Today, I'm thankful for the K car

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jos51700

jos51700

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And Lido, of course

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I've rode in my fair share of k car platforms. Plenty of minivans and Dynasty's. My family had a Duster Turismo.

I'm thankful for this one....

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I've owned a few... really not bad little cars. Timing belt and head gaskets. I liked the carburetor ones or the turbo ones. Couldn't stand the TBI ones.
 
Meh, the K car didn't do anything for Pre 76 MOPAR as we know it. My mom had one, ran fine. Boring car....gas go, brakes stop. nothing exciting. Stupid conical wire wheel hubcaps that just screamed CHEAP! Stuck out about 4 inches......
 
I had a couple of GTS LeBaron's turbo cars, one 5 speed the other automatic, Caravelle turbo, Daytona turbo, New Yorker turbo, Spirit R/T turbo, they were fun little cars. Embarrassed a few..... camaro, vette, 5.0's, LOL
 
pishta said:
Meh, the K car didn't do anything for Pre 76 MOPAR as we know it. My mom had one, ran fine. Boring car....gas go, brakes stop. nothing exciting. Stupid conical wire wheel hubcaps that just screamed CHEAP! Stuck out about 4 inches......
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Well, they're not like, ******* time-travelers or some ****.

They DID keep Chrysler alive so we could enjoy Mopar Performance and few more decades of great Chryco products. If you've never purchased anything from MP, or anything made after about 1986, then yeah, I could see how you could feel that way.
 
I still have 2, my 3.0 Lebaron Convertible and a 2.5 Turbo Shadow CS.

But the TBI cars kinda sucked for me, even though I owned a few of them over the years.
 
In 1987 I applied for a Top Secret security clearance.

My buddy said he knew exactly who pulled into his driveway in a K-car with tinted windows and two guys in suits getting out.
 
TODAY I'M THANKFUL I NO LONGER HAVE A K CAR

Dad and Mom bought a new 86 Dodge 600. It ate the piece of the EFI that resides in the air intake. At that time, Gramps had bought a whatever-the-smaller-Plymouth is, and wrecked it. He was lucky and should not have been driving. Got "T boned" running a stop sign. But it provided the EFI component.

After Dad died in 95, Mom bought the 95 Olds Cutlass (which I later owned as well). At that time I bought the low miles 86 Dodge. I never liked the way it handled. Too "twitchy." Just never liked it. One day in mild weather, it turns out a heater hose had broken, and I did not realize it. One cylinder blew the head gasket. I ended up yanking the much higher mileage engine out of Gramps wrecked Plymouth and ran that for awhile. Ended up selling it to may neighbor later on

Other than the handling, the 600 was a nice little car. It had cloth upholstry, cruise, AC etc

I was "deeper into" amateur radio back then, and the damn thing generated a spur right in the middle of the amateur radio "two meter" band. Might have been 146.52. Anyhow you could not "scan" while driving with the handheld radio, as it would lock up on that freq, or else lock that one out.

Another part of the story is the day I bought it. I don't recall who "jumpered" me between my place and Mom's, maybe I bummed a ride from someone. Anyhow the FIRST TIME I drove the "new" Dodge from Mom's to my place--about 45 miles--a truck kicked up a rock that put a nice big "C" crack in the windshield in the top corner. This did not take long to spread clear across the windshield.
 
Our K-car was a 600 too! I've owned 3 Chrysler Minivan products since then. They work too. I havent bought anything MP related that's been made after '81 so....Meh. Good for Chrysler for staying afloat with a radical new platform. It took something very fresh to make it happen. I think the '84 minivan market saved them.
 
318willrun said:
I had a couple of GTS LeBaron's turbo cars, one 5 speed the other automatic, Caravelle turbo, Daytona turbo, New Yorker turbo, Spirit R/T turbo, they were fun little cars. Embarrassed a few..... camaro, vette, 5.0's, LOL
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I always wanted one of those Daytona turbos had the chance to buy one once and passed on it due to the wiring was a mess. Wiring isn't my strong suit, especially back then iv gotten some better since.
 
One "late" model mopar i always loved and still do is the dodge shadow and Plymouth Sundance. I think it was a "p" platform i had a 91 4 door with a 2.2 it was a really comfortable nice driving car. I got in a little fender bender and folded the hood and In the process of trying to straighten the hood out with a chain, the chain slipped and busted the windshield. At the time i couldn't afford a windshield so I parked it. My neighbor has a disabled sister who was wanting a cheap car and he asked me about selling it, knowing it was for her and she couldn't work and was on a fixed income I gave it to her even threw in a new battery for her. She had a windshield put in it and still drives it to this day! It had like 185k on it back then that was probably 2006 lol they are great cars. I always wanted one of the 2 door turbo versions
 
Back in the early 90s my 16 yr old daughter found on her own a well used up LaBaron vert was it? on its second engine, she put 300,000 mi on that one, and later her mom (my X) sold it a family "friend" as a classic for $1000 I think daughter gave $500 for it .
Then one day her friend comes to me to sell it to me as a "classic"> I am still laughing !!!
 
Wife had a New Yorker Turbo, that one was fun. Surprised a lot of mid to late 80's pony cars.
 
My first registered car was a 84' Dodge Aries i put a head gasket and timing belt in and drove/beat the crap out of it. Also drove from Wisconsin to Florida and back.
 
There was a Pro Touring one in West Michigan a few years back that was sporting a 6.4 Hemi in it. Convertible to boot. Guessing it was tube framed somehow.
 
pauly said:
There was a Pro Touring one in West Michigan a few years back that was sporting a 6.4 Hemi in it. Convertible to boot. Guessing it was tube framed somehow.
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Iv always wanted to do a small block rwd 2 door shadow build. If ever find one cheap I will do it!
 
A large majority of the k cars were assembled so poorly that most of them went right to frame shops before they could even sell them. They could not align the steering because the frames were tweaked so bad.
 
I had a 86 Aries I bought as a daily to keep the miles off my truck at the time.
I came over the knob of a hill and there was a turkey vulture that didn't make it to the air in time.
Ever hit a vulture? It dented the hell out of the hood and roof and tore up the grille.
Did as much damage as big dog or a small deer.
I was finding feathers a year later when I got rid of that car.
 
Go ahead and laugh, but one of the most reliable cars I ever owned was a 1991 Lebaron convertible. Bought it new October 1990. Sold it in December 2011 with 174k miles. Two A604 rebuilds, two convertible tops, and nothing else but wear items. Original paint looked great and the AC worked fine with the original R12 charge from the factory.
Also owned a Lancer Shelby that was reasonably reliable for it's first 100k miles.
 
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