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Automotive News & Views Mystery car pix....
23900 messages, Last post on Dec 02, 2009 at 9:11 AM
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Replying to: lemko (Jul 03, 2008 10:12 am) edit - 1980 Dodge St. Regis? |
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Replying to: lemko (Jul 03, 2008 10:12 am) 
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Replying to: lemko (Jul 03, 2008 10:12 am) I read somewhere that the 1979 St. Regis was actually voted, by cops, as one of the best police cars of all time. It didn't have the raw power of a '69 Polara 440, but was still a well-rounded police car that handled well, had plenty of room, was durable, if not always reliable, and was still the fastest full-sized police car available that year. Just to show how bad things got after 1979, it wouldn't be until 1989 and the Caprice police pursuit, that full-sized copcars actually got back up to '79 St. Regis levels of performance! I think the Michigan State Police got a St. Regis with the 360-4bbl to do 0-60 in 10.1 seconds in their annual testing. The '89 Caprice did it in around 9.9. If these numbers sound slow, the MSP tested their cars differently from how MT or C&D might. They just put two cops in the car and let them take off as fast as they could, but without any power-braking, manually holding the gears, etc. So, this was probably more in line with the kind of numbers Consumer Reports might have gotten if they were testing police cars. The St. Regis itself took a hit after 1979. For 1980, a 360-4bbl was still offered, but down to around 185 hp, from 195. 0-60 was more like 11.1 seconds...although that was still quicker than what Chevy or Ford were offering. The car's reputation also took a hit with the CHP because CA banned the 360 that year, so the cars just had 318-4bbls, putting out around 155-165 hp. Cops started carrying on about how VW Bugs would pass them going uphill, and anyone with a real musclecar would just taunt them, knowing they could easily walk them like a dog. In truth though, the 318-4bbl was good for about 13 seconds 0-60, and would still break 100 mph. While the power was down considerably, a lot of these cops were going through big-block withdrawal, probably having traded in late 70's Royal Monacos that still came with powerful (even by choked 70's standards) 440's.
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Replying to: ateixeira (Jul 03, 2008 10:19 am) Flush headlights make me think early 80s. Actually, that is a good guess, because it was designed by Ford stylists. Some Ford people jumped ship to Chrysler before Iaccocca went over, so the same group that did the crisp, angular Fords also did the crisp, angular Mopars. |
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Replying to: andre1969 (Jul 03, 2008 1:40 pm) |
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Replying to: tmart (Jul 03, 2008 10:33 am) |
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Replying to: lemko (Jul 03, 2008 6:32 am) In looking at pics of the '73 and '74 GM intermediates, it looks like the Malibu, Monte Carlo, and LeMans made some attempt to plan for the upcoming bumper standards, even though they did end up changing the bumpers in '74. But the '73 Grand Prix had a dainty looking bumper that looked easily damaged, while the Century and Cutlass had bumpers that were integrated into the style of the car, which left the taillights a bit vulnerable in the event of a rear-ender. |
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Here's some classic American Iron to celebrate the Fourth>  The Bucket List(2008)
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Replying to: andys120 (Jul 04, 2008 2:56 am) Edit: Whoops. Now I do. Cool Mustang and a Dodge Charger, I think.
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