When you live in America and you are in the market for a coupe utility, otherwise known as a “ute”, the pickings are slim. The most obvious answer is the Chevrolet El Camino (and it’s corporate twins, the GMC Sprint for the older crowd, and the GMC Caballero for the younger group who is nostalgic for the Eighties. Then you have the Ford Ranchero, a worthy option. If you’re a Mopar man, things aren’t exactly peachy. You could have a Rampage or Scamp, which is an Omni with a bed, or you could prepare to drain your wallet by importing a Valiant ute from Australia.
Or, you could give this modified 1985 Chrysler Fifth Avenue a shot. Based on the durable and proven M-body platform that underpinned the Diplomat, Chrysler’s cop car offering in the 1980’s, the Fifth Avenue was large, leather-lined and luxurious as anything else in from Detroit. The recipe is simple: hack the roof off at the B-pillar, seam-weld the rear doors shut and properly fill in the door handles, make a flat floor for the bed and use the space between the bed and floorpan for covered storage, and convert the tail into a tailgate. Inside, other than the changes needed for the modifications, don’t mess with anything: the Fifth Avenue did comfort very well. Just look at those seats. Under the hood is the 318ci V8 backed with a 904 TorqueFlite transmission. It might not be blisteringly powerful, but it’s dependable and durable.
Whether you like or dislike the appearance of this converted sedan, you have to appreciate that details like that were thought of during the build. This isn’t a former flower car, but a Fifth Avenue that got a new purpose. Check out the hidden hitch in the bumper!
Oddly enough, there has been a legend in the oddball Mopar world that prior to the Dakota, there was a serious look at making a truck out of the M-platform early on. While it’s unlikely the Fifth Avenue would have been a candidate for a factory bed, it does give an idea of what might have come out of Auburn Hills.
Click Here to see the eBay listing for this Chrysler ute while it’s available.
It IS hideous, but the actual chop job isn’t terribly ad.
Ha, that thing was at the Carlisle All-Chrysler Nationals a couple of years ago. I seem to remember it having a significantly faded paint job at the time, so it looks like that has been fixed at least. I didn’t get to check the bed out too much, but it looked like the seam welds were done well. 3
Not my style, but if you want a one-off and you’re an M-Body enthusiast – Wait, McTaggart, why aren’t you buying this?
Easy. I’m too damn broke to do much else past small stuff on my own cars, and if I did have the money to buy it, that Imperial could use a 408ci stroker. I love it, but I’d have to re-shoot the color. Something like a stock 5A silver/black combination, and chrome instead of the black bits. Add a decent set of mags and prepare that engine and it could be something. And all of the engineering is done for you!
And call me weird, but that thing with an Imperial nose on it would be pretty cool.
To each their own.
Chrysler was smart not to offer a useless vehicle like that.
It’s much easier to understand when you put it that way!