Here’s a rare bird, a Dodge Diplomat wagon. These cars were introduced in 1977 as a more upmarket sedan for those who didn’t care for the extra-zaftig Royal Monaco or Sgt. Hunter-special Monaco. A companion to the Chrysler LeBaron that appeared at the same time, the Diplomat was just a bit more attractive with its’ “right-side-up” headlights.
In addition to the expected sedan and a very attractive coupe, was of course a wagon. And said wagon was, of course, offered with woodgrain trim on the sides. I find it very attractive! But this rare survivor, which appeared on eBay Motors about a year ago, has something it did not leave the factory with–and I’m not talking about the wheels and tires!
Yes, that is correct, this Dippy has a 440 Magnum V8 installed–all the more reason to upgrade to more modern wheels and tires, wouldn’t you say?
Despite the engine swap, the rest of the car is remarkably stock and in exceptionally good condition. I especially love the dark red paint, combined with the woodgrain, fine-mesh grille and all the neat little chrome accents.
This one has the factory leather interior as well–much more plush than anything you’d have seen on a contemporary Aspen/Volaré, Malibu or even Country Squire! I love the red/red combination on this wagon, of course.
The back seat is just as inviting as the front. Power windows and courtesy lights, too.
Buckets and console were also little-seen on Detroit wagons in the late ’70s. Someone really loaded up this car when they ordered it–or perhaps it was a showroom model, ordered by the dealer to draw people in and order one with all the gadgets?
The cargo area is fully carpeted–and not the cheap doctor’s waiting room carpeting often seen on new wagons and SUVs. The chrome skid plates are a nice touch too.
The woodgrain trim is much more restrained on the Diplomat than on the 1977-79 Chrysler LeBaron Town & Country, and the beige pinstriping gives it a nice accent. I prefer this to the Chrysler, with its more heavy-handed “wood” framing.
Note the chrome turn signal indicators on top of the fender. For those of you in the younger age bracket, these used to be common on higher end cars, and would blink along with the turn signals when they were activated. Of course, somewhere along the line, they were eliminated, to save seventy-eight cents per car…
I have no idea what this wagon sold for, but with all the custom work done and the remarkable condition, I imagine it went for a pretty penny–that is, if it had a reserve and met it. I’m not the biggest fan of modified cars, but I love it. This would be a perfect summer cruiser, so long as you don’t mind having a Diplomat with a drinking problem!
What a cool car, and I am sure it is offered at a price that I would never pay.
Here is the result of my Craigslist search:
http://vancouver.craigslist.ca/rds/cto/4658743881.html
This car was done in the early 90s. Mopar Action did a great write up on it. Its a very cool wagon, and the quality of work was top notch. It has also been preserved very well.
I love it! A malaise-era luxury wagon with genuine old-school muscle under the hood. It’s so wrong, that it’s right 🙂 .
Thats a win in every column, I love it! Looks like they did a great job on it too. I would have chosen a different set of wheels, probably Magnum 500s, but that’s my personal preference
On the A-Bodys, big blocks make them very front end heavy and handling suffers as a result, I wonder how this car rides and drives with the big engine
I think you’re on the right track. Magnum 500s with redlines would be pretty groovy!
It certainly helps that it’s a wagon rather than a sedan.
Theres a ex police Fury sedan for sale locally it can come with a 440 ready to transplant it already has the heavy duty sway bars etc would make a nice sleeper.
Wow it has the familiar looking Diplomat front end, but a totally foreign to me rear end. When did the Diplomat Estate go out of production? Do not know if y’all know this, but that style of brake and accelerator pedal were used on the family’s 70 Dart, 95 Voyager, and even my 03 Caravan. Chrysler sure got a lot of use out of certain parts.
I remember those pedals, Mom’s ’92 Grand Caravan ES AWD had them too! It was monochromatic white with the white alloys and red trim. Now that was a nice van, but it was traded before I got my driver’s license.
I believe the Dippy wagon departed after ’81, same as the M-body Town & Country. Here is an ’81 “Dodge LeBaron,” as the Diplomat was called in Mexico.
The “Dippy” in Mexico was also sold as Dart during the 1981 and 1982 model years
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZbqtmgICTk and the coupe was also sold as Magnum and got a little longer lifespan in Mexico
https://www.flickr.com/photos/that_chrysler_guy/5984113735/in/pool-1259405@N22|that_chrysler_guy
It’s always odd seeing these later front ends on wagon/coupe M-bodies…
4 Sale? I love it!!
Holy Crap. I thought the 460 powered 1990 Town Car I once saw on eBay was a big deal. I can’t even believe the freaking motor fit under the hood of the Dippy.
I like it. Just what you need if your running a little late in the morning but still need to get the kids to school on time.
I could happily add this to my COALs.
Sweet looking Diplomat wagon. Were they ever available with V8 engine?
Oh yeah, but not a 440!
The M-bodies were available with 318s throughout their lifespan, and IINM with 360s for the first few two or three years they were sold (though there can’t have been many built that way).
that back end was right off the dodge aspen wagon. you could almost see it as just a continuation of the aspen with the interior going upmarket and of course a v8 instead of the slant 6.
I don’t think that the console came from the factory. I believe the leather was only available in the 60/40 bench, so it looks like they recrafted the seats into buckets and stole a console from a Charger/Cordoba/Magnum, including the floor shift. Very nicely done though.
I’m pretty sure they used 2 driver sections of a 60-40 seat.
That has to be what they did. The center was removed, and the console (which was also available on Diplomat coupes) was put in. Looks good enough to be factory though.
I was wondering if the buckets and console set up was available from the factory. I was thinking that they might have got the buckets and console out of a Cordoba et al, and had them reupholstered to match the back seat.
If that’s the case, then that’s really impressive. I saw something similar done once on a aero Grand Marquis with a Mark VIII console. If stuff like this was typical of resto-mods, I’d have a completely different opinion of them.
Pretty cool, but I’d be just as happy, if not more, with a factory issue E58. Then you have a really rare piece of factory history that’s still no slouch.
Also, must be the CC effect, but I just saw a Youtube video the other day of a Cordoba given the same 6-pack treatment.
Nice! only thing I’d do is swap the torqueflite for an A833 and a pistolgrip! It’ll match the woodgrain! 😀
It’s really nice to see some love put into these forgotten malaise era Mopars, it seems like I’ve been seeing more and more like these including this Mirada I spotted at the local cruise night.
The early M-bodies are rare because they were all so poorly built, they fell apart, like my parents 2 door ’78 LeBaron. I’d kind of like to have one now, though.
Nice Mirada! Good to see one without the CMX faux-convertible top.
+1 on the PistolGrip. No one would see that coming! And bring that Mirada on….looks great!
The motor…
wow interesting leather interior
As to those fender-top turn signal indicators:
“Note the chrome turn signal indicators on top of the fender. For those of you in the younger age bracket, these used to be common on higher end cars, and would blink along with the turn signals when they were activated…”
Higher end cars? They were optional on the 1970s Dodge Dart and Plymouth Valiant! Evidence: the attached photo which is from an earlier CC.
Our 2003 Toyota Crown still has these. Thank Buddha the Japanese still keep the Brougham flame alive…
My ’69 Barracuda has them too. Part of the A01 Light Package. Source: Galen V. Govier’s fender tag decode that came with the car.
It was common practice at Chrysler to tart up a new model with lots of little extras like those fender mount turn signal monitors as standard equipment for the first model year then gradually move them to the options list in subsequent model years. On lower level models like Valiant or Volare, the target buyer was not likely pay extra for these items, so they were not popular as extra cost items.
In my mind I associate these with Chrysler products — iI wouldn’t be surpised if Chrysler simply used them more extensively than anyone else.
Yes, Cadillac and Mopars were the only place I really remember seeing them. I think you could get them on some upper level Buicks and Oldsmobiles occasionally, but you rarely saw them.
The Mopar versions were even body colored up to maybe 1972 or so, then went to the chrome version that could be used universally.
I remember when they jury rigged the drivers side one with a vacuum switch to warn of low fuel economy, the “Fuel Pacer”, they called it.
Forgot about that. Fortunately, I never had one of those. That would have been irritating as all get out.
What about 64-66 Thunderbirds, they had the best looking TS monitors of anyone!
A 75 Le Sabre and 85 Custom Cruiser I used to own both had them. Neat feature that I wish was still available.
The plain-Jane ’73 Polara wagon owned way back in high school had those indicators as well.
Nice! Now that’s a “sleeper”! Just gotta swap on some less blingy looking wheels and nobody would suspect a thing (aside from the exhaust rumble).
I don’t think the wheels are ‘blingy’, myself. They have the right shape and look, but I like the modernized coke bottle mags on newer cars. On older cars like this thy look PRETTY good…and yet 15 inch Cragar SS’ would really seal the deal on this car. 7″ up front, 10″ out back of course…
If their build quality had equaled their looks, they would have been much better sellers.
The first-generation LeBaron was actually a pretty good seller, at least by Chrysler’s standards of the time. Similar to what had happened with the ’75 Cordoba — and elsewhere in Detroit, with the decontented ’76 Grand Prix and the downsized ’77 T-Bird — buyers seemed delighted that they could afford a car that said “Chrysler” on it, never mind that it was smaller, cheaper and less luxurious than Chryslers had traditionally been, and was essentially a facelifted Aspen/Volare. (How many of those buyers came back for another Chrysler product the next time may be a whole different matter.)
For some reason, the first-generation Diplomat never did as well, and was never anything more than a mediocre seller. Either a large part of what attracted buyers to the LeBaron was the prestige of the Chrysler brand, or the type of customer who shopped Dodge dealerships looking for a car this size couldn’t see any point in spending the extra money over the cost of an Aspen, or Dodge and Plymouth had seen their presence dwindle so much in the intermediate market (which was more-or-less the target for these, i.e., Granada/Monarch, downsized ’78 GM A-bodies) that buyers no longer really even thought to shop them. Probably some of all of the above.
I’m not sure I agree with the “less luxurious” part. In Medallion trim, with leather and full options, these were plenty plush.
The base models,not so much. Interesting trivia-In Canada there were no base LeBarons, only Medallions,but they weren’t referred to as such. Conversely, Canada offered no upscale Diplomat Medallions, only the base ones. This was because Chrysler badged products were always paired with either Dodge or Plymouth stores.
Evidently, Canuckistani Plymouth dealers must have voiced displeasure over being cut out of the M-body action, so soon after the initial M-launch, a decontented version arrived as the Caravelle.
this
But also, 70’s inflation and gas mileage woes, sent former big car buyers to mid size/compacts. So a loyal Chrysler Newport owner trading in, would balk at high sticker and MPG’s of true big cars, and get an ‘affordable’ M body.
What a cool “grocery getter”! But I’d have to have the OEM full wheel covers, and quietest exhaust possible. The only give-away would be the “shake” while idling at the stop lights.
Nice find. First time I’ve looked twice at one of these models. It’s got enough sportabout about it to work. Woodgrain goes great with that red.
+1 Woody fan here.Another car I never knew about though at the time these came out I’d lost any interest in Mopars when the Dart and Valiant were stopped
nice car, I absolutely love the red interior and I bet it’s a fun car to drive with the powerful 440 6-Pack V8, I agree the headlights on the early Dodge Diplomat’s looked better than the Chrysler LeBaron.
Another Diplomat Wagon.
Source: http://www.leichenwagenforum.de/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1200000362/45
Very cool. I loved these M-body wagons, and it’s a shame they weren’t produced beyond 1981. At that point Chrysler was probably not planning on keeping the M-body around until 1989.
Those skid plates in the trunk are a nice touch. My mom’s 1994 Grand Cherokee had them, although they were a cheaper metal than chrome.
Anooher fan of these M body wagons. As much as I love the concept, I cannot imagine what a nightmare this would be to work on. I remember doing spark plugs on the 440 in my 77 New Yorker. 3 of them were reachable only from under the car. And it had a LOT bigger engine bay than this. I would be more than happy with a 360.
The interiors in these cars were (or at least could be) quite nice. The mods with the console are well done.
The completed eBay listing (winning bid $15,100) has more underhood pics. Plugs #7 and 8 are probably only reachable from underneath. The drivers side valve cover probably can’t come off without removing the brake booster from the firewall first.
The auction also includes pictures of the car when featured in Mopar Action in 1991. At that time, it was wearing factory 15″ aluminum wheels.
Nice find, Tom! I know I’ve seen this car before, but it is a really well done resto-mod for the lack of a better term to call this thing. I also love the fact that it’s something of an obscure model, you rarely see these anywhere anymore.
When I lived in Memphis, there was a house in my neighborhood that had 3 Diplomat or Le Baron coupes parked around it. The wagons and sedans apparently got just slightly more attention than from owners of Volare and Aspen, which is to say not much as all are hard to find now.
This wagon is what Detroit should have offered, but the closest they ever got to offering a wagon with buckets were their gas miser/4 cylinder powered wagons.
This wagon is what Detroit should have offered, but the closest they ever got to offering a wagon with buckets were their gas miser/4 cylinder powered wagons.
Could you have ordered floor shift auto/bucket seats in a turbo K-car wagon?
They tried; presumably it didn’t sell. I don’t know about other years or Dodge and Plymouth versions, but you could order bucket seats in the 1966 Chrysler Town & Country wagon. No console though, only the “buddy seat” fold-down armrest between them.
Pretty sweet ~ .
I’d rock this Wagon .
-Nate
Wow–nicely done wagon! I love these anyway, and the 440 and custom interior are just the icing on the cake. Personally I even like the aftermarket wheels. About the only thing I don’t like is the steering wheel–the metal spokes detract from the luxurious feel of the rest of the interior. But I could easily get over that!
Wow a leather bucket seat interior with a floor shifter! Too bad they didn’t really offer something like this from the factory in the wagons.
That leather and console interior is awesome! As said many times already, a shame the configuration was not offered in wagons. But, then, the take rate would likely have been very low. It’s just not how things were done at the time.
That interior reminds me a lot of the interior in my 2012 F-150 Lariat with the console. A bit nicer actually, with the mainly soft door panels.
That interior… WOW! The rest of the car ain’t too shabby either.
The size and overall proportions of this beautiful wagon were spot on, in my opinion. I especially like the lower belt line (especially compared to the airbag-mandated high beltlines you see today). The large greenhouse also contributes to the nice look of this wagon.
A note about those front fender mounted turn indicators: while GM and Ford, in addition to Chrysler, used them as a way to up-content the specs of a model, the two larger companies only really ever offered them on their most luxurious Cadillac and Lincoln models. For instance, most Cadillacs had them and their system used 3 lights arranged horizontally, with blue showing when the high beam lights were on, blinking amber for turn signals and white for something I can’t remember (help here anybody?). Paired with this system were two small red lights mounted just above the backlight and visible from the rear view mirror. They blinked when the turn signals were used. Buick and Olsmobile also offered this system on their Electra 225 and Ninety-Eight models but not down through their respective ranges. I’m not sure how extensively Ford offered a similar system beyond Lincoln.
But Chrysler, throughout the ’60’s and ’70’s, was the manufacturer who really exemplified this feature. Available throughout their entire range, including the more basic models. It was very common to see them on lowly Valiant/Dusters, Omni/Horizons and Aspen/Volaré models. And it was my observation that they were commonly found on cars devoid of any other optional equipment leading me to wonder if they weren’t standard items, which I’m pretty sure it was not.
In short, these fender mounted turn indicators were very much a Chrysler “thing”.
The difference is that the BOC units were fiber optics, Mopar just used a bulb.
Correct, the GM fiber optic system actually monitored the status of the exterior lights, on/off/burned out. Ford and Mopar systems were just a redundant pair of lights. But they looked cool!
Definitely not standard, at least in the cheaper cars. I went looking for a pair for my 71 scamp because someone had cut off the wires on my originals. I had no luck in the junkyards and ended up at the parts counter at the ChryPly dealer. I think they may have been part of a “light group” that also got you the little light that shined on the ignition at night.
Oh yea, bring this right on! I like the wheels, at least for a modernized mag. Nothing like a hotrod station wagon. This is kinda like the magnum SRT’s granddaddy.
It is beautiful but to be perfect in my eyes, it needs original wheels.
That was my uncle Bobby klopp’s car he bought it brand new took it home and put the 1969 440 6 pack in it and hand many mods done under the hood to make it fit right and when he was killed his wife sold it with all the other cars he had you can also find the car in hot rod mag but it is nice to see that it is still around