Beater Archive

How’s Your Aspen? 1977-89 Dodge Diplomat

By Andrew ⋅ December 3, 2007 ⋅  Email this Article ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

The ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s neatly rolled into a cop car from Highland Park

by Andrew Stoy

1978 Fifth Avenue (best M-body pic we could find)

The Background

Diplomat. Even the name sounds stilted, stuffy, crotchety, conjuring up images of black-tie parties and thick cigar smoke. It’s appropriate. The Dodge Diplomat is a throwback to a more regimented time, not unlike its fleet-favored peer, the Ford Crown Victoria. Diplomat also serves as an interesting case study in automotive eras: When it bowed for 1978, Diplomat was the leading edge of a new, downsized Dodge mid-size platform. Upon its retirement in 1989, Diplomat was the last of the traditional, full-size
Dodges. It didn’t grow. The rest of the world shrank.

Egalitarian nomenclature aside, Dodge Diplomat was born a peasant. For the 1977 model year, squared-off formal sheetmetal was draped over a lightly tweaked Dodge Aspen/Plymouth Volare chassis to create a new, smaller mid-sized Dodge. Available with the trusty 318 V8 (a 360 was even offered early in the model run and the Slant-6 could be ordered through ’79), the affordable, attractive Diplomat, along with on-again, off-again stablemates Plymouth Gran Fury and Chrysler Fifth Avenue, made up the bulk of traditional Chrysler sales during the difficult late ’70s/early ’80s period.

The tough times ended at Chrysler, however. Awash in K-car cash, the company’s engineering team released minivans, turbo engines, and convertibles. But no one seemed to notice that the Diplomat was still for sale, soldiering on as an increasingly outdated relic in a FWD import-dominated automotive landscape. Fleet buyers still loved it; taxi companies and police departments kept Diplomat sales respectable through 1986-87, but even they began abandoning Dodge for Ford by the time Diplomat was retired in 1989.

The Opportunity

Do you like doors that close with an imprecise but authoritative "clunk?" Chassis more properly described as "body-near-frame," originally equipped with compliant rubber bushings long since returned to the earth? Engines that deliver prodigious off-idle torque but run out of breath at 2800 rpm? Then you, sir, are a diplomat. These old Dodges provide 90% of the ’68 Polara driving experience with at least 50% better fuel economy and parkability. You’ll also gain a significant amount of street cred with the eclectic Mopar enthusiast community rolling up in a Dippy.

As drivelines go, the A-block 318 backed up by a 3-speed Torqueflite twisting an 8 ¾ axle is the mechanical equivalent of a Kevlar vest. It ain’t gonna break. Nor will parts prove challenging to find. The powertrain was a Chrysler Corporation staple for two generations, and to save on tooling costs the body components were shared wherever possible. In fact, if you pull a door off a wrecked ’76 Aspen, it will bolt directly onto your ’89 Diplomat. Contrasting colors are preferred.

Since the Diplomat/Fifth Avenue were considered the high-line Dodge/Chrysler of the day, most are fully equipped in traditional fashion. Plush pillowed interior furnishings complement chrome gauge bezels, fake wood trim, and a full complement of power accessories. All this is assuming you find a retail Diplomat: If you come across a retired fleet vehicle, your experience may differ significantly. However, fleet vehicles may have been equipped with mechanical upgrades sold as a "towing package" on retail cars, incorporating various fluid coolers for better longevity. Finally, most 1988-89 Diplomats will also have a driver-side airbag, one of the first Chrysler products so equipped.

The Downside

If you’re seriously considering the purchase of a Dodge Diplomat as a daily driver, chances are you have a good reason for doing so. After all, these cars aren’t that common anymore: You’re going to have to look around to find one, and when you do it’s probably going to need at least some minor work to get it into reliable condition. Thus the Diplomat falls into that weird grey-area category of classic beaters: Too old to be sought out by non-car types, too new and pedestrian to be valuable or collectible. But there will likely be a few interested parties competing with you if you stumble upon a nice, clean Diplomat on Craigslist or in the local paper.

While parts availability isn’t a problem, finding someone to work on the computer-controlled feedback fuel systems of the 1980s can be a challenge. Figuring out how to work on them yourself, particularly when coupled with the Chrysler Lean Burn system, can be a true exercise in frustration. Enthusiasts have been known to have success replacing the system with an electronic ignition box and standard, non-feedback carburetor. Local emissions rules and mechanical acumen will determine whether such a solution is practical in your case.

Overall, you’ll need to remember that you’re driving an old car. Your ’80s vintage M-body Mopar was the most notorious cop car on the road before the now-ancient Crown Vic wrested that title. Of course, your Diplomat wasn’t actually new even then: It was a reskinned version of the Aspen/Volare platform that was new at the same time CHiPs was a hit show. Well, new-ish anyway: Aspen was actually an outgrowth of the Dart platform, old enough to be preferred by Andrew Marvell for shuttling his Coy Mistress to and from her badminton lessons. Expect more, and you’ll be disappointed.

The Hit

$50-$1,450

In a Nutshell

It’s no secret that we’re fans of traditional American cars. No, they’re not particularly safe, nor do they handle well, turn accurately, or provide even acceptable fuel economy. It’s a nostalgia thing, pure and simple. If Mopars are your thing and you want an old-school tank to huff around in, Diplomats rock. Fifth Avenues are plusher and more common, but they don’t have that grizzled detective, "my past is kind of blurry" halo possessed by the Dippy or the even rarer Plymouth Gran Fury. The M-body isn’t, as they say, a car: It’s a state of mind.