I’m not a fan of stereotypes, but there is a reason the word was invented. And I’ve gotten fairly good at anticipating what stereotype the driver of a given car will likely reflect. That certainly was the case as I came up behind this absolutely pristine K Car (is it possible to tell which one from this shot? You will, undoubtedly). And as I came around, there she was, the kind of mom you quickly learned to avoid, like my one friend’s mom who wouldn’t let him or the other kids go anywhere but straight down to the basement after school…”can we play at my house next time?” Well, their house was always immaculate, to the extent I got a glimpse of it as we were shooed down the basement stairs.
So there I go, making assumptions from a brief glance of this woman’s (glowering) face. My bad. But her K car sure is immaculate.
Reminds me of my grandmother who would encase the carpeted floor mats in a plastic slipcover while putting them over a set of rubber floor mats in her car…(she was also the type who made sure you didn’t stray off the plastic carpet runner in her house)
My maternal aunt was the same way. Carpet runners over everything, her couch and matching chair had slipcovers since they were bought in 1950. Unfortunately, 55 years of casual use led to a beautiful worn out sofa, given away, when she passed.
I get this. When I was a kid in the early 70s there were stereotypical drivers of most kinds of cars. For example, early-70s full-sized Plymouth sedans tended to be driven by overweight moms who wore doubleknit polyester pants.
Stereotypes still hold. Check the driver of the next Sebring convertible you pass by. Bet she’s mid-40’s, about 20-30 pounds overweight, and a bleached blonde.
The CC Effect! I saw a nice(?) Aries K on the way home today. Light blue – similar driver. How long did they keep the “K” as part of the name??
The side trim says ’88 or ’89 Plymouth Reliant America. If you turned back the clock to let’s say, 1967, this older lady would be driving a ’49 Plymouth DeLuxe . . . probably sky blue, grey, or light green.
I’m 21 years old and I own 3 of them here is my 81
Beautiful!
Great cars. I’m 60, and last year I bought a 85 LeBaron convertible on a whim. A very enjoyable fun car. Little old lady owned, with 32K on the clock. As Costanza might sing, “Drivin’ around in Jon Voight’s car.”
That would be “John” Voight, D.D.S. 🙂
P.S. If you’re looking for number 4 and 5, Ebay currently has 2 gold convertibles like mine. Unlike mine, both have the turbo, which should increase performance.
I didn’t realize there were so many convertibles out there.
That’s a really nice Reliant! Shows off the basic goodness of that design.
Makes you wonder how a company capable of making such durable cars wound up flushing down the toilet. I guess getting raped by MB was a good start in that direction.
It was more of a merger that turned into a mugging/home invasion. Poor Chrysler lost fat bankroll and then MB followed them home to clean that out too.
I remember a news account shortly after the Germans started setting up shop in Auburn Hills. Lutz left; and he was followed by large numbers of Chrysler and AMC veterans. And somebody…wasn’t Schrempp; don’t think it was Dieter Zetsche either…some Daimler functionary said of the departing legions:
“We do not, repeat NOT, need those people!”
Don’t bother Googling; it’s not on the Web that I’ve found. But I remember thinking – correctly, as it turned out – that “those people” are what made Chrysler of the 1990s, Chrysler. Without it, it was just a branch plant of Daimler’s with a lot of very-expensive administrative overhead.
It’s a shame, as I commented elsewhere, that the winning Chrysler team couldn’t be re-assembled to resuscitate the company. But they’re variously too old or too comfortable elsewhere; and the regulatory situation too different.
Somewhere later the K-car lady met up with a clean 87 silver Century Custom, beige 88 Taurus L and 89 blue Cutlass Calais and they played canasta.
Carmine: Post of the day! Well done, sir.
+1!
The woman looks about 65-ish from the hairstyle. Like “Phyliss” in the “Office” TV show. I would bet this ‘Phyliss’ inherited the car from her parent, who would have been 65-ish when K cars were new.
Today’s 60 y/o is a Baby Boomer in jeans who was a teen when Beatles were huge. The polyester pant suit generation is now Betty White’s age, 91ish.
The CC Effect strikes again–I saw a white “Arieliant” coupe at the grocery store today. Unfortunately I was unable to get a pick, as it was leaving. It appeared to be an ’85-’89 facelift model. Cool to see a two-door; even the sedans are scarce these days.