In the late Eighties, as Chrysler was trying to establish Eagle as a companion brand for Jeep, an era was quietly coming to a close. While the Renault-designed Eagle Medallion and Premier sedans were rolling into their second model years, a trio of old-school stalwarts was being quietly retired to that peaceful parking lot in the sky.
Folks in the know referred to them as the M-Bodies. Most of us simply knew them as cabs and police cars. I think of the 1989 Chrysler Fifth Avenue, Dodge Diplomat, and Plymouth Gran Fury as the last of the Chrysler old guard.
The 1989 “Gran Fifthlomat” would be the last rear-drive Chrysler passenger vehicles for a generation, the last-ever Chrysler cars to host the venerable 318-inch V8, and the last Chrysler cars to boast a torsion-bar suspension.
And though not available in 1989, the venerable Slant Six engine last saw duty under the hood of these proud sedans.
The M-Bodies were introduced in 1977 in Chrysler LeBaron and Dodge Diplomat guise. Coupe versions of both were available through 1981, and a Chrysler Town & Country wagon was available between 1978 and 1981.
The M-Bodies were preceded by the mechanically similar F-Body cars, the most famous of which were the Dodge Aspen and Plymouth Volaré. Though based on the F-bodies, the Ms were heavily modified, and proved to be free of the quality issues that had plagued the F cars.
So, here we salute the last cars of the Chrysler rear-drive era. They may not have been technologically sophisticated, or even all that handsome, but they worked hard, and in most applications held up to serious abuse.
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Chrysler Fifth Avenue
Chrysler moved just over 17,000 of these luxed-up M-Bodies for 1989, all of which came with the formal landau roof treatment shown. Like all 1989 M-Bodies, the Fifth Avenue came only with a 140-horsepower 318-inch V8 mated to a 3-speed automatic transmission.
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Dodge Diplomat
Retail customers could have owned the last of this breed for just $11,995 in base trim, or $14,795 in better equipped SE guise. That price included the 318-inch V8 and automatic transmission.
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Plymouth Gran Fury
If there was any difference in grille texture between the Dodge and Plymouth versions of the last M-Bodies, we can’t see it. Here, a Gran Fury clad in law-enforcement livery roams in what was its natural environment, a crowded urban center.
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Chrysler M-Body
