What was it with Detroit and the word Brougham? GM, Ford, and Chrysler each slapped their share of "Brougham" emblems all over various crypto-upscale models of the 1960s and 1970s, apparently believing that buyers would feel that the elegance of 18th-century horse-drawn vehicles would rub off on their gasoline buggies. This '78 Dodge has all the Malaise Brougham features, from its vinyl top to its lo-po powerplant, and there's some puzzling Fury-ness to it to make things interesting.

Brougham just plain means class! But where are the opera lights?


It's always fun when I find multiple DOTS cars on the same block; here we have the 1942 Pontiac Torpedo across the street and down the block. And maybe you Mopar experts can tell us why this car seems to have '77 Fury taillights. Bumper swap? Perhaps the Plymouth hubcaps came from the same donor car.


Alameda has a good climate for keeping rust at bay, but vinyl tops tend to fare badly in the harsh sunlight. This top is quite three-dimensional by now.

Hey, we've had quite a few 1978 DOTS cars, so let's have a poll to see which one is the readers' choice!

First 200 DOTS

Send an email to Murilee Martin, the author of this post, at murilee@jalopnik.com.