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Car Of The Day: December 25, 2009; Buddy L '85 Dodge Diplomat
Topic Started: Dec 25 2009, 12:00 AM (1,006 Views)
Swifty
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The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
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Today's car of the day is Buddy L's "1985 Dodge Diplomat".

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Wikipedia
 
The Dodge Diplomat was a mid-size car and it was manufactured from 1977 to 1989 by the Chrysler Corporation's Dodge brand and practically identical to the Chrysler LeBaron of 1977, the Plymouth Caravelle sold in Canada, and the Plymouth Gran Fury from 1982. It was also sold in Mexico between 1980 and 1981 as the Dodge Dart, and in Colombia as the Dodge Coronet.


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For more information and pictures of the real car please visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_Diplomat

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This one has been with me since new, many years ago. Buddy L offered playsets and I wanted a few of them (city/police, fire, and monster truck rally) and I really liked this car because it was the first small scal Dodge Diplomat I had ever seen. Albeit I knew it didn't look quite right but it was still recognizable as such. So here it is, still in my collection. It is entirely plastic except for the axles and the screw holding it together. I believe that this is the first all plastic vehicle featured as car of the day.

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Wikipedia
 
1977 saw the return of the Diplomat as a full model line rather than as the name of a particular body style. It replaced the Monaco in Dodge's new downsized mid-size lineup. The new Diplomat was based on the Dodge Aspen, designated the M-body. While the Aspen had the F-body, the M-bodies were related to it: the wheelbase and suspension were identical and doors and body panels often interchangeable. Hence, another M-body sedan, such as the 1989 Chrysler Fifth Avenue, had interchangeable doors with the 1976 Aspen. Like the Aspen, the Diplomat had coupe and station wagon variants.

The Diplomat was offered with a base 225 cu in (3.7 L) six-cylinder engine. In 318 cu in (5.2 L) V8 form (and an optional 360 cu in (5.9 L)) it, and its Plymouth Gran Fury/Caravelle twin, were widely favored as a police car both in the US and Canada. After 1984, the only engine offered was the 318 cu in (5.2 L) V8.

Following the demise of the Dodge St. Regis R-body in 1981, the Diplomat remained, becoming the largest sedan in the Dodge lineup, despite technically being a mid-size car. Dodge would not market another truly full-size car (at least based upon U.S. U.S. Environmental Protection Agencyż (EPA) passenger volume statistics) until the Monaco debuted as a 1990 model.

In 1982, the coupe and station wagon were discontinued and Canada's Plymouth version of the Diplomat came south of the border. The Plymouth Caravelle was offered in the US as the Plymouth Gran Fury.

As the 1980s progressed, fewer private customers purchased the Diplomat, and the M-body was eventually dropped during the 1989 model year. One reason behind the drop-off in sales was fuel economy; although fuel in the mid-1980s was as cheap as it had been in some years (with prices in many parts of the country well below $1 per gallon), Diplomats with their carbureted engine and lack of an overdrive-equipped automatic transmission could not achieve fuel economy on a par with its larger, rear-drive competitors from Ford and General Motors, as evidenced by this comparison using EPA estimates from 1986:

Dodge Diplomat (5.2L V8, 3-speed automatic): 16 city, 21 highway, 18 combined
Chevrolet Caprice (5.0L V8, 4-speed automatic with overdrive): 17 city, 25 highway, 20 combined
Ford LTD Crown Victoria (5.0L V8, 4-speed automatic with overdrive): 18 city, 26 highway, 21 combined
And, if that wasn't enough, the Dodge had one more strike against it: It was subject to the federal "Gas Guzzler Tax".

However if higher fuel efficiency was desired, the Diplomats were available with 225 CI slant-six cylinder engines and 2-barrel carburetors. The 2.26:1 rear end gear ratio used in all civilian models made up for the fact that only non-overdrive transmissions were available. This meant that the Diplomat was a surprisingly efficient car for its size, reportedly up to 28 mpg under optimum conditions.

Despite low public interest, by the mid-'80s, the Diplomat/Gran Fury found another profitable market niche - as fleet vehicles for taxicab and law enforcement use. This was also Chrysler's last RWD non-truck vehicle (not counting the Dodge Viper) until the 2006 Charger. Being smaller and somewhat lighter than the Chevrolet and Ford police packages, Diplomats were well-known and respected for not only their speed, but their maneuverability.

Diplomats built from mid-1988 until the end of production were among the first Chrysler-built products to have a driver's side airbag as standard equipment, some two model years before the remainder of Chrysler's lineup (They were also among the only cars at the time to offer a tilt steering column with an airbag). Diplomats with airbags differed from earlier models in that they were also equipped with a padded, color-keyed knee blocker which extended out from beneath the instrument panel in front of the driver.

The Diplomat was discontinued in 1989, with the Dodge Monaco replacing it as Dodge's top-of-the-line sedan for 1990.


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jedimario
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RAWR
It's not even green! Or red!
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craftymore
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Support your local demo derby.

Actually for being all plastic, it doesn't' look half bad. I always thought the Motormax version from a year or so ago was the first example of a Dippy in small scale. Cool. Now I want one for the derby track.
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Swifty
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The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
jedimario
Dec 25 2009, 12:01 AM
It's not even green! Or red!
No, but I did get it for Christmas almost 20 years ago. ;)
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Sak
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Ezekiel 25:17
In the country of the blind, the one eyed man is king. In other words, Car Of The Week.
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ivantt
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New casting? Quick! Take it apart!
Disagree, SAK. It isn't all that bad, so it isn't bad enough for "WORST" car of the week! Since it actually looks like the car it is supposed to be, that knocked it out of the running, IMO.
I guess if it can't be rally graphics, then these ugly makers use Police. Give credit here, though, because the graphics actually are believable.
Getting back to the loser points, the four wheel Slicks rate high, and I can't see the door lines through the stickers---I think they didn't have room for a front door if you look at the side view! And the stance....may Swifty also posted the FIRST Police "donk?"
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Scooter
Fullsize
I like this one. Now I need to buy one of these
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STUTZ
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Diecast junkie
Swifty
Dec 25 2009, 12:00 AM
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Today's car of the day is Buddy L's "1985 Dodge Diplomat".

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The headlights and taillights look similar. They remind me of a '66 GTO.

Nice to see a car from your younger days Sean.
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Tone
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Rocket 88
Interesting toy you have got there.

I have a tinplate-and-plastic Buddy-L 57 Chevy that was made in Japan probably 70s-early 80s.
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This great old 1920s classic toy brand isn't what it used to be. I couldn't believe learning that Imperial currently owns the brand name "Buddy L!" :o
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Swifty
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The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
Tone
Dec 28 2009, 12:57 PM
This great old 1920s classic toy brand isn't what it used to be. I couldn't believe learning that Imperial currently owns the brand name "Buddy L!" :o
Ouch! Not that that's totally bad. Some of the Imperial diecast is pretty good!
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Tone
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Rocket 88
You are right Swifty. I was thinking about a cheap Chinese-made Volkswagen and the little planes in my collection. I forgot about the 50s Fords and 60s Impala and Mustang that I have, which are very good toy models indeed.
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