If this looks a bit confusing to you, it’s not AI’s take on a Dodge Diplomat. It’s a Mexican Dodge Dart, from 1980, as best as I can tell. Yes, the body is the same as our Diplomat, but the front end is from the Dodge Aspen. And the name is from…well, that’s obvious. As is the rest, really.
The Dart name never was continued in Mexico after the Aspen arrived, and it continued in this fashion after 1980 through 1982, when it finally succumbed. RiveraNotario shot this one in Mexico City.
The rear looks more familiar.
As does the profile. I say “familiar” in the past tense, as I haven’t seen an M-Body in a while now. Have you?
More on the Mexican Darts:
Mexican Mopars, Part 5: Dodge Darts of the 1980s – Not Darting Away From A Good Name
I always wanted to like the M body coupes that came along in 1980, but have never been able to get past the idea that the 77-79 version was so much more graceful. I think this is the first one I have ever seen without the vinyl roof – this is one of the few cars that may look better with the vinyl trim than without it.
I think you are right on the vinyl top. The rear window looks rather small and awkward.
Interesting car regardless. The older style hub caps do look nice though.
Someone once said in the comments here the header panel for an ‘80 Aspen / Volare interchanged with a Diplomat. If true, this would have been an easy way to create some distinction for the Mexican market.
The Mexican market is fascinating in the same way it had been in Canada…similar yet different. This past weekend was Shelbyfest in my town, the 16th annual gathering of Shelby Mustangs and the resultant proliferation of other Mustangs. One was a ‘71ish Mustang GT 351 coupe from Mexico, just brought to the US in the last few years. Different enough (especially in its factory Pistachio color) to get one’s attention.
I miss seeing M bodies regularly.
TYPO ALERT! The title say 1989 Dart when its a 1980!
Thanks! Fixed now.
Clickbait! 🙂 That’s what got my attention.
wow, when I first saw this I thought it was the Dodge Aspen/Plymouth Volare from the front end, but the back end is more like the Chrysler LeBaron two door model for 1980. Chrysler was good at cobbling various cars together from way back. Witness the 1962 Dodge 880, part Chryler and part Dodge.
I think, but am not sure, that the Mexican 1981 Dart used the Diplomat front clip as the US/Canadian Aspen went out of production that year. After the F/M body Dart left Mexico, the Dart name moved to the K (and extended E) bodies.
The Dart name continued in Mexico through ’89. It was applied—with or without suffixes like “Europa”—to what we knew as the Aries, and to what we knew as the 600, and possible also to other variants like the 400. Here are some pics of a 1989 Dart, and attached is a brochure page.
Interesting car .
I remember the Dodge Diplomats as L.A.P.D. cars, mostly Metro units .
-Nate
Huh, not out in the SF Valley from what I recall of those days, but CHP had lots of them. All four-doors though. Mostly Caprices in the Valley with some Crown Vics.
Oh yeah ~ from the sea to the Valley there were plenty .
This car was where I learned about the lean burn computer inside the air cleaner ~ they air cleaner was plastic and it’d heat soak and warp as it cooked the computer to death .
Nice looking if stodgy cars IMO .
-Nate
Fun story, except the Lean Burn computer was outside the air cleaner, hanging off the left side of the housing, which was made of metal. Except on the A38 (police package) cars, which had the computer relocated to a cooler area of the engine bay. And while Chrysler—like GM and Ford and numerous other automakers—did eventually use plastic for air cleaner housings, they didn’t tend to warp with heat.
Yes, it was in a dog leg on the driver’s side of the air cleaner and yes the air cleaners warped .
Maybe it was the extreme heat and fact that cops cars are often left running for hours with the A/C on .
Not a story, I witnessed this .
-Nate
I always found the sheetmetal detailing around the wheel arches, visually quite busy, on both the Aspen/Volare, and the M-Bodies. Especially noticeable in the first pic. That extra small recessed area closest to the wheel openings seemed unnecessary. Though masked on the Custom exterior package, with a chrome molding. Not aided, by this area, being a prime starter region for serious rust.
Styling on the refreshed 1980 M-Body coupes was just too formal, to be considered genuinely attractive. Especially, when compared to its sister, the beautifully styled Dodge Mirada. Only when equipped with the bold optional spoked road wheels, did I find these appealing.
I still see a few Fifth Avenues on the road, usually looking like they don’t have too many miles on them and usually driven by little old men or little old women.
The 1 year only square headlight front end we got plays into the confusion, it’s not the first nose I think of when thinking of the Aspen, let alone Dart.
These coupes were stodgy, obviously they were going for a PLC kind of look but they somehow look less distinguished from its F body bones than the 79 diplomat did. They have that same “not fooling anyone” thing the formalized 75 B bodies did from the slick fuselage 71-74s, but where those come off as bloated, these look stubby. The diplomat body really looked its best with 4 doors, and I am normally a 2 door kind of guy.