(All the pictures from this post are taken from Google image search. None are of the actual cars)
Act 1: 1992 Plymouth Acclaim
I had just gotten a new job with a good raise (relatively speaking) and was ready for a newer car. I was very happy with my last COAL and was looking for something similar; namely, a reliable no frills conveyance. Since Dad found me my last vehicle, I asked him if he might be able to locate another “good one” for me again. Sure enough, he delivered in the form of a 42,000 mile one owner 1992 Plymouth Acclaim.
The AA bodies, the Chrysler LeBaron, Dodge Spirit and Plymouth Acclaim were evolved replacements of the K Cars. Engines ranged from the basic 100 hp 2.5 liter four which my car had, to the legendary 224 HP DOHC engine found in the Spirit RT
The previous owner of my Acclaim was an Executive of a large corporation who used the car as a daily driver/beater to commute to his office 10 miles away. In his garage, he had much nicer “high end” automobiles which he used for pleasure. The Acclaim was garage kept, well maintained, and immaculate. It was the nicest beater I had ever seen. However, aside from automatic, cruise, and air, it was a stripper. It did not even have a radio!
The interior, while basic, was actually very nice. The seats were very comfortable for long trips. I installed a nice stereo and the car served me well as a daily driver. The internet picture above does not show it clearly, but in the actual car, there was a gap between the front bucket seats. I’m guessing a console was optional and not ordered. My wife thought it was great because her purse fit perfectly in that spot.
I found the instrument panel attractive as well. Straightforward and clear with cruise control switches on the steering wheel. I used the cruise a lot on our numerous Maryland to New Jersey trips. I also liked the shelf above the climate control. It was perfect for storing parking and New Jersey Turnpike toll cards in the days before EZ Pass.
From a styling perspective, the front end bore a slight passing resemblance to a Mercedes Benz (or a Plymouth Reliant). I owned the car during the Chrysler merger with Daimler so my friends and family would tease me and say I owned a Mercedes!
From the beginning it was obvious that it was not a sports sedan. This is the only car that I have been pulled over in for going too slow! However, I must say that I found it to be smooth riding, competent, and quite comfortable.
My best memory of the car is Christmas night in 1999. We had just gotten the car and were driving my wife’s grandmother back to her home in Perry Hall, Maryland. I remember her sitting in the back seat remarking…”Fred, this is a nice car…what kind of car is this? I like this car!” When we got back to her house, she lit up her Christmas decorations, and we had a nice Christmas celebration just the three of us. That night, I felt that she became my Grandmother too.
Aside from minor driver’s door damage from a hit and run while the car was parked which I never did fix, the car needed nothing. Despite “extended” oil change intervals, it stayed true, never once stranding me or needing a single repair.
Prior to getting this car, my vehicles figured very prominently in my memories. I realize now that this was in part because the “eccentric” qualities of my previous cars ensured that any trip in them was far from uneventful. This car was the opposite, despite the fact that huge life milestones like getting married, buying a house, and moving back to New Jersey occurred during my ownership of this car. Aside from the Christmas memory I wrote about above, it does not figure prominently in my remembrances of those days. Maybe it’s because it worked as it should and nothing ever went wrong with it.
In the end, that’s why I got rid of it. It was pretty boring albeit very reliable, one of the most reliable cars I have ever owned. One day, on my way home from work, I saw a car from my past, a car that I always wanted. Impulsively that afternoon, the Acclaim was replaced by a future COAL which you will read about in two weeks.
Act 2: 1991 Chrysler New Yorker
My past few cars had been fairly utilitarian vehicles and I was having some serious Brougham withdrawal. Dad and his extra cars came to the rescue again.
In a previous COAL, I talked about my Dad’s policy of keeping extra cars around “in case someone needs them,” he would say. This time he had just the thing to cure my Brougham longings…a 1991 Chrysler New Yorker with 114,000 “little old lady” miles. Like my previous K car based “luxury sedans,” the C Body New Yorkers were also derived from the K Car. At the time, I was looking for something unique and traditionally comfortable. This vehicle delivered the goods.
On the inside, it had the fake wood and front bench seat that was standard fare on the American land yachts that I knew and loved.
On the outside, it had the oh so familiar upright grill with hood ornament, hidden headlights, and landau roof. While it did have strange proportions, it had all the prerequisite trimmings.
I had first encountered this generation of New Yorker when I stayed over a friend’s house for Spring Break a few years back. His Dad had a brand new one. It had the Bill Blass look as described here. I remember going out to dinner in it. Comfortable blue leather seats, smooth ride, and the soulful sound of Kenny G playing from its Chrysler Infinity sound system.
When my Dad gave us use of his New Yorker, we became a three car family with my wife’s car (next week’s COAL), my Plymouth Acclaim, mentioned above, and the New Yorker. We now had more cars than people.
Our New Yorker was brown with wire wheels. The exterior was flawless and the car was obviously garage kept.
The interior was red cloth and very comfortable. Yes, it did have the weird proportions, and the mini limo look but I found it roomy, especially the trunk. Maybe it was because it was just my wife and I; so there was plenty of room for the two of us. It did make for a pretty good daily driver.
Mechanically speaking, while reliable, the car seemed tired. There was a strange creaking and squeaking coming from the front end. Also, the 3.3 liter V6 engine ran OK but according to the oil pressure gauge, read a bit on the low side when the car warmed up. Enough to make me a little nervous anyway.
I eventually traded it and my Plymouth Acclaim for a COAL you will be reading about in two weeks.
This post is so titled because it is so deja vu with my COAL from a few weeks back. Both involved my Dad and his extra cars. It also made me rethink what I thought was my Dad’s affinity for GM cars. In writing this series, it made me realize that he had quite a few memorable Mopar vehicles in his collection as well.
$700, 4000miles, 3 months. I learned to drive in snow in this car. From my previous driving experience, I know cars usually would drift or fishtail on slippery surfaces. It’s true to me until I drive the New Yorker. The weight distrubution and extra length make the car handle like twice in the size, and it NEVER oversteers, no matter how hard and fast I turn the steering wheel on icy, snowy Michigan roads, which makes me completely confused. It only merely loses control and slide wherever the car wants, but never oversteers. As a result ( plus lacking of experience in driving at the same time , I hit the curb and stuck in ditch in Gaylord, Greyling, Roscommon, West Branch, Flint, Southfield, basically along the route in drive-through when I travel on I-75. By the time I upgrade to LeSabre, my driving skill improves so much that I drive better than my parents ( they stick to their Chevrolet Cruze though, in china. Chevrolet Cruze has similar weight distrubution as New Yorker though, very heavy in front and very under steer. )
The car is really comfortable though, and it’s extremely roomy. It’s nearly as roomy as a Lincoln Town Car L ( but narrower ) with plenty of room on floor. And I like how vertical rear window never gets snow accumulated ( except the snow on trunk all covered up to roof )
After the car gave up to rust, i got it scraped for $300, and I took the crystal hood emblem back to China, my dad really likes the decoration and my mom puts it in a little box with sponge intended for rings and leaves it by the bigger television in the living room as a nice emblem for the family to remind them of my existence in Michigan…
Pardon my directnes, but reading about these 2 reliable but “boring” vehicles, I see the typical ‘American’ attitude. Dependable and reliable is just not good enough!
Is there anyone here who is “just satisfied” with the car they own and drive?
I take pride in driving my 2, nearly 30 year old ‘K’ car cousins as well as their 4 year younger mate, my Chrysler TC by Maserati. All 3 have well over 200,000 miles on them and any one of them is capable of a cross country trip any time.
The stories above seem to prove that the ‘K’ cars were really excellent automobiles, but were ignored for their potential longevity because they were “boring”.
Oh, but the same people who had reliable but “boring” American cars such as these will buy a boring-as-pablum Toyota Camry and say it’s the greatest thing since sliced (plain, spongy, cottony) grocery store white bread.
I’ve owned a 1998 Mitsubishi Magna for the last 6 years or so, which is exactly that dependable, boring vehicle you describe. Despite being a manual, it’s completely dull to drive, but it’s comfortable, reliable, very practical and cheap to run. It has years of dependable motoring left in it.
We couldn’t bear the dullness any more, so I’ve bought a 1981 mini to replace it. In most empirical tests it is a lesser vehicle, except that it is an absolute blast to drive! We have another reliable practical vehicle for long trips, so we’re not being completely impractical. You’re right, it wasn’t a sensible purchase – dependable and reliable just weren’t good enough. However, my wife loves it to bits (it’s her car in theory) and I love driving it. No regrets.
I think you will find the folks that follow this website are a group of people that love cars and not your typical American who considers a car an appliance to get to point A and B. Most American want a reliable car(hence why the Camry has been the best seller for almost 20 years)
Your K cars and Jersyfred’s K cars are an exception to the rule and not indicative of K car reliability. These cars were unreliable cars that you were lucky if you could get 5 years out of the car before it blew a head gasket or a transmission. In my family we had two K cars (a Aries K (bought new) and a Lebaron) and both blew headgaskets with in the first 60,000 miles and my folks baby their cars.
Chrysler sold thousands of K cars and its derivatives and yet few were still on the road by the late 1990’s let alone today. By contrast, everywhere you look you can spot a 82-96 Century or Ciera (try finding a 1990 Dynasty) They were rubbish cars .
Nothing wrong with boring and reliable. When you drive 14 miles on the freeway to work at 20-50 mph in the morning and night what more do you need. Especially so when that is 80% of your miles on the car. That sums up my daily use of a 2004 Focus ZTS and 91 Mazda 626 hatchback. The only thrill one can get is the 90 degree exit curve to the right and the 270 degree exit where I can double the speed limit in the ZTS at a minimum. However, even with my older cars, the most you will do is go out for a cruise on the weekend as even then traffic isn’t any better. That eliminates any high powered cars unless you like to drive at 2 am along with the Highway Patrol.
There’s a place for boring. My daily driver is a ’97 Crown Vic, and while I do have some panther love, that car is dreadfully boring to drive. It’s not fast, it doesn’t handle well, it’s not entertaining. It’s not even up to snuff as an “isolation chamber” as it the front shocks are worn so the ride isn’t as soft as it should be. But I keep driving it despite the boredom because it’s so solid, dependable, and reliable, plus everything works properly–even the A/C. In the two years that I’ve owned it, I’ve put about $800 into it, mostly for repairs of wear items (rear shocks, ball joints). That’s a pretty impressive cost of ownership, especially considering I didn’t pay anything for it originally (my parents generously gave it to my wife and I after her previous car expired).
Would I like more excitement? Sure. But it’s sure also nice, maybe nicer, to know that I have a reliable car that costs me almost nothing other than fuel, as opposed to a monthly payment or a hole in my bank account where several thousand dollars used to be!
Back in 1991, I was shopping for a new car. I was 28 years old, and needed a comfortable car for my 15 mile commute here in central NJ and for a weekend pleasure car. I did a lot of homework, had a limited budget, and decided that I was going to Reedman’s, a huge car dealership in Langhorne, PA, that sold about 12 different car brands, all under one roof. They even had a test track in the back where you test drove the cars.
Since Reedman sold Chrysler, Dodge, Plymouth, Mercury, Chevy, etc. I was going to test drive and compare the Spirit, Acclaim, Topaz, and the Lumina. That day, I ended up walking out of Reedman’s with a beautiful 1991 Dodge Spirit ES. It was white with white snowflake wheels, and had a grey cloth bucket seat interior. It was fully loaded with every option except the sunroof, and I believe I paid less than $12K for it.
Let me tell you, even though this car was basically an “old man’s car”, the ES version was very sporty. It totally transformed the car into something that actually looked good. It had a matching white grill, all white body side molding, and some spoilers attached to the bottom of the bumpers and along the bottom of the body. This was set off by grey pinstripes that matched the interior.
The interior was pretty nice too. The cloth used on the seats and door panels was very high quality. The pattern on the seats was cool, cause it was multi- toned grey/black/red and looked kind of sporty. I also liked the dash layout and it had this little trip computer that told you many things, including the MPG. As I mentioned, this car had every option so I enjoyed power everything including drivers seat, high end stereo, cruise, full gauges, etc.
The powertrain was the Mitsubishi 3.1 litre V6. This was advertised on the front fenders with little grey decals that matched the pinstripe. It was an automatic, but I don’t recall if it was a 3 or 4 speed.
Ok, here’s the thing… This car ran and drove great. It was also very solid and built like a tank. I recall getting over 30 mpg on the highway which was pretty amazing. It was very comfortable, had great visibility, handled pretty good, and ran without any problems. Everyone who saw that car said it was good looing and thought it was a real sport sedan. I would laugh and tell them, but it’s an “old mans car”. So, the car was then nicked named, “The Sporty Old Mans Car”.
After about a year, the car would mysteriously just die as you were driving it. You could be on a highway, or street, and the engine would just shut down. Pretty dangerous and scary. I ended up bring the car directly to the dealer. Of course it wouldn’t happen as they test drove it. After about 5 visits, they installed this computer monitor on the car which included a panic type button which they left on the console. I was instructed to press the button when the car stalled and then bring the car in so they can read the monitor. I had the monitor on the car for about 1 month and of course, it never stalled! The dealer called me up and told me that I needed to bring the car back as they needed the monitor back. But, they told me that they spoke with Chrysler management about the situation and that a rep from Chrysler would be meeting with me and the service manager when I brought the car in.
Reedman’s was a very good dealership, and it was worth the 45 minute drive to do business with them. So I bring my Sporty Old Man car to Reedman’s, meet with the gentleman from Chrysler and the service manager, and they told me that they were going to keep the car as long as it took to determine the problem and correct it. I was very happy with that response. They set me up with a free loaner car (it was a base model Plymouth Acclaim with the 4 cyl and very few options) and I went on my merry way.
A few weeks later, I get a call from Reedman’s that they identified the problem and the car is fine. They had to replace the throttle body, a few computer things, and something else. So I drove over to Reedman’s, met with the service director, thanked him very much, turned in my Acclaim loaner, and drove away in my “Sporty Old Man’s Car”.
I was so happy to have my “Sporty Old Man’s Car” back and running. I never stalled again and it served me perfectly without any issues for over 100,000 miles. At around 120,000 miles, the Sporty Old Man Car started burning a bit of oil I decided that it was time for another trip to Reedman’s.
I gave my Sporty Old Man’s car to my brother to use as a beater. He kept the car for a few years, and just added oil and some additive to the engine when needed. He got good use out of the Sporty Old Man’s car too
My next car of choice was a new 1999 Dodge Intrepid. The car was beautiful in medium metallic grey with grey interior. The car was no where as nice as my Sporty Old Man’s Car. The quality was just not there. The car was tinny and the interior was very low budget. It had the worse quality plastics on the dash and the door panels, and the seats were covered with bad quality mouse fur. It was hard to drive this land yacht due to poor visibility from the giant sail panels and slope of the room.
I miss my Old Man’s Cars very much… It was a great car !!!
Agree about Reedmans and it’s been around a long time. Bought a 69 Dodge from them in 69. I have no stats but from my own observations youngsters get bored a lot quicker than old folks. Very happy driving my 200k 4Runner and was happy with my truck before that. Got talked out of the truck by my granddaughter and it cost me to do it. Our main car just seems to go on and on. Not bored.
Yeah, Reedman was a great place to buy a car. The sales staff treated you with respect, no high pressure or “bait and switch” tactics.Their prices were great and the many cars they had on the lot were bound to offer you the colors or options you wanted. After my mother`s 1992 Dodge Spirit that she bought at Reedmans was totalled in a chemical truck spill on RT 9 in NJ late in`92, she bought a `93 Lumina at Reedman in early `93, but thats another story.
That’s a nice summary of the Spirit ES. I once rented one. I did not seek it out but Thrifty handed me the keys. This was easily the most exciting rental car I ever had. It’s a real sleeper that scoots.
It is definitely my favorite K-Car Variant.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/qotd/qotdpoll-whats-your-favorite-k-car-variant/
“A real Sleeper”.
Sounds funny referring to a Dodge Spirit as a sleeper, but having owned a Plymouth Acclaim with the V6 for 8 years, I definitely agree.
If it weren’t for the oil burning issues and the bad transmissions; it would have been a perfect car.
What’d you think of the competition that you checked out?
Nice manufacturer after sales care. I had a Mercedes A class and MBUKs attitude was ” f–k you” .
Did the New Yorker/5th Avenue/Imperial classify as full-size cars, considering that were the same with as the Acclaim/Spirit.
They were both longer and wider than the Acclaim/Spirit. They had a longer wheelbase, too.
I think they were considered mid-sized, although they might have nudged into full-size territory by an inch or so. I remember seeing them in car magazine comparos paired with the Taurus, Camry, Accord, ect.
In 1988, I was working for a government agency where we kept five ‘staff cars’ available to use for business travel. Our facility was new that year, so we got five new cars all at the same time. We had a couple Reliants, a Fifth Avenue, a LeBaron, and a ‘used-but-never-used’ old last-production-year Chevy Citation which somehow got pawned off on us by a sister agency.
It was interesting to compare the cars- the Fifth Avenue was supposedly the ‘Top Dog’ intended for the use of the Facility Chief. The K cars were the low end heavy-use cars, and the Citation was in the fleet because it saved on our budget and the agency that gave it to us got to buy something else. The most interesting car was the LeBaron but with no flash trim or markings. It had the turbo engine and a handling package suspension. Supposedly, it was intended for use as an unmarked FBI car but after ordering a group of them (I have no idea how many) the FBI elected to go with Buick Grand Nationals instead. The GSA had accepted delivery of the LeBarons because they were contractually obligated, and offered it to us at a special price to get rid of it.
It was very interesting to compare the different cars. The Fifth Avenue was old-school with the 318 and RWD…. it was supposed to be the ‘best’ and most luxurious car, but the LeBaron was far, far superior. The Fifth Avenue seemed like a pickup truck with a luxury car body on it compared to the faster, quieter, more comfortable, and just as roomy LeBaron. The LeBaron was a revelation of how good Chryslers cars could be. I really admired that car, and drove it almost exclusively although I could have used the Fifth Avenue.
That experience was a good thing because the Reliants, while reliable, were, well, unpleasant. They were strippers (with AC, automatics, and air) and definitely penalty boxes. One of them always stalled at idle if the AC was on, and I ripped a sports jacket sleeve on the poorly finished and assembled ‘chrome’ window trim of one of them while exiting the car one day. They were clearly just slapped together vehicles that were intended as the Model T’s of the 80’s IMHO. The Capitalist Answer to the need for a cheap vehicle for the working man where every penny had been saved including a few that really should have been spent.
The Citation just depressed me. It was reliable enough and comfortable enough, and I never had any problems with it, but – I always called it ‘The People’s Car’. It was a hideous beige color with matching interior and it just seemed exactly the car that the Soviets would have issued the Proletariat had they been capable of making it, down to the 85 MPH speedometer. Roomy enough, and comfortable enough, and fast enough…but just so plain and practical and it did everything you needed but not one damn thing more. Yes, you probably could carry a pony and four comrades in it when commuting to the collective farm, but I always longed for the flash and flair of the old 60’s and 70’s Chevy’s when I drove it – it just always reminded me that I was only a neckties low-level bureaucrat (and party-member) working for the American equivalent of The Soviet.
On the other hand, that LeBaron made me just love being an American with the freedom to travel, baby, travel!
My dad had a similar car – a ’93 Acclaim that he bought with the insurance money after his ’95 Neon was totalled when an old lady in a Renault Encore t-boned him.
Beige on Beige, 4 cylinder. He bought it from Belle Meade Garage, a small-town NJ Chrysler/Plymouth dealer that had it’s franchise yanked during the Carpocolypse. When he bought it, he also test drove a Duster (a Sundance with the 3.0 V6) that I was really hoping he would buy and eventually pass on to me, but he said it was too “noisy”.
It was pretty reliable and did the job, and even though I drove it a few times, including making the NJ-MD trip to college in it after my own K-car LeBaron finally died, I can’t remember much about it.
Jerseyfred, your COALs make sure the K-Car goes on my list of potential old cars to own.
Fred, I like your COAL’s, I just haven’t had any of the same cars myself so don’t have a lot of relevant commentary. I did think the Acclaim and Spirit were attractive cars though, both inside and out! Keep it up…
Thanks Jim. Means a lot. It was your COAL series that inspired me to do my own.
I know it’s not Kenny G, but that part made me think of this:
ROFL…thanks
I have come to respect the Acclaim. I recall looking at one when they first came out but was put off by how old fashioned it looked inside. That dash still reminds me of the 79 R body Newport. But this may have been the best car built by the “New” Chrysler.
The Acclaim and Spirit were relatively reliable cars but suffered from many bugaboos. We always were very careful at the auctions and used car dealers when examples became available. About 3 out of 6 would have a leaking head gasket which wasn’t a huge deal as long as it was caught early on and not stuffed up with 10 LBS of stop leak. The 2.2 and 2.5 engines suffered from piston pin knock and valve cover leaks were frequent companions. The 3 speed automatic trans axle was pretty durable if serviced properly but certain cars suffered from frozen up linkeage that kept the tranny from shifting out of first gear. Also finding a Chrysler from this time era without a check engine light on was sometimes tough and the squeaky rattly interiors looked dated by the mid 90’s. With that said these cars did drive down the road fairly well and were comfortable to ride in. If the junk Mitsubishi 3.0 liter V6 was avoided one could generally expect well over 100 K miles with the Chrysler 4 bangers and one had to realize that spirited performance was not port of the equation unless the turbo mill or 3.0 V6 was specified. These cars were for sure superior to the K-cars and much more pleasant to drive.
The larger stretched Dynasty/New Yorker/Imperial clan were also pretty decent cars save the horrid Ultradrive transaxle. We had a guy that just did transmissions at our service center and he used to joke that he could do an Ultradrive in so many hours in his sleep and that was the most common unit he replaced with the Ford AXOD being next. The Chrysler built 3.3 and 3.8 V6 engines were far better than the oil burning Mitsubishi 3.0 liter engine. The interiors , while being narrow, were often quite comfortable and luxurious and they went down the road quietly. They felt so much more modern than the old 1982-89 Fifth Ave but reliability suffered in comparison.
In early 90’s, I used to travel for work and would be assigned ‘mid size cars’ which at rental agencies were Corsica/Tempo/Acclaim, not true mid size. Of the three, the Mopars were the best to drive, and felt better on unknown highways.
My latest “new” car purchase is an ’05 Buick Park Avenue w/ 104K miles. I spent $6,800 on it from a used car wholesaler. It has all of the toys you could buy in 2005. Never borrow money to buy a car! My 95 Olds Regency Elite finally started outspending it’s worth.
it mentions no radio but it looks like there’s a radio in that acclaim, unless that’s aftermarket.
These k based cars were nice. The acclaim was a little bland but the New Yorker was a classy ride. I’ve had a bit of both, a 1990 New Yorker landau, a 1993 New Yorker fifth avenue, and a 1990 plymouth acclaim LX. It was a sporty acclaim with lace aluminum rims, fog lamps and the 3.0 litre V6. The New Yorkers were plush and rode like dreams.