What To Do..........

[Jack Meoff]

I have a Fifth Avenue dilemma....
The Fifth has always been a luxury ride.
The whitewalls, the big elegant spoker hub caps with that crystal Pentastar on the hood.....very sophisticated.
But ....at the same time I think (myself) that Mopars like to get beat on a bit too......I don't think Mopars like to be babied.

So now I have my Fifth that I have to redo.
I paid $600 and probably put $1200 in parts replacing neglect.
And I've put at least 30,000+ miles on it without a glitch.....

Here's the thing......
I pulled the spokers and put on cop doggies and I like it.
Takes some of the.... snobbish feel out of it.
Which got me thinking......
If I'm redoing it anyway......what liberties could I take?
Everything from an R/T Fifth to a luxury cop car.

The only thing that HAS TO stay is the dog dishes.
Cop or civvy......I have both.
Body color is optional at this point.

Just wondering if you lunatics have any crazy ideas...

NoCar and I have already confirmed blackwalls and body color rims.... :icon_thumright:

 

[brotherGood]

body color is a must. Save the cop wheels for the Volare.

 

[Jack Meoff]

. Save the cop wheels for the Volare.

The wife wouldn't let me have them back anyway....

 

[brotherGood]

lol..those 2 door F's look a whole lot better with cop wheels though.

 

[NoCar340]

Well, to me putting "R/T" on anything non-Dodge is as wrong as a tail stripe on a Plymouth (or a pickup). In fact, I don't think it belongs on anything that wasn't available with an R/T package. It has been done to death, and the moniker was sullied by Chrysler themselves by putting it on Neons and Intrepids as wells as degrading it by adding "S" and cylinder count. "SRT-8" does not sound cool; "R/T" does, but not on a Mirada. How would you look at a Granada "Mach One" or a Coupe de Ville "SS"? That's my opinion, and I'm not knocking the cars as much as Chrysler's decision to whore their heritage. I could go for hours about the sheer stupidity of Daytona Rams, etc.

Regardless, the Chrysler badge is sort of lacking in terms of iconic performance nomenclature one can use, other than the 300. Anything remotely cool that they did, they called a 300 from '55 onward. I had thought about doing my '81 LeBaron coupe with "GTC" logos, since the first two years of the J-body front-drive LeBaron GTC (Grand Touring Coupe) were something special performance-wise. Likewise, you could probably get away with "GTS" (Grand Touring Sedan) since we had the H-platform LeBaron GTS, which was a sporty little twin to the Lancer. In fact, the '68-'69 Dart emblems might actually work with the body style, though they'd clash with the "Fifth Avenue" script. Another option, one that I chose 20 years ago, is to pick out a cool or unusual option code. My '77 Cordoba had small "S13" logos because the car was originally ordered with cop suspension. It was on the data tag, so when I pointed it out people thought it was a real Chrysler "package" car like a Z/28, but even Mopar guys who knew data codes didn't recognize that one and bit on it (until they could go home and dig out their White Book).

I guess I would probably just leave well enough alone; you can't really shave the emblems easily since they're embedded in the vinyl, and other than doing just the thin vertical elements of the grille in black (or, say, I dunno, using an '80 LeBaron Medallion grille :icon_biggrin: ) there's not much you can do exterior-wise. I think it all comes down to the right rolling stock and the right stance. They make a lot bigger impact than some tacked-on emblems or stripes and spoilers that have no business on a car like that.

Using what I had on hand to repair severe deer damage, I had an '85 Gran Fury front fascia & grille on my '84 Fifth Avenue. There's something that screwed with people's heads...

 

[Jack Meoff]

Yeah....I'd have to say you're right.
Other than wheels and paint there's not a lot of options that wouldn't look stupid. I'll have to ponder color now....

 

[brotherGood]

I like what youre getting at, with the added downforce on the trunk. Maybe you could put a big setup on there like the funny cars have, and raise the back end up really high. Shave the door handles and weld the doors shut, cut a roof hatch/sunroof in it for easy in/out access. Drop a massive engine in it, and fab up a scoop big enough to swallow basketballs whole.

That'd make it different. Fifth Avenue Funny car

 

[Jack Meoff]

That would be different that's for sure.
Not exactly in the budget though......and my weekend trailer trips could suffer a serious gas mileage hit!!
First I have to decide what color I want to paint it.
Then I guess I'll stick with plan "A".
Body color rims and civvy's. But I'm thinking slightly bigger rubber in the back.

 

[80 Lebaron Coupe]

I like your idea of a 2 tone paint job.

And bigger/wider tires will give it a meaner stance.

 

[Jack Meoff]

I like your idea of a 2 tone paint job.

And bigger/wider tires will give it a meaner stance.

Still pondering the two tone.....
There's at least three different ways I could do that too....

 

[ramenth]

Put a set of snowflakes on it. It'll give it a more "sporty" look without going "poverty" (which, being a luxury car for the day, is a no-no in my book. Nothing looks more pathetic than a whipped '80's Caddy, Lincoln, or 5th.) Then take the time and the energy under the hood. Turn it into a luxo-barge sleeper.

 

[efriedrich]

Put a set of snowflakes on it. It'll give it a more "sporty" look without going "poverty" (which, being a luxury car for the day, is a no-no in my book. Nothing looks more pathetic than a whipped '80's Caddy, Lincoln, or 5th.) Then take the time and the energy under the hood. Turn it into a luxo-barge sleeper.

I could not agree more, 5th's just look to classy IMO for the plain poverty look (which I love), I don't think it fits the rest of the car.

 

[NoCar340]

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of snowflakes. They have no depth to 'em. To me they look like well-executed hubcaps. Any of the other factory aluminum wheel options would look better. I still like the dog-dish caps, though, which he's already got and won't cost him more than a few rattle cans and some time to use.

 

[Jack Meoff]

Well for now the doggies stay....
Never really liked the snowflakes myself.
And with painted rims and the civvy doggies I think you all might be surprised how it looks.....hopefully the weather will cooperate and I can do them this weekend...

 

[80 Lebaron Coupe]

I have always liked those wheels that are on NoCar340s GF,
They came on alot of models & trucks.
There are a

lot of cool factory wheels in the 4.5 bolt pattern.

These wheels I have on the front of my 80 Lebaron Coupe for the moment,
came off of a early 80s Ramcharger and there slotted with Chrysler Corporation printed on the caps.

 

[80 Lebaron Coupe]

I'm not a snow flake fan either,
But this is what your car would look like.

 

[slant6billy]

Nice 5 hole slot. Is that factory?

 

[72Dodge]

I love Snowflakes, but not on a 5th. On a Mirada, yes.

I think NoCar nailed it in post #5. Basically, let the car be itself. Most anything you'd do to it would look goofy. It's a good looking car as-is. Poverty caps don't work on a 5th with black wheels, but with the steelies painted body color, it would look good.

 

[slant6billy]

I saw a black fifth with the black vinyl roof and red interior. The guy had reverse offset chromed solids with wide T/A radials. Big fog lamps on it too. Looked like this:

Well, Almost as sinister.....

 

[Jack Meoff]

80 LeBaron....
Those wheels you have on yours are indeed cool
And no....I'm not a snowflake guy for sure.
Thanks for posting the pic.

72 Dodge....
Yes I agree....was just a beer induced idea.
But yes I'm just gonna paint the steelies body color and slap on my civvy dogs and call it a day.....the whitewalls have to go but I need new rubber anyway.

Billy...... WTF?!!!