Anyone know what a Dodge Diplomat is or how much they are worth?

[TurboTGuy]

The sedans gm was building in that era were even worse than the mopars. I'll take a 318/360 mopar over a 307 any day of the week. Virtually every squad in the country did too. Lesser of 2 evils.

True. but in that era, the Ford Crown Vic still ruled the state (highway patrol) police car world.

Face it, The Diplomat was a dog, The Gran Fury was a dog, and I ran from them without being caught FAR too many times to remember.

The dumbasses driving them must've forgotten the dang things came with a Motorola attached to the dash........

 

[INEEDAGN]

Yes they were ALL piles of shit. Including the crown vic. Everything from the 80's was a pile of shit. G bodies too. Only reason I am here is because a few smart guys at buick made some damn good lemonade out of a huge pile of lemons when they put the LC2 together. They really did make the most out of their parts inventory without having to add many LC2 specific parts. The rest of the car is shit. The 200-4r is shit, if it weren't for the TR guys needing them to be strengthened, the aftermarket wouldn't touch them with the proverbial 10 foot pole. Even the "rare as gold" g body 8.5 sucks compared to the "common as mold" ford 9" and mopar 8 - 3/4". C clips in a performance axle? WTF chuck?

Back to topic. They used to run occasional 100 lap enduro races at the local dirt track. Diplomats and furies dominated that race. 318s could run without coolant for a long time and not die. Crank up the right side torsion bar and they corner ok on the dirt. They were too slow to be cop cars but they were built like brick shithouses with the HD packages. Don't worry I won't be restoring one any time soon.

 

[TurboTGuy]

Don't worry I won't be restoring one any time soon.

Whew!!!!

I was worried there for a minute.........

And considering I recently helped a friend purchase a GN that was assembled in August of 87, I'm surprised they were even able to put it together.

The FWD Regals were already in production. They were still building TR's because of demand.

The END wasn't near, it was OVER.

At least the Buick guys had SOME pride on the way out.......I'll take a BUICK TR built with left over parts over ANY Chevy, Mopar or Ford built during the same 3 months of '87 , anyday, anyway. POS or not.

 

[novaderrik]

Yes they were ALL piles of shit. Including the crown vic. Everything from the 80's was a pile of shit. G bodies too. Only reason I am here is because a few smart guys at buick made some damn good lemonade out of a huge pile of lemons when they put the LC2 together. They really did make the most out of their parts inventory without having to add many LC2 specific parts. The rest of the car is shit. The 200-4r is shit, if it weren't for the TR guys needing them to be strengthened, the aftermarket wouldn't touch them with the proverbial 10 foot pole. Even the "rare as gold" g body 8.5 sucks compared to the "common as mold" ford 9" and mopar 8 - 3/4". C clips in a performance axle? WTF chuck?

Back to topic. They used to run occasional 100 lap enduro races at the local dirt track. Diplomats and furies dominated that race. 318s could run without coolant for a long time and not die. Crank up the right side torsion bar and they corner ok on the dirt. They were too slow to be cop cars but they were built like brick shithouses with the HD packages. Don't worry I won't be restoring one any time soon.

the Caprice 9C1 was pretty respectable for what it was- especially once they upped the game in the power and handling departments in the 87 model year.. just taking the TPI 350 out of the Camaro, putting a quadrajet on it, and stuffing it in the Caprice made a huge difference in the performance of the car and made the Caprice into the police favorite until they stopped making them after the 96 model year.

the 8.5 was never meant to be a "performance" axle- it was the generic corporate axle that was replacing the 8.2 and 12 bolt across almost the entire passenger car and light truck lineup in the early 70's.. it is only a "performance upgrade" in the G bodies because they came with a 7.5 normally and the 8.5 is way stronger and they were able to make them fit a G body cheaply.

back on topic- the biggest problem with the rwd Mopars of the 80's was the stupid "lean burn" (or "lean fire" or whatever) ignition setups they put on them and the pathetic compression ratios.. smaller chamber heads, a 4 barrel intake and carb, and an ignition swap to a regular electronic ignition setup really woke them up.

 

[Rivical]

back on topic- the biggest problem with the rwd Mopars of the 80's was the stupid "lean burn" (or "lean fire" or whatever) ignition setups they put on them and the pathetic compression ratios.. smaller chamber heads, a 4 barrel intake and carb, and an ignition swap to a regular electronic ignition setup really woke them up.

Actually, when tuned right, the Lean Burn System works very nicely. I have a 83 Fifth Ave that would pull down 24mpg, mixed bag miles, with regularity. Not that it's been out of the barn in years....

It isn't quite that easy to make them perform, though without it is the only way. Even if it is a 4bbl, the 78 heads are crap. But worst of all is the entire exhaust system. Seriously restrictive iron manifolds attempting to breath thru a 1-3/4" single exhaust system! What a joke! The fuel tank wasn't designed to clear a driver's side exhaust pipe, so you have to route it between the leaf spring and uni-rail with a bunch of retarded bends. Removing the exhaust restriction's, and the bulletproof Mopar electronic ign, will make em run respectably.

 

[jimmymack87gn]

Yes they were ALL piles of shit. Including the crown vic. Everything from the 80's was a pile of shit. G bodies too. Only reason I am here is because a few smart guys at buick made some damn good lemonade out of a huge pile of lemons when they put the LC2 together. They really did make the most out of their parts inventory without having to add many LC2 specific parts. The rest of the car is shit. The 200-4r is shit, if it weren't for the TR guys needing them to be strengthened, the aftermarket wouldn't touch them with the proverbial 10 foot pole. Even the "rare as gold" g body 8.5 sucks compared to the "common as mold" ford 9" and mopar 8 - 3/4". C clips in a performance axle? WTF chuck?

Back to topic. They used to run occasional 100 lap enduro races at the local dirt track. Diplomats and furies dominated that race. 318s could run without coolant for a long time and not die. Crank up the right side torsion bar and they corner ok on the dirt. They were too slow to be cop cars but they were built like brick shithouses with the HD packages. Don't worry I won't be restoring one any time soon.

WTH WITH THE TOURETTE'S RANT???????????

 

[GNTIM]

I never owned one but remember them, and their twin brother the Gran Fury. I read an article in Hemmings where as police cars, the cops driving them couldn't keep up with speeding motorists.

Yep, they were mind-blowing slow! People don't realize that after you put in a thousand pounds of gear into a car it slows down tremendously and stopping + handling are compromised. LEOs were holding on to their older units way longer to avoid driving these powerless.....cars

 

["Turbo-T"]

Yep, they were mind-blowing slow! People don't realize that after you put in a thousand pounds of gear into a car it slows down tremendously and stopping + handling are compromised. LEOs were holding on to their older units way longer to avoid driving these powerless.....cars

The funny thing is the same article I was reading on how sssllllooooowwww the Diplomats were, they mentioned one officer (who drove a Diplomat) acquired a 1981 Turbo Trans AM in a drug raid...and how that car (turbo 301 powered T/A) was so much faster than the Diplomats.

 

[DavzGN]

I remember a Road & Track articles where they tested a police issue Diplomat and the certified speedometer was off by 5mph at 55. Don't remember anything else about the article except for the pathetic performance.

David