We’ll explain why today’s Nice Price or No Dice Chrysler Concorde has managed fewer than 1,000 miles in just a bit. First off, however, we’ll need to see what such an amazing anomaly might be worth.
There was a certain amount of shade thrown at yesterday’s 1995 Ford F150 pickup truck, mostly centered on what it lacked. The truck’s six cylinders, automatic gearbox and manual everything else just didn’t seem to set right with many of you when considered against a $7,000 asking price. The result was a 68 percent No Dice loss for the long bed/short cab truck.
The Chrysler Corporation enjoyed a short and sweet golden age that lasted from the early 1980s through about 1995. During that time, the company was saved from the brink of financial ruin by the K-car, introduced the modern minivan, bought Jeep from a retreating Renault and introduced a series of “cab-forward” designs across multiple segments that put Chrysler at the forefront of American auto design. Then it merged with Daimler and the magic carpet ride seemed to be at an end.
This 1994 Chrysler Concorde is an example of the pre-Daimler Chrysler, representing one of the company’s then innovative cab-forward body designs. The FWD chassis beneath that is an engineering evolution of the platform from the Renault 25. That may seem completely random, but Chrysler inherited the Renault platform as part of the AMC/Jeep purchase and sold a version of it for a short time as the Eagle Premier and Dodge Monaco. Notably, this chassis featured a longitudinal engine overhanging the front wheels giving it the ability to support FWD or AWD. Chrysler offered the Concorde’s same body style through Eagle dealerships as the Vision. The Dodge Intrepid shared the same platform but featured substantially different styling.
The engine on this Concorde is a 3.5 liter SOHC V6. This was Chrysler’s first domestic 24-valve six-cylinder and made 214 horsepower out the gate. Behind that is the standard four-speed automatic activated via a console shift. Amazingly, that drivetrain, along with the rest of the car, has only done a mere 979 miles over the course of its entire life. How is that possible, you might ask? Here’s the selling dealer’s explanation:
1994 Chrysler Concorde with only 979 original miles! Purchased new by a 74 year old woman who lived in a Home Care Facility, where the car was kept in climate controlled storage until she passed in 2015 at the age of 95. The Chrysler remains in new condition as a time capsule from 1994. It is a rare opportunity to find a car like this in beautiful condition with ONLY 979 miles! Once in a lifetime opportunity.
The seller’s description of the car as a time capsule seems apt as almost everything about the car looks as-new. The white paint is clean and shiny and is coupled with champagne-colored lower cladding for a two-tone effect that enhances the car’s long, low good looks. The interior, wearing glorious blue mouse fur upholstery and some fake wood trim, is equally pristine. Yes, there is a lot of chintzy-looking plastic in here, but that’s the price paid for the era’s cost-cutting decisions. You’re not likely to find a 10-year newer Chrysler 300 looking all that much better inside.
The only place where the car seems to show its age is under the hood. There, the typical signs of aluminum finish aging are apparent. It’s nothing that probably couldn’t be addressed with some steel wool and a bit of elbow grease, but at least the appearance confirms you haven’t been magically transported back to the Clinton era. The title is clean and the underside pics show the chassis pan to be likewise.
This is an interesting opportunity, as you are unlikely to find another Concorde of this era anywhere near this caliber anyplace outside of a Mopar museum. And how many people are going to walk into said museum and ask “how much for that Concorde over there, and can I also get a couple of those Neon four-doors to go along with it?” That’s right, no one.
It looks as though we then have a conundrum. What’s to be done with a time capsule car that was never intended to live its life past one or perhaps two normal use owners? More importantly, what should someone pay in the attempt to personally solve such a puzzling question?
The dealer in possession of the car asks $10,995 for the opportunity and we now need to ruminate and discuss whether that’s the right answer or not. What do you say, is this Concorde worth that $10,995 asking as it sits? Or, does that price have you thinking this time capsule needs to be sealed back up for another few decades?
You decide!
Car Gurus from West Springfield, Massachusetts, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Paul Cavanagh for the hookup!
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