The K-car platform performed spectacularly for Chrysler. As the architecture underneath the Dodge Caravan, it launched the company into a more prosperous era. Front-wheel drive vehicles established themselves in the 80s, and the K-car was part of the vanguard responsible for their wide acceptance. By the early 90s the platform was a bit dated. But it soldiered on as the AA-body. Which is what sits underneath this Acclaim.
Any Acclaim that made it this far must have been well cared for. The fact that it’s a 1995 model year probably helps too. That was the final year for the Acclaim and its brethren, the Dodge Spirit and Chrysler Lebaron. At 25 years old, I thought this Acclaim automatically qualified for New York’s historical license plates, but it appears the car needs one more year before it becomes eligible.
But let’s be honest: The likelihood of someone putting historical license plates on this car is slim. That’s actually a bit of a shame. There can’t be too many of these left, especially in this condition. At 116,370 miles, it’s at least been driven a decent amount too. And it has the Mitsubishi 3.0 liter V6. If paired with the TorqueFlite three speed automatic, it stands a decent chance of survival. Whoever ends up with this car will have 141 horsepower and 172 Ib-ft of torque at their disposal. Pretty good numbers for the mid 90s.
$1400 is not an unreasonable price to pay this car. Hopefully, its next owner treats it like the historical artifact it’s become.
Source: Albany, NY craigslist
Well I don’t know how collector/historic plates work in your state, but in mine it means you are not supposed to use the vehicle for a daily driver. Also it is a permanent registration, ie you only pay once. So yeah there is nothing automatic about getting them because the state would prefer you keep paying them every year and many people probably would want to use something like this as a daily driver.
I like this car and would have no issues buying it. It is just a step above simple and spartan when you look it over and that is just how I like them.
I always thought that these were decent cars; much better than the original K cars. If they had any really appalling problems, I’ve forgotten them. Good honest transportation without paying the ‘Toyota Tax’.
In 1991 I rented a Plymouth Acclaim in Vancouver BC and drove down towards San Francisco. After leaving Eureka CA and driving up towards the Giant Redwood Trees my wife inserted the demonstration cassette into the audio system and the first piece of music was Handel’s ‘Hallelujah Chorus’, which made the drive into the mist, sunbeams and trees very memorable; even quite spiritual. We were the first people to rent the car, which provided ideal transport for over two weeks. It had metallic blue paintwork and had BC plates.
Had one of these. Engine was willing, but it had the four speed auto. Always felt like two transmissions in there, fighting on every shift to decide what gear to be in. Great back seat room though. In most respects it was an honest way to move four people
There are as many sets of rules for Antique/Collector/Historical plates as there are States in the US, I think.
In Nevada, the plates actually cost MORE but exempt the vehicle from Smog Check. (Fact is, they cost about $20 more and a Smog Check is $20, so it’s a wash). They also limit you to 5000 miles/year, but there’s no clause about it being for “show use” or any such.
And since only (parts of) two counties require a Smog Check at all, nobody in the rest of the state has a reason to pay the extra dough.
It looks like a K-car with all of the rough edges filed off! Drives like a K-car with a lot of extra padding and insulation.
I was in and out of a lot of K-cars working in a car wash in my late teens. I always cringed when pulling one of those beasts out of park. It required a Herculean yank on the column shifter that netted you a violent thud that shook the entire dash and steering column. Yikes!
The Acclaim/Spirits were at least a big improvement.
My thoughts exactly. With the stunning success of the Ford Taurus, suddenly, everyone wanted to emulate the ‘melted-jellybean-in-the-rain’ look. Unfortunately, not many of the sharp-creased cars (like the original K-car) easily lent themselves to it on the spur of the moment, and the result were cars like the Acclaim/Spirit where the two styles clashed. And, to some (like me), they clashed badly. It wasn’t until the all-new, ground-up cloud cars that Chrysler got the jellybean styling right.
The exact same powertrain combination that was in my parents 1995 Plymouth Voyager. Other than a new transmission at 100K it worked great for us. Maybe I’ll have the chance to drive one of these Acclaims someday. If it wasn’t a winter a cross country trip to take this to Oregon could be fun.
I looked at these when new. Wanted the 6 but only came with a mandatory extra cost 4 speed auto. Waited a year or so and got a cloud car.
This looks like a fairly well-equipped example, so unfortunately it’s more likely to be saddled with the A604 Ultradrive than the A670 3-speed auto. Still, given its overall condition it may still be worth taking a chance on.
Not a bad looking specimen of this vehicle
I had a 1992 LeBaron sedan for a few months.
I bought it for $800 from the wholesale guy that works out of that dealer i hang out at. It had one of the last instances of button tuft seats.
It rode well and the Mitsu V6 allowed the car to keep up with traffic. It had a big car interior with plenty of room and got pretty good gas MPG for me
that car’s price is not bad at all
I agree, I would like to see this car tagged with historic tags and kept in a garage for shows.
Yes I am sure many folks are like “why bother saving this as this is not a collector car” but the truth of the matter is that in the 1940’s I am sure folks were thinking that the Model T was just an old (and slow) car that nobody would want (same with a whole slew of cars from the 1920-1960 period) but now those T models are widely collected. So who knows
Here is my old 1992
CC Effect – an Aires pulled into the parking lot just as I was leaving earlier today. No hubcaps and poverty-spec skinny (and bald) tires. But still kicking!
Had a silver ’91 Spirit ES – I loved the look of that car and its squared, upright styling fit my 6’5″ self reasonably well and felt like the Spirit-ual descendant of the Dart/Valiant.
I thought I was getting Japanese quality with the 3.0 V6 but what I got was leaking valve guides and smoke plumes, a nasty appetite for head gaskets and mediocre fuel economy. I easily spent 10x what my wife did on her ’91 Tercel in repairs. As much as I love many older Chrysler products, it soured me from ever owning one again. Nice to see the survivor though.
3.0 Mitsubishis were used by the highway patrol in NZ in the 90s just prior to that service being combined with police the V3000 Mitsubishi was apprently quite fast so the rumour goes but not very durable, Surprised they were used in US Chrysler products
Every so often I still see a “civilian” (i.e. not a show or preserved) car on the roads around here. Since the newest of these are now 25+ years old, this amazes me. Most of the ones I see are not too shabby, but clearly are in service.
In the late 80’s, I was a fan of the AA’s. I really would have liked one of the turbo Spirits back then, but it didn’t work out. Later, I saw the Euro AA, the Chrysler Saratoga, and found that even more desirable. But it would be highly unlikely that I could get my hands on one here in the US.
Nice find, I hope it gets a good home.
Like this one? My `94 Saratoga last year on a vacation to the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse in Austria
Looks that for some reaon I can´t upload pictures anymore. Sorry
I have a the Euro version of the car, the Saratoga, with the Mitsu V6 and the 4 speed auto. Call it Mr. Smoooth, because of its smooth riding qualities. Had some issues with it, but hey, its a 25 year old car and I use it as a daily driver. I also love the squared look and the shiny chrome parts of it.
For $1400, you could do a lot worse than that Acclaim.
I could never find a decent looking and driving car for that price by me.
I think it’s one of the better K-car derivatives.
Do you still have this car?
I had one just like yours until yesterday when the mechanic that was working on it (we had been waiting for parts to come from California since Monday) and he lost his house in a fire and the car was taken with it. It looked identical to yours with in that Gold special edition trim with wheels, but in Maroon. I used it from time to time over the last 4 years on a rural mail route due to the absence of a center console and it having a column shifter. Do you still have yours?