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Junkyard Gem: 1988 Dodge Diplomat Salon

Except for the Viper, Prowler, and some Mitsubishi-derived AWD machines, all Chrysler cars went front-wheel-drive starting in the 1990 model year and continued that way until our current century. The last holdout was the Dodge Diplomat (and its Plymouth Gran Fury and Chrysler Fifth Avenue siblings), and these cars were the most common police cruisers in America throughout most of the 1980s and well into the 1990s. You won't see many Diplomats today, but I found this high-luxe civilian Salon version in my local Denver self-service yard. This one was purchased new in Cheyenne, which is just up I-25 from Denver. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. A Diplomat was one of the automotive protagonists in the classic car-chase scene from the 1990 film, Short Time. Diplomats have figured heavily in many films over the years. I got my first driver's license in 1982, in a Navy town with ruthless Diplomat-equipped traffic-law enforcement, and so my right foot still twitches in the direction of a brake pedal when I see this grille. This one was full of Denver-centric ephemera from the early-to-middle 1990s, layered with the shredded paper and rodent poop that indicates long-term outdoor storage, so I'm guessing that the car's elderly owner stopped driving it 20 years ago and it sat until finally evicted by an angry landlord. These cars weren't known for being particularly quick in stock form. This one has the carbureted 318-cubic-inch V8 (yes, some cars still had carburetors as late as 1988), good for 140 horsepower. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Fiendishly seductive! Related Video:

What's the deal with Chrysler demanding colleges crush their Vipers? [w/video]

Students and teachers at a Washington community college are up in arms following an order from Chrysler that it must destroy the pre-production Dodge Viper that was donated to the school's automotive technology program ten years ago.
The Viper in question is said to be the fourth off the production line, based on its VIN, and has had its emissions controls disabled, allowing its ten-cylinder engine to produce 600 horsepower, according to a report from Yahoo! Autos. As one of the first Vipers ever produced, the school's AT instructors claim it could be worth $250,000 in a museum, while a local news report purports that Jay Leno once tried to purchase the car, but the sale was prevented by Chrysler.
As pointed out by our friends at Autobytel, though, there are a lot of things in this story that don't quite add up. Immediately noticeable from the news report embedded below - which shows the car at South Puget Sound Community College - is that the car in question is not a 1992 model. When the Viper went on sale in 1992, it was only available as an RT/10 with a (flimsy) soft top, like the red car shown above. But the car featured in the report from KING5 News (inset image) is clearly a hardtop Viper GTS, which didn't enter production until 1996. And even if, as reported by a local newspaper, the hardtop featured is a prototype, it doesn't explain the lack of another iconic feature of the first Vipers - their distinctive side pipes. This kind of pokes holes in the school's argument that this is the fourth Viper to ever roll down the line. At best, this appears to be a pre-production Viper GTS.

Chrysler extends fuel tank warranties on LX cars, NHTSA ends probe

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has ended its investigation of 153,817, 5.7-liter and 6.1-liter Hemi V8-powered 2006 Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger and Dodge Magnum models after reports of stalling. Chrysler has responded by granting a lifetime warranty on the fuel tanks for these vehicles.
NHTSA received 299 reports of engines stalling while the models were stopped or driving at low speeds, and began an investigation. The government agency found that the control valve shutoff float in the V8s' 19-gallon fuel tank could malfunction if the fuel had too high of an ethanol content. In many cases, the valve would break in the open position, allowing the tank to be overfilled, which would then cause the cars to stall. However, there were no accidents reported, and the vehicles could be restarted immediately.
There will not be a recall on these vehicles because, "the condition represents a low risk to motor vehicle safety and is adequately addressed by Chrysler's extended warranty," NHTSA said to The Detroit News.