Dodge Magnum - First Generation

First Generation

In 1980, the F-body cars were discontinued in Mexico, as well in the U.S, so the compact cars Dodge Dart (using the front of the volare and the rear of the aspen) and the Valiant Volare (using the front of the aspen and the rear of the volare) were dropped for this year. The sport compact, the Super Bee that share the F-Body platform was also descontinued, so Chrysler of Mexico had to remplace it with a new sport car. In 1979, Chrysler de México introduced the Chrysler LeBaron based in the M-Body Platform, and two years later it introduced the Dodge Diplomat as Dodge Dart. This Mexican M-body Dart was very similar to the American Plymouth Gran Fury in appearance/trim, but had Chrysler's Rallye road wheels instead of deluxe wheel covers. As the same case that in 1970, Chrysler de Mexico used a small platform and the name of an American sports car (the B-Body Dodge Magnum) and equipped it with the 360 LA V8 engine. The Mexican Dodge Magnum had the 360 CID (5.9L) engine with a Carter Thermoquad four barrel carburator rated in 300 hp (224 kW), oil cooler Mopar, a 3-Speed A727 automatic transmission, with the 4-speed A833 manual transmission optional, heavy duty suspension, power brakes, estabilizer bar in the front and rear and a Dana 44 differential with positive pass and positraction. All the windows and windshield chromed metals were painted flat black, only the bumpers and the front grill were chromed, and the front fascia wore "Magnum" logo, in the side of the front fenders was put again the "Magnum" logo with a 5.9L decal. The Mexican RWD Dodge Magnum was offered only for the 1981-1982 model years.