It really needs at least a 4 bbl, mild cam, headers, and a 2.5 inch duals. The Chrysler R platform was dropped during the middle of the 1981 model year, with the Dodge St. Regis ending its product run; to reduce model overlap, Chrysler ended sales of the Newport. The CHP tried some marked Camaros in 1992, and used a few 1993 and 1994 (and 2001 and 2002) Camaros for truck enforcement. 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. 1/43 1979-81 Dodge St Regis (BJ7UKP728) by rapidpro on Shapeways. I dont know if they could have made a more low-rent industrial looking unit if theyd tried. 1979-1981 is the correct yearrange. I liked the compact size but they were tight on space inside. The California Highway Patrol tested the St. Regis: * After two miles I did test drive a used one sometime in the mid-1980s. The best cure for Lean Burn is to pull it, replace it with a standard Chrysler electronic ignition and a matching non Lean Burn carburetor. Im not a fan of the power window controls. I added dual remote mirrors from a 79 Newport and salvaged the wiring harness from a 90 Daytona so I could use a much later factory stereo. There is no in-between. Good ones are extremely hard to come by. For 1982, the model line was discontinued, with the Dodge Diplomat serving as the largest Dodge; the next full-size Dodge sedan was the 1990 Dodge Monaco (derived from the Eagle Premier, itself a version of the Renault 25). Alternators (Leece-Neville) that were well out of alignment to the crank pulley. 1979 Dodge St.Regis (Brochure). One of my fellow students, who was not known for his good judgment, had a rather battered one and six of us crammed into it to go somewhere local. It has a clear California title and is being sold as-is with no warranty. That is me. Dimensions: 13 x 4.61 x 3.41 cm. Brand New. Original MSRP $6,847. The original owner found a non Lean Burn Holley 2280 to put on it. The rear drums were resurfaced, ew shoes installed and the wheel cylinders overhauled. This car will take . 4 Door Hardtop Pillared. . 1980 Dodge St Regis police car. 2018 Ford Escape SEL. Generally, it did all these things after lurching just far enough into traffic that people would be bearing down on you. Those plastic piston brake cylinders were a nightmare until fleet figured that out (swelled up and stuck). The 1981 318 was a decent police vehicle. 1978 Dodge Challenger. 1979 Dodge St.Regis Maryland State Police Roof hardware: Federal Signal AeroDynic light bar D Dech Sayyasavee 103 followers More information 1979 Dodge St.Regis Maryland State Police | Roof hardware: F | Flickr Emergency Vehicles Police Vehicles Old Police Cars Sports Car Racing State Police Police Department Fire Trucks Plymouth Full review an, Cool sound Given the glacial maximum acceleration rate, there wasnt much of a visual cue it was being hooned anyway. Door handles coming off, seams tearing loose, dashes cracking in 2 years, the pad and horn switches falling out of the steering wheels, mirrors falling off, mechanical digital clocks failing, dash switches and knobs breaking, especially on the climate control and push button radios, headliners falling down, sunvisors breaking, etc. Even AMC, the perpetual fourth-place finisher, bowed out at the end of 1978 with no real replacement in sight. This list also features many cars enjoyed by other government departments and taxi operators across North America, and in some cases represented some of the last full-size traditional rear-wheel drive sedans in America for some time until the configuration became popular again. Something had to be done, and for 1978, something was done. 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. Just like this restored 80 model now residing in Edmonton. Dude could of at least, got rid of the laundry basket in the front Hopefully, it wasnt the ad to sell the car. 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. As 70s interiors go, thats not too bad. 1979 Dodge St Regis Police TJ Hooker R Body Year: 1979 Mileage: 60,100 Location: Davis, California, United States 1979 Dodge Magnum XE ORIGINAL (Cordoba, St. Regis, 1978 Dodge Magnum GT) NO RESV Year: 1979 Mileage: 52,000 Location: Broad Brook, Connecticut, United States In the future Ill be equipping it with period correct equipment as a Chiefs Car. The higher rate springs and high effort power steering made for a pleasant driver. I could say more about this but I wont. Dont know if Ive previously mentioned that like others, Ive seen rather few of these going all the way back to when they first came out. It was a silver 2 door with red leather guts and stayed nice for about 2 weeks. Air regulations imposed by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) required detuning the California destined engines to 190 horsepower to meet emissions standards. Contact seller. mtm352: I was a career Trooper, and one of my favorites all around was my unmarked 1980 St. Regis. 79 Dodge St Regis with 340 engine Hey, its time to sell my ride. It went back to the dealer numerous times for things I cant even remember. 397. The Impala was found to rival other models well with good performance, decent interior trim and a large boot. The featured car is in better shape cosmetically than mine and if I had room for it would be all over it, but since my car has been in the family for 30 years will put in the sweat equity it would take to get it back to where we had it looking years ago. GM Car Calibration Request; JEEP; UTV; GARAGE SALE DEALS. Man! The way the seat has the tear in the photo looks like vinyl to me. 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.. I had one in a 70 Challenger. 1979 Dodge Ram Charger. The box he put on the car in 1985 finally failed about two weeks ago. The second gas crisis came in 1979, the car was bigger than the B-body GM or the new-for-1979 Panther platform over at Ford, the styling echoed the Buick LeSabre just a little too much, the old suspension design showed through, the big-block cop cars had gone so fleet sales wound up going to hell, and then there was the quality control issues. Im afraid it went beyond the rail yardsChryslers infamous sales bank occupied the Michigan State Fairgrounds, and anywhere else that unsold inventory could be stashed. I have since occasionally wondered how these models would have done if they had been kept in production and the bugs worked out. Let's check out this unbelievable 40,000-mile survivor. The only St. Regis I can ever recall seeing was this one I took a picture of about 5 years ago. Possibly a change in 9.25 to 3.23 or 3.55. Out of all the things you listed, Ive only experienced the mirror falling off the windshield, the hard plastic panel that went over the defroster and radio speakers cracking but only after the car well past 30 years old. It has been in California all its life and is rust free. Lol. Twenty years later, at least two of my old compadres were still driving the old patrol units. Thats an operator error on my behalf Haha. Replacing the Monaco, the St. Regis was the largest Dodge sedan, positioned above the mid-size Diplomat and Aspen. You would think the full-sized cars would offer leather. A second oil crisis hit in 1979, and while Chrysler's new front-drive Omnirizons sold strongly, the company was sinking around them. I have been showing the car for a few years and it has won some awards at car shows. In The 60s and 70s you even saw the odd Pontiac or Meteor. First show I took it to it earned a first in MoPar other (not A, B, C, or E.). "It sits lower to the ground, it is a car, and it is newer". The R represented the best all-around balance as far as speed, power, braking and cornering were concerned. Bought from the original owner, an old veteran, who purchased it right out of the showroom in the local Chrysler/AMC dealership. It appears to be in very good condition for an R-body. 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. (I guess thats the lean in Lean Burn.) For 1993, Dodge introduced its first Chrysler-developed full-size sedan with front-wheel drive, the Dodge Intrepid. 360 4 Barrel 999 trans. Not only is it essentially uselesswow its ugly. As with most police cars, the suspension is stiff, and you feel any bumps; there is absolutely no body roll. 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). It was downsized and shed up to 450 kg in the process, and was styled to look bigger than it was. Im really not feeling the love for this car. By the time I sold my St. Regis it had 110k on the clock and still ran great. Skip to content. 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 thought they looked great, and kind of reminded me of certain TV shows set in the US Southwest, where this color of patrol car was often seen. Some of the last police cars I had were the 1981 R bodies with the 318 four barrel. Ugh, I cant stand that archaic looking climate control system and push button stereo Those buttons always stuck froze in very cold weather in my 77 Newport. The Dodge St. Regis introduced in 1979 was a re-skinned dinosaur based on the old large Chrysler B-body platform which underpinned the classic 1960s Dodge Charger muscle car. At the time I thought it was the best looking car Dodge ever produced. I bought a lean burn 81 imperial as a gag for beer runs at the cottage 20 plus years ago . It had a 360 four-barrel and that good old never-breaking 727 Torqueflite transmission. Im sure you know that was also the first year they had equipped the Torqueflite with a lock-up torque converter. The main problem with the LeBaron for us was that it just would not run right. However, no factory 360 M-body cop cars were ever produced. Overall the look is not bad, but it has a cheap look. They are supposed to be down in the bumpers? Newly-installed CEO Iacocca went to Congress seeking loan. Menu. Like a lot of old Chrysler products they were driven for years and then simply became scrap. It was 5 degrees outside or I would have followed it and photographed it when it came to rest. Pulled the miserable tired original seats and stored them. We were not alone in these issues. 1978 Dodge Magnum Color Chart. police car fan 2012-09-05 18:16-- Last edit: 2014-03-24 14:42:15: police car fan 2013-11-07 20:50. The St Regis hangs around for over a year already, the poor kid has such a hard time selling it, even though it cant be better for a non-garaged car in North Michigan. It may be rare, but this looks like one of the crappiest built cars from that era. I replaced the standard 85 MPH speedometer with a certified speedometer (120 MPH) that was set to the car's original odometer mileage. I thought they looked cool (my best friends folks had bought a 69 Monaco). It was only produced from 1979 to 1981 and most of the 58,000+ cars produced went to fleet use. The B-body platform was updated to replace the departed C-body cars. It wasn't an MSP car originally, but it is a real police spec machine, originally hailing from Virginia. So, if you took your eyes off the road for even a moment, you could find yourself halfway in the adjacent lane. 1979 Dodge Trucks. I have a line on 5 other cars. 1980 Dodge St Regis (Canadian brochure). Andrew was a contributing writer at Performance Drive. The second Bluesmobile was an LTD Crown Victoria in the movie Blues Brothers 2000. If only they could have had both style and quality. The agency is responsible for law enforcement on all public roads in the state. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. One of very few Mopars that I have had zero contact with. The 360 has been beefed up to a proper level and the car barks out through headers into Flowmasters. But my dad, who passed away in 2007, actively avoided Chrysler products for the rest of his life. 2021. . The Chevrolet Malibu was a mid-size model which replaced the ever-popular Nova. The Horizon had stick shift and no air conditioning, so he traded it on the LeBaron. For 1990, the Dodge brand re-entered the full-size segment with the fifth-generation Dodge Monaco. 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. The Dodge St. Regis is a very rare car. No wonder the Japanese turned the tide around 1982-83 with the Marysville, Ohio made(1st year made in US) Honda Accord and debut year, 1983 Toyota Camry. Rough rider since it is older and it handles OK. Great in snow, and mud since it is 4 wheel drive. . The next up was the Dodge Aspen. Although I was then and am still a total car nut, I dont recall these big Chryslers making any kind of a splash at the time. He couldnt believe when he bought the car that someone put points in it. And worse yet, that cover was made out of aluminum, which quickly corroded through, allowing coolant in the oil and oil in the coolant. On Diplomat SE, the heavier steering improves the handling much, with smaller steering wheel. If I had the space, and it was local to me, I might be interested evenalas it isnt and I dont! 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 Diplomat has been a long staple in American history mostly recognized as police cars throughout most Gateway Classic Cars Click for Phone O Fallon, IL 62269 (644 miles away) 2 27 1984 Dodge Diplomat I did this to my St. Regis and ran a early 1990s AM/FM cassette and it blended right in. The 360 has been beefed up to a proper level and the car barks out through headers into Flowmasters. Sharing its platform with the successful Fox-based Mustang, the Fairmont was the last of the compact rear-wheel drive sedans from Ford during this time. Ive known some people who still have working Lean Burn cars and even as a Mopar guy I consider them miracle cars to have one still working 35 plus years later. 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. Never buy a used cop car. 136,000. Despite being an introductory model, nearly 30% of St. Regis production was dedicated for police/law enforcement use. I non the less fail to see how his bio could be inspiration for naming a car, I mean he was not a coach builder like LeBaron. (ABC Comedic, sarcastic Version of Miami Vice in the same time period). (never used personally, I only drove in summer). Just bought my 1980 dodge st.regis with a 360 v8 engine. Poor quality, especially on the interior was common. Copyright 2023 BangShift LLC. Brands New Products .