Looking at one of these 1990-94 Chrysler LeBaron sedans is like spying a handsome middle-aged gentleman across the bar. He’s got some nicely polished dress shoes on, his suit is crisp and well-fitted if a little conservative. “He’s not bad to look at,” you think. And then you look up at his head and you see he’s wearing one nasty toupee. He’s too self-conscious to go all Bruce Willis and shave his head, and instead he’s dressing his dome with a thoroughly unconvincing hairpiece. Why?!
The AA-Body sedans – Chrysler LeBaron, Dodge Spirit and Plymouth Acclaim – were as conservatively-styled as any of Iacocca’s K-derived sedans. Just take a look at that vertical rear backlight! Despite this, they were sufficiently rounded off at the corners to look modern and they’ve aged relatively well. They were also blessed with better proportions than the larger K-derived sedans like the Chrysler Imperial. This example – photographed in Mexico, where it was sold as the New Yorker – is particularly handsome with its lacy-spoked alloy wheels and silver paint. But then that puffy landau roof sticks out like a painful goitre, and this angle just accentuates the pretentious protrusion. Again, I must ask: why?!
Photographed in Roma Norte, Mexico City.
I always liked these cars, BECAUSE of the padded roof! A hint of “glamour from an era gone by”…. along with the “crystal” hood ornament! As well as opera windows, coach lamps, white wall tires and spoke wheels. Oh, how I wish I could buy a new car with these touches today! I am only 48 years young, and, obviously, I’m one of the few guys who have these preferences!
(I could not edit my above comment for some odd reason) Anyway – I never knew that Chrysler sold this Le Baron Landau as the New Yorker in Mexico. How unusual!
I would say at an age approaching 50, it’s very natural to start the preference of emblems, white wall tires and vinyl roof on cars. Sometimes the grumpiness comes with it too.
I think that’s the sign of aging, with few other things ( in the Detroit auto show around recent years, after going through the show, I asked my companion if we missed anything: “did we see Jaguar, Range Rover and MG-Rover?” He thought for a while: “neither of them came this time, and Rover is out of business for a while”
At the same time, I see plenty of younger ( relatively ) people driving older ( relatively ) cars. I saw a Lark in Pontiac during 2015 summer, and all four of them don’t look very old ( even though I’m younger ) and two years prior, i saw a very youngish looking boy in a two door studebaker, I was surprised then.
Love your comment about the cars you didn’t see at the show. Reminds me of when Hyundai first used their H-in-an-oval logo. I saw a car with it and got really excited because I though Hupmobile was back.
I wouldn’t say it’s a sign of grumpiness or age since I liked these design touches when I was 14, and I’m now 52. I really liked the previous generation Lebaron with it’s laudau style vinyl roof, pinstripes and colour-keyed wheel covers, and I like this version too. I also liked the AMC Concord and the Lincoln Versailles. Today’s cars are just so bland in comparison.
To each his own.
Frank Bray
I agree I’m almost 42 and I can say that with a straight face that when I was a youngster (about age 12 or 13). I thought seeing a rag top, leather carriage top, white wall tires, and an abundance of chrome on a car was amazing. It looked so grand to me then.
Of course carriage tops with opera lamps, and white wall tires a a distant pass in today’s world.
Old habits die hard, especially considering the old minded buyers of many cars. Maybe to them, the same landau roof from the ’60s on Imperial is just like yesterday.
In 2017, the same type of people maybe find the vinyl roof on Diplomat SE as a founding memory from just yesterday, and choose to add it accordingly. Seen on Telegraph Rd near West Bloomfield, Mi.
Eh, living in central Florida, we see this stuff daily. Seems like codgers like the brougham-version editions enough that dealers add the top and trim to several models and sell the heck out of them. At least they no longer seem to put the “fake convertible” vinyl roof on them any more, at least I have not seen one in a while. However, you saw tons of Buick Sedans with that applied to their otherwise fine top.
orangechallenger
You are so correct. Some people just cannot let the 80’s and late 70’s go no matter what.
I learned how to drive-in a Plymouth Acclaim (sister car to the LeBarron). Back when I took Driver’s Ed in High School (1992). I remember pressing the gas pedal of the Acclaim (was like a 1990 or 1991 model if I recall), which was super butter soft. Like pressing on air.
The Acclaim/LeBarron oddly had a very narrow thin gas pedal. So your foot actually covered the entire gas pedal while driving!
I’m not sure what type of engine the “student grade” driver’s education K-Cars had in them. However, I do remember that little sucker was very very swift on the take off.
Memories….gotta love em.
As to the question of why a middle-aged man would sport a party hat (what we gleefully call a bad toupee), usually it boils down to the fact that he has other, um, “shortcomings” and is compensating. A guy who shaves his head has a bit of self-confidence. A guy in a wig does not. Sadly the wig only makes things more obvious, so the net effect is more negative.
Luckily later North American AA LeBarons could come in a “non-toupee” version — well at least in Canada anyway. A very nice looking automobile indeed. In fact next years QOTD for top liked cars, I’ll probably add it to the list of favourites (so many choices…. sigh).
What bewilders me is how people will take a sharp looking (subjective taste, granted), late model Mercury Grand Marquis or similar automobile and tack on (and I mean tack on) a “coach style” vinyl roof treatment typically seen in Florida (apparently). What the h— are people thinking when they do that? Honestly.. It’s like putting on a wig when you already have a nice head of hair (even though logically speaking most cars are “bald” from the factory these days.)
Vinyl roof doesn’t look too bad on Grand Marquis, as the roofline still goes with it. Lincoln MKZ or other 6-window larger sedans really look bad with it as the roofline and side windows don’t look right when it’s reshaped by the roof. A 2014 impala with vinyl roof looks as bad as a 91 caprice with vinyl roof. 2010s Buick LaCrosse looks otherwise good with it, if it’s done right. Considering the number of Lincoln MKS I see, I’m curious to see how it works on the new continental.
I’ve also seen AA LeBarons sans vinyl south of the (Canadian) Border. One used to park in the same deck as me at work about 5 years ago.
I saw a Lincoln MKS with a vinyl roof just yesterday–not a good look. Not at all.
Why? Shave it off, and the fact that this obviously a Plymouth Acclaim with a different grille and a full-width reflector panel between the taillights becomes even more painfully obvious.
What a perfect metaphor for these roofs after, say 1980. Sorry but there isn’t a roofline after that year that wears a top that bulges an inch and a half above the natural flowing body lines around it well, even the formal ones like these. The eras it harkins back to would be ashamed at these kinds of treatments, as they were far better at the integration of these things, even in the 70s.
I actually didn’t terribly mind the half-vinyl roof on my ’91 Crown Vic. Of course that car was designed in ’78 and simply had the corners rounded in ’88, so maybe it fits the criteria.
There was a more heavily padded version that also used a (presumably fiberglass) extension to straighten the back window closer to vertical, much like the M-body 5th Avenue. *That* one I did not like on the CV/GM.
Count me out — can’t stand near-vertical backlights or vinyl roofs of any type, especially the dealer-added coach types.
I like curves, thank you very much!
Urf, yeah, Lido and his infernal padded vinyl “landau” half-roof. Eeeyuck! Long past its 1977 sell-by date, and really a disfigurement of everything he foisted it on. The LeBaron sedan looked a lot better without this tumerous growth on it. I bought such a car from my mother when at 120,000 miles she was done with it. A plain-roof ’92 with the wheezy 2.5 Four, column automatic, manual split bench seat, power locks and windows, 14″ wheels, front discs and rear drums. Really just a rebadged Acclaim. I put an exhaust system and some wheel bearings and brakes in it and drove it about 40,000 cheap, dependable miles before selling it on.
Ive never like vinyl roofs Ive owned several cars that had them but fortunately not cars with a 1920s greenhouse planted on a 70-90s bottom half, the Lidomobiles look like clown cars.
I could do with or without the landau treatment (I like the opera window, but not the half-vinyl roof or shorter rear window), but it was mandatory if you wanted the awesome loose-pillow velour interior.
Bought a 1994 in 1995 with no padded top. My wife was a road warrior piling on the miles and this thing did well. The local dealer also had a Hertz airport franchise and had 60 or 70 similar Labarons parked so closely together that I test drove 4 from the perimeter.
These cars all had similar mileage in the low 20,000’s, and some were much looser than others. There were only three colors available. Probably all had the same interior. A good appliance. Sold it at 88,000.
Even though it was clear that boxy and square were on the way out, I really loved how the AA cars looked. As William stated, they were rounded off enough on the corners to look more modern than the K cars from the 80s. I see this as an evolution of the H-bodys (Lancer/Lebaron GTS). I never liked the half vinyl roof, my preference were for the sportier looking cars. Spirit ES and Spirit RT.
I agree with most of the comments here, the only satisfactory use for such a use is for a stretch limo to avoid the need to get the roof panel metalwork perfect.
On the other hand I read about a new-generation Monaro (2002-2003, the same as a GTO) where the guy had put non-padded vinyl on together with stripes to mimic what was available (although the vinyl roof was very rare) on the original Monaro GTS.