Junkyard Find: 1978 Dodge Magnum
Is there any vehicle more emblematic of the Malaise Era than the first-gen Dodge Magnum? Other than the Plymouth Fire Arrow, that is… or the black-bumper MGB… or the Mustang II. Terrible as it is, however, this junked Magnum I found mouldering in a San Jose self-service junkyard still has a certain undeniable presence.
The Magnum was the last of the storied Chrysler B-Body series, which means it’s a sibling to such Chrysler superstars as the Super Bee, Road Runner, and Charger.
I’m not going to look up the horsepower figures on the California-spec 318 for 1978. You don’t want to know.
Maybe I’m getting too tolerant in my old age, but I think that the weird styling touches on this car have aged better than most Malaise Detroit weird styling touches (e.g., the quarter-window louvers on the Pontiac Grand Am Colonnade).
Polyglycoat!
Just up the 880 from this yard, I passed the Solyndra and NUMMI buildings in rapid succession. What does it mean?
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I wish the self service junkyards around Atlanta would get cool iron like that, I would grab those headlight assemblies for a Rat Rod project I am currently involved with.
If I had one of these Magnums, I'd turn it into a hot rod.