brotherGood
Well-Known Member
I'll say this...generally, when I say I've got a Diplomat, I get looked at like I escaped the crazy bin. Its known by friends as "the turd"..because that's what they consider it..a turd. The ones who pretend to care, get excited when I say its a police car, and assume it has a 360 or 440.
But, I was at Mopar Nationals, talking to Tom from Graveyard Carz. Backstory, he's got a 69 Charger Daytona that they restored for him. Absolutely amazing car. But, we were talking and he asked what I had. I said, its nothing as pristine as his Daytona, but its a work in progress 86 Diplomat cop car. He quickly corrected me in saying basically it was a car worthy of being in a car show. He had one and loved it. And that's the general opinion I get from people who had them.
I paid 500 for my car. When I daily drove it, I didn't have much money, but did what I could to keep it up to snuff. I'd take that thing anywhere, anytime. It wasn't until the control arm snapped in half going to work, did I think anything about such issues. Then, we swapped engines. 2500 dollars, and a year and a half later, we're still dialing the engine in. We're also fighting a brake problem that has existed between the control arm issue and the engine change. But, its not a DD anymore. If I were to add the amount of money that's gone into the car..Im looking at a minimum of 4k since I got it. Mileage has sucked, and will still suck, but I love seeing heads turn. And no matter how much money I put into it, Dad and I are learning how to build a car, with this car. That is priceless as far as Im concerned.
But, I was at Mopar Nationals, talking to Tom from Graveyard Carz. Backstory, he's got a 69 Charger Daytona that they restored for him. Absolutely amazing car. But, we were talking and he asked what I had. I said, its nothing as pristine as his Daytona, but its a work in progress 86 Diplomat cop car. He quickly corrected me in saying basically it was a car worthy of being in a car show. He had one and loved it. And that's the general opinion I get from people who had them.
I paid 500 for my car. When I daily drove it, I didn't have much money, but did what I could to keep it up to snuff. I'd take that thing anywhere, anytime. It wasn't until the control arm snapped in half going to work, did I think anything about such issues. Then, we swapped engines. 2500 dollars, and a year and a half later, we're still dialing the engine in. We're also fighting a brake problem that has existed between the control arm issue and the engine change. But, its not a DD anymore. If I were to add the amount of money that's gone into the car..Im looking at a minimum of 4k since I got it. Mileage has sucked, and will still suck, but I love seeing heads turn. And no matter how much money I put into it, Dad and I are learning how to build a car, with this car. That is priceless as far as Im concerned.
