Junkyard Find: 1981 Chrysler LeBaron
Chrysler has used the LeBaron name on and off since the 1930s, and the prestige level of the LeBaron badge has been on a gradual downward spiral all along. Some may disagree with that assessment, however, depending on whether they judge the transition from the M (Dodge Diplomat) platform to the K platform in 1982 to have been a step up or a step down. I think the presence of a Slant Six under the hood disqualifies any vehicle from claiming luxury status, and that’s what we’ve got here.
GM and Ford were also cashing out the prestige capital they’d built up in their luxury marques during the Malaise Era, so Chrysler wasn’t alone in this process. And the Diplomat was a perfectly competent and solid machine, well suited to both commuting and police duty. But… luxury and Slant Six don’t mix. Chrysler would have been better off making this the top Diplomat trim level and selling the car as a Diplomat Brougham d’Class or something.
Then there’s the painfully fake wood dash trim and gumball-machine-trinket-quality glovebox emblems staring the passenger in the face as he or she attempts to feel true Chrysler exclusivity.
Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.
More by Murilee Martin
Comments
Join the conversation
My dad leased a '78 model 2 door Medallion with a 318 and most of the toys in the spring of 1978. Absolutely awful car-missing parts and loose bolts on delivery-and got worse from there. Flaking paint leaving rust underneath, shorted wiring in the steering column, ball joints gone by 50,000 miles, teeny little rear axle that was worn out by said 50,000, and the piaste-de-reistinace, a failed front wheel bearing that caused the wheel to part company with the rest of the heap. This was just around 70,000 kms (42,000 miles).
@ Windsords, you are correct about the 2.2 being designed by the chief engineer of the slant 6, and it was his last project before retiring. That is why the 2.2 had a beefy bottom end with generously sized main bearings for a 4 cylinder. The engine was even tilted slightly rearward as a tribute to the slant 6. The head on the first years was like the head on the volkswagen 4, but later versions used a different design. I'm not sure which year they changed it, I was never really a fan of the K cars. @JP, the slant 6 was switched to hydraulic lifters in mid 76 in order to make it quieter for use in the F body cars, and in 77 they went from forged to cast cranks. I agree that a slant 6 just does not sound like a slant 6 without the clatter of the solids. The later engines can use the solid setup, but you also have to use the earlier head along with the pushrods and rocker arms/shaft.