Dodge Dynasty Page

I think I have loved this car since I was a kid, but I didn’t develop a particular fascination with it until I was ten – sadly by the time it was long gone. Although when I was young I thought the Dynasty was a beautiful, “modern” car to be proud of, I have since learned that most people actually view this car negatively. They think it’s slow, conservative, old fashioned, plain, ugly, whatever. But me? I think it’s exactly the opposite of those things. It just strikes me as such a sharp, unique, nice-looking car that I honestly don’t understand how anyone can hate it. This page is basically reserved for showing appreciation for a great American car that I feel is underrated, overlooked, and criticized.

Our Dodge Dynasty | Why I Like Dynastys | Comparison to Other Cars
Things I Dislike in Dynastys | External Links

Our Dodge Dynasty

On April 11, 1991, my dad got his first “permanent” company car – a champagne (gold) colored 1991 Dodge Dynasty LE – to replace his “temporary” company car – a dark blue Ford Taurus. While we had this car, I seemed to like it a lot – but little did I know just how much I would love it later – and how lucky I was to get to ride in it. My dad had an Audiovox CTX-3100A car phone installed in it and drove the car on business trips a lot. He also used it to drive my mom and me when going on vacations and long-distance destinations, like my grandma’s house and Florida, for instance. Sadly, on May 21, 1993, my dad traded it in for an emerald green 1993 Dodge Intrepid because the lease on the Dynasty was up. Although I liked his new Intrepid (as well as the red one he got in 1995 as a replacement), I still missed the Dynasty. Even several months later, I asked when we would get “Daddy’s car” back.

I don’t think my full love for the Dynasty developed until around 1999 when I was 10. It was then that I had a lot of nostalgia for my childhood in the early ‘90s, and that included the Dynasty. Since then, I have been somewhat obsessed with that car. Although I love my 1989 Toyota Camry DLX, I’d still love to get a Dynasty someday. It’s a shame to think of their population decreasing in numbers as they get sent to the junkyard. What’s worse is that nobody else really likes Dynastys, so as far as they’re concerned, it’s good riddance.

On a positive note, I reached a milestone in January 2011. Although I didn’t get a full Dynasty, I did start to collect parts of them, which is the next best thing! It was in late 2010 that I learned of a car junkyard chain called Pull-A-Part, and I fell in love with the place. There were so many cars to take apart, and the parts were really cheap. It was really a dream come true. While I got some parts for my Camry, I also spent a lot of time taking apart Dynastys and extracting parts from them to keep at home as part of a collection. As of now, I have the front and back light assemblies, the grille, the instrument cluster, and of course, the hubcaps with “triangles.” I was thinking about getting some doors, but they were too expensive and would be bulky and heavy to transport. Indeed, although I don’t have an actual Dynasty, I am grateful for the car I have – as well as the fact that I have several Dynasty parts.

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Why I Like Dynastys

I should first mention that I don’t exactly like all Dynastys. I hate to say it, but some are quite hideous because of their color scheme. I’m mainly pointing the finger at dark purple Dynastys. Undoubtedly, the best-looking Dynastys are gold-colored on the outside and beige-colored inside. To put it simply, I like Dynastys because they look so upright, confident, and sharp. Below is an outline of the main reasons why I like Dynastys.

• It looks modern and traditional at the same time. Although the Dynasty sports many traditional characteristics, it also looks rather modern, as it has a fairly simple appearance. I liken this to modern architecture in a sense. Everything is simple, boxy, and clean-cut. Yet, it looks so modern and futuristic. Business accessories are often sharp and modern-looking, and I kind of liken the Dynasty to this as well – making me think of it as a modern, business-class car.
• The combination of a boxy-shape with rounded edges. Many people will say that the Dynasty has sharp, angular edges. And in a way, it does. But to me, its edges still look smoother compared to many cars that came out of the ‘70s (perhaps this isn’t so – maybe it’s because of the smoother-looking paint jobs). Yet it looks boxy enough to look solid and well-built compared to cars that really overdid curves (like many Ford models in the late ‘90s and early 2000s). Since the late 2000s, carmakers have finally started to use a combination of curves and edges that looks halfway decent. Many of the cars from the late ‘90s and early 2000s were just plain awful to look at. I should note that the inside is like this – as well as the outside. The Dynasty’s steering wheel, for instance, has a box-shaped thing for the airbag – but still has rounded edges. This style steering wheel looks considerably better than the too-sharp, trapezoidal steering wheel from the first Dynastys.
• The upright rear window and the “thick, wide” trim behind the back doors. I don’t really know why, but that was one of the most unique things about the Dynasty to me. Its upright rear window makes it look confident, and the thick, wide trim behind the windows makes it seem stronger and sturdier than if it just had a long, thin beam like many other cars. People might say that a car that looks upright and not aerodynamic is slow, but for me, the opposite is true. Since it looks so upright, it looks like it’s confident and ready for a race. Besides, the sharp edges make it look kind of sleek and streamlined to me, which could be said are characteristics of fast, high-tech, modern things. As I said above, the sharp edges also make it look tough and well-built, making it able to handle high speeds. I guess for me, stylistically speaking, the thick trim in the back could be considered somewhat similar to a feather stuck in the back of a “Robin Hood” hat.
• The headlights and grille. These really give the car its character. The car really looks like it’s smiling confidently with these.
• Shiny hubcaps with triangular holes. These make the car look so classy. These do make the car look traditional, but in a good way.
• Shiny gold paint and beige interior. This is undoubtedly the best color combination in my opinion. It makes it look so shiny, modern, and classy. Most other colors just ruin the appearance of the car – especially those with dark purple paint and a red interior. I’ve also felt that many cars from the ‘70s and ‘80s had rather bland, ugly paint jobs, as they didn’t sparkle or shine.
• The square-shaped door handles. The shiny, silver handles are nice, and by the way they’re shaped, it almost looks like they’re “smiling.”

I suppose another reason I like Dynastys is simply because of nostalgia from my childhood. I have a lot of nostalgia for the early ‘90s since it was a rather happy time for me – not to mention the fact that I happen to like office and business things, so that helps with my interest in the Dynasty. My dad had a 1991 Dodge Dynasty LE as a company car, and he did a lot of business-related traveling in it – and even used a car phone. Our other main car was a white 1986 Oldsmobile Delta 88, and compared to it, the Dynasty just seemed so classy and modern – especially with a fancy, “high-tech” gadget like a car phone and its cool-looking spiral antenna. We also did more traveling to faraway places in the Dynasty, perhaps further giving me the impression that it was a more modern, roadworthy car since people might take their “better” (or at least roomier) cars on long trips. Of course, I think the main reason for this was because our Dynasty was a company car, so we could put miles on it without worrying so much about it – not to mention that it was a few years newer than our Oldsmobile – and we also had the car phone if it was needed.

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Comparison to Other Cars

• Dodge Dynasty vs. Chrysler New Yorker. Both of these cars are similar, but for me, the Dynasty easily wins. The inside of Chrysler New Yorkers just looks too conservative for my taste, whereas the Dynasty looks more modern. The Dynastys also have better-looking grilles and headlight and tail light assemblies. The New Yorkers tend to have sharper edges than the Dynasty, which also detracts from their appeal. They also tend to have landau roofs, which I don’t particularly like – at least on Dynastys and New Yorkers.
• Dodge Dynasty vs. Dodge Spirit. While the Dodge Spirit is somewhat similar in style to the Dynasty, to me, it is just a cheap substitute of the real thing. It is a little more curvy and less upright and looks more plastic-like compared to the Dynasty. View a site here to see a comparison of the cars.
• Dodge Dynasty vs. Other Conservative Cars. Many people consider the Dynasty a conservative car, and yes, I do admit that it has some conservative traits. But for me, it also looks quite flashy and modern at the same time. For whatever reason, it just doesn’t strike me as a “grandma’s car.” A car that I think is more deserving of the name “grandma’s car,” to me, would be an early ‘90s Lincoln Town Car. For some reason, it looks more traditional and feminine to me, while the Dynasty looks more modern and masculine. Lincoln Town Cars have more rounded edges, which makes them seem less tough and unique. Aside from the Lincoln Town Car, other conservative cars in my opinion look more old fashioned than the Dynasty. I’ve mentioned that I liken its style to modern architecture, and that applies here. Dynastys are rather simple and boxy, whereas many conservative cars have slightly more fine trim, making them look frail, delicate, and old fashioned. Since the Dynasty doesn’t have much wiry-looking trim, it looks more sturdy and simple – closer in style to newer cars that are also simple and use less fine trim.
• Dodge Dynasty vs. Oldsmobile Delta 88. The main reason I have this comparison is because in the early ‘90s, we had both a 1991 Dodge Dynasty LE and a 1986 Oldsmobile Delta 88. Perhaps this was one of the big things that helped me develop a love for the Dynasty – since I had two cars to compare. The Oldsmobile Delta 88 certainly wasn’t a bad car, but appearance-wise, I think the Dynasty was a lot better, and at least when I was a kid, it seemed a lot more modern. The Oldsmobile had bland white paint, whereas the Dynasty’s paint looked more shiny and sparkly – like more modern cars. The Oldsmobile had more wiry door handles (like the ones seen on older GM cars), whereas the Dynasty had box ones that were more streamlined (level with the door surface, that is) and modern-looking. The Oldsmobile’s speedometer only went up to 85 MPH, whereas our Dynasty’s went up to 120 MPH. The Oldsmobile’s dashboard was more flat and horizontal (like many “old fashioned” cars), whereas the Dynasty had boxes around the gauges (the needles moved around in a circular fashion as opposed to just left and right) – again, just like newer cars. The beige interior of the Dynasty seemed a lot newer, classier, and friendlier-looking than the ugly red interior of the Oldsmobile, which to me, made it feel old and broken down. Also, the Oldsmobile had hand cranks for the windows, whereas the Dynasty had power windows. And then, there was the matter of the car phone. Yes, I know car phones could be put in pretty much any car, but the point is since the Dynasty had one and the Oldsmobile didn’t, it made the Dynasty seem more modern to me as a kid.
• Dodge Dynasty vs. Cars from the ‘70s. This doesn’t just apply to the Dodge Dynasty, but really, pretty much all cars made after the mid ‘80s and early ‘90s. It just seems to me that cars from that era look a lot prettier, easier on the eyes, and more polished and shiny. Cars from the ‘70s just seem so crude and gruff-looking. While they do look well-built and metal-like, the trim tends to look gruff. And the paint jobs don’t seem very shiny or sparkly like newer cars. It’s almost like someone did a homemade paint job on some of these cars.
• Dodge Dynasty vs. Cars from the Mid ‘90s to the Mid 2000s. Cars from the mid ‘90s to the mid 2000s had the exact opposite problem of cars from the ‘70s – they were too curvy and too plastic-looking. Although I don’t like too much frail-looking fine trim, a complete lack of it can be bad, too, as it makes cars look cheap. Dynastys had sharper edges and slightly more trim than newer cars – but still less than older cars – to give them a higher quality look.

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Things I Dislike in Dynastys

• Dark purple exterior
• Red and blue interiors
• Trapezoidal steering wheels found in early Dynastys
• Wiry hubcaps – or any other hubcaps that look out of place
• Landau roofs
• Dynastys with 85 MPH speedometers

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External Links

Dodge Dynasty (Wikipedia page)
THE Dodge Dynasty Website. A very informative “fan site” about the Dodge Dynasty.
The Dodge Dynasty and Chrysler New Yorker (AC Bodies)

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Updated Monday, March 9, 2020