The 1980s Dodge Diplomat was part of a dying breed. V8-powered, carbureted, rear-wheel-drive automobiles that weren’t particularly good on gasoline (16 mph in the city). But Chrysler sold a lot of them along with its companion Plymouth Gran Fury to police departments across the land. This survivor from 1985 is the fancier Salon edition and is in mostly good shape other than aging paint. Located in New Britain, Connecticut, this Mopar is available here on craigslist for $6,500 OBO, and trades will be considered. Our appreciation goes to Pat L. for another great find from yesteryear.
By the standards of the day, the Dodge Diplomat was a mid-size car, built on Chrysler’s M-body platform from 1977 to 1989. While the nameplate had been used on a couple of other occasions, this rendition would become what the moniker is known for. A 318 cubic inch V8 was most commonly found under the hoods of these cars unless it was a police edition which got a 360 to work with. With a restyle in 1980, the car remained mostly unchanged until Chrysler dropped the design at the end of the decade. During this 13-year run, the Diplomat saw 383,000 copies of which 39,000 were in the 1985 model year like the seller’s car.
Though it wears “dog dish” hub caps with raised white letter tires, this Diplomat was never a police car. With the deluxe Salon trim, this was a luxury vehicle that was a step up from the similar Plymouth Gran Fury and perhaps just below that of the Chrysler Fifth Avenue, all of which used the same body. We’re told the machine runs and drives well and should be quite roadworthy. 89,500 miles is not that much for these reliable small-block Chrysler engines. It’s odd that the power brake booster has surface rust on it while other stuff does not.
The body is said to be rust-free and the burgundy/red paint is good except on upward-facing surfaces where it’s faded and peeling. The matching vinyl top and velour interior are in great condition, the latter being good in part from being a non-smoker vehicle. The factory A/C is said to need a shot of freon, and the left-side windows have a habit of coming off their tracks when rolled all the way down. The only real downside may be in working with your local DMV on a new title as the one for this automobile is said to be missing. They don’t build them like this anymore (good or bad?).
They were good cars & let’s not forget a lot of Americans are large & I’m 6ft 4 so my family wasn’t getting in a corolla so by large American standard this is a economy car!
When I was in school, the police used these for ‘undercover’ drug use. The problem was every stoner knew they were narc cars.
That is true, however, again, to a trucker, this was a plain marooooon( in my best Bugs Bunny voice) wrapper, and usually was for detective work after the marked cruiser took the perp(s) away. They have also been spotted at Winchells Donut House too,,, :)
From 1981 to 1989, the M body police Dodge Diplomat, Plymouth Gran Fury from 1982 to 1989 and the one year only 1981 Chrysler Lebaron never came with the 360. Sadly, the 360 was only available until 1980. As the 360 was a lively performer in the similar sized Dodge Aspen/Plymouth Volare police models for the time.
Reminds me of one of my favorite TV shows “Hunter” from back in the day.
Lets not forget the Caravelle model as well Tim. 🙌
The Caravelle and the Dodge 600 were based on a stretched FWD K-Car.
The M chassis Caravelle was a Canada only model I believe. The K based Caravelle was available in the southern part of the continent after 85.
One could crush Titanic with that front bumper.
But then that plastic bumper filler would disintegrate into pink pixie dust.
Yeah, so many cars used plastic bumper filler. That broke apart like, styrofoam. The GM models especially. Would be missing from the rear of the big Caddys. I never understood that.It made the car look awful.
Let’s get down to brass tacks, this is a decent car, it’s been maintained ok, the AC is broken and probably needs to have everything, and it’s nearing having a 40th birthday. 2-3 k assuming everything else is ok, and that’s being kind. They were a good car in their day but let’s be real. These were built when 85 percent of us still drove a RWD vehicle. It does bring back good memories though.
Why would this car even be in barn finds we getting desperate.
I agree with Marshall. The wow factor of this beast is zero. It’s ugly. And it doesn’t even have a title. $6500 must be a misprint…$650 is more like it. It certainly doesn’t belong on BF in my opinion.
I, for one, enjoy the variety!
What’s with the basic cop spec hubcaps on the more upscale trim model? And is that the trouble prone lean burn system on this one ?
Yes that’s the garbage lean burn system. After the computer died in my 1981 Dodge St. Regis ex cop car I replaced the distributor and everything else and put in an Mopar performance electronic ignition system,dual exhaust and got 21MPG on the highway. It also was much faster than stock. If I could get this I would do the same with it.
21 mpg? Having owned MANY 1979 amd 1980 R-body E58 360 cars and a few of the doggedly slow, crappy 1981 R-bodies which only came with the 318, I can tell you…that never happened.
Well this lean burn system has lasted nearly 40 years, so at least this one still works
People think that putting police caps on their car is cool , and it is, if you have a police car
I wonder what “New school engineering was back then”?
16 miles per hour in the city… Too slow for me! 😂
First Thing I,d Ditch Is That P.O.S Mounted To Air Cleaner And Replace It With An Aftermarket Ignition System , My First Boss & I Use To Do That Back In The 80,s To Wake Up Chryslers , Bet That Fire-Marchals Car Will Burn The Tires Off
No, it won’t, even if you converted the ignition…and it’s not a “Fire Marchals (sic) Car”. It’s a slow, anemic car that has a 2.24 rear gear in it.
I didn’t actually figure out exactly what mileage I was getting on the highway, but it had to be at least 19 mpg. After the miserable mpg. When I got the car the difference was nearly double the previous mpg.
I also replaced the thermoquade carb for a Holley spread bore 650 cfm, got rid of the two stage power valve. I don’t remember the factory gear ratio, but I had to replace the rear end and it had around a 2:87 gear ratio (as I recall) It was a 318 with 360 heads, police package factory original and yes for what it was it was pretty fast once you got it rolling.
You seem to be very negative about these cars. They were far from the worst or best. But not a bad car. At least that’s my experience with my St. Regis. Would buy another if I could find one I could afford.
Parts car for a real A38/AHB M-Body restoration…worth about $500.
There’s a lot more difference between any of these and real Police models with proper code in the vin. With different springs, brakes, wheels, bigger charging systems and battery, engine and transmission coolers, plus posi rears. Not to mention a 360, with 4 brl carb and dual exhaust. Plus vinyl floors with hd vinyl bench seats, with no arm rests. I know from experience that they were a bit more capable of taking a beating than the regular types. I owned one for a bit in 1987, a 1980 detectives ride in the State Police, painted a dark green, with matching interior. The only difference was an AM/FM radio with 4 aftermarket speakers added by whomever the car was assigned to I guess. My buddies and me added some interesting aftermarket parts, like entire intake from Edlebrock, with ProJection Fuel Injection with a 4 brl throttle body and high power ignition system, wrapped tubular headers with turbo flow mufflers with dual exhaust. I also gave the torsion bars a tweak with a add-a-leaf in the rear, along with HD KONI shocks adjust to the next to last spot. Along with nice 15×9 alloy wheels from a Chrysler that fit nice big radial tires all around, with studded snow tires for the winter. That car was amazing to drive! It handled everything I threw it at and never failed me or ran off the road and believe me I scared a few crazy friends that could not scare easily!
This looks like a car I could’ve easily driven had I the money and been old enough at the time to drive a car.