Minneapolis Street Sighting: Chrysler Lebaron Convertible

In the 1980s, Chrysler was recovering from severe bankruptcy; the company nearly lost it all, and wedged its hopes on a new platform that would underpin an upcoming people mover--and so much more. With the launch of the K- platform in 1981 model year, the K-cars quickly become Chrysler's fastest (figuratively) sellers--and with good reason. Every bodystyle, from two-door formal coupes, to five-door wagons, and the conventional four-door sedan was offered. Turbo, non-turbo, four, and six cylinder powerplants were offered as well as a choice between automatic and manual transmissions. So why are these K-cars so hard to find today? Rust--and Chrysler's awesome transmission problems--and paint problems. In the 1980s, all three domestic automakers had serious problems with their paint. Be it the clearcoat coming off in droves, or paint simply peeling after a year or two, and straight up random fading, domestic cars were terrible at remaining the same color they were when they left the factory. More often than not, Chryslers of this vintage have either had a cheap respray or two, or the owner simply doesn't care and they're showing signs of significant surface rust, and bare metal.

Since Chryslers of this vintage are fairly rare around here to begin with, seeing a pristine one is that much more of a lucky find; I've always been partial to the odd variations of common cars, and these bread and butter Chrysler convertible fit the bill quite nicely--and in this case, literally. I seldom see Lebarons of this era, and I can't really seeing more than one or two other convertibles; neither of which were in very good condition. The paint on this early example is immaculate, as are the wire hubcaps and other chrome bits. The grille marks this example as a 1983 or 1984 car, which are apparently a tad bit less common the post-1985 examples. Odd, because all the ones I've seen are 1983-1984 cars. I applaud who ever owns this particular car because they're doing a damn good job taking care it, especially in one of the worst states for cars as far as rust and natural environments go. I normally wouldn't flock to 1980s Chryslers, much less convertibles, but this Lebaron was so clean I couldn't help but not pass it up--and I hope it stays clean as long as possible. Congratulations on a well-kept, and seldom seen car.