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Chevy Malibu, Ford LTD, and Dodge Diplomat. These were four ugly bricks. In general they had small 5.0L V8 engines that were restricted making them slow even by 80s standards. Don’t even think about taking a corner fast in these cars. But these cars and their division clones were popular among some amateur and professional drag racers. Modifications to the stock engine or a quick swap out for V8 engine of choice along with changes to rear tires and differential and you had a drag race car. My folks had an 84 Diplomat with 318 cubic inch engine. Drove it a few times as a teenager. Liked the torque but the power and acceleration was pokey. Good for a highway road trip in sofa cushion comfort but wallowed if taking a corner too fast. These cars had the potential to be great sleeper cars with their brick sedan appearance.
Chevy Malibu, Ford LTD, and Dodge Diplomat. These were four ugly bricks. In general they had small 5.0L V8 engines that were restricted making them slow even by 80s standards. Don’t even think about taking a corner fast in these cars. But these cars and their division clones were popular among some amateur and professional drag racers. Modifications to the stock engine or a quick swap out for V8 engine of choice along with changes to rear tires and differential and you had a drag race car. My folks had an 84 Diplomat with 318 cubic inch engine. Drove it a few times as a teenager. Liked the torque but the power and acceleration was pokey. Good for a highway road trip in sofa cushion comfort but wallowed if taking a corner too fast. These cars had the potential to be great sleeper cars with their brick sedan appearance.
I count only 3 cars in your OP, but you say 4, did you forget a car or miscounted?
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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It is interesting to look back at what was popular for specific purposes, though not the greatest family cars. These did just fine driving fast in a straight line, so a beefed up engine and they did well at a drag track. The Ford LTD and some of the other even more tank/boat like cars such as the Impala and Caprice, and Chrysler Imperial made for great demolition derby cars. In fact the beefed up Imperial was so durable that it was eventually banned from competition. If you like to see cars rolling over, the best by far was the British car Reliant Robin.
I had an 81 Plymouth Gran Fury - 318 V8. It was a former highway patrol car so it had the police package and performance and handling was pretty good. Styling wasn't too shabby either.
Had a '87 Chevy Caprice Classic back in the day. Had the 4.3L V6. To this day that was one of the most reliable and enjoyable cars I've owned. I bought it off my grandparents, and ended up swapping over some suspension components from the police vehicles. So it was a little lower, and the suspension was a bit stiffer. That thing would knock down 18-19mpg all day long.
My bad, I just saw the "midsize" in the title. I can delete if you guys want me to.
We had a 1988 Chevrolet Caprice at work for a while. It was a former police car, so it had the 5.7L V8 that was unavailable to civilians. That made it quick for its time. While my 1988 Mercury Tracer had Multi-Port EFI, the Chevrolet still had a Quadrajet carburetor. The Caprice had a decent ride with the police suspension, and Chevrolet had finally solved its soft camshaft problems by then, so it still ran well. No carpeting, nor did it have the optional sound insulation package. It was not noisy, but it was not quiet either.
Whatever had a 5.0 (302, 305, etc.), and in some cases even a V6, could easily support a swap for the hottest aftermarket or custom-built small block. A big block swap wasn't out of the question either, though that required more creativity. The Malibu in particular was a popular choice for such hopping-up, and responded well to it. The same across the roster of G-bodies. Today we remember those cars as the final hurrah, before the capitulation into FWD. Curiously, the Big-3 were dropping their RWD midsize cars, right around the time that Lexus and Infiniti were bringing out THEIR RWD midsized (by American standards) cars.
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