1981 Dodge Diplomat

1981 Dodge Diplomat | eBay

 

Having the slant six under the hood is nice, but I've heard they didn't perform all that well with all the emission add-on's in the late 70's / early 80's.

I liked THIS Diplomat wagon a bit better..... (for sale some years ago)



Here's what was under the hood of this one:

 

Very nice.

 

Interior looks good.

 

Back again.

1981 Dodge Diplomat | eBay

 

A little crusty behind the rear wheels but hey…what do ya want for under 7k?

 

Yeah, those Lean Burn cars with their "Spark Control Computer" modules from the mid-70s through to the end of the Diplomat/Fifth Ave./Gran Fury/Caravelle's run in 1989 were pretty bad. They were poorly conceived and quickly engineered to meet the government emissions mandates starting on 1975 models.

The system had poor drivability, and since it was located under the hood and attached to the air cleaner (right over the engine), it easily got heat soaked, which only made things worse. They were/are a nightmare to diagnose and the best thing to do is to just remove the entire system and run a normal carburetor and ignition setup. Not only will it run and perform infinitely better, but in most cases you'll actually get even better gas mileage too.

Honestly, I can't believe the Lean Burn system made it all the way to the end of the 80s. I shudder to think how many of those V8 and slant six cars from 1975-'89 needlessly suffered an early trip to the junkyard and tainted Chrysler's reputation because of it.

 

This car is currently on its third listing on ebay. The first time, in May, the asking price was $7,999. The second time and the current listing were/are for $6,799.

As one reference point, this car in this condition (the rust-through behind the rear wheels does not exactly help the value) is shown to have a value of about $1000 to $1500 according to the Old Cars Price Guide.

Collector Car Market Review, on the other hand, is more generous, putting the value at about $3500. But even that is only half the asking price.

Agree with these references or not, anyone doing any research on the value of these cars is probably going to be hard-pressed to justify spending nearly $7,000 for it.


I wish the seller well.