Jalopnik: K Car

Nice Price Or Crack Pipe: The $25,000 Dodge Daytona Turbo Z?

Murilee Martin — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 08:30:00 EST

Yesterday, 68% of voters felt that $129,900 was too much to pay for a 4-year-old lemon-law-buyback Maybach 57, which is doing pretty well according to the harsh standards set by Nice Price Or Crack Pipe. Today we'll be considering a super-low-mileage, near-showroom-condition Dodge Daytona… but we're not talking about the kind of Daytona with the big wing and U-joint-bustin' V8. No, we mean the K-car-based Daytona Turbo Z, which is pretty much the concentrated essence of 1980s style. It's got lots of plastic body parts. It's got the word "Turbo" printed in multiple locations. It's got 142 factory horsepower, and this one's got just 2,021 miles on the clock! That's averages out at fewer than 85 miles per year! The seller has blatantly disregarded eBay car-seller tradition by using correct spelling, grammar, and capitalization, but he or she makes up for it by pointing out the "Star Power" of the car. Worth 25 grand? What do you think?

[eBay Motors], thanks to DodgePolara500 for the tip!

1984 Chrysler LeBaron: Does The Continental Kit Make It Better?

Ben Wojdyla — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:30:00 EDT

The Chrysler K-car is subject to both love and hate. Yes it helped save the Pentastar brand's hiney back in the day, serving as the basis for the mega-hit that was the minivan. Yes, there are still some sick-o's out there who get a kick out of raising the boost on the turbo models and surprising folks off the line. But seriously, they're just so flippin' ugly. Here's example #467: Not happy with the original wood-paneled loveliness of this LeBaron, the owner of this masterpiece decided a continental spare tire kit would be the cherry on top of a sundae of sick. Ugh. [eBay Listing via Cardomain]

Government-Issue 1986 Dodge Aries LE

Murilee Martin — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 09:00:00 EDT

There was some grumbling about the first Chrysler K Car we saw in this series, but there's no way I can run across a Government K sedan and not share it with the world. The Taurus and Lumina elbowed aside just about all the "official vehicle" K cars way back in the early 90s (and, to be fair, the K wasn't the most reliable car ever made, especially when operated by lead-footed public servants), but this plain-gray-wrapper Aries managed to beat the odds and stay on the road. It appears to be owned by the same guy who owns the second-ever DOTS vehicle, and it looks like he's fixing it up. Those of you who feel strongly about the idea of DOTS K-cars (for or against) be sure to vote in the poll after the jump.

The K platform was quite versatile, but Chrysler only seemed to show off "K" emblems on a select few vehicles. There's a Turbo Caravelle in my neighborhood that I might shoot as well, since those hood louvers are extremely Turbo Mullet Era-esque.

The LE was the upscale Aries, and the standard engine was the 97-horse Trans Four. The plastic grille and the last of the Sealed Beam Era headlights really tend to remind us that the Malaise Era was only three years gone in '86.

The gray color may suggest Navy origins for this car, though a lot of San Francisco government agencies had gray Ks as well. Alameda had Aries police cars for a few years in the early 80s, if you can imagine such a thing. Now, on to the poll, and stay tuned for something older, sportier, and more German tomorrow.

Spend The Malaise Winter In An '82 Plymouth!

Murilee Martin — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:00:00 EDT

You could be stuck in a snowdrift, spinning the rear wheels on what appears to be a mid-70s Buick... or you could head on down to your Plymouth dealer and buy one of the fruits of the US Government's bailout of Chrysler Corporation: The 1982 Horizon, Reliant, and TC3! Remember the TC3? Yes, the Plymouth clone of the forgettable Dodge 024... and who could forget the Horizon Miser? Still, these cars helped haul Chrysler out of the abyss.

Like Tina, It Sure Ain't Built For Speed: 1990 Plymouth Acclaim

Murilee Martin — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 11:00:00 EDT

While the ol' Chrysler K platform (or, in this case, its AA cousin) was getting a bit long of tooth by 1990, Chrysler was still able to slather plenty of Virtually Velour™, Simu-Leather™, and Petroleo-Wood™ all over the interior, then pay Tina Turner to reference some Willie Dixon:

Some folks built like this, some folks built like that
But the way I'm built, you shouldn't call me fat
Because I'm built for comfort, I ain't built for speed
But I got everything all the good girls need

And, now that we've got that song on our minds, let's hear what Herr Schenker has to contribute to the discussion:

1984 Plymouth Reliant

Murilee Martin — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 09:30:00 EDT

OK, so maybe it wasn't fair that Uncle Sam bailed out Chrysler but told AMC to drop dead, back in the Malaise Era. It seemed like the Chrysler bailout worked out as hoped, though, once the K Car emerged from factories that had long created gas-swilling behemoths. With so many early Ks made, you'd think there would be more of them still on the street nowadays, but that's not the case; I went out looking for a non-beater example and it was tougher than I'd expected. Finally, I found this '84 Reliant parked just around the corner from the '84 Porsche 928 (and, yes, I see that 70s Firebird in the background, next to the 70s Mercedes; unfortunately, driveway-parked cars are on private property and thus off-limits to DOTS... which is a shame, because there's a very clean 4-speed AMX parked in a driveway nearby).

It's not quite as pathetic as Ford claiming the Granada looks just like a Mercedes, but the Benz-ified pentastar emblems of early-80s Chryslers always seemed like a humiliation for once-proud Chrysler.

Still, the K car was definitely an American interpretation of the front-wheel-drive small-car theme, with its boxy styling, bench seats, etc. The reliability wasn't quite up to Slant Six Valiant standards (and not even in the same time zone as its Japanese contemporaries), but it was good enough to get the job done.

Alameda police had Aries police cars during the early-to-mid 1980s (on a small, densely packed island city with just four bridges and a tunnel to the outside world, you don't need a fast car to catch bad guys); the grille and overall shape of the K was certainly Diplomat-like, but the small size definitely lacked in the authority department.