it returned good gas mileage and was durable for the times ; when the chips were down and it was expected to ‘ boogie’, it couldn’t get out of it’s own way.
Byv”estimation this Chrysler would accelerate 0-60 mph in 19.6 sec, 0-100 km/h in 21 sec and quarter mile time is 22.1 sec.” Automobile-Catalog.com
That is amazing. This must be one of the slowest cars of all time
Looking at the lines of this car, it looks like a slightly larger Volare/Aspen wagon. Not a good omen.
If I lived closer I’d be buying this. These cars are awesome. A very useful wagon in a useful size. In nice shape. No problems by 1981 with these. The problems were in the 1976 model year on the Aspen/Volare, and the Diplomat wasn’t released until 1977, by which point the problems were resolved. With each passing year they got better. The Diplomat was a step up model to the Aspen and was more luxurious. The Diplomat went all the way until 1989 as a sedan and was used by law enforcement in the 80s and were considered good cars. The slant 6 might be a bit slow but can be tweaked for better performance. You can get a 2 barrel carburetor for these and provides much better performance. As a 40+ year old car, you’re not going to be using it as a daily driver and you’re not going to be driving it in the winter / through road salt – so who cares about any concerns with rust? Sounds like the current owner went through the entire car and replaced things that would be areas of concern after sitting for 20 years. The new owner shouldn’t have to do much of anything.
2bbl carb, and intake and exhaust. Original stuff is hard to buy wise today, hard to find. Clifford used to make stuff, do they still? Plus you have to figure out a way around the lean burn. Not all that simple. Might be easier to put a nice solid early 70s slant six in it or even a 318. Buddy had an 83 Mirada with a 225. Beautiful car to look at, but so under powered it was no fun to drive, and because the engine was so stress even under normal driving conditions, he had to put his foot down to get anywhere. That caused horrible gas mileage, in the mid to high teens. The SS of those days might have told the EPA it got good MPG on a tread mill, but in real world conditions, you needed the 318.
Very nice, and with a much more reasonable price than the Cougar wagon yesterday, which should be priced around the same, in my opinion.
I love this wagon but I’m not in the market for any more cars to repair. It said the a/c was removed so that usually means the evaporator is bad. I had a 1976 Aspen wagon with a /6 and four speed. Actually it was a three speed with overdrive that was not fast but perfectly fine for most any situation, and got 25mpg on trips. I drove it every day for about ten years and 201K miles. It never had ANY rust but I wanted something with power steering and automatic so I traded it on an 81 Diplomat two door. If you look at this wagon on ebay and notice some of the other things that ebay suggests for you there is a brochure for a maroon and white Diplomat like the one I had. I still like those but will have to stay with what I have.
Auction update: this one ended with no bids.