1990's

[Detective D]

I had to take my daughter in to work today. I gave her a ride in the 5 speed Dakota.


I left the driveway and we noticed my wife in the big window waving. So I stopped and we waved.
Then I left with a righteous 5800rpm burnout, which my daughter found amusing. (well, me too of course)

On the way home, I was just pondering to myself. "What if Chrysler had decided to make an actual pony car with the 5.2 and 5.9 Magnum engines?"
What would it look like? Did they have a platform to even use? How would Ferd have reacted, or Chebby?
Chrysler DID react to the ZR1 vette and made the Viper. Not exactly the same market LOL. You could buy a mid 90's 5.0 Ferd for about $16k. Sticker price on a chebby was like $18k, but dealers around here in chebby zealot country WI had added another 6-10k for profit on top, which was fine because idiots still paid that.

Anyway, I was a Ford guy in my youth, we had trucks on the farm that were brutes and my older brothers friend had a couple really decked out roll bar, lift kit F150's and a late 80's 5.0. So I was an impressionable young man, and owned a few myself. I became increasingly annoyed with Ford in the 90's, a decade had gone by and no 351 in a Mustang and then the OHC mod engine BS. Which is why I went to Chrysler(and a Chebby or 2)
So as I am coming home, I am picturing what my 94 Mustang 5 speed may have been like with some different sheet metal and a 5.2 Magnum and an actual 5 speed designed for a car.
Personally, I think Ferd would have never gotten the sales boost in the 90's they did, Chebby would have had to make the Camaro with some actual quality control, and both would have lost the 0-60's and stop light drag races. Ford's purposefully plugged up 5.0(and LOL 4.6 after, what a joke) and chebby's 305/350 I don't think would stand a chance against an actual 3200lb 5.2 Magnum powered 5 speed equipped purpose built pony car from Chrysler. I think the entire landscape would have changed.

Just some musings. Ol' Lee was rabid about K cars so it is no wonder they didn't spend a penny on the RWD platform they had with the Diplomat etc. The thing was even called a Coronet in other countries!
Imagine a 5.9 magnum/5 speed 3000lb 2 door 'Cuda for 1994. Ah well, at leat they snuck some Dakotas past Ol' Lee

 

[440 PHIXX]

Iacocca was too busy blowing 4 cylinder turbo gas up his ***… and putting rear vinyl plugs on his K-rap cars to see the real Muscle Car resurgence of the 80’s into the 90’s.

 

[Kern Dog]

Chrysler had their heads in their asses from 1980 until the early 2000s.
Front wheel drive sucks ***. NO traditional enthusiast would choose it over a REAR wheel drive car. Four cylinder engines sound terrible too.
I thought that 1980 was the last you could get a 360 in a rear wheel drive car and the 318 was the only V8 for the 81-89 Diplomat/Gran Furys, the Police cars and the Fifth Avenues. They were not high performance cars.
Talk about misreading the market....
GM and Ford still made V8 cars.
The Dodge and Plymouth turbo FWD cars did perform okay but they absolutely lacked street cred.
I drove a number of the K car turbo cars. The LACK of a RWD burnout just killed my respect for them.
Imagine an updated Aspen or Volare with a better front suspension, sleeker bodywork and a 5.9 with EFI and a 5 speed. That could have been a decent car.

 

[Photon440]

I had to take my daughter in to work today. I gave her a ride in the 5 speed Dakota.


I left the driveway and we noticed my wife in the big window waving. So I stopped and we waved.
Then I left with a righteous 5800rpm burnout, which my daughter found amusing. (well, me too of course)

On the way home, I was just pondering to myself. "What if Chrysler had decided to make an actual pony car with the 5.2 and 5.9 Magnum engines?"
What would it look like? Did they have a platform to even use? How would Ferd have reacted, or Chebby?
Chrysler DID react to the ZR1 vette and made the Viper. Not exactly the same market LOL. You could buy a mid 90's 5.0 Ferd for about $16k. Sticker price on a chebby was like $18k, but dealers around here in chebby zealot country WI had added another 6-10k for profit on top, which was fine because idiots still paid that.

Anyway, I was a Ford guy in my youth, we had trucks on the farm that were brutes and my older brothers friend had a couple really decked out roll bar, lift kit F150's and a late 80's 5.0. So I was an impressionable young man, and owned a few myself. I became increasingly annoyed with Ford in the 90's, a decade had gone by and no 351 in a Mustang and then the OHC mod engine BS. Which is why I went to Chrysler(and a Chebby or 2)
So as I am coming home, I am picturing what my 94 Mustang 5 speed may have been like with some different sheet metal and a 5.2 Magnum and an actual 5 speed designed for a car.
Personally, I think Ferd would have never gotten the sales boost in the 90's they did, Chebby would have had to make the Camaro with some actual quality control, and both would have lost the 0-60's and stop light drag races. Ford's purposefully plugged up 5.0(and LOL 4.6 after, what a joke) and chebby's 305/350 I don't think would stand a chance against an actual 3200lb 5.2 Magnum powered 5 speed equipped purpose built pony car from Chrysler. I think the entire landscape would have changed.

Just some musings. Ol' Lee was rabid about K cars so it is no wonder they didn't spend a penny on the RWD platform they had with the Diplomat etc. The thing was even called a Coronet in other countries!
Imagine a 5.9 magnum/5 speed 3000lb 2 door 'Cuda for 1994. Ah well, at leat they snuck some Dakotas past Ol' Lee

They didn't really sneak them past Lee, he had to sign off on the project. And he got his old pal Carol to build a Shelby version of the Dak.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

I had to take my daughter in to work today. I gave her a ride in the 5 speed Dakota.


I left the driveway and we noticed my wife in the big window waving. So I stopped and we waved.
Then I left with a righteous 5800rpm burnout, which my daughter found amusing. (well, me too of course)

On the way home, I was just pondering to myself. "What if Chrysler had decided to make an actual pony car with the 5.2 and 5.9 Magnum engines?"
What would it look like? Did they have a platform to even use? How would Ferd have reacted, or Chebby?
Chrysler DID react to the ZR1 vette and made the Viper. Not exactly the same market LOL. You could buy a mid 90's 5.0 Ferd for about $16k. Sticker price on a chebby was like $18k, but dealers around here in chebby zealot country WI had added another 6-10k for profit on top, which was fine because idiots still paid that.

Anyway, I was a Ford guy in my youth, we had trucks on the farm that were brutes and my older brothers friend had a couple really decked out roll bar, lift kit F150's and a late 80's 5.0. So I was an impressionable young man, and owned a few myself. I became increasingly annoyed with Ford in the 90's, a decade had gone by and no 351 in a Mustang and then the OHC mod engine BS. Which is why I went to Chrysler(and a Chebby or 2)
So as I am coming home, I am picturing what my 94 Mustang 5 speed may have been like with some different sheet metal and a 5.2 Magnum and an actual 5 speed designed for a car.
Personally, I think Ferd would have never gotten the sales boost in the 90's they did, Chebby would have had to make the Camaro with some actual quality control, and both would have lost the 0-60's and stop light drag races. Ford's purposefully plugged up 5.0(and LOL 4.6 after, what a joke) and chebby's 305/350 I don't think would stand a chance against an actual 3200lb 5.2 Magnum powered 5 speed equipped purpose built pony car from Chrysler. I think the entire landscape would have changed.

Just some musings. Ol' Lee was rabid about K cars so it is no wonder they didn't spend a penny on the RWD platform they had with the Diplomat etc. The thing was even called a Coronet in other countries!
Imagine a 5.9 magnum/5 speed 3000lb 2 door 'Cuda for 1994. Ah well, at leat they snuck some Dakotas past Ol' Lee

The 351 was a steaming turd... It had potential to run but as it was being delivered it was a huge turd.... 351/5.8 was only available in trucks or Crown Vic cop cars.... You could line up a 5.0 Crown Vic next to a 5.8 Crown Vic and the 5.0 would smoke the 5.8 every time, usually by a solid four car lengths in a 1/4 mile....

 

[Detective D]

Chrysler had their heads in their asses from 1980 until the early 2000s.
Front wheel drive sucks ***. NO traditional enthusiast would choose it over a REAR wheel drive car. Four cylinder engines sound terrible too.
I thought that 1980 was the last you could get a 360 in a rear wheel drive car and the 318 was the only V8 for the 81-89 Diplomat/Gran Furys, the Police cars and the Fifth Avenues. They were not high performance cars.
Talk about misreading the market....
GM and Ford still made V8 cars.
The Dodge and Plymouth turbo FWD cars did perform okay but they absolutely lacked street cred.
I drove a number of the K car turbo cars. The LACK of a RWD burnout just killed my respect for them.
Imagine an updated Aspen or Volare with a better front suspension, sleeker bodywork and a 5.9 with EFI and a 5 speed. That could have been a decent car.

That's what I was thinking about, the Diplomat mostly evolved out of that platform. Ol' Lee had zero interest in any pre-K car platforms and ignored them to the point he shuffled them to AMC to build.
Refining the Mirada into a 1990's era car with a 5.2 or optional package 5.9 magnum and a real 5 or 6 speed could have really been somthing. Not sure what it would look like! Chrysler was involved with Mistubishi and honestly the Stealth and even the Laser from the early 90's is a nice looking car for the era.
5.2 Magnum powered Conquest LOL. I mean they could have done it.

 

[440 PHIXX]

Chrysler had their heads in their asses from 1980 until the early 2000s.
Front wheel drive sucks ***. NO traditional enthusiast would choose it over a REAR wheel drive car. Four cylinder engines sound terrible too.
I thought that 1980 was the last you could get a 360 in a rear wheel drive car and the 318 was the only V8 for the 81-89 Diplomat/Gran Furys, the Police cars and the Fifth Avenues. They were not high performance cars.
Talk about misreading the market....
GM and Ford still made V8 cars.
The Dodge and Plymouth turbo FWD cars did perform okay but they absolutely lacked street cred.
I drove a number of the K car turbo cars. The LACK of a RWD burnout just killed my respect for them.
Imagine an updated Aspen or Volare with a better front suspension, sleeker bodywork and a 5.9 with EFI and a 5 speed. That could have been a decent car.

Yes, 1980 was the last year for the 360 in passenger cars. It was only available in the 4 door F bodies, but still an option in the Cordoba and Mirada J bodies, as well as the R bodies. Iacocca dropped the ball on discontinuing the R bodies and J bodies in ‘81 and ‘83, because gas prices plummeted in ‘84. GM planned to discontinue their full size B bodies for 1985, and abandoned that plan because they were a big mover for them. And the mid size G bodies were selling faster than they could make them. The Oldsmobile Cutlass was the #1 selling car in USA in 1984. I’ve never been a fan of Iacocca.

 

[Detective D]

The 351 was a steaming turd... It had potential to run but as it was being delivered it was a huge turd.... 351/5.8 was only available in trucks or Crown Vic cop cars.... You could line up a 5.0 Crown Vic next to a 5.8 Crown Vic and the 5.0 would smoke the 5.8 every time, usually by a solid four car lengths in a 1/4 mile....

That was by design.
I "uncorked" a 5.0 without doing anything but bolt ons, no heads, no cam, just better air before and after and a proper rear end ratio. 5.8 was the same. The EFI intake Ford put on 5.8's restricted almost 90HP between that and the exhaust pipes. Ford programmed the ECU's to detune timing when you stepped on the clutch. They detuned timing for first gear, and during auto gear changes. Ford detuned everything and shot themselves in the foot for no good reason.

The 351W is a square engine, equal bore and stroke. I put one in a 1984 Capri. That car would probably have killed me by now but the wife was scared of it and refused to ride in it. Ford could have made something more tame, but twice what they offered, at any time between 1979 and 1995. Part of why I left.

That is part of why I was wondering about this Chrysler Magnum powered competition. Maybe Ford would have been forced not to leave half their goodies on the shelf.

 

[440 PHIXX]

I like the 351 Cleveland Ford installed in the ‘71 Boss 351 Mustang Sportsroof.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

I like the 351 Cleveland Ford installed in the ‘71 Boss 351 Mustang Sportsroof.

That's a completely different animal.. And actually a special 4 bolt main block only used in Boss 351's and Ram Air 351's... Plus the huge 4V port heads which were factory modified for a SFT cam...

 

[YY1]

It was on the drawing board-

Dodge Venom - Wikipedia

 

[dadsbee]

Thank God someone had an eraser....

 

[MarPar]

I would love to take a Dippy and put in a modern 392 in it.

Make it look like the Greevy and Logan's cop car on Law and Order lol

 

[moparedtn]

Like it or not, revisionist history or not, the k-cars (especially the invention of the mini-van) literally
saved the company. Y'all with short memories can do a quick refresher on wiki or wherever, but
Chrysler was dead in the water - and without Iacocca, government loans and tons of concessions
from labor and suppliers plus the unloading of the loser European operations, the company was going
to cease to exist in the late 70's/early 80's.

There simply wasn't any money to develop a new RWD platform in those days....
But by coming up with those FWD platforms and minivans, not only did Iacocca's bunch turn things
totally around but they managed to pay back all the loans six years early.

I owned a FWD "hotrod" bought new in those days - a GLH Turbo - in an effort to stay true to Ma
and although the little car could be fun, it more often than not was troublesome and dainty to own
and I eventually capitulated and bought an '89 5.0 myself (which turned out to be the more durable
vehicle I've ever owned, ironically) - but if the company hadn't gone the way it did back then, it would
not have survived to eventually bring us some pretty cool RWD stuff in years to come.

 

[moparmarks]

Chrysler was forced into a new direction with the bailout.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Like it or not, revisionist history or not, the k-cars (especially the invention of the mini-van) literally
saved the company. Y'all with short memories can do a quick refresher on wiki or wherever, but
Chrysler was dead in the water - and without Iacocca, government loans and tons of concessions
from labor and suppliers plus the unloading of the loser European operations, the company was going
to cease to exist in the late 70's/early 80's.

There simply wasn't any money to develop a new RWD platform in those days....
But by coming up with those FWD platforms and minivans, not only did Iacocca's bunch turn things
totally around but they managed to pay back all the loans six years early.

I owned a FWD "hotrod" bought new in those days - a GLH Turbo - in an effort to stay true to Ma
and although the little car could be fun, it more often than not was troublesome and dainty to own
and I eventually capitulated and bought an '89 5.0 myself (which turned out to be the more durable
vehicle I've ever owned, ironically) - but if the company hadn't gone the way it did back then, it would
not have survived to eventually bring us some pretty cool RWD stuff in years to come.

Far as I'm concerned Mopar died a long time ago... The only bright spot has been newer powertrain donors for those that want them.... I don't..

 

[MarPar]

Like it or not, revisionist history or not, the k-cars (especially the invention of the mini-van) literally
saved the company. Y'all with short memories can do a quick refresher on wiki or wherever, but
Chrysler was dead in the water - and without Iacocca, government loans and tons of concessions
from labor and suppliers plus the unloading of the loser European operations, the company was going
to cease to exist in the late 70's/early 80's.

There simply wasn't any money to develop a new RWD platform in those days....
But by coming up with those FWD platforms and minivans, not only did Iacocca's bunch turn things
totally around but they managed to pay back all the loans six years early.

I owned a FWD "hotrod" bought new in those days - a GLH Turbo - in an effort to stay true to Ma
and although the little car could be fun, it more often than not was troublesome and dainty to own
and I eventually capitulated and bought an '89 5.0 myself (which turned out to be the more durable
vehicle I've ever owned, ironically) - but if the company hadn't gone the way it did back then, it would
not have survived to eventually bring us some pretty cool RWD stuff in years to come.

 

[furious70]

2001 stratus 2dr body with the 360hp crate engine.

 

[1STMP]

1980's and 1990's. Trying
times for American Autos.
With the ever tightening
grip of government
regulations, and the
introduction of plastics
producing sub-par interiors.
The 1981 Chevy Corvettet
I inherited was the biggest
piece of crap car I ever
owned. My 1979 Jeep CJ7
could run circles around it
with a 304.

 

[Photon440]

That's a completely different animal.. And actually a special 4 bolt main block only used in Boss 351's and Ram Air 351's... Plus the huge 4V port heads which were factory modified for a SFT cam...

I knew someone with a 1969 Torino convertible that had a four speed with the 351W four barrel (290 hp) and it was a pretty fun car to drive. It seemed twice as powerful as my 302 Torino.