I’ve decided that the theme of this week is going to be platform-mates, and today, I’m featuring a platform you all love to hate: Chrysler’s savior back in the ’80s, the K-car. These cars provided reliable(ish) transportation for millions of people thirty or forty years ago, and today they have a following that seems to be equal parts nostalgia and irony. We’re going to look at two of them that are ten years apart.
Yesterday was all about the BG’s Greatest Hits. I was pleased to see that I started a joke, and a few of you ran with it. Oh, and we looked at a couple of cars, too. The super-clean Mercury Tracer, with its zoomy 1.8 liter BP engine, took home a decisive win over the cool-but-scruffy Mazda MX-3. It sounds like if the MX-3 had been a V6, it would have pushed the vote the other way, but you’re not going to find one of those for $2,500.
I went back and forth on this one before making my decision. The MX-3 is cheaper, and it’s closer to what I’d be looking for in a fun car at this stage. I love a good BP with a manual, but that Tracer is almost too nice for what I’d have in mind, which would almost certainly involve rallycross. I’d feel bad if something happened to it. I’ll take the MX-3, and leave the Tracer to someone who wants to polish it up and show it off.
Common wisdom says that it’s better to buy a car from the last year of an old design than from the first year of a new one. Sure, you might miss out on some whiz-bang new features, but you’re getting a car that has had all its bugs worked out. But what if the previous model was absolute garbage? That was definitely the case with the K platform. Chrysler’s F and M platforms were worthless – and that’s coming from the second-biggest Mopar apologist on this site. The K car had its faults, especially early on, but it was rock-solid compared to what came before. And by the end, the K’s derivatives, especially the AA platform, were actually really good cars. So let’s take a look at one early K car, and one late AA car, and see if I can talk you into one of them.
1983 Chrysler LeBaron convertible – $3,998
Engine/drivetrain: 2.6-liter OHC inline 4, three-speed automatic, FWD
Location: Kirkland, WA
Odometer reading: 57,000 miles
Operational status: I have no idea, actually
You know what puzzles me? Chrysler sold more LeBaron coupes than it did convertibles in every model year from 1982 through 1989, but all you ever see for sale anymore are the convertibles. Where did all those coupes go? I assume it’s that the coupes were seen as just regular cars, so they all got used up, while the convertibles were saved for special occasions and lasted. You know what else puzzles me? How did a clean, low-mileage, forty-three-year-old LeBaron convertible end up at a buy-here-pay-here lot in suburban Seattle? I mean, a ten-year-old Chrysler 200 with a quarter-million miles on it and its Check Engine light taped over, sure, but this?
For the first few years, the K car was available with two different engines: Chrysler’s own 2.2-liter four, or a Mitsubishi-built 2.6-liter. Fancier models, like the LeBaron convertible, usually got the 2.6. It’s carbureted, with that late-malaise-era electronic feedback system that has about a million sensors and a couple miles of vacuum lines. When it’s all working well, it’s fine, but one tiny vacuum leak or wiring short can cause all kinds of drivability problems. I can’t tell you how well this one runs, because the dealership selling it gives absolutely no information about the car’s mechanical condition. I assume it at least runs, or they wouldn’t be asking four grand for it. Anything beyond that is up to you to determine.
You’d expect a fancier interior in this car than in your typical Plymouth Reliant, and you wouldn’t be disappointed. It has leather seats – I don’t know how rich or Corinthian they are; Chrysler was still operating on a shoestring in 1983 – and a fancy trip computer operated by a bank of buttons on the dash. The display for it is right where the Electronic Message Center would normally be, so I have a feeling that the two options were mutually exclusive. This one doesn’t talk, I’m afraid, but it can show you your average fuel economy. It’s in decent shape inside, but the center armrest needs to be recovered.
It has a brand new convertible top, according to the seller, and the paint looks nice and shiny. This car must have spent most of its life in a garage. Kind of a waste, if you ask me, leaving a car sitting around like that, but at least the next owner can put some miles on it.
1993 Dodge Spirit ES – $3,333
Engine/drivetrain: 2.5-liter OHC inline 4, three-speed automatic, FWD
Location: Seattle, WA
Odometer reading: 43,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives fine, but needs a few things
The actual K platform was retired after 1989, but its successor, the AA, was more or less the same thing, with a longer wheelbase. Build the same thing long enough, and you’re bound to get good at it. The Dodge Spirit and its sister model the Plymouth Acclaim weren’t the most exciting things on four wheels, but they got the job done reliably. This Spirit ES was the “sporty” model, kind of like Chevy’s Eurosport – alloy wheels, no chrome trim, and bucket seats instead of a bench.
It also boasts a tachometer for its 2.5-liter throttle-body fuel-injected engine, and a floor-mounted shifter for its Torqueflite automatic transmission. You could actually get a five-speed manual in these, but they’re almost unheard-of. This one has only 43,000 miles on it, 30,000 of which were added in the past few years. It had its head gasket replaced a while back, unnecessarily, and the shop that did it botched some things. It has a small exhaust leak at the manifold, and a broken bolt on the valve cover that will need to be drilled out and re-tapped at some point. This is why it’s important, if you can’t do repairs and maintenance yourself, to find a reputable and trustworthy mechanic. I’ve heard way too many stories like that over the years.
It’s a little dirty inside, but everything looks like it’s in good shape. It has some really cool seat upholstery, too. The radio only works about half the time, according to the seller, but that’s easy enough to replace. Since it’s an ES, it has all the power toys, but the seller doesn’t elaborate on how much of it still works.
It’s nice and shiny outside, and I wouldn’t expect it to have any rust. It has been de-badged on the back, strangely, making it look like one of those generic cars used in auto parts store advertisements. Come to think of it, I think quite a few of those cars back then were Dodge Spirits. This is a car you wouldn’t have looked twice at thirty years ago. Now, however, there are so few left that it stands out.
I imagine some of you are going to shout “Neither!” and refuse to vote. That’s your prerogative. And I expect a few comments along the lines of “My aunt/grandpa/girlfriend’s mom had one of those, and it was crap.” Maybe I haven’t swayed anyone. And that’s fine; tomorrow I’ll give you a chance to vote for something else. Today, however, is all about the K cars.
Real answer is neither – both are overpriced and simply undesirable cars.
If I have to choose it is the newer and cheaper car with less miles.
I almost bought a Lebaron Convertible many moon ago. Granted at the time they wanted 10k for 2k car so I didn’t. Now thought why not plus I can play out Freddy Got Fingered. 🙂
I can’t pick a k-car.
So both?
We can vote neither if we want to! You’re not our real dad, MARK!
I voted for the Spirit. I want nothing to do with a car at a BHPH lot, and they’d just end up calling the cops after I started telling the other shoppers not to listen to those lying fuckweasels with their predatory financing that should be illegal.
Neither are cars I would realistically consider for a millisecond at these prices, but that is fine.
I voted for the Lebaron. I genuinely like the interior. The two-tone leather seats look good and are almost certainly comfortable. I also like the design of the door panels and the dashboard – it is flamingly ’80s, but it works. I wouldn’t pay $3,998 for this thing, but there is an amount of US dollars I would exchange for this vehicle and be happy. Convertibles are also cool.
I’m less enthusiastic about the Spirit, although there are things I like about it. I like the upholstery – red is cool, as are the stripes on the seats. I also like the striped lights across the back of the car. The biggest thing that stands out to me about this car is that the aesthetics of the seat upholstery match the aesthetics of the rear lights. That is neat. Also, I could buy this car, use it to lead a ragtag army to overthrow a small country, and refer to this vehicle as my Revolutionary Spirit. The potential for puns might make this car worth the money.
A convertible is at least sort-of fun on a basic level. The other one has zero redeeming qualities for me.
That’s a “yes” for the LeBaron if it runs and drives, and can convince the dealership to put a 30d warranty on it that the roof doesn’t leak.
Otherwise the Spirit: it’s a serviceable car. But not in the fun sense like a Yaris or a Neon.
Both feel too expensive to me.
I have basically zero interest in either of these, but the Spirit looks a bit better in my eyes with it’s fake euro treatment and would be infinitely more liveable in the real world. Would aIso probably be fun for Radwood on a budget. I don’t even want the think about how creaky and rattly that old K convertible would be on the tortured New England roads.
As a k-car enthusiast, out of these 2 I’m picking the Spirit. Better interior, better suspension, better engine to work on. I love k-cars and their boxiness, but the 2.6 is a bear to get running correctly, and the suspension on those early K-cars is odd and flimsy as heck.
Under my posession, both would be getting a swap of some type.
I don’t have an MG to trade, so I’ll take the Spirit.
Have your Cake and eat it.
I choose the Dodge so that when it inevitably stops working I can proclaim, “My Spirit is broken.”
Some green paint and “wood”, and you’ve got a fine PT&A tribute! So that one 🙂
Carbureted LeBaron, please! That leather is sweet (even though I learned to drive on a Spirit)
Spirited away for my K.
My aunt had a Spirit. Always liked the look of them. This one is in a really sharp color too, and I like the bodykit.
And as a middle-aged balding man the last thing I want to be seen in is a LeBaron. People will keep asking me if it used to belong to John Voight.
So easy Spirit today.
I would have picked the drop top if it had a Chrysler engine, but I had a very bad experience with a K-car with the Mitsubishi engine that forever traumatized me, so I went with the Spirit.
I wanted to vote for the White Chrysler LeBaron, but that Spirit is decades newer in refinement, if not years. The ’83 interior would drive me nuts.
Too big of a Cake fan to turn down a white Chrysler LeBaron.
You win!!!!
Those are MARK CROSS leather seats in the LeBaron.
You only see the convertibles because the old people who bought them and barely drove them are kicking off, and nobody wants that junk. A K-car with no roof and a really really cantankerous Mikuni feedback carb on the 2.6 silent shaft truck engine? (Yes, it’s got potential…so do I).
If you could make a list of the worst K-Car attributes, that car exhibits all of them except for the ghastly nostalgia of the Town & Country Dinoc wood and plastic trim. (Please don’t make the fucking John Voight joke…)
The Spirit, OTOH, is a good cleaning away from being a real delight
I’ve ridden in both these cars, and even drove the convertible LeBaron (it was even white) as I was talking about buying it from my co-worker. 30 seconds into the drive the throttle pedal stuck to the floor, in a parking lot. That’s gonna be a no for me.
The Spirit would be better with the big engine and manual transmission, which a different coworker at a different job had bought to replace his XR4Ti. It was pretty peppy for the day, this one I’d probably turn into junk by SRT-4 swapping it, but no one would be sad about it.
So yeah, new radio, complete driveline overhaul via a rusted out SRT4 donor, and then torque steer it into a tree. That’s how a K-car deserves to end it’s life.
The convertible is a hell no and twice on Sunday.
The Spirit at least looks nice, and my friend in the Navy had one and liked it.
Eh, I’ll take my chances with the convertible. What’s the worst that could happen?
Easiest choice in a long time. NO way in hell will I ever own an electronic carburetor vehicle again in my life. NO!! and it is in early 80s convertible, so double no.
Is this not the car that brought convertibles back for sale in the US?
Yes it is. This and the Dodge 400.
This is a neither day for me. K-cars deserve a special spot in hell.
This would make my fourth Spirit. I had a 1989 2.5, a 1990 ES Turbo, and a 1990 V6. The LeBaron’s leather and buttons (the same as the defrost button!) do not sufficiently compensate for the dreaded Mitsu 2.6 “Hemi.”