This 1987 Dodge Diplomat SE was ordered brand new from a dealer in Sidney Montana. And has been in the family from its beginning, and will be until the end.
   On May 12, 2000 it was cold and there was sleet coming down so hard that you could barely see the cars in front of you. I was driving about 35 down a road next to a parking lot of gravel. There was a truck there "trying to be cool" by spinning his tires and throwing rocks, which were hitting my car. As I looked at the truck trying to get the plate numbers, I wasn't paying attention. My friend then yelled "Tara stop!!" so I looked forward and slammed on the brakes, but I only slid forward due to the slick roads. The next thing I knew I was buried under a bumper of an '88 GMC pickup truck. His trailer hitch shoved its way into my radiator, creating a harsh sound as the fan hit it. I cried for many days after that while we thought of what we should do with the car that was still alive, but in great pain. Finally one day we decided that we would fix that car if it cost us more that the car. I almost gave up on trying to find the parts for her, they were so scarce and hard to find that the days turned into months. So with the help of a lot of salvage yards we searched for a new front end.  One finally came in that would fit, but it was not the correct front end. But I didn't care I just wanted it fixed, so I worked on that car, threw my entire summer break to get her fixed. It cost well over $1,200 to fix her, get parts and paint them. But to me it was worth every penny. Because now have my baby back.

For more photos of the car, follow the link below.
From Tara Thompson
Tarabear's Cave - R*I*P

     (1) This is right after I got the lightbar, the wiring goes thru the original hole in the roof, it is covered when the lightbar is removed, I have a Radio Shack connector plugs just inside the roof so that I can put the lightbar on and just plug it into the rest of the harness, it take me about 3 minutes to put it on, or take it off. The Diplomat is in the middle of the repairs on the body, the roof is still not replaced here.
     (2) This is the Diplomat after the new roof, and most of the bodywork and painting done, except for the passenger side doors. This is also before I got the hubcaps back for it. I had just washed it for these pictures, that is why you see the water on the door.
     (3) This is the rear view, the view most Brand G and F cars will see! You can see the "customized" tail light work I did, after cleaning and repainting the reflectors, then resealing the lenses. the antennas on the back are: center CB, Right: Cell Phone, Left: nothing at the moment, hopefully a police radio or scanner. on the right behind the forward antenna there is a place for another antenna for a total of 5 on the whole car. The 360 on the bumper used to just be a "3" I guess it was car 3 or something, so I added the 60 and it becomes the engine size!
     (4) This is the Diplomat before the new engine, and after I replaced and repainted the front clip, the bumper is still not on yet, and as I was starting to strip the paint off, I took it down to the metal. you can still see the Charleston Police on the door where they took the letters off, and it took the paint too! Along the bottom where the rocker moulding goes, you can still see the THP tan color, I left the door jams unpainted to show the THP colors. I took me awhile to find/afford a windshield so for awhile I had it covered with the plastic.
     (5) This is the new top skin going on, and the welding and grinding. I found an old Gran Fury Sheriff's car, for the top, so it also had the lightbar wiring hole, someone tried to fill it in with body filler though.
     (6) Here she is in full tilt, again! The lightbar, and the Wig-Wag headlights. If you look on the passenger side at the top, you can see some of the top damage, since this was before the new skin when on, The windshield is from the Fury, but since it is cracked, I figured I could use it to protect the interior till I found a good one for it. Everybody gets a kick out of it when I have the lights on! Once, I was listening to the police while resting in the Diplomat, and a Sheriff's car went by the house, he was really staring at My Dip. a few seconds after he went by, I heard him talking about it to another officer! He said he wanted to talk to him about some Blue lights on a car! Well, they never came to my house, so I guess I am safe, as long as I do not drive it on the road with them on!

Also check out the Registry Entry for this car (#263), named "Black Beauty".
From Danny Moore