(first posted 5/19/2017) This morning’s post by Jason Shafer on Shockingly Low Volume Plymouths comes with a dash of irony. Last month, Jason and I met up one day to visit the Auto World Museum in Fulton, Missouri, and the spent rest of the afternoon talking about old cars. One topic of conversation was cars that have become all but extinct, and Jason mentioned the 2-door K Car. Neither of us had seen a 2-door Aries or Reliant in years. Two days later, guess what I saw?
While our featured car here is not the shockingly low volume ’87 base model Reliant discussed in Jason’s post (of which 204 were produced), it is still quite a rarity. This car is 1989 Reliant America – a special treat in its own right not just for being a 2-door, but also for being from the Reliant’s final model year. Jason and I speculated on how many 2-door K car variants might be completely extinct, but this one is bravely staring down its inevitable doom.
That doom may come sooner, rather than later, due to some significant body damage. Unless it is quickly rescued by a deep-pocketed K Car enthusiast, this example isn’t long for the world. So, let’s appreciate it while we still can.
Widely hailed as the vehicles that rescued Chrysler, K cars thrived on their good value from their 1981 introduction right through the rest of the decade. The K car package provided exactly what customers wanted through much of the 1980s – front-wheel drive in a space-efficient package, (tight) 6-passenger capacity, and impressive fuel mileage, all for very reasonable prices. Both the Reliant and the nearly identical Dodge Aries included 2-door, 4-door and wagon versions for 8 of their 9 production years (wagons were dropped for ’89), and the 2-door models were heavily marketed in the K cars’ early years.
Initially, 2-doors accounted for about one-fifth of total Aries and Reliant sales. However, in the late 1980s, that number trailed off rapidly, mirroring industrywide trends. By 1988, just 6% of Aries/Reliant sales were 2-door models.
Manufactured from 1981 to 1989 with only modest updating and a single (1985) facelift, K cars enjoyed a long shelf life, and a robust popularity with bargain-seekers. While overall Aries/Reliant sales peaked in their first year at over 300,000 units, later years’ sales didn’t dip too far – with the twins still selling over 200,000 units as late as 1988, even after their intended replacements (the Shadow and Sundance) debuted. Such strong demand for a clearly dated product was a result of the K car’s value. This focus on value was amplified in 1988 with the “America” series, which brought higher trim levels to the base cars, at a price that was hard to beat.
Chrysler’s reasons for introducing the America in 1988 help to explain the shockingly low production number for the ’87 base Reliant mentioned in Jason’s article. In 1983-84, the bare-bones base model accounted for over half of total Reliant sales, but that proportion plummeted as K car buyers began showing a preference for higher levels of amenities. By 1987, less than 5,000 customers ordered base Reliants, with just 4% (or 204 cars) being 2-doors.
Chrysler responded to this rapid shift in demand quickly, and well. Replacing both the base and LE models with the America series (which included most of the LE’s features at low price) kept customers coming for another two model years. Reliant sales increased for 1988. The proportion of 2-door sales, though, continued to droop.
Aries/Reliant production ceased midway through the 1989 model year, with 105,000 cars being produced (about evenly split between Dodges and Plymouths). Roughly 4,000 Reliant 2-doors were made in the K car’s final year… not shockingly low, but scarce enough to make this an intriguing find.
The small, simple K car had an outsize influence on American industrial history, yet many variants may slip into extinction before anyone even realizes they’ve become rare. Although the 1987 base model Reliants may already be gone, as of last month, at least one Reliant America 2-door was still working hard.
Photographed in Quincy, Illinois in April 2017.
That yellow model is a virtual twin to the ’86 LeBaron I had, right down to the seats.
Only car I ever had that came with an AM stereo on the AM/FM radio.
Chrysler was the only domestic manufacturer to have C-QUAM (AM Stereo) standard from 1985-1992 on all of their stereos. From 1994-1999, the premium sound systems (5 band EQ, cassette, CD changer controls) had it as well.
In 1983 we rented a Dodge 600, which was an upscale of this 2-door body. We needed 6-passenger capacity but, OH, what a squeeze to get into it. On our way north from San Diego to Los Angeles our youngest child (five years old at the time) was about to vomit. I quickly pulled over onto the shoulder of the Freeway and we got him out in time so as not to dame the plush velour interior. I had left the driver’s door open in my rush. It was still within the bounds of the ample shoulder of the road. A passing truck had such a forceful air stream that the door was wrenched forward and the door hinges bent! Adorable as the car is, it was not a strong resilient vehicle. The rental agency was in disbelief until they looked and saw no damage to the door from a strike. The convertibles, incidentally, are fun little cars. I knew of a physician in our area who in 1987 bought the seven-passenger limousine. When the family traveled, the children were in the back, the partition glass was raised and Mom and Dad did not listen to the fighting, at least not at a loud decibel level.
It was typical at the time for affordable American cars. One of the principal in lean manufacturing is using “just enough” materials, engineering, like the thin, weight reduction panel and hinges Toyota, Nissan at the time typically used. American manufacturers learned the principals of lean manufacturing but just enough wasn’t enough at the time.
Many other companies try “just enough” approach consistently since the early ’80s and some succeed and some fail.
My theory is that the early computer-aided designs of this era either used smaller margins for error than earlier ‘manual’ calculations because things were going to be so much more precise, or perhaps there were some ‘optimistic’ modelling in doing FEA calculations or similar. Combine that with the focus on weight saving due to the effect of the fuel crises and many cars were on the flimsy side during this era.
It doesn’t surprise me that the Big 3 took the elegant Japanese idea of lean manufacturing and through a bean-counter/MBA dominated culture turned it into cheapness cost-cutting-uber-alles.
GM was notorious for this in the 80s, using things like cheap gasket materials to save a few cents a unit that ended up costing their customers hundreds in repairs (and losing GM many thousands of customers).
I wish I got an ’81 K car instead of same year Plymouth Champ [Colt] hatch. Would have been much cheaper to own!
Just a little minor adjustment and that door will be as good as new.
Seriously, this is a nice find except for that door. I hate to see another one of these bite the dust.
I think it’ll buff out.
These days those base two door models are driven in the Woodward cruise along with the typical classic cars, and usually some classic models are even more common ( Chrysler Fifth Ave ) than those.
That actually makes me giddy. These have tons of “sleeper” potential.
However the radio still works…funny as that may seem…with all this mess the radio is the only thing really working good. Clear as a bell, don’t ask me how.
John Candy R.I.P.
I have a pristine 86 2 door
Really? Wanna trade for a ’09 Camry, dude?
Those split bench seats with the center armrest were some of the most comfortable seats ever available in a N/A made car, bar none. How do I know? I had several K’s back in the mid ’90s and one of them had those seats, while another one, an’ 85 model was a stripper with the base bench seat, and there was no comparison between the two.
These cars had a lot going for them, and while they may be derived by many now, they will always be a fond memory for me.
I think the K cars are actually very handsome cars. They look like what I think a car should look like proportionally. Pretty soon cars that look like what cars should look like will be extinct.
Sad, but true.
Now, they are being replaced with over bloated, bloblike jellybeans.
I miss squarer, more angular, lower door sill, airier greenhouse designs of 1998- before cars…Volvo S70 being one of the last.
This has probably been mentioned on CC somewhere before, but I recall a lot of press at the time about the K-car claiming it had a strong design resemblance, front and back, to the Mercedes of that era. I wonder what made them think that?
They sold alongside the Shadow and Sundance in 1988 because those weren’t the K replacements. Those were compacts (C-segment). The mid-size Spirit/Acclaim replaced the Aries/Reliant in 1989.
In size and shape, the Acclaim was Reliant’s replacement, but in price, the Sundance was much closer to the K car. In 1989, the Reliant carried a base price of $7,595 while the sub-compact Sundance listed for more — at $8,495. I can’t recall what the ’89 Acclaim’s prices were, but I’m pretty sure they were significantly more than the K car.
To me, the Acclaim seemed like a replacement for the Caravelle, and the Sundance a combined replacement for both the Horizon and the Reliant (though the latter two overlapped the Sundance). But none of these cars were precise matches for each other, so it seems like the whole topic is up for debate.
“The mid-size Spirit/Acclaim replaced the Aries/Reliant”
I always thought of things this way:
Omni/Horizon — Sundance/Shadow — Neon
Reliant/Aries/LeBaron — Acclaim/Spirit/LeBaron — Breeze/Stratus/Cirrus
Caravelle/600/New Yorker — Dynasty/New Yorker — LH cars
That having been said:
“the latter two overlapped…none of these cars were precise matches for each other”
Agreed. To some extent, this was because the traditional American size classes and their labels were in a bit of a state of flux during this era. But no matter how you slice it, Chrysler’s model lineup was often hard to follow from year to year.
Never bought one, myself, I was still driving my ’67 Rambler American 440 4DR. Amazed to see a K-Car last as long as a Rambler could.
The gov’t department I worked for used them as fleet vehicles. I can verify that we could fit 6 adults into one of them for a 5 hour road trip.
Poor little thing .
.
-Nate
I think that the K cars really succeeded in offering a fuel efficient, modern car with something of a traditional feel to it. I never owned one but rode in several. They always impressed me.
Well shoot it is totalled and the registration expires this month. The fellow in one of your photos is amusing indeed.
Here in Portland, OR K-Cars are rare and the most common body style of the 6 or so I see a year is probably the wagon. Here is a Reliant coupe I found on Xmas.
Dare I post our 1981 Reliant again? Sure, why not. A great car for the time. Ours was the base, absolutely stripped model, too – and we enjoyed it. Compared to the land yachts, our Reliant was like driving a sports car by comparison.
Looks like a Volare / Aspen across the street in white
Yes, those cars almost share the design goals, even the fuel economy ( the higher the better )
The blue one looks like a Dodge Royal Monaco.
Mopar Avenue U.S.A? 🙂
Yes – the Dodge dealer was .6 miles away at the intersection of our street and a main drag. For those familiar with Florissant, MO, Thunderbird Dr. & Lindbergh Blvd.
Marty Cancila Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep/Ram. Quite an empire he has.
Chrysler/Plymouth dealer was only about a mile-and-a-half. No longer there.
I had a “Baron Red” 2 door K-car assigned to me as a company car. 2.2 non turbo fuel injected engine, 4 (or 5???) speed manual tranny (nobody else wanted “a stick shift”; I was quite pleased to get it!), power steering, factory A/C, am-fm two door speakers radio, tan cloth interior with a fold down arm rest, hand crank windows, no other accessories.
Nothing fancy, but it was a reliable car that did what it was built to do quite well. If you shifted the gears properly it was peppy enough (for the time period), freezing cold A/C (SO very desired in New Orleans!), rode well enough, never required more than just routine maintenance in 85K miles that I had it.
It was quite a step up from the Ford Escort they company gave me when first hired!
I tried to get various relatives to buy it when it’s time was up; but (again) nobody wanted a stick shift.
Their loss!
This was our 85 Reliant SE – 2.2 L fuel injection 4 door. Got over 300,000 Kms out of that car in 10 years, it was a very good purchase.
What a coincidence.
Yesterday, on our way to Golden Corral in Springfield, MA, me and my girlfriend made a pit stop in East Freetown.
In the plaza, parked exactly like the car in the photo was a K car coupe, looked like a Plymouth Reliant, because of the egg-crate grille.
Same car in the pic, but gray instead.
K cars are death traps. Struggling Chrysler made these cars as light and cheap as possible by means of very cut rate materials.
My uncle had a ’82 Dodge Aries and he was broadsided on the driver’s side by a driver of a ’70s Ford Granada going 40 MPH. The driver of the Granada had only minor injuries, but my uncle didn’t fare too well. He was in intensive care for over a month and required physical therapy for years following the accident. He was 63 at the time and only lived to be 67. He was never the same after that accident.
My dad purchased a new 1985 Dodge 600 sedan back in the fall of 1984. After three years of an unhappy ownership experience, my dad swore off American cars for good and got himself a lovely 1988 Accord which he drove for ten trouble free years.
Great find! Haven’t seen a Reliant 2-door in ages (and not many 4-doors in recent years for that matter) and on that note, I don’t think I’ve seen a car with this significant body damage still on the roads. Surely this type of damage is grounds for getting pulled over, and having the car possibly impounded. This driver is running on borrowed time in more ways than one.
Just recently, there was a dark blue 1988 Plymouth Reliant sedan on Southeastern, MA Craigslist.
It was being sold for only $500…Just said it needed a “lil love”. 🙂
The ad expired, don’t know if there were any takers or not.
I always thought that the Aries K looked great when it was introduced in Hot Rod Magazine back then, no matter what the mechanical value was! Still quite stylish for a squared off American car. Many Gov. cars in fleets were Aries K cars. Too bad they are getting rare. Still some die cast models on eBay for sale. Needs a little love!
There was talk of a Chrysler/ Ford merger proposed by lee Iaccoca with proposed Ford, Mercury and Lincoln’s all based on the K-car. Henry Ford II refused to even read it. Is there a copy of the proposals out there to see what the K-car Ford, Mercury and Lincoln’s would have looked like?
It sounds like an urban legend but why would Henry Ford ll have read it? He was King at Ford and he already fired Iacocca once. To be a Ford stylist and propose a K- car based anything to HFll would have been a career ending move.
I believe this was in an interview about the recession in regards as how to protect American market share in the global market. Ford II may have fired Iacocca but Lee was probably responsible for more of Fords success than Ford II. My money says if Ford had to save Chrysler it would not have ended well. A million Mustangs in two years and built for a song. FordII lived in the shadow of Iacocca.
Lee Iacocca did have a very successful run at Ford and then HFll fired him. With the history of these two men considered, there was no way that a merger of the two companies would have ever happened, and I don’t think that either man would have entertained the idea. As I said before I believe that this was just an urban legend.
Chrysler has had a history of keeping an older car in production and still finding buyers right up to the end. We see the Dart/Valiant/Duster A bodies surviving a decade and going from the Kennedy era right into the Ford/Carter presidency. Then we see the Aspen/Reliant doing the same from 1975-1988 finding success even as a Chrysler Fifth Avenue. Then the K-car comes along and once again we see Chrysler keeping that vehicle running for an absurdly long time as well. So why did that happen? Are Chrysler products holding their own against the continually improved competition? Or are buyers of Chryslers the cheapest people to ever get behind a wheel?
Nerds bought new 1974 Valiant. Then they bought those Diplomats. Then they bought those K-car Americas? How many versions of Honda Accords did we see during that time? How many different GM and Ford compacts? What’s with these buyers? What the hell are they driving today?
Wasn’t a big fan of the 1985 ’rounded edge’ design polish. Seemed slightly contrived to me then, for such a basic car, and honest, practical design. Who are you trying to impress?
Steve Magnante expresses the K-Car’s virtues well…
Without wanting to blow my own horn too loudly, or dis Mr. Magnante; I think I did a better job staying on-topic.
You are a defacto source of everything K-Car related. Magnante is very knowledge on many automotive topics, and does his research. But when he records these segments, he often appears to improvise. Wandering into other unrelated topics. May be deliberately showing off his broad knowledge, somewhat. To impress some viewers. He also appears targeting a more general car interest audience, than the better informed, and Mopar-aficionado, folks you reach.
I’m also not even a little bit interested in being an “influencer”.
He does do a lot of hustling for auctions, classic car dealers… and junkyards.
Sitting here in Denmark, with a European perspective, these 2-door K-cars look too small to be sedans at all. In Europe this size of car would be a three door hatch. Although there are some small sedans that look right, they don´t follow the K-car model. Some proportions have to change.
In Ireland there was a period in the the 30s when very tiny, two-story single family homes were built. They´d have been better off as a bungalows and save space on the stair well but people wanted two floors because that´s what a “proper” house had. This two-door K-ar is like that. It´s simply below the length when a formal three volume body makes sense in combination with a very formal look. The BMW 318 E30 works; so does the 1979 VW Jetta A1 Typ 16. This car, on the other hand, is daft, like a doll´s house.