Years later they were running the Dodge Diplomat and they were really pretty good. One of very few Mopars that I have had zero contact with. Let's check out this unbelievable 40,000-mile survivor. The Ultimate Unloved: 1980 Dodge St. Regis Police Cruiser. We were not alone in these issues. piraf23, tim boone and 16 more people faved this Top Cars for Sale Locations. A Number of Police Departments weren't happy with the Dodge St. Regis Police Car. The Diplomat was a much better car, quality wise. May consider other trades of equal value as well. I'm looking for old restored and un-restored police and fire department cars Andrew has a passion for worldwide cars of many types including classic muscle cars and sports coupes, big luxury barges and production sedans. Has the trusty Chrysler 318 V8. 1980 Dodge Police cars (Brochure). Still a 360, but it couldn't handle the big tires and beating, and, being lighter, you felt every bump around. Remember, this is just before Chrysler nearly slips under the waveswhat quality control? C $10.00. If these are civilian cars mocked up as CHP units, they could be any year off the lot, including 1979 models. The Dodge St. Regis is a very rare car. The last photo is of the featured car (and me before I drove it to prom, sorry about that). Both being wheeler-dealers they made a trade of cars for ad time. The way the seat has the tear in the photo looks like vinyl to me. I dont recall ever seeing one of them with leather seats. The digital clock lights, ut does not reset. It featured a unique retractable headlight cover, 5.2-litre and 5.9-litre V8s and a three-speed automatic transmission. In contrast to both the Monaco and the Diplomat, the St. Regis was offered solely as a four-door sedan. My mechanical skills at the time were far from what they are now so the issue was never solved and the car remained in my possession for a couple more years. I remember Dabney Coleman driving one in the hilarious car chase in the movie Short Time, and wondering just how that thing held together. By 1980, restrictive anti-emissions regulations meant that it was a dog to drive, with many police officers complaining about its poor performance. The name Ford Fairmont was a long-running nameplate in Australia, but in North America it was produced only from 1977 to 1983. The Dodge St. Regis is a very rare car. Software; Manufacturing; Industries . Dodge, Plymouth, and Chrysler Police Cars 1979-1994 notes that the 360 powered St. Regis, Newport, and Gran Fury were the fastest and best performing police cars of the era. There are some quirks like any car of this age. I dont know if they could have made a more low-rent industrial looking unit if theyd tried. 1979 Dodge Truck Color Chart. Many of these 1979-1981 police cars were sold with the 318 V8; others had a 360 engine with four-barrel Carter Thermoquad carburetor. . CHP Police Car Site. 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. Had one ,115 mph top end but handled great, took a tremendous beating and hung together quite well.. My buddy had an ex Town of Avon Gran Fury, it was pretty beat when he got it. There were quality control issues, like spring shackles that were not torqued to specs which brought anxious moments in cornering or hard acceleration. But, my aunt drove her late-1980s Omni for 289,000 miles and would have bought another one if they had still been in production. I know the seats werent leather too. Bought from the original owner, an old veteran, who purchased it right out of the showroom in the local Chrysler/AMC dealership. All the St. Regis and the Volares were replaced with Dodge Diplomats in 1982. 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. If you were feeling spacey, you could have sprung for this. Print length 192 pages Language English Publisher Motorbooks Intl Publication date January 1, 1996 Dimensions 8.5 x 0.5 x 10.75 inches ISBN-10 0760301972 ISBN-13 978-0760301975 See all details The Amazon Book Review The St.Regis looks like one of the worst. The idle needs to be re-adjusted (Ill do that myself more than likely, before its purchased) and the suspension bar that holds up the rear trunk needs to be replaced. I got a replacement motor last year and Im happy to see those doors working again. Cool there a Fury that model near me for sale ex Florida police 318 (can come with 440) swaybars the size of your arm handles ok according to the vendor some battle scars but hes had it there for sale for several years so its obviously priced ambitiously. ( I came across a excellent looking Fox Continental in a Ford-Lincoln dealership in North Michigan last month, and it reveals the problem when I opened the door ). Cars for Sale in; Houston, TXCars for Sale in; Jacksonville, FLCars for Sale in; Miami, FL Curtis Redgap: The R bodies weren't that bad! This was all new body style for 1979-81 Pure stinginess to carry that awful climate/stereo from the last body style into this one. Alternators (Leece-Neville) that were well out of alignment to the crank pulley. Learn more before you buy, or discover other cool products in Vehicles. The underlying platform dates all the way back to 1926 and had a number of major revisions over the decades up to 1991. 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 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. I swear, I do not think that Audi was out of the shop more than six weeks for the five years he owned it and, once out of warranty, it seemed each repair bill was at least $1000. It has a clear California title and is being sold as-is with no warranty. A period correct light bar, iren, potlights, hotgun rack and non-functional police radio were installed. I had front end problems that no one could fix, the transmission slipped, and the car used a quart of oil every 500 miles. It forms part of Dodge's Series EH range of cars. Sometimes it would fire up again again sitting, sometimes not. Police Cars . The rest of the fleet split the difference. The change in powertrain was unpopular, as officers found the top speed of the vehicle was reduced to below 100 mph when fitted with a lightbar (or 65 mph on a grade). I just read a piece on John Francis Regis. A new grille for its final year heralded the merger of the Fifth Avenue and New Yorker names in 1982, in the more successful luxury version of the M-body Dodge Diplomat. It was closer to old headquarter of GM though. It always seemed to me that most full sized Chrysler products from the 70s besides the Imperials and New Yorkers were not usually heavily optioned, yet many of the GM full sized cars were. And worse yet, that cover was made out of aluminum, which quickly corroded through, allowing coolant in the oil and oil in the coolant. It wasnt an MSP car originally, but it is a real police spec machine, originally hailing from Virginia. Im not even sure the oven was allowed to pre-heat. . Funny the Aspen was actually better. The St.Regis just like a car that was poorly built and designed to fall apart. Just like this restored 80 model now residing in Edmonton. shepherdsville kentucky. The police car version of the Belvedere sedan was a . Its been kept up mechanically and give me enough gas money, Id drive it coast to coast without worry. Coinciding with efforts to expedite the retirement of the St. Regis from patrol service, the CHP adopted the 'Ford Mustang Severe Service Package' police pursuit vehicle (PPV) in 1982. 1-3. . 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 owned a number of 70s cars. Produced for a single generation, the St. Regis is one of the shortest-lived Dodge nameplates. Used by a wide variety of Chrysler model lines, the B-body architecture underpinned model lines ranging from the Dodge Coronet and Plymouth Belvedere to the Dodge Charger and Chrysler Cordoba. Id do it myself, its simple. The rear drums were resurfaced, ew shoes installed and the wheel cylinders overhauled. Its north Michigan afterall, every town has an odd car, sometimes for odd use too. These sites include nuclear power plants, government buildings, and key infrastructure sites. "TJ Hooker" (1979 Dodge St. Regis): The post-"'Star Trek' the TV series" and pre-"'Star Trek' the Motion Picture" years saw William Shatner in a relatively forgettable cop show that starred perhaps the least believable cop of all time, Heather Locklear. (The siren and light bar have been disconnected per EBay policy.) While shifting to an intermediate chassis allowed the St. Regis a smaller exterior footprint over the 1974-1977 Monaco, it remained far larger than its Ford LTD and Chevrolet Caprice competitors (at 220.2 inches long, an inch shorter than a Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham). Around the 50k mile mark, our LeBaron had definitely adopted a nose-down attitude and would bottom out against the suspension stops if driven across big dips with any gusto. 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. It came with a 318ci (5.2 litres) or 360ci V8 (5.9 litres) V8 mated to a three-speed automatic, and its odd, narrow grille was the result of being forced to re-use the bonnet from the Chrysler LeBaron. mtm352: I was a career Trooper, and one of my favorites all around was my unmarked 1980 St. Regis. Air Resources Board) to modify the exhaust for patrol duty. Dodge, Plymouth, and Chrysler Police Cars 1979-1994 notes that the 360 powered St. Regis, Newport, and Gran Fury were the fastest and best performing police cars of the era. Although this model, like the Aspen/Volare and Omni/Horizon models, was conceptually fine and could have been competitive, new Chryslers launched at that time werent even half-baked when foisted on the public. As 70s interiors go, thats not too bad. The car was so gutless that they removed the mufflers and ran straight pipes out past the bumper. 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. Overall the look is not bad, but it has a cheap look. A quick trip to the junkyard and he had everything he needed to convert it to electronic ignition. 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. The 360 has been beefed up to a proper level and the car barks out through headers into Flowmasters. I only got to ride in one of these once, in the mid-1980s when I was in graduate school. Shop millions of cars from over 22,500 dealers and find the perfect car. Copyright 2023 BangShift LLC. Like a 47 Chevy, an 80s LTD for pizza delivery, a Chevrolet Nova from 80s for delivery too. The St. Regis was created during some desperate times for Chrysler. I experienced all three years of the R bodies, with a 1979 Newport, 1980 Gran Fury, and 1981 Gran Fury, two with the 360 pursuit and one with the 318 four barrel. . Rough rider since it is older and it handles OK. Great in snow, and mud since it is 4 wheel drive. Appearances in The Blues Brothers and the television series T.J. Hooker assured the Dodge St. Regis would remain in the public eye for many years, though few were made and they quickly disappeared from the roads. 1978 Dodge Omni. The biggest engine available was the Chevrolet 5.0-litre V8 and it was produced until 1983. Maybe it will stay there longer. We'll give you credit for the submission (of course) and what is cooler than showing all your gang that you have a story on Bang Shift? With the exception of a full-size Chrysler, the 440 was unavailable for public use, and even then, the civilian version was rated for 195 hp. The 1981 318 was a decent police vehicle. The back seat was surprisingly roomy and compared well to Dads oh-so-broughamy 1980 Buick Limited, which was a beloved family vehicle. Get the best deals on Parts & Accessories for Dodge St. Regis when you shop the largest online selection at eBay.com. Even the grille pattern looks more Buick than Dodge. I have a 1979 Chrysler Newport, 318 LA small block 2bbl, TF A 904, AC, PS, PB, AM FM, cruise control (works well), base interior. He pulled the engine to put in a 53 Willys and sold the car before he finished it. It has been in California all its life and is rust free. 4WD. The car does well in 40-100+ accelerations but dead-stop launches tend to bog. 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. The skimpy 7 1/4 rear end wore out prematurely. So perhaps I might point out that there is no St. Sedona, but there is a St Regis, and she can drive the car named after him. The next up was the Dodge Aspen. 1979 St Regis. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Front Seats Ranked 2002 Ford Focus ZX3 better. I have 253k and still rolling. In this case, it's a 360-powered St. Regis worked up to represent a Michigan State Police car. A lovely book of photos and descriptions of police cars manufactured by Dodge, Plymouth and Chrysler during the years 1979-1984. Dodge St. Regis 1979, 4x6" (165mm) Rectangular Chrome LED Headlights with DRL by Lumen, 1 Pair. The automotive landscape and world at-large is shifting away from petrol cars and towards electrification and political correctness. Even the Chrysler Newport had vinyl as an option with no leather available .I often think Chrysler downplayed these models as the more economical versions of their larger cars so people would opt for the New Yorker if they wanted more luxury. What's in the box: 1-43 1979-81 Dodge St Regis. Wow, what a cool find! A special waiver was acquired to remove the anti-smog equipment to restore some performance, but departments such as the California Highway Patrol dropped it for the Ford Mustang instead. The St. Regis ended production in 1981 but was seen often thanks to TV cops including Sledge Hammer and T.J Hooker, and many were destroyed in such TV shows. 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.. Original owners manual and all 1979 Chrysler emissions documentation, and repair slips. While closer in exterior size to the Diplomat, the Intrepid nearly matches the St. Regis in interior room. Not only is it essentially uselesswow its ugly. I think they should put it back in limited service, maybe nice summer days, and mess with some peoples minds.
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