While the St. Regis is of little collector value today (alongside Chrysler/Plymouth R-body counterparts), the mechanical commonality of the R platform with earlier Chrysler vehicles leads collectors to search for scrapped examples for its front disc brakes to upgrade earlier cars (such as the Dodge Dart and Plymouth Barracuda)[citation needed] With the low number built (in comparison to its Ford and Chevrolet competitors) and the high percentage destroyed in film and TV work or retired after police use, very few examples survive today. The digital clock lights, ut does not reset. ACCOUNT. They had replaced 1977 Plymouth Fury sedans powered by the 440 Magnum, and 1978 Plymouth Volares with 360 4-barrel (my favorite squad of all for city use). (Jeff Hwang thought this might be of interest to you all. Ottawa :[Le droit],1913-jeudi 15 octobre 1981, Journaux, Ottawa :[Le droit],1913- I recall reading a quote from a Chrysler engineer once saying that the transverse torsion bar suspension was mandated for marketing reasons and there really was no way to model what it was doing in the computer or elsewhere. Primed us for Iacoccas rescue package. Menu. (The siren and light bar have been disconnected per EBay policy.) 1980 Dodge St Regis police car. I made an error, but hey. The California State Legislature originally established the California Highway Patrol as a branch of the Division of Motor Vehicles in the Department of Public Works, with legislation signed by Governor C. C. Young on August 14, 1929. But my dad, who passed away in 2007, actively avoided Chrysler products for the rest of his life. The car runs fine and yard drives but will need fully serviced and probably the brakes gone through and of course new tires before it could be considered roadworthy. This looks like one nice car! It was closer to old headquarter of GM though. Dodge Intrepid Police 2004 Dodge Intrepid R/T 2000 Dodge Intrepid R/T 2001 Dodge Intrepid R/T 2002 . The original speedometer is included with the vehicle. Wow, what a rare find, Paul But where are those cool headlight covers? 1979 Dodge Diplomat (Brochure). The B-body platform was updated to replace the departed C-body cars. All windows roll up and down with the hand cranks. ACCOUNT 0. He has been writing about cars for several years with a string of published books to his name. Mr_Brown99 writes: Bad on gas. 1978 Dodge Magnum Color Chart. I bought my first Chrysler product, a 2014 Durango, about a year ago and it has been a delightful and flawless vehicle for 25,000 miles. Ten years earlier the full size Chrysler cars came out with the cockpit styling and hoods long enough to land a plane on. Ok, this is painstakingly hard to do however I've decided to sell this original, never any rust or filler, 80 Plymouth Gran Fury E38 Police Package Unit with 80K miles, 360 HP, HD 727 and Rear. Said Lean Burn also failed repeatedly, leaving you stalled out without warning at random times. They disappear underneath the headlights. That year the CHP put a limited number of Ford Fairmonts, Chevy Malibus, Plymouth Volare Wagons, and Chevy Camaro Z28's on the road for an 18 month test. Free shipping on many items | Browse your favorite brands | affordable prices. I sold that car years ago when I was still a teenager and now I regret it! The leather interior door handles need to be re-attached. The seats were a direct bolt on to the St. Regis seat tracks and even the headrests swapped over to the seats. Its not in as good of shape as this one is. Video: YouTuber thrashes Ferrari F8, to provoke lawsuit? Outside of California, a 195-hp 360 V8 engine was available as part of the A38 Police Package; the option package was popular by law enforcement of the time. The St. Regis was created during some desperate times for Chrysler. Ever. 1968 Dodge Monaco. The rest of the fleet split the difference. Dodge Durango Pursuit (Police) 2021. 3) Horsepower/Torque Curve characteristic dimensions: outside length: 5593 mm / 220.2 in, width: 1958 mm / 77.1 in, wheelbase: 3010 mm / 118.5 in I think their sales would have been much greater. Because lower priced F-Body Dodge Aspens and Plymouth Volares were designated as the mid-size squad cars through 1980 - not M-bodies. The California Highway Patrol tested the St. Regis: * After two miles The front suspension continued to offer Chryslers signature longitudinal front torsion bars, called Torsion-Aire, and anti-sway bar with a solid rear differential connected to leaf springs. I have a line on 5 other cars. I recall reading in a story of the early days of CNN, Ted Turner met Lee Iacocca. From 1989 it received throttle body fuel injection and came with a 5.0-litre or 5.7-litre V8. We had only one car that would almost hit one hundred, we had another that would hit eighty five. . the GSP not only puts over 100,000 miles on their cars but they also bounce them across medium strips and accelerate as fast as they can to speeds well over 100 MPH. The Dodge St. Regis was based on the rear wheel drive Chrysler R-body platform. The A/C compressor turns on, ut it blows warm. Replacing the Monaco, the St. Regis was the largest Dodge sedan, positioned above the mid-size Diplomat and Aspen. About the headlight doors: either the motor needs lubricating or the brushes are toast. It was only produced from 1979 to 1981 and most of the 58,000+ cars produced went to fleet use. If you have something to share let us know. New Product, And How To Assemble It: The Speedway Motors Sheet Metal Mock Up LS Engine! I had front end problems that no one could fix, the transmission slipped, and the car used a quart of oil every 500 miles. The glass is good and appears all original due to some factory decals on the windshield and side glass. I thought, most of the St. Regis were used on T.J. Hooker. . Overall the look is not bad, but it has a cheap look. It has buckets from a 1985 Omni that were a direct bolt on to the original seat tracks. Now, it looks like a Chrysler Newport, without the distinctive covers. I don't know if it runs or not, it looks all complete, has the . Dodge Durango SSV (Special Service Vehicle) 2021. It was a silver 2 door with red leather guts and stayed nice for about 2 weeks. Dodge, Plymouth, and Chrysler Police Cars 1979-1994 notes that the 360 powered St. Regis, Newport, and Gran Fury were the fastest and best performing police cars of the era. Twenty years later, at least two of my old compadres were still driving the old patrol units. Has the trusty Chrysler 318 V8. There is a good chance that the following car may be an ex-prop from the show - it matches the main photo and the last thumbnail with . Given the glacial maximum acceleration rate, there wasnt much of a visual cue it was being hooned anyway. Then, there were the perpetual front end alignment problems. I bet that car is rare with leather interior. Hell, there was probably a time when a little junkyard combing could have gotten you all the spare ballast resistors & stuff you would need for life. I bought from him and have owned it 20 years and drove it as recently as yesterday. Dodge, Plymouth, and Chrysler Police Cars 1979-1994 notes that the 360 powered St. Regis, Newport, and Gran Fury were the fastest and best performing police cars of the era. In each year a good proportion (30% or more) were for fleet (Police and other law enforcement . In this case, its a 360-powered St. Regis worked up to represent a Michigan State Police car. This car brings back a lot of bad memories for me, sadly. The idle needs to be re-adjusted (Ill do that myself more than likely, before its purchased) and the suspension bar that holds up the rear trunk needs to be replaced. There is a small piece of trim missing near the drivers door, unnoticed until close to car. A large number of Diplomats were also built by AMC during 1987 to 1989. In the book's survey, officers wrote that the 360 powered 1980 St. Regis was the best Mopar police car of all time. By the 1960s, the name was transferred to Dodge's mid-size entry. By many accounts, the Diplomat that Moms LeBaron matured into became a very sturdy ride. Those St. Regis very rarely, come up for sale, if ever. It went back to the dealer numerous times for things I cant even remember. If you had a variable-venturi Crown Victoria, you could guess whether it would come off at idle speed or tear out the rear end with wide open power. Both being wheeler-dealers they made a trade of cars for ad time. Your email address will not be published. 1980's. Police Cars . The St. Regis today is an exceptionally rare sight and comes in two flavors: babied or absolutely and utterly trashed. The test led to the purchase of Ford Mustangs in 1982, for use as traffic enforcement cars. As with most police cars, the suspension is stiff, and you feel any bumps; there is absolutely no body roll. February 21, 2015 78 comments. The Fab Forums Fox Body Project: Doing A Factory Mini Tub Build Part 3. This was a new car the year I graduated from high school (and, although I didnt wear it to prom, my otherwise similar leisure suit was a lovely brown polyester double knit with contrasting stitching. Handling Ranked 2002 Ford Focus ZX3 better. By comparison, the downsizing of the GM A, B, and C-bodies in the preceding years were seismic events and the Volare/Aspen and LTD downsizing debuts were also rather big deals. At least this Allpar article gives a good overview: http://www.allpar.com/cars/dodge/R-bodies.html. I always suspected that might have been a feature rather than a bug. But you know, a funny thing happened. I believe 79 was when Lee Iacocca came in to clean house. By 1994 however the performance of the full sized enforcement class vehicle (Chevy Caprice and Ford Crown Victoria) was near to that of the pony cars, so the CHP now longer needed to buy Camaros and Mustangs.The 1994 Caprice with its LT1 engine was faster than a 93 Mustang, with faster quater mile times and higher top speed. The St. Regis was famous in Ca. Im not a fan of the power window controls. Id do it myself, its simple. Nowadays, I have my 2012 Chrysler 300c (Hemi of course), my 1977 AMC Gremlin, and my 1969 Toyota Corona. This car will take . Have you ever wondered what all those boxy American police sedans were from the 1980s in American movies and television shows? The LTD switched to the mid-size Fox body platform from 1982 and also gained a fuel-injected 302 V8, then was phased out from 1986 when the new aero-styled front-wheel drive Taurus arrived. Contact seller. This is a 1979 Dodge St. Regis. It wasn't an MSP car originally, but it is a real police spec machine, originally hailing from Virginia. The St.Regis just like a car that was poorly built and designed to fall apart. By the time I sold my St. Regis it had 110k on the clock and still ran great. There are only handful of St Regis around, and fewer of them is in heavily salted Michigan. I saw one up for sale on CL, I think, dont quote me, like last year, It was going for about $2500-3000, in good original condition I think it was that dove gray color, that they used in the original St. Regis ad, back in 1979 I remember, the ad slogan, Hey, thats my Dodge.. And as Brock Yates wrote in The Decline and Fall of the American Automobile Industry, the combination of options on these cars was sometimes a bit odd, to say the least. The main problem with the LeBaron for us was that it just would not run right. The leather wouldnt have held up that well. I dont know of any St. Regis having leather seats. My job as a little kid was to jump out and Fix the headlights as my grandpa would say, the covers would always jam. Gateway Classic Cars of Tulsa is proud to present this slick 1978 Dodge Diplomat Coupe. Oh, and the car is luxurious enough to have cruise control, AC ( good chance of working or relatively easy fix ) and FM radio with more than one speaker, non cloth seats not falling apart.