Corey Behrens found a first year 1982 LeBaron convertible in the Netherlands, a milestone car. It was the first convertible sold by a domestic manufacturer since Cadillac ended its run with the 1976 Eldorado. I say “sold”, because these were not “built” by Chrysler, meaning that it was a factory sanctioned conversion by Cars & Concepts of Michigan. And a somewhat crude one, to start with, lacking a rear side window. Not quite as bad as the Seville Roadster we saw yesterday, but not exactly up to the standards of Cadillac’s final Eldorado.
The rear side windows appeared in 1984, one year after the Town and Country version with its fake wood planking showed up. That didn’t help, in my eyes, but to each their own. Lee Iaccoca obviously disagreed, but then we did on just about everything.
These pre-turbo era versions were powered by either the base 2.2 L Chrysler four making 84 hp or the optional 2.6 L Mitsubishi making 93. Pick your poison.
I may not have been a fan of the T&C, but these made a lot of sense, and they were very influential, in reviving the convertible market in the US. They were a handy, compact size, which made so much more sense than the giant open barges of yore, considering that sitting in the back seat of one with the top down at any speed above walking was a form of CIA-approved torture.
The story goes that when Iacocca wanted to build these, Chrysler’s finance department balked, saying they would be too expensive to turn a profit. Iacocca overrode them and the rest, as they say, is history. For a leisurely, affordable, Florida-style cruiser, the Iacocca-era cars were okay. They were quite popular rentals in 3-season locales.
Sadly, when Daimler got their paws into the mix, the result was the unfortunate looking last generation Sebring convertible. Someone decreed that those had to have a folding hardtop option, which meant the proportions were off with a too-long rear deck, similar to a latter day Ford Skyliner.
The refreshed, renamed Chrysler 200 convertible was a bit better, but when Marchionne (FCA) decided to ditch the line in 2014, that was also the end of Chrysler’s convertibles.
Hideous. Even the dog can’t look at it.
1976 Eldorado was the last convertible (until the mid 80’s).
Not sure I’d want to cross a railroad in a daily commute with one of these.
I recently watched the John(sic) Voight LeBaron episode of “Seinfeld.” It really annoyed me when they identified the pre-1986 convertible as a 1989 LeBaron.
I do remember seeing these around in the mid 80’s. However, most rusted away due to the leaking convertible tops.
Give credit to Lido for squeezing a few more units off the K car 🚗 platform.
“It was the first convertible sold by a manufacturer since Cadillac ended its run with the 1975 Eldorado”
By an American manufacturer, at least. You could buy a Beetle convertible through ’79, MG sold the B and Midget through ’80. FIAT still sold a Spider in the US, later as the Pininfarina Spider without the FIAT badge. You could also get an Alfa Spider/Spyder.
I’m sure leaving out “American” was a typo – after all, all cars are built by a manufacturer (although Henrik Fisker thinks he can change that).
I’m sure you’re right!
I remember the years between the end of the convertible and the return of the convertible, and I don’t want to re-experience it – ever. Tough times for most Americans.
So, nothing said, “Chrysler is back!”, quite like this. It was perfect timing. We had gone through a horrible malaise era, high gas prices, high unemployment, high inflation, and Iranian hostages. The cars were often faux-luxo-barge coupes with faux Baroque style. Personal coupes were still big sellers. There were glimmers of change in the auto industry from Detroit, and a flood of market share moving to the Japanese.
When the Chrysler and Mustang convertibles arrived, they showed up at a time when we needed to feel that those Malaise days were over. By 1983, they were. So these convertibles were one of many signals that it was time to stop hanging our heads. Lee Iacocca’s timing in the market was perfect.
While not the greatest cars, these convertibles were better in many ways over the last Chrysler convertibles no one wanted to buy almost a decade earlier. There is just something about a convertible that says optimism and celebration, regardless of the era. Convertibles give a show of confidence and transparency that padded coach roofs with opera lamps and tiny opera windows fail to convey.
These cars made people happy – and made some owners happy as well.
” these convertibles were better in many ways over the last Chrysler convertibles no one wanted to buy almost a decade earlier.”
That’s a really interesting point that I had never thought about. Up to the end of the line for convertibles from “old” Chrysler, Chrysler buyers had never really been convertible people. I have not crunched numbers, but Mopar ragtops were always far lower production propositions than most of the competition. So there is no better proof that Mopar had FINALLY moved out of that deadly Lynn Townsend era where the only people who bought Chryslers were the people who bought Chryslers. These 1982+ convertibles sort of became synonymous with Chrysler, because they sold so well.
Eh, I see what you’re going for, but we were still building convertibles during the firs oil crisis, Watergate, and the fall of Saigon. And we were already building them again during Iran-Contra and the 240 Marines dying in Lebanon.
Hey if it was good enough for a Packard not to have a quarter window its was good enough for a lower end car !! this was the one thing I liked as no modern car had that I know of !? but like most / all 80s cars nothing great mechanically / drivability & quality !
Also the Citroen DS Chapron convertible.
“Bringing back the convertible” as an official model the way it was first done rather than letting Cars & Concepts make their own arrangements with dealers as had become common at the time was a classic Iacocca move, lots of buzz for not much cost.
The addition of rear side windows also marked the end of the C&C deal though, at that point production was taken in-house as documented by MotorWeek in 1985;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DebmDk-weKs
Right at the one-minute mark on the video you can see them cut the roof off of a bare metal unibody and then install the floorpan bracing as a completed assembly through the open roof maw, all while the body is still on the assembly jig.
It is interesting how much skilled labor was involved in removing the hardtops and building the convertible top structures on the Chrysler production line. I watched a few episodes of “How It’s Made,” and the ones where they were making sports cars seemed to demonstrate that the people making Corvettes and R8s are prevented from having any input at all into the success or failure of the processes they are supporting.
All this useful information popped up as I’m sitting patiently waiting for my new complete convertible top assembly to be delivered today! I’ve always wanted one of these since 1984 and I finally found one locally.
Cheers from St Petersburg Florida
CC Effect: there was a K Car related clue in the New Yorker crossword puzzle I’m working on. One of the few that was easy for me in this “challenging” puzzle.
Supposedly, that unnecessary small vertical piece of light ash woodgrain trim over the rear wheel of the Town & Country was put there so the trimpiece could be shared with the LeBaron T&C four door wagon, though I haven’t seen that confirmed. I can’t unsee it though. Cheapskates.
That little piece always bugged me, and now that I compare this to the wagon, you must be right. Never realized the connection before.
I can’t imagine that that would be true as the length of the front doors were different on the convertible and the wagon, the wagon had back doors and the convertible didn’t, and the convertible had a longer rear quarter panel than the wagon. In other words, the fake wood kit for the wagon doesn’t work on the convertible after you get past the front fender.
The extra side window on the plastiwood bathtub doesnt really serve any purpose, who rides in the back hunched forward to look thru it, but then I’m not a ragtop driver so it matters not I can do without skin cancer.
I’m convinced I got a melanoma on my thigh in ’91 from a summer of ’84 road trip in a friend’s ’69 GTO convertible. First a sunburn by wearing shorts, then sandblasting on a windy beach at Ocracoke Island south of Cape Hatteras.
Why can I never see one of these and not think of “Planes, Trains & Automobiles”?
Why can I never see one of these and not think of a lovely lady named Kathleen and the times that we spent in her 82 LeBaron convertible?