Deriving its name from a 1950s Chrysler trim package, the St. Regis was the first example of downsizing of the full-size Dodge sedan line. It looks pretty good for 36 years and 100,000 miles. Those St. Regis also wore out tires because they would not hold alignment (drastic negative camber), and three of them blew out their heater cores. The test led to the purchase of Ford Mustangs in 1982, for use as traffic enforcement cars. BTW that is some of the best looking vinyl I have ever seen it fooled me! Its a decent engine with one fatal flaw. Not sure if I even drove it around the block, or just in the parking lot. This just looks like the car company ran out of good ideas and let the car get junky. 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. I think a horizontal bar grille, as Dodge was introducing at the time, would have been a nice touch. . We live in South Carolina, so rust is not really an issue. Ours were disabled early in their sad lives. However, no factory 360 M-body cop cars were ever produced. Dodge St. Regis sedan: 1979: Dodge St. Regis sedan: 1978: Dodge Monaco sedan: 1977: Dodge Monaco sedan: 1976: Dodge Coronet sedan: 1975 . Both being wheeler-dealers they made a trade of cars for ad time. The retracting headlight covers were a nuisance, too. I wonder if they were actually any more comfortable? Something that drives everyday. It featured a unique retractable headlight cover, 5.2-litre and 5.9-litre V8s and a three-speed automatic transmission. Top Rated Seller Top Rated Seller. 1978 Dodge Diplomat 4,804 mi $ 16,500 or $272/mo Gateway Classic Cars of Tulsa is proud to present this slick 1978 Dodge Diplomat Coupe. This is a HEAVILY OPTIONED CAR with Power Seat, Power Window, A/C, P/S, AM/FM radio, Tilt Steering Column, Cornering Lights, Cruise Control. One of very few Mopars that I have had zero contact with. Ive never actually seen one up close and in person. Rwcar4 Police Car Photos Classic Police Cars. The only other thing was the headliner started coming down after the car was 20 years old. Original owners manual and all 1979 Chrysler emissions documentation, and repair slips. Thank you all for the wonderful comments, and this is just so crazy to see my ad all these years later! The extra $500 must for being in rust belt. I only got to ride in one of these once, in the mid-1980s when I was in graduate school. Oh, fancy radio with glass like cover and chrome buttons from M-Body will be a nice swap with all the same connections. The biggest engine available was the Chevrolet 5.0-litre V8 and it was produced until 1983. Unfortunately for Chrysler, their luck just straight-up sucked. Like a lot of old Chrysler products they were driven for years and then simply became scrap. . Surprising there wasnt a leather option seeing that the mid-sized Cordoba and LeBaron had leather available. That would kick in around 28-30 mph, causing a massive ping/detonation/lugging event alarming enough to make you let off the throttle. Has Power drivers seat (a little of the leather separated from the seam as shown), All power windows (back right is stuck shut) all leather seats, Cruise control (works perfectly) Power steering and Brakes, stock radio turns on but only tunes into one station. -WILL TRADE FOR- preferably 70s sedan, compact, truck, anything 70s. For 1979, the 360 was available to cops in all fifty states, with a rating of 195 horsepower for everyone but those in California. There is no in-between. Turns out it could not even be certified for the road without spending a ton of $$$. Menu. I don't know if it runs or not, it looks all complete, has the . The Gran Fury was purpose-designed as a cheaper version of the Chrysler Newport and was aimed at taxi, police and other fleet operators, with police cars utilising the 5.2-litre and 5.9-litre V8s. Worked great for a long time until the display died. With 42,000 miles and a 360 V8, this chocolate bar is an unusually well-preserved car. These cars are a great deal for St Regis shoppers. I bought it in Pa. and drove back to Mi. After the lease went up, he ended up buying it and driving it for 2 more years before buying an 82 Audi 5000, itself a whole nother story. Dodge Intrepid Police 2004 Dodge Intrepid R/T 2000 Dodge Intrepid R/T 2001 Dodge Intrepid R/T 2002 . Its so fortunate the car is equipped with FM too ( I bought a parts radio from ebay for my volare as I cant stand the AM radio in remote north Michigan countryside ) and more than one speaker is a big plus on St Regis. 1968 Dodge Monaco with a 383 cubic inch motor. The pin that held the shift lever departed, causing it come off in my dads hand. Powered by a 318-cubic inch V8, that car was so slow that the agency feared it stood no chance of keeping up with the old muscle cars still on the highways. 1979 Dodge Diplomat. Dodge Durango Pursuit (Police) 2021. Its engine is a naturally aspirated petrol, 5.9 litre, overhead valve 90 degree V 8 cylinder with 2 valves per cylinder. "It sits lower to the ground, it is a car, and it is newer". No leather seats in the St.Regis, just vinyl.. Many of these 1979-1981 police cars were sold with the 318 V8; others had a 360 engine with four-barrel Carter Thermoquad carburetor. Just bought my 1980 dodge st.regis with a 360 v8 engine. 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). Being in my 20th year of St. Regis ownership, after my dad owning first for 10 years, I dont think the St. Regis was the worst looking of the 70s cars or that it was designed to fall apart. The St.Regis looks like one of the worst. The Diplomat . Overall the look is not bad, but it has a cheap look. Sometimes it would fire up again again sitting, sometimes not. Possibly a change in 9.25 to 3.23 or 3.55. It ran OK, nothing obviously wrong with it, but I realized I liked the looks of it more than I liked driving it. 1979 Dodge Omni. Aluminum bumpers, coated with a chrome-like substance that peeled right off when getting splattered with the chemicals for snow melting on the roads. The Dodge St. Regis is an automobile that was marketed by Dodge from the 1979 to 1981 model years. Mileage: 33,430 . Despite being an introductory model, nearly 30% of St. Regis production was dedicated for police/law enforcement use. C $14.42. A rebranded version of the Eagle Premier (adapted from the Renault 25), the 1990 Monaco was the first version produced with front-wheel drive, slotted above the Dodge Dynasty in size. In place of redesigning the full-size C-body, Chrysler developed the R-body as an update of the intermediate B-body (last released in 1971, dating to 1962). I bought from him and have owned it 20 years and drove it as recently as yesterday. Produced for a single generation, the St. Regis is one of the shortest-lived Dodge nameplates. I wonder if anyones ever tried to fit one on. The CHP gradually assumed increased responsibility beyond the enforcement of the State Vehicle Act and eventually merged with the smaller California State Police in 1995. (very similar, nonetheless.). But my dad, who passed away in 2007, actively avoided Chrysler products for the rest of his life. Brands New Products . A console from my deceased 67 Sport Fury is between the seats. In deference to fuel economy standards, the 400 and 440 big-block V8s were deleted from the engine lineup. The way the seat has the tear in the photo looks like vinyl to me. The box he put on the car in 1985 finally failed about two weeks ago. In this form it was almost identical to the Dodge Diplomat except for badging. A lovely book of photos and descriptions of police cars manufactured by Dodge, Plymouth and Chrysler during the years 1979-1984. If I had the space, and it was local to me, I might be interested evenalas it isnt and I dont! Because lower priced F-Body Dodge Aspens and Plymouth Volares were designated as the mid-size squad cars through 1980 - not M-bodies. For Sale: 1997 Subaru WRX P2 WRC rally car raced by Colin McRae, Video: Hoonigan releases update, tribute to celebrate the life of Ken Block, 2023 Summernats 35: Highlights and mega gallery. While police units who used the cars praised handling and had positive things to say about the 360-powered cars, when things are falling off, breaking, or worse, showing up on new cars not put on properly, the damage was considered done. It was based on the old trusted B-body platform and was the fastest police sedan in the quarter mile and was fastest through circuit testing when compared to rival models. Undercoating must have good protection despite its limit. Early versions of this generation Malibu had six-window sides and fixed rear door window glass. The Lynn Townsend era had seen many, many screwups in managementthe Sales Banks, the 1974 C-bodies that couldnt have come at a worse time, a strict no small Chrysler policy that blew up in their faces when the Cordoba (yes, it was a small Chrysler compared to a New Yorker) proved to be a sales blowout that the company had desperately needed, and of course the problematic quality control gripes had eroded Chryslers reputation. My brother took it over, and when he sold it in the fall of 83 it was in better shape at 5 years old than when it was brand new!. Gets rid of a lot of headaches. Eventually, the linkage got worn enough that you could just press lightly down on the lever to drop into second and then tap it upward to catch third. I think the St. Regis would have been rather like the beautiful bright red, with white vinyl top and white leather interior Mirada I got around this time, in that it would have been a comfortable highway cruiser, though not the greatest handling machine around town. It was downsized and shed up to 450 kg in the process, and was styled to look bigger than it was. 1980 Dodge Aspen (Canadian brochure). Has the trusty Chrysler 318 V8. The rims are all Chrysler snowflake rims, but the back two are from a 79 Lebaron and the front ones are for this car specifically. Which is why I have always wanted one. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. As 70s interiors go, thats not too bad. Surprisingly, a similar glut of inventory occurred approximately 10 years ago, near the end of Daimler-Benz ownership of Chrysler: http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2006/12/chrysler-bank-on-it/. My car had its original Lean Burn ditched by the original owner, when my dad got it, he found it had been converted to points and he converted it to standard electronic ignition. Seeing how bad they looked in less than fifteen years, given the choice, Ill take vinyl over whatever Dodge was using for leather. Alternatively (and preferably for my 17 year old self) you could just gun it enough to delay the upshift. The name Ford Fairmont was a long-running nameplate in Australia, but in North America it was produced only from 1977 to 1983. Pickup trucks are used for truck enforcment. Of course we cant forget visual proof of why the St. Regis population dwindled rapidly in the Eighties.. Money couldnt have been an issue, Im sure it wouldnt have broken the bank to source a decent Electronic unit. MOPAR BIG BLOCK, NICE 1981 DODGE ST. REGIS IN GREAT SHAPE RUNS AND DRIVES, ULTRA RARE 1976 Dodge Charger Sport-360 V8-Edelbrock Carb-Hooker Headers, 1966 Dodge Coronet Police Car Sedan 1966 Police Car Used Automatic. My dad bought it in 1985, rebuilt the engine and the front suspension and drove it for ten years. T.J. Hooker s vehicle of choice after season 2. The RCMP used only a few of them for highway patrol duties back in the day. For 1980, the 360 was replaced by a 155 hp 318 V8 4-bbl with California emissions to comply with state emissions regulations. The ask of $8,995 is much less than the . Got 340 engine with MP heads with the big valves, steel crank, KB 10.25 hyper pistons. Something had to be done, and for 1978, something was done. In addition to its highway patrol duties, the CHP also provides other services including protecting state buildings, state facilities, and state officials. The car starts up and runs nicely. 1980 Dodge Police cars (Brochure). Ill let the ad copy speak for itself.) Im not even sure the oven was allowed to pre-heat. For 1990, the Dodge brand re-entered the full-size segment with the fifth-generation Dodge Monaco. The car does well in 40-100+ accelerations but dead-stop launches tend to bog. At the end of the 1970s, the Big Three were all moving towards smaller, lighter machines. The only St. Regis I can ever recall seeing was this one I took a picture of about 5 years ago. The interior of the St. Regis got beat up pretty easily and the frameless door glass got kind of loose but I dont remember having the glass fall out. Sweet looking car. & AFIR the headlight covers were in place and working. I never saw this until just now. The neat clear-lens headlight covers are gone (most police departments ditched them) but everything else about this begs for a road trip. Video: YouTuber thrashes Ferrari F8, to provoke lawsuit? Im 22 now, and that last photo is me when I was 15! I was always impressed with the ride quality and handling, even with the police suspension and police pack components.