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While Chrysler developed endless variations of the original K Platform, adding branches to the K-car Family Tree through 1995, only the Dodge Aries/400/600, Plymouth Reliant, and Chrysler LeBaron were true Ks. The K-cars saved Chrysler from near-certain bankruptcy, with the first Dodge and Plymouth versions rolling off showroom floors as 1981 models; the LeBaron came the following year, and the luxurious LeBaron convertible stood tall as the K-car King.
Here’s a well-preserved 1982 Chrysler LeBaron convertible in a Denver-area self-service yard.
I have photographed numerous Ks during my junkyard explorations, including this ’85 LeBaron woodie convertible, this ’86 LeBaron Town & Country wagon, this ’81 Dodge Aries Hemi wagon, this ’82 Dodge Aries wagon, this ’83 Dodge Aries sedan, this ’86 Dodge Aries sedan, this ’88 Dodge Aries wagon, this ’81 Plymouth Reliant wagon, this ’86 Plymouth Reliant woodie wagon, and this ’89 Plymouth Reliant sedan. I may have some personal animosity for the K-car, which I will attempt to keep out of this post; I have good reason to loathe the K.
There’s a bit of rust here and there, but nothing that would have prevented a full restoration… that is, if anyone wanted to invest $10,000 and get a finished result worth $3,000.
It was purchased new a few miles from this yard, and it will be crushed here.
The F-4 Phantom was flown out of a couple of nearby Air Force bases through the late 1980s, so perhaps the original owner of this car went Mach 2 when not managing the 84 horsepower driving the front wheels of this car.
Yes, just 84 horses moved this luxury convertible; the 140-horse turbocharged 2.2 engine became available in the 1984 LeBaron.
The interior is in great condition, and the original owner’s manual and ignition keys were still in the car. My guess is that this was a dealership trade-in that proved unsellable later.
Lee Iaocca offered a dazzling convertible that put a little fun back in driving.
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Nothing says “platform re-use” like a single Chilton’s for 13 years of a huge range of cars.
As soon as I saw the picture I couldn’t help but think of Trains, Planes and Automobiles.
I always liked these. Not too big and just the right type of convertible for cruising. This car appears to be in decent shape and might be worth restoring just to have a fun car to drive. Always liked this generation of K cars.
No need to restore. You can easily find a newer one with the more powerful engine in excellent condition.
And it’ll be about $2,800.
In 1985 my wife had her heart set on a convertible. We looked at a Mustang and the Mopar convertibles. The Chrysler and Dodge K-cars seemed out of proportion to my eyes. All square, not a curve anywhere on the body. She settled on a Firebird with T-tops which was much more attractive to us. However not the best car we ever owned.
Maybe its the nostalgia for things of my youth, because there were lots of K cars of all variations running around when I was a kid. Maybe its because 4 place convertibles are rare and I like drop-tops. But I find myself liking these “upright” Lebaron convertibles more and more. They aren’t Mecum fodder yet, so prices are still acceptable.
A shame to see a mostly decent car in line for the crusher.Original keys and owners manual on a car this old is impressive. This must have been a sharp looking car (for a K car) when it was new. Well-loved until it wasn’t…
I still see LeBaron K ragtops every summer, sweet rides.
I do too.
I’m waiting to see the contemporary LeBaron coupe. So rare, never seen in person.
I kinda liked the Dodge 600ES turbo with the Swiss cheese wheels.
Ooh, those wheels. I knew the cars were kinda crap, but I liked the look. And they were ROOMY little suckers for their size. Small-wide, like a Pacer without the, uh, Pacer.
I think a few LeBaron‘s and Dodge 600ES drop tops came with a manual.
A sleeper build would be one with a 2.2 Turbo II.
Owned a 1984 LeBaron convert with the Mark Cross interior. Was a handsome, comfortable car, but nothing special to drive. The body had lots of flex. The electronic dash (not in pictured car?) was a problem, if memory serves. And the buttons for the radio lost their springiness so that when I hit a bump, the station would change.
Digital dash not yet available in 1982; they had the one-year-only silver dial gauges.
The Quartz Lock Precision radios of the early 80’s all had this problem – the plastic or whatever would collapse permanently. I was able to fix this using a newer (early 90’s) Ford radio – inside of the faceplate is a circuit board and on top of that is a single sheet of rubber or neoprene with cone shaped bulbs molded in, which I cut out with an Exacto knife and installed into the momentary switches of the Quartz Lock radio.
Just think, around 1988 the Chrysler portfolio had:
K-car things
The best minivan
Mitsubishi things
AMC Renault things
And the last of the M-body
Quite a spectrum.
As well as Shelby versions of those K-cars plus the L-body GLH.
Dodge Dakota midsize truck with the 5.2-318 as well as a drop top version.
I forgot about the Dakota entirely.
And I think you could still get a slant 6 in a Ram van.
The Slant-6 was available in the M-body until 1983 and Ram trucks through 1987.
Ram trucks and derivatives- I’m sure there was a Dodge postal truck with a slant 6 available well into the 1980s (not to be confused with the Grumman trucklets).
And don’t forget the TC by Maserati thing. Or maybe you should forget it…
The TC is covered by K-car mention!
And also has been done by Rare Rides.
I considered that, but thought it was worth a mention just to note yet another brand/company was involved (the minivan you mentioned was of course also K-based at the time). Owners must have loved having their TC lumped in with Plymouth Reliants in the Chilton’s guide shown above.
I drive my 85 Lebaron convertible on weekends and it always gets compliments and turns heads. They are good cars that could benefit from sturdier builds.
The vertical center bar on the grille in the cars in the Lee Iacocca advert are much more prominent than they are on the actual car. What’s up with that?
This might have been a pre production model in the ad. The executive limo had a more prominent vertical center bar on the grille.
Is that Jon Voight’s car?
Yep, I had one, bought it from Jon Voight’s neighbor’s cousin
I saw one of these in Chicago late last night. It was a bit ratty and the motor clattered a bit but you could hear the turbo spinning up like a bus when it pulled away from the light.
Lowry hasn’t had flights since the mid 60s, but the Air Force has re-taken Buckley which was a Navy station for a long time. Lots of military flights still stop over at Centennial Airport instead, though.
Is that a carb or is it TBI?
Naturally aspirated, I believe, being an 82. The 84 2.2 I had was that way and the 2.2 pictured looks very similar.
I wonder if the original owner traded up a couple years later for the big horsepower bump from 84 to 96!! (I had 92 or 94 in my head but all-knowing wiki says 96, so I guess it was 96.)
Well I could use the interior, but what yard is this in? U-Pull and Pay doesn’t list this car.
Also, that’s a nice-looking interior for its day (or ours!) especially given that it’s decades old and was presumably sun-exposed. These little guys were advertised in “Town & Country” magazine alongside Range Rovers at the time, so they probably weren’t cheap, despite the shortage of hamsters underhood.