Let’s just get this out front. I love these cars. I have always loved these cars. But I have never been quite sure of the source of these cars’ hold on me. They were not exceptional for their power or styling, although they were no worse than competitive offerings. It certainly wasn’t the build quality, either. In fairness, though, this had improved quite a bit from Chrysler’s lows of the mid 70s. Maybe it was that this car seemed to represent a shift in what was coming out of the company. More bluntly, this finally looked like a car that I would not have to make excuses for liking. That, and the fact that it didn’t look so much like that cursed Volare.
Long after other brands developed a multiplicity of models, Chrysler remained a one-car division. The company finally reconsidered when it introduced “the small Chrysler” – the 1975 Cordoba. If the Cordoba was the small Chrysler, the new 1977 LeBaron was the teeney-weeney Chrysler. The LeBaron, and its Dodge Diplomat twin (CC here), were the beginnings of the M body, an up-market variant of the 1976 Volare and Aspen.
The 1977-79 LeBaron had been only moderately successful. Both the Ford Granada and the Cadillac Seville had shown that there was a big market for more luxury in a smaller package. But the original LeBaron never really ht the mark. The cars were not that attractive (anyone could see that they looked too much like the much cheaper Volare), and this was not a high period for Chrysler’s quality (please note the subdued understatement). But in the early fall of 1978, we drinkers of the Chrysler Kool-Ade were met with the news that Lee Iacocca (fresh from his firing by Henry Ford II) had accepted an offer to lead Chrysler out of the wilderness.
The heavily restyled 1980 LeBaron was one of the first new vehicles launched under Iacocca’s watch. Only a year earlier, the introduction of the 1979 R body had been a complete disaster. This car hit the ground much more smoothly. Finally, the car didn’t look quite so much like a Volare, and I considered it a big improvement. Mechanically, the car was pretty much a carry-over from the prior version. Either a 225 ci slant 6 or a 318 (5.2 L) V8 powered the car through a Torqueflite tranny with a lockup torque converter. But beyond the basics, there were significant improvements, not least was the extensive use of galvanized steel in the bodies. The bodies of Mopars from this era proved to be virtually impervious to rust-through in the snow belt. Not even the sainted GM B bodies resisted corrosion this well.
Also, the cars interiors were improved a lot. The LeBaron was not slotted as a luxury car (this was still the New Yorker’s job) but the quality of its interiors was nothing to be embarrassed over. The instrument panel (a carry-over from 1977-79) was traditional yet expensive looking with lots of buttons and chrome. Plus, it included both an ammeter and a temperature gauge, as was routine Chrysler practice at the time.
Unfortunately, these cars were introduced at perhaps the worst possible time. This car found itself in the middle of a perfect storm. First, Chrysler’s fortunes had been flagging for some time, and by late 1979, there were doubts that the company would survive, even with a Federal loan guarantee package. The deathly pallor of the company frightened off a lot of buyers. No matter how nice the cars may have seemed, recent experience had suggested that buyers were going to need no small amount of warranty service, so why take a chance on a company that might not be there to provide it. Second, the economy had begun its drop into one of the worst recessions of the postwar years and sales of everyone’s 1980 models tanked.
Finally, by the summer of 1979, gasoline prices started a 3 year long upward spiral which hammered the sales of larger cars. The LeBaron was probably hurt more than most. If you wanted a large V8 car, the R body Newport and New Yorker were there to give you real big-car roominess and ride. Although the LeBaron was significantly smaller in usable passenger and cargo room, the car used the same powertrains and did not provide much of an improvement in efficiency. The confluence of these currents made sure that these cars were relatively rare, even when new. My research indicates that about 33000 of these sedans were made (including all engines and trim levels), down from about 58000 sedans in 1979. Compare this with the nearly 110,000 Fifth Avenues in 1985 (at nearly double the price of this LeBaron), and you can see how poorly these cars sold.
An interesting side note to this car, is that in mid 1980, Chrysler farmed a job out to American Sunroof Corp. to build a small number of LeBarons with a cobbled-up rear roofline extension and other unique styling and trim touches. The result was 654 examples of what was called the LeBaron Fifth Avenue Limited Edition. After a hiatus in 1981 (the final year of the rear drive LeBaron before the name was transferred to a fancy K car), that car became the 1982 New Yorker Fifth Avenue, and then just the Chrysler Fifth Avenue in 1983-89. The Fifth Avenue remained as the final “traditional” Chrysler, and graced many a senior citizen’s garage in the 1980s and 90s, making a lot of money for Chrysler in the process.
I saw this particular car as it turned into a parking lot about 50 yards away from me. As I noticed the car, the thought flashed through my mind that this was not a Diplomat or a 5th Avenue, but their much rarer platform-mate, the 1980-81 LeBaron. I circled through the parking lot and thought I had lost the car, when I finally saw it, just as its owner was coming out of a store. John McCullough was kind enough to take a few minutes out of his day to let me photograph his car and to tell me a little about it. John, now retired, is the son of the original owner, who bought it around the time he retired. John’s father had owned a Plymouth and Dodge dealership in Findlay, Ohio for about 40 years, and this was his final choice for a new car. John has owned the car since 1989, and and it still only has about 80,000 miles on the clock. This particular car is the high-end Medallion series (as opposed to base or Salon trim), and is thus one of only about 13,000 made. A good number of those were the slant 6, so one of these with V8 power was a rare sight even in the 80s.
The car is driven regularly and has served its only family well. It has, however, been the recipient of some hard knocks on its driver’s side. John told me that at least the replacement door fixed a bad power window. Also, we can see that the galvanized steel in the body has done its job, as there is nary a rust hole anywhere on this old warrior. After our talk, John slid into the driver’s seat to leave. A single “Na-Rayre” from that old Chrysler starter and the well-tuned 318 sprang to life. I love those sounds.
As I recall my encounter with this old LeBaron, I think I understand my love for these cars a little better. This was an honest car that aimed for a disappearing segment of the market. It was nicer than the Diplomat, and lacked the excesses of the Fifth Avenue, which tried to be something that it was not. It was just a well-executed upgrade of a mid-priced mid-sized car, which fixed many of the problems that stemmed from the car’s flawed Volare platform. These were among the last cars with some of the old-school Chrysler touches but were the beneficiaries of some improved execution as the company entered the “New Chrysler” era. The result was a car that still had its issues and was not for everyone, but did (and continues to do) what a good Chrysler always did – outlast a lot of other cars.
Un fortunately Chrysler ran away from the south Pacific about this time so all we had were some warmed over Valiants dating from74 but we had the Hemi6.
None of these Chryslers were imported we got left in Mitsubishis incapable hands Seems odd the Hemi 6 wasnt taken stateside it really was a great engine geared starter and all
For cars, we had the 340 until performance was regulated into remission. Chrysler USA developed the hemi six to be a truck engine, then decided that the slant six had a good reputation for economy and the 318 LA would make a good upgrade without adding a new engine family.
When the hemi six might have made a bit of sense here as a car engine in the mid ’70s, the reality is that it wouldn’t have been able to establish itself with an 8 to 1 compression ratio, unleaded fuel, a thermal reactor, EGR, and whatever other awful attempts at controlling emissions were forced on us. Suppose it made 115 hp instead of 105 hp for the slant six. It wouldn’t have been worth the bother.
I always wondered about some of the dashboards of cars from that era – like this one. Lots of holes for gauges, but no gauges in the holes. What was the point?
JP, I have told this story a couple of times, but I owned a 1980 LeBaron coupe. My wife’s great-uncle (a WW1 vet) had finally stopped driving, and gave us the car! I had my doubts as I had repainted our 1981 Reliant a year before. When I examined the car after it was dropped off at our house, I saw it had A/C. Our Reliant didn’t. Car accepted, “For Sale” sign on the Reliant – neighbor down the street bought it immediately!
One problem: The entire driver’s side had been side-swiped! Now what do I do? I found out her uncle had an accident – he got too close to a semi and it hit him without the semi driver even knowing it had happened. He never stopped nor reported it. I decided to call his former insurance company. It turned out his insurance was still in force at the time of the accident, and, yes, they would fix the car! $50.00 deductable on $1.600 worth of damage (this was in 1988). 50 bucks! Chrysler did the work, and an excellent job, too. Later, another problem showed up – the rear axle on the driver’s side was bent, so I went back to the insurance company and Dodge fixed that too. Finally, the 225 kept eating water pumps. After the second pump in three weeks, I took it to my friend’s house for him to take a look. He wiggled the fan clutch – bad! Replace clutch, install third pump, the car immediately gained half again as much power and ran well from then on. It was nice having my daily driver with A/C, too!
The LeBaron was a cream yellow color with tan interior. I “Euro-styled” the dash as the chrome and wood contact paper was wearing off, so I removed all that and painted the dash insert satin black – looked very sharp. I put in my old cassette deck in and rock ‘n’ rolled along quite happily until I sold it to one of the guys at the Dodge dealer after we bought our 1990 Acclaim.
As stated previously, we called that car the “Batmobile” for the bat sticker I placed on the trunk lid.
Good car all around, and fuel economy not too bad, either.
These were very thin on the ground when new, I think mostly due to Chrysler’s financial situation and the bad build quality of a few years earlier. In most ways though, these were equal or better than the contemporary GM A-body cars. The first-gen Granada was pretty awful (the last variation of the original 1960 Falcon platform) and the replacement Fox-body Fairmont was a size class smaller. I can’t agree with the styling assessment though. These look even MORE like a Volare than the ’77-’79 – the ’80 Volare/Aspen (with the one-year only rectangular headlights) even share the front fenders and front and rear bumpers with this car. I always thought the ’77-’79 was a very clean design, and a nicely sized package – the 112″ wheelbase maybe being the sweet spot for an intermediate, rather than the 108″ of the GM’s.
+1 I always liked the LeBaron Town & Country wagons that were discontinued with the facelift in 1980. For some reason the brougham-ness of those LeBarons doesn’t seem as overwrought, I (would guess) you could still get a 360 in them, and if my Grandmothers 1987 Fifth Avenue was any indication, these were fine interstate highway cruisers. Although the 318/Torqueflite combo was ridiculously geared to be rev-free, I loved the the smooth burbling alto it made during freeway entries. I would say that combo was smoother than the 307-THM combo in Oldses at the time.
But for some weird reason I appreciate/love all M-Bodies. Probably because they are the last outgrowths of the Valiant/Dart. Or the association I have of the Fifth Avenue being Judge Wapner’s car in the opening credits of the People’s Court.
Actually, that T&C survived the 80 restyle and was available in both 1980 and 81, They did not sell many, though. About 11K in 1980 and less than 4,000 in 81. If you really want rare, they also sold less than 2,000 1980 LeBaron wagons that were not Town & Countrys (presumably a lower trim level without the wood paneling). I think that the 80-81 T&C would be my favorite of these LeBarons.
Whoa, Googled, and wow. And a little bit torn. I don’t know if I like the styling of the 77-79s or the 80-81 Wagons more. I think the main selling point for the T&C wagons (especially these and the K car versions) is that they seemed more “luxuriously” appointed compared to the competition. You’d have to upgrade to a B-Body wagon, and at least the Buick version to get the same luxuries as a T&C. I don’t think any of the Fox body wagons were particularly luxurious feeling either until the 1983 Marquis version.
Apparently Lucille Ball thought highly of them: https://www.julienslive.com/view-auctions/catalog/id/23/lot/5703/
I believe the ’80s saw the end of the charming na-rayre, deer, deer, deer, starter sound effect.
I don’t recall much about these cars except the “fiendishly seductive Dodge Diplomat” tag line, thinking it was rather weak in the height of the Colonnade era, whose popularity was probably the reason for weak Mopar sales in the category.
Spent a week with a LeBaron in ’85 in Southern California on the trip that convinced me to move here permanently. Specifically, a mid summer trek in record time from LA to Vegas with the air on full blast and the pedal to the floor on the infamous Baker grade, where in those days someone would typically be on the side of the road with hood up and steam about. You don’t see that anymore.
“I believe the ’80s saw the end of the charming na-rayre, deer, deer, deer, starter sound effect.”
Whoever came up with that describing a Chrysler starter had better copyright it, like geozinger did with his “Cockroach of the Road”© moniker describing a Chevy Cavalier and now, Cobalt!
I owe him a few beers!
There’s something about this era of Chryco products shared with old Chevy Step-Vans and the current Ford F-Series work trucks: upside-down headlight assemblies.
Whoever thought (and whomever at Ford today) thought this was an interesting and intriguing idea, well, come on…upside down headlights are never a good idea.
They are not unlike the Wagon Queen Family Truckster.
If you could only flip the assemblies around so that the turn signals are UNDER those sealed beams, you’d have a nicer looking car for sure…one in which this writer would at least not have to continually raise the question “why did they do that?”
The Diplomat had the headlights “right-side-up.”
On the Chryslers maybe, but the Ford trucks may just be an attempt for the headlights not to light up the inside of the car ahead of it at a stoplight like a kwik-e-mart at 3 AM.
A high school friend of mine’s father worked at the Twinsburg (OH) assembly plant, when each of his kids graduated high school, they got a new car. My friend Chuck got a brand new 1979 Dodge Diplomat upon graduation. It looked a lot like the coupes shown in the photos. His Dodge, being a Dodge, did not have the quarter vinyl roof, and had only a velour interior.
I remember the car as being well assembled, fairly roomy (good for those trips up to Cleveland to see concerts), quiet and easy to drive on the occasions he let me drive it. The 318 V8, while no big block, was plenty strong on our Northeast Ohio hills and was a fair amount better on gasoline than my 390 Torino.
Had Chuck not been certifiably insane, the car would have lasted longer than three years. This was the same person with whom I made the clandestine county seat runs in his 400 Firebird. I think his father thought that a smogged 318 would keep him from killing himself, which it did, but the car lived a miserable existence. I think he rolled it one night on his way home to his parent’s house, which was down a windy old farm road.
I saw other Diplomats and LeBarons, all the way through the 80′s, but it seemed to me by the mid 90′s they were gone. The few I did see, were rather rough, but complete, a testament to increased quality of assembly and particularly rustproofing that came from the sales disasters of the late 70′s. Not unlike the feature car.
I drove a rental Diplomat sedan with the 318 in 1978. I remember it as being a very fast car for the time, in fact it surprised me with its accelleration. I was used to my mother’s 74 LeMans with a 2 bbl 350 which was kind of a dog, and the Diplo would smoke the Pontiac. It reminded me a lot of my Dad’s 76 Mercury Monarch with the 351, which was pretty quick itself.
I actually liked the style of the 2 doors, but the sedans looked like a loaded Aspen or Volare. Ford managed to make the Granada attractive, but the Volare’s styling was just “off” somehow. I also remember that 78 Diplo’s interior as being leagues behind Ford and even GM in apparent quality, but it was not a high end model, either.
I must respectfully disagree with my good colleague Stainsley. I think the upside down headlight/parking light combo is one of the most endearing qualities of these cars. I remember seeing them for the first time and thinking how good looking the design element was.
Disclaimer: Don’t forget you’re talking to the guy who liked his Pacer.
The little chassis that could… Still want one of the many later variations of this car, but only with a 318 please. I laud Chrysler for “making hay while the sunshines” especially with the Fifth Avenue interation of this car which made many people forget about the Volare and Aspen.
@EdDan: I don’t know, I was in love with the F-body Road Runner. Actually, I had a huge crush on a young woman whose father had given her one for her 16th birthday. I went out on a few dates with her, but it wasn’t meant to be. And the Road Runner had rusted away by the time we were out of high school, too…
I went to college with a guy who had a 1979 Road Runner (318V8) black with a tan vinyl interior. It was quite a “collectors item” in 1995 when I was getting my bachelors. FWIW I’m pretty sure my 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme with a 307V8 and quadrajet could spank him in a stoplight drag race.
One of few American cars of this era (except trucks) that I actually have a connection to. A neighbor of my grandparents used to own one like this, silver with a dark red roof an interior. I believe it was one of the first American sedans I saw up close and I loved it. I even think he owned the car for quite many years, even if he replaced the transmission from time to time .
These are very rare – they don’t even show up at the various Chrysler Carlisle events! What a great find – thanks for taking the time to take photos and speak with the owner.
Our neighbors bought one of the first 1977 LeBarons in town – a dark blue sedan with a dove gray vinyl top. It was pretty sharp for the time, and hid its Volare roots reasonably well. I remember being impressed with the “upside-down” headlight-parking light assembly, and the little patches of vinyl roof at the top of the doors, right at the beltline.
I don’t know if I would call the 1977-79 LeBaron “moderately successful.” As I recall, the 1977 and 1978 versions sold pretty well. It outsold the Dodge Diplomat, and really boosted Chrysler Division sales.
These cars did, over the long haul, devalue prestige of the Chrysler marque. Through the mid-1970s, Chrysler only sold one basic type of car, but the image of Chrysler on the street was of a big, powerful, full-size car. The Cordoba and LeBaron boosted sales of Chrysler Division in the mid-1970s, but, over the long haul, they cheapened Chrysler’s image. They both outsold their respective Dodge platform mates. People were initially thrilled at getting the Chrysler name in a smaller, more affordable package, but that wore off rather quickly.
These cars also relegated Plymouth to “also ran” status. Plymouth was never given a version of the Cordoba or first-generation LeBaron. By 1978, Plymouth sold the least expensive, most plainly styled version of lower-level Chrysler platforms. Ford and Chevrolet, meanwhile, were selling all of the “affordable luxury” cars (Thunderbird, Monte Carlo, Caprice Classic, LTD Landau) they could make. By 1980, Plymouth had no image and very low sales – a sad state for the make that had regularly held down third place in sales through the late 1950s.
Good point, Geeber. In 1980, I finally got my mother into a Chry-Ply showroom. She had had enough of that 74 LeMans and its bad gas mileage and was interested in an Omni or Horizon. What was interesting was what was in the showroom. Chrysler offered the New Yorker, Newport, LeBaron (incl the coupe and the T&C wagon) and the Cordoba. Plymough offered the Volare and the Horizon, and that was it. That said, the Horizon was the only thing really generating any showroom traffic that year, and was on a waiting-list basis if you were choosy on color or options.
I tried to up-sell my mom to one of these LeBarons, but she wasn’t biting. She bought a 2 tone blue Horizon, which was a nice little car for the time.
@Geeber: The other “other” car in the Plymouth lineup was the Champ. It was the Mitsubishi Colt in Plymouth drag.
One of my brothers ended up with one, after the waiting lists for the Rabbit, Civic and Tercel stretched way out.
I think he figured anything foreign=good. Not entirely true, but that’s another post for another time.
@geo: I was at our local Dodge dealer in my neighborhood one day walking our dog over 20 years ago when we lived in suburban St. Louis, and heard a conversation about a guy who owned one of those Dodge Colts that needed a new windshield wiper arm. Apparently the cost was so exorbitant and he was so upset, he said “forget about it” and went inside with a salesman and bought a new car! I wish I stuck around to find out what he bought!
My old Chrysler LeBaron bomb didn’t seem so bad at that point!
Wow, I’ve only ever gotten to that point once, and that was only after a transmission fell out of the car…
Must be nice to have that kind of money.
These (including the first-gen ’77-’79s) were also sold as the Plymouth Caravelle in Canada for Chrysler-Plymouth dealers, which meant that the LeBaron was only offered in its higher trim levels. This always seemed to me like a much more sensible approach.
There were surprising numbers of these things here in Soviet Canuckistan and, again due to taxi connections, I spent quite a bit of wheel time with them. The lasting impression I have of these cars is that they had a very good seating position; you sat high off the floor and the cowl was low, making for a much more comfortable drive than a B-Body without power seats. The quality was also better than the Chevrolets of the era. The dash was much better assembled and designed and the part next to the windshield was honest to God metal! The last I ever saw of real metal in the interior. Things like seats, window-winders and door hinges all held up well and this is what really cost the money to fix. The electrics were uncommonly good. They rode well, had solid bodies and passengers like them. Finally, the legendary Torqueflight was indestructible. I never replaced one, not once!
The 318-2bbl was gutless but the 4bbl cop versions ran very well. I had a late Plymouth Caravelle (Canuckisan Only Model) with the cop package and it ran very nicely. Downsides? Well, the K-member broke with alarming regularity in these cars. The 318 did not last as long as the Small Block but it was fast, cheap and easy to rebuild. The real bitch for a taxi driver, however, was the turning circle. Because of the transverse torsion bar front end, these things had a Queen Mary turning circle. Every U-turn was a three point turn which could be highly embarrassing when you were trying to get someplace in a hurry.
Rare indeed; have not seen or found one either. In fact, it’s an easy car to forget.
I’m an oddball, I know, but I rather preferred the looks of the Volar-ish first LeBarons; well except the grille, perhaps. For that matter, I thought the Volare/Aspen was a nicely designed car, for American standards. I was not of a fan of its subtle curves being sliced off with a cleaver, and becoming boxier and boxier.
I always thought it was odd that Chrysler went to the trouble of restyling the Volare and Aspen both for their very last model year, 1980. The 1976-79s were not changed much year to year, except for grille and taillamp patterns. Maybe Chrysler planned to make them past ’80?
what’s the deal with the early Aspens with weird curlicue designs all over the back between the tailights? it looks like someone scribbled on the back of the car.
My dad leased a ’78 model 2 door Medallion with a 318 and most of the toys in the spring of 1978. Absolutely awful car-missing parts and loose bolts on delivery-and got worse from there. Flaking paint leaving rust underneath, shorted wiring in the steering column, ball joints gone by 50,000 miles, teeny little rear axle(7&1/4″?) that was worn out by said 50,000, and the piaste-de-reistinace, a failed front wheel bearing that caused the wheel to part company with the rest of the heap. This was just around 70,000 kms (42,000 miles).
The 318 Lean Burn never ran right when new, and would often quit dead due to faults with broken ground wires and such.
When my brother got the car in ’82, we actually spent some money to rehabilitate it. New ball joints, and we lucked out on a new rear end. Some hot-rodder in town had parted out an 80 Volare Road Runner . He wanted the K-Member for the front end of his 57 Mercury pickup. The Volare was wrecked at only 3000kms, and we got complete 8&3/4″ Sure-Grip rear end cheap.
Then one day while poking around under the hood, I discovered several vacuum hoses that were unhooked from the computer, the result of a previous visit to a Chrysler dealer in a vain attempt to sort out the driveability issues. After reconnecting as-per the undrhood diagram, the car never ran better.
I guess the point of the story is that as a 4 year old with a little TLC and better parts, it was a much better and more reliable car than when it was new.
This car soured my father on Detroit, and his next car was an Audi 5000, which soured him on German cars in short order, and drove him into the arms of Honda.
Ha ha ha! You just reminded me of when we took delivery of our brand-new 1981 Reliant! When we got home, the first chance I got, I took the dash apart to inspect it and had to tighten up a lot of stuff. When I checked under the hood, a few of the front fender bolts were missing. Had to get the dealer to do that, as I didn’t have any! Over all, it was a very good car and we had lots of fun driving it!
I never understood rechristening the Volare/Aspen cars as M-Bodies…many parts are interchangeable. I know that from having worked with these cars, driving a cab for a very small suburban cab company…the owner never junked anything; when a cab wrecked or died of old age, he’d wheel it out back as an organ donor. Front doors, drivelines, even front clips…he’d mix-and-match Volare with Diplomat. Only the rear sheetmetal and rear doors were singular; and the doors only for the glass arrangement.
The cars were solid, as my boss’s dedication to them proved; but I have little love for them. Much of it is of course that I spent so much time in them feeling miserable: about money, the way the day was going, my aching posterior…no cabbie in the world ever didn’t hate his cab. But to me, they represented the worst kind of utility: Taxis, police cars (in those days I had a lead foot and an Escort radar detector) and city workers, showing up to cite me for whatever it was I was doing on the property.
But…diff’rent strokes for diff’rent folks. Few can understand my attachment to the Pinto…least of all me.
As a kid, the sound of the General Lee’s gear reduction starter motor was the most awesome sound I had ever heard. I -still- love that sound. The mid-’90s Dodge pickups still had a cleaner-sounding version of that auditory delight.
In ’90 and ’91 (I believe) the Ford Crown Vic and Merc Grand Marquis went to a gear reduction starter for reasons unknown, and I have gone so far as to seriously contemplate getting one solely for the sound. Still not as delicious as a true Mopar sound, but closer.
***One question about the later Fifth Avenues: were they still the recipients of the ASC backlight/C-pillar reshaper cap, or did Chrysler reshape the steel roof properly? I was always fascinated by the idea they did the same thing to tart up the later Versailles more, but would Chrysler have just let it ride like that all the way to ’89? Actually, since the Gran Fury and Diplomat had the ’80 LeBaron roof still, maybe they did…
I don’t know the answer definitively about the roof…but given the sheer numbers; given that that model was sold for some hard commercial uses, police and taxi; AND given that I’d had much heavy idle hours looking over such a roof…I’d say it was a factory job.
There were no seams in that roof that I remember seeing. And MOST of the units sold in later years were without the vinyl roof. The M-Body had become what the Panther later was: an obsolete car outliving its usefulness except for extreme fleet users.
Yeah, but there are no seams in the picture of the ’80 LeBaron Fifth Avenue Limited Edition in this CC, either, and a ’83-up Fifth Avenue without the vinyl top? Where? WHAT IS CHRYSLER TRYING TO HIDE??? (Har har)
Now the next time I see a Fifth at a junk yard, I am going to be REQUIRED to punch a hole in the roof back there to see if it is fiberglass or steel or unicorns or what.
The car had many names. You know it as a Fifth Avenue. I know it as a Diplomat, or “this #@$% cab…”
LeBarons, as LeBarons, I knew as “Cops behind us!” The county I lived in when the LeBaron came out in that form, opted to bid on a batch for Sheriff’s Patrol cars. They were probably the only LeBarons in that rural county.
I thought it was whacked at the time, but in a few years the clone Diplomat became standard police issue.
AFTERTHOUGHT: I missed the paragraph about American Sunroof’s involvement with the original Fifth Avenue on first read…got interrupted. But I’m here to tell ya…by the time the M-Body became The Big Chrysler, that roof was all factory and all steel.
I concur. It would have been cheaper given the volumes involved, by a long shot. The ASC kind of thing was fine for a handful, and a good way to test the water.
Hmmm, ok, makes sense. I doubt it will keep me from drilling a hole in a Fifth Avenue roof, though, because how often do you get to do that?
I once saw a Fifth Avenue with the vinyl roof rotted off. It looked to me like they just welded a section onto the back of the standard Diplo stampings. Crude but effective.
A-HA! I KNEW there was no way Chrysler was going to have 2 separate roof stampings for a car that had been more-or-less left to wither on the vine (besides grilles, tail lights, and VERY important opera lamp placement) since 1977 on a basic design that dated a few years even before ’77!
And so the question is: who manufactured the add-on starting in ’82, Chrysler or ASC? I’d guess Chrysler.
People being how they are, you’d think some guy with an ’86 Diplomat that needed just a bit more “class” would have JB Welded one of those extensions onto his car and covered it in boat seat vinyl sewn up by is common-law wife by now.
“People being how they are, you’d think some guy with an ’86 Diplomat that needed just a bit more “class” would have JB Welded one of those extensions onto his car and covered it in boat seat vinyl sewn up by is common-law wife by now.”
Why would I have her do it when I could get Pablo down at the upholstery shop to do it?
(there really is a Pablo’s Upholstery down the hill from my house.)
Oww ow ow ow! Harsh man. If you were driving a Lincoln Versailles instead of a Town Car I’d tell you not to judge so harshly. Atleast Chrysler’s extension didn’t obstruct the full opening of the trunk the way Lincolns did.
Lol!
And Dan, so that you may understand my motivations better, I was born and raised outside a town of 160 people in northeastern Oklahoma. Although the (slim) majority of my adult working years have been in white-collar environments, the balance of said working years were in fields such as auto mechanics, lawn service, over-the-road trucking, forklift repair, and vehicle towing and recovery/repossession. (Our repo slogan was “Helping People Get Back On Their Feet.”)
And so I say all that to say this: If I make fun of redneck types, it is out of humorous but serious respect and/or clinical projection.
I’m glad you got a laugh out of it, I’m a very consistent smart ass. I was “raised redneck” too. My fiance laughs at the line in Blake Shelton and Trace Atkins’ song “Hillbilly Bone” when it says “You ain’t got a be born out in the sticks… with an F150 and a 30-ot-6…” cause I own an F150 and a few of my relatives back in Ohio certainly would know how to handle a gun. My ex-wife used to call me an “educated redneck.”
My family owned a ’79 LeBaron Salon, which I believe was a one year only trim option in between the base and Medallion. Spinnaker white with a red vinyl roof and red vinyl interior. It was the first car we’d ever owned that had an am-fm (monaural) radio. Maybe someone here can confirm this, but did Chrylser get rid of the lean burn system after ’78?
I am no expert here, as the only Lean Burn car I ever owned was a 77 New Yorker. But according to information gleaned from Allpar and Wikipedia, the Lean Burn system stayed in use through the 1980s. Anecdotal evidence suggests that most Lean Burn vehicles still on the road have had the system disabled and replaced by a conventional electronic ignition.
My dad is Chinese, moved to Detroit for grad school in the mid-70s and stayed when he met my mom. I remember in the late 80s, he had a FOB (fresh off the boat) friend that needed a cheap car. They found a white ’80 Lebaron in the classifieds and the three of us plus four or five other friends crammed into my dad’s Aspen (also an ’80) to take a look at it. The friend decided to buy it, so my dad and I tailed them home and the rest of them took the Lebaron. On the way home they got pulled over for having no plates (which is legal in Michigan when transporting a vehicle home after purchasing it), and the look on the cop’s face after pulling over an unplated car full of young Chinese immigrants was priceless.
Just for your interest, my 1980 Chrysler Lebaron 4 door Sedan with a 318. Fresh paint and freshly restored.
Here’s the picture
An old neighbor of ours had one of these as a daily driver, and it was still in nice shape when he died ten years ago. He used to drive around with his dog in the front seat. He also had a ’64 Dodge Polara convertible in the garage that he’d bought new and kept as a summer car. It had less than 40,000 miles on it, and when I remarked about it, he said “you should have seen the ’57 Chevy I traded for it!”. I hope both of those cars went to good homes.