It’s past my bedtime, but I’m going to post this Laser found by Cohort cjcz92, and let you add the commentary. Let’s just say it was one of the Diamond Star triplets, along with the Mitsubishi Eclipse and Eagle Talon. I did a CC on the Eclipse here.
These cars are getting a bit scarce, as they have been popular targets for a certain demographic, one who tends to be a bit hard on cars. This one is a very clean survivor, and has escaped the giant wings, body kit, fat tires and fart can. It’s obviously a non-turbo version, and probably sporting an automatic. Lucky it.
1990 or 1991
The Laser’s story is unfortunate, as it was indeed a very competitive compact sports coupe offering a good mix of performance, style, and value. But with the more popular Mitsubishi Eclipse and the Eagle Talon (which for whatever reason sold better than the Laser, despite Eagle’s relative obscurity), the Plymouth seemed to hide in the shadows. Chrysler did bring out the big guns for early advertisements, featuring Tina Turner and Celine Dion.
I actually like the pre-facelift Lasers’ styling best of all, in both the RS model with BBS-style wheels and this base model with its black trim and wheel covers. It was without a doubt, the most modern Plymouth when it was released, as everything else was K-car or Colt-based.
I’ve always wondered if more could’ve been made of the Laser had the Talon not existed. Of course, had Eagle not existed, Plymouth would’ve likely received an LH car as well, boosting sales even if everything was still badge-engineered.
Wasn’t the Plymouth Laser a substantially lesser version of the Eagle Talon? Seems like it wasn’t possible to get the upper-tier performance options on the Laser that were available on the Talon, as well as the Mitsubishi Eclipse. I don’t think there were any AWD Turbo Lasers, were there?
If so, it would, indeed, be another example of Chrysler’s woeful treatment of the Plymouth brand towards the end of the once proud, low-priced marque’s life. If not for Eagle’s encroachment into Plymouth’s territory, it might have stood a better chance of surviving.
“I don’t think there were any AWD Turbo Lasers, were there?”
Not until the 1992 refresh.
Chrysler’s neglectfulness of the Laser was undoubtably a reflection of its overall enthusiasm for Plymouth towards the end. It’s really sad that they introduced such a good car like the Laser, only to let it wither. Then again, the Laser was unsupported by any other modern or sporty cars in Plymouth’s small aging lineup, which of course Chrysler could again be blamed for.
I’m pretty sure the Chrysler’s only involvement with development was slapping a Eagle or Plymouth badge on a Mitsubishi. There were at least 2 generations of Mitsubishi sport coupes that followed this, they just weren’t very good. When Daimler Benz took over, they seemed to have little interest in Mitsubishi.
I find it quite attractive in all of its unadorned glory. A bit unfamiliar as well, this version was fairly rare out west. The wheel covers look at lot like early C4 Corvette wheels which I’d never noticed before.
I never notice that about the wheel covers either. Maybe that’s why I find them so cool. The C4’s my favorite Corvette, and the only Corvette I’d ever consider owning.
I actually taught my friend to drive stick in a 1991 – His previous car, a late 70’s Mercury Capri with auto and V6 was replace with one of these. He never drove stick before, and had stupidly bought one in a town with lots of hills. I remember him stalling our in front of my house about 5 times before he got the trick of the e-brake + clutch + gas. My neighbor was laughing.
I lusted after these when they were new and I was in high school. Really wanted the turbo AWD model. The were consistent “Bang for the Buck” winners in Car and Driver.
Laser straight bodywork.
I had a 1991Laser R/S and loved it. I thought all of the Diamond Stars had the power bulge hood? I have never seen one without.
The really is a purity of line to the more basic Lasers with their flash to pass popup headlights. Mitsu was really at the top of their game with these and the 89-93 Galants and Sigmas. All in basic form FWD but a good job to keep the hoodline low.
The 1.8 might have been low on power but with the 5sp would still be fun and economical. It was much lighter than the powerful versions and could still even be had with manual steering. The 2.0 and turbo started growing strange bulges that attracted the wrong crowd. Interesting that they called it a Plymouth so they could keep the Daytona around. Amazing the number of interesting choices one had in cheap sportyish coupes then.
Here’s another shot of it. I called it a Talon because no one knew that Plymouth made one of these (or any other car for that matter)
I really wanted one of these when they came out, but the timing wasn’t right for me. After they “modernized” the styling on the ’92s I was over these. A nice early one like this without the gee-gaws was best; I haven’t seen a clean one like this since the ’90s.
One thing that always fascinated me about the first-generation DSMs (and similar-vintage Galants) was the steel wheel design. Why did they bother designing and manufacturing a “styled” steel wheel if it was going to be covered?
Brake rotor cooling it probably wasnt covered on the van it originally came from.
I worked at a CPD dealer when these were new. It’s location straddled a suburban/ rural area. They never sold more than 5 or 6 lasers annually. In the preinternet car shopping days I don’t think younger sports coup buyers considered the Plymouth brand This dealer did however benefit from performing warranty work and a notable recall on hundreds of them. If the city dealers service departments were backlogged we’d get the overflow. Chrysler started the warranty wars with the 7/70 protection plan and before it was over it had to have cost them millions. The 7/70 sure spotlighted the enginerring weak points across their product range. In the case of the Lasers and Talons sold under 7/70 it was soon discovered that many of the timing belts on the 2.0 DOCH and turbo DOCH did not last that long with catastrophic results. Failure did not merely bend valves and ding pistons. It destroyed the head and pistons as the valve guides split through the casting. Each failure required replacement of 4 piston/ rod assays. and a complete brand new cyl. head assembly. Very expensive indeed and since Crysler had sold its shares in Diamonstar Mtrs. to Mitsubishi in Nov. of 91 they could not source these parts through existing inventory. Rather they now had to buy them from Mitsubishi. Cha Ching. To cut their losses this promtted a recall to DOCH Laser and Talon owners for a free timing belt replacement if under 100k miles and reimbursement to owners who had paid for repairs. The recall letter instructed owners that their car now has a 60k timing belt replacement interval. Also they would often copay repairs for original owners just out of warranty just like the LH cars rot while you drive air conditioning evaporators.
Did Chrysler dealers not tell customers 100,000km belt changes were required? Its a normal procedure on belt driven OHC engines.
Good question Mr. Bryce. I would love to see the published maintenance schedule in the original owners manual. I just visited some discussion forums on these models and a few posters heard of the recall and one reported recently buying (2007 post date) a 45000 mile Talon and had the recall performed at no cost. Most of these contributors were born about the time of the recall so naturally never heard of it. Some report that it was recommended at 60000 miles and required at 100000 miles except in California and a couple of other states where it was merely recommended at 100000 miles due to consumer protection laws that prohibit the sale of goods or services as a stipulation to honor a warranty. To answer your question more accurately, when I return to work tomorrow I can access a professional site we subscribe to revisit the actual recall , dealer instructions, and notification letter and I’ll repost then. I was unable to access this site from home. That all being said I think this one just fell through the cracks for Crysler. This was the first time they marketed a interference DOC turbo engine. Their own SOHC turbo engine usually went well out of warranty without major incidents just oil leaks. I’ll bet it never crossed a single corporate mind that this high revving screamer and the demographic that drove them that way would come back to bite them in the ass.
This is another example of how Chrysler corp. had a lot of desirable smaller cars that they didn’t market very well. The AWD turbos were pretty amazing. Just like the 4 valve inter cooled turbo Dodge Daytonas.
Those wheels look mighty similar to a mid-80’s Corvette.
I never liked DSMs, they always looked like stubbly little warts compared to their (IMO) far more attractive big brothers the 3000GT and Stealth, almost like a poorly scaled plastic toy the owners of these played with a mere few years earlier. They were the shape of things to come when it came to sporty cars too unfortunately, I remember when the 350z came out I thought it’s stubby little arch shape evoked these perfectly.
I do however miss when people did actually buy sporty 2 door cars like these in droves, because these were indeed EVERYWHERE in the 90s. It’s weird to see the landscape of the same two shapes of vehicle 20 years after these were thriving.
The DSM triplets were extremely popular in this area. They came out at a time when imports (especially Japanese) were still somewhat uncommon around here due to a strong union tradition. The DSMs were made right here in Illinois in a UAW shop.
Sad to see the old DSM plant in Normal closing, The Bloomington-Normal area is the one place where Mirages, non-EVO Lancers and Outlanders seem to be as common as Camrys and F150s On a recent business trip to Bloomington I even saw an MiEV in the wild with no manufacturer or dealer plates. Hadn’t seen one before or since.
Sorry to hear that the former DSM plant is closing. What was their last product made?
IIRC the Outlander is all they have left. Annual production is down to a third of the plant’s capacity. Mitsubishi and the UAW are trying to find a buyer but if that falls through the place closes in November.
There aren’t that many good paying blue collar jobs in the immediate B-N area outside of MMNA. State Farm Insurance is by far the 800 pound gorilla of the local economy,
I had two friends with the opposite “polarities” of these cars. One had a Laser, with the base engine and an automatic. The other had an AWD Turbo Talon that got modded continually until it’s death in a weird wreck. The Talon was scary fast early on in the mods, but at the end, it was just flat nuts at anything more then a barely cracked throttle. It was very odd to ride or drive in the Laser and then get into the Talon. The laser was around for over 10 years when the rot and a transaxle failure made it go away. The Talon was killed when, seconds after a near miss by a car running a red light, a woman in an F-350 just “I just didn’t see it!” turned into it at about 30 MPH. It was about 8 or 9 years old at the time, so it didn’t get fixed. He misses it, but his 850+ RWHP Challenger is a fun substitute, quicker and faster in every way, except around corners.
Sharp looking Plymouth that has held up pretty well despite living in Dixie.
Thank you all for adding so much excellent commentary. I learned more than I even expected to. 🙂
I went with a buddy to buy an Eagle Talon back in the day. some of my friends back then would bring me along to inspect the car and drive it and offer my advice before they made an offer. I told him not to buy the car. He bought it anyway. It was an all wheel drive automatic turbo with every conceivable option. A few years later it was “totaled” by a towtruck company. He broke down and a tow truck came to get him and towed it the usual way by dragging the back end…not knowing it was all wheel drive. The cost to repair it exceeded the blue book even though it was nearly mint…according to somebody’s insurance company. I told him to tell them to kiss his ass and fix it. He let it go and took the insurance money for a totaled vehicle. I think he put a down on a Kia.
My brother built one of these for a customer. All wheel drive turbo, he got it running 8 sec 1/4 miles in street trim. It was his “fast” car as it was quicker than his Viper and more fun in the snow.
I never cared for the shape of these 1st-gen DSMs when they were new, but now it actually looks rather nice. Maybe it’s the nice clean shape of this base laser rather than the more heavily optioned Eclpses/Talons usually seen.
The 2nd-gen cars were more attractive, regardless of variant. My wife’s first car was a ’96 Talon TSi AWD–I wish she’d still had it when I met her, but sadly, it had been totaled in a accident by then. Interesting that it was the turbo AWD version with an automatic. She’s not a “car person” *at all* but her Dad picked it out for her (and evidently enjoyed driving it himself occasionally). Nice choice!
never heard of this car- front end reminds me of a Reatta….I think I am crazy
I just purchased a 1998 Chrysler Sebring with many Laser/Talon/Eclipse pieces, such as the shifter and gauges. It reminds me so much of my dad’s 1990 Eagle Talon- one of my favorite cars of all time.