R-Body 1979-1981

Welcome to FBBO.

@YY1 - Yes, all R-Bodies were all 4 door, AFAIK. The 2 door Gran Fury is likely the last of the C-Body Plymouths, I believe they made those from 75-77.

@Big Bad Dad - I've read exactly what you mentioned, that the cops didn't like the R-Bodies. Same size as the '78 Furies and Monacos, but with a E58 360 instead of a 440 Magnum...

Speaking of the St. Regis, according to Hagerty, the 1980 St. Regis is essentially extinct... Remember the R-Bodies!!

Dennis H said:

Welcome. Former 79 5th Avenue owner here. 360 Lean Burn.

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Hi Dennis, what did you think of your Fifth Ave? The 360 was super rare, from what I've heard. I believe you could get the police E58 360 in that car, although I think it was extremely rare.

I loved that car. 360 ran pretty well. This was mid-late 80’s. Had transmission work done at 110k miles. Picked the car up and it shook like hell. It had purred like a kitten. Trans guy says, “this is a 318 right”.

OOPS on the torque convertor... We had the same issue when dropped a 360 into a 65 Barracuda that had been a 273 car. Ouch

Dennis H said:

I loved that car. 360 ran pretty well. This was mid-late 80’s. Had transmission work done at 110k miles. Picked the car up and it shook like hell. It had purred like a kitten. Trans guy says, “this is a 318 right”.

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Ugh, just what you want to hear. Did you ever discover the reason it shook so badly? What ended up happening to the car?

360 torque convertors balanced differently than 318s and 273s.

charlie2951 said:

Ugh, just what you want to hear. Did you ever discover the reason it shook so badly? What ended up happening to the car?

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Picked up a 69 Satellite. Sold Chrysler for 1k. Sold the 69 Satellite years later in California for 4K.

charlie2951 said:

@YY1 - Yes, all R-Bodies were all 4 door, AFAIK. The 2 door Gran Fury is likely the last of the C-Body Plymouths, I believe they made those from 75-77.

@Big Bad Dad -

Speaking of the St. Regis, according to Hagerty, the 1980 St. Regis is essentially extinct... Remember the R-Bodies!!

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St. Regis. The patron saint of the dodo bird.

Over the years I had 5 R bod Newports and 3 R body NYs. This was in the late 80's and throughout most of the 90's. They were my daily drivers. All 318 or 360 2bbl cars. decent mpg and lots of room. I lived in the rust belt and all of them eventually succumbed to the rust monster.

The Newports lasted far better than the NYs...that lower body chrome really held in the slush and salt and rotted them.

I thought they were great cars. Logged a lot of commuting hours in R bodies.

YY1 said:

a 79 300 is a B body

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Not according to Chrysler Corp. The B body designation ended for Ma Mopar in 78. They designated Cordoba and Magnum as R bodies in 79.

Yes, I know they're essentially unchanged...it was another form of Mopar badge engineering.

Welcome from North Carolina!!

I've owned, restored, and displayed my R-body 1980 Dodge St. Regis A38 police pkg. since 2008. I've come to know that they are truly one of the forgotten orphans of the Chrysler moniker. There's nothing really unique or extra-ordinary about them. They're big, but not too big. Powerful, but not too powerful. Comfy, but not too plush. An absolute combination of everything average and mediocre about late-70's and 80s Mopar's in general.

However, anyone I encounter at a car show who used to work at the old Lynch Road Assembly plant in Detroit, MI (where all R-bodies were assembled) will normally stop and thank me for preserving one of the original A38 police pursuit cars. It was the last traditional "BIG" Mopar built until the return of the Charger in 2006. The men who built those cars are actually proud of them as being the last "hurrah" of a by-gone era when Detroit iron ruled the streets. The car is solid, tough, and pretty reliable considering it was built on the cheap by a nearly bankrupt company. Chrysler spent less than 1/10th the money designing it ($60mil) compared to GM's full-size Impala and Caprice and it kind of shows.

Still, I'm amazed how functional and utilitarian it is compared to the earlier Monaco and Fury models. It's easy to drive and a pleasure to cruise in at 55MPH. The 360-police V8 powering my St. Regis may not have the sheer grunt of the 440 big block, but every time I mash wide-open throttle and it sings that wonderfully deep note and surges with power, it always makes me smile. Still, the thought of driving it over 120MPH in "hot pursuit" with no ABS or airbags makes me cringe. Retired officers will tell me they would never drive such a car so fast now knowing its limitations.

But that hasn't stopped me from racking up the miles. In the last 12 years, I've travelled across the mid-west and all around the deep south and its always been a memorable experience when I'm done. Piloting my St. Regis is a unique pleasure knowing that this (slightly) modified B-body was the last gasp of the big Mopar dinosaurs before they went extinct.

The 1979-1981 R-bodies were a dismal commercial failure, but it also makes them kind of special. If you're going to fail, fail hard! It's always fun watching patrons come across it at car shows and be baffled by what it is. I've heard, "Oh, its a Buick" "Hey, nice Merc", "Cool! It's the Bluesmobile!" and even "That cop car's from the 60s, right?" The fact that very few people can even recognize an R-body when they see one tells me I have something worth preserving. A piece of Mopar history that needs a little recognition now and then.

Im parting out a 79 Chrysler 300and theres alot of decent stuff left--tilt steering column--Dana rear--Steering gear--interior bucket (need recovering) and rear seat--window motors and regulators--all the glass --grill --front facia--fenders and Qrts--some rust--engine and tran already sold--contact me if interested--hate to send this stuff to the crusher

I could use the crank and water pump pulleys along with the power steering pump brackets.
I want to put PS and A/C on my car.

that all went with the engine and trans--

I might be able to hook you up--I'll match the pulleys up as I have a large selection and I have alot of P/stg pump assys on the shelf--so maybe!