A turbo convertible from the 1980s? With authentic rec room paneling? And leather interior, in great shape, bucket seats, fuel injection … oh yeah!

And it’s rare?

We’ll take it!

This is one of just 501 Mark Cross Edition Chrysler Town and Country convertibles built. Full disclosure: Not sure we’ve ever seen one of these in the flesh. But we’re impressed with this baby. It’s absolutely loaded, very advanced for its time, and gets 30+ MPG on the highway. It’s a convertible with air conditioning … AND it’s a woodie.

This one’s for sale in Henderson, Nev., “only 20 minutes from the Las Vegas strip” according to the seller.

We’re starting to warm up to a lot of cars from the 1980s that we never really cared about before. We’ll add this one to the list!

CHECK IT OUT

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The post Old Cars We’d Buy That: 1986 Chrysler LeBaron Mark Cross Edition convertible appeared first on Old Cars Weekly.

To this day, designer merchandise usually carries a label, whether it be a metal emblem on a Coach purse or a red tag stitched to the pocket of Levi’s jeans. A prominent label shows the maker’s pride in their work, and the owner’s discerning taste and sense of style, especially when attached to luxury items. So it is with cars.

Since the early days of the automobile, cars have worn labels to identify the builder of the engine and chassis, whether it be a Ford or a Packard. Since the bodies of those cars could be built by another manufacturer, a second label identifying the body builder could often be found placed on the body.

By and large, body builders functioned on a large scale, producing bodies en masse for Chevrolet, Ford, Nash and other chassis. These cars’s bodies might wear the tag of body builders Fisher, Budd, Murray, Seaman or others.

Buyers with the wealth to purchase a very expensive automobile chassis before World War II often had the means to order a specially built body for their Packard or Duesenberg chassis. Often, these bodies for luxury cars were hand-built and uniquely designed or trimmed to an individual’s whims, or both. The companies that built these special quality bodies to order employed craftsmen to hand build them using Old World techniques, and are referred to coachbuilders. Some coachbuilders had been custom-building coaches, aka bodies, since the horse-and-carriage days. When transportation became motorized, these coachbuilders adapted by building coaches for automobile and truck chassis, carrying their wood-framed, metal-skinned traditions into automobile bodies. (Some coachbuilders even employed expensive casting methods that cast entire body sections in a substrate, such as aluminum.)

A key attribute of a coachbuilder was its ability to meet the sporting desires and luxury needs of well-heeled car owners seeking a personal touch. These touches usually included opulent interiors and advanced exterior styling features. The coachbuilder might build one body of a certain design, or hundreds.

Hand-built, coachbuilt bodies were usually fitted with labels, or tags, identifying the coachbuilder that built them. These coachbuilder tags were often screwed to the lower cowl area of the body (that space between the back of the lower hood panel and the front of the front door). Cars with coachbuilt bodies often had door sill plates that additionally identified the builder upon entering the bodies’ opulent interiors.

Aside from being a mark of pride, the coachbuilder tag on an automobile body advertised the company. When the owner of a car with a coachbuilt body parked at the opera or the athletic club, impressed socialites who noted the fine lines of a coachbuilt car could identify it as such, and perhaps seek out the coachbuilder for the body on their next Packard, Duesenberg or Isotta-Fraschini.

Builders of mass-produced bodies of economy cars would likewise fit labels to bodies for recognition, and perhaps to capture a bit of the air of exclusivity found on coachbuilt cars. However, it is the tags of coachbuilders that built high-quality bodies for luxury car chassis that are most valuable today.

Since coachbuilt bodies were noted for their quality and stylish exterior design features, which were often advanced compared to mass-produced budget cars, the tags — usually a couple inches long — were often equally thoughtful in design. These tags were often cast, but could be stamped or created in some type of process involving a metallic material.

The best-known company to build these tags for coachbuilders was D.L. Auld of Columbus, Ohio, and its maker’s mark appears on the back (obverse side) of the tags it built.

Recently, Check the Oil Productions conducted a series of six online auctions containing a diverse collection of original tags from coachbuilders and companies that mass-produced bodies for economy cars. Below are highlights of those auctions, with a focus on the more rarely seen tags from well-known coachbuilders that built bodies for American luxury cars during the 1920s and 1930s, plus a few recognizable European coachbuilders.

It should be noted that, over the course of the six auctions, awareness to the collection grew and prices seemed to rise with that awareness. As a result, identical tags had varying sold prices across the different sales.

What the Market Says

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By Terry Golda

My quest for this 1984 Chrysler LeBaron Town and Country convertible started in the summer of 1985, when my wife and I went to the Chrysler dealer in Hamilton Township, outside of Trenton, N.J., one evening to look at what they had in stock. We thought a convertible would be fun, and the dealer had one on the showroom floor. We looked at it and sat in it, but no one came to help us, so we walked out. As we left, we saw the sales people looking out the window at us.

Late the same evening, we went to the dealer in Flemington, N.J., which was then housed in an old gas station on the highway. Salesmen were scurrying about the lot, moving cars, etc. Again, no one helped us. My wife said, “That’s it — we’re not buying a new car.” We went home.

At the time, I had recently read Lee Iacocca’s book “Iacocca.” My wife was now reading it. In the book, she found an incident similar to the one we one we had experienced. She wrote a letter to Lee Iacocca and quoted the passage from his book, and in her letter she added, “Guess nothing’s changed.” She put the letter in the mail and we went off on vacation for a week. When we returned home at the end of August, we discovered we had received a phone call from Chrysler’s District Zone Manager, Blasé DeLeo. He said the letter got to the front office and caused quite a stir, and so he asked, “How can I help you?” By that time, I knew what I wanted: not just a convertible, but a Chrysler LeBaron convertible with the Town and Country option of woodgrain paneling on the sides, reminiscent of the Chrysler woodie convertibles of the ’40s.

Chrysler manufactured “new era” convertibles from 1983 through 1986, with only a total of 3,721 made in those years. DeLeo said he would look through his computer for one and get back to me.

In a few days, I received a call from DeLeo that a dealer in Lansdale, Pa., had one. I made an appointment with the dealer to see it. It was a white 1985 and not very clean, with almost 10,000 miles on it. The dealer said his wife had used it as a demonstrator, and he wasn’t offering it to me for a decent price. Mind you, other than the Chrysler limousine, the Town and Country convertible was Chrysler’s most expensive car of the time, with a window sticker price of almost $19,000.

I called the district zone manager and said, “Keep looking.” He said he could get me a new 1986 model, and I said I was not interested. For 1986, Chrysler had eliminated the luggage rack to accommodate the federally mandated third stop lamp; the “waterfall grille” stopped at the bumper line; and the parking lights were moved to the side, cutting off the angular beauty of the wood trim. To me, those changes took away some of car’s charm.

One day, on a hunch, I stopped at Autoland on Route 22 in Springfield, N.J. Almost a year and a half earlier, I’d looked at cars this dealership had on the lot. They had five Town and Country convertibles at that time. To my surprise, they still had three on the lot, all 1984s. The cars had been on the lot for nearly a year and a half! I took a test drive in one, and said I would think about it. That was a Wednesday. On Friday, the Star Ledger newspaper had a huge ad for Autoland, and one of the highlighted sales items was a gray 1985 Town and Country convertible at a really great price of $13,500. I know this car did not exist, because I wrote down all the serial numbers of the cars I had seen on the lot, and Chrysler never painted them in gray (just white, black and chocolate brown).

The following Monday morning, I went to the dealership and said, “I would like to buy the car in the ad.” They said it was sold. “Well,” I said, “I will offer you the same price for the black 1984 you have on the lot.” The salesman said the black car was turbocharged, and the car in the ad was not. “I’ll have to talk to the owner,” he said. “The owner said I can give you that car for $300 more than the one in the ad.” I said, “Sold.”

A few days later, Blasé DeLeo called back. I told him I had found a car. He said, “You did?” Apparently, he had been looking for 1985s and had never tried looking for a 1984. Who would have thought that a car would be on the lot of a high-volume dealer for a year and a half? I did ask him if he could arrange for me to have all the warranty service work done at Flemington since this was much closer to my home, and at that time, dealers were very fussy about who serviced a new car. He arranged that and I was happy.

I have since joined the Antique Automobile Club of America and entered the car in competition as soon as it was eligible. It is now a repeat First Place Senior-winning car.

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The post Car of the Week: 1984 Chrysler LeBaron Town and Country convertible appeared first on Old Cars Weekly.

Q. I have owned a 1956 Chevy pickup, 3200 Series, for 50 years. It is a half-ton, long bed. The bed is 7½ feet, not the usual 8 feet. Did GM install the 7½-foot bed only in 1955-’56? How many 3200 series were made in 1956? — Jim A. Lamb, Cloverdale, Calif.

A. The short answer to your question is that Chevy’s first “usual” 8-foot bed came with the introduction of the full-width Fleetside pickup bed in the 1958 model year. The 3200, as you note, was a half-ton version of the 125-1/4-inch wheelbase chassis previously restricted to the 3/4-ton 3600 Series. The bed measured 90 inches (7-1/2 feet), which had been the intermediate “long-bed” dimension from the launch of the “Advance-Design” models in 1947 (1-ton trucks had a 9-foot bed). The 3200 line commenced with the “Second Series” 1955 trucks, called “Task Force,” in March of that year. The 1955 “First Series,” as is well known, was a continuation of the Advance-Design line with 1954’s modest updates, including a one-piece windshield and a bolder grille. I have been unable to find series production figures for any Chevy trucks in that period.

Not surprisingly, GMC pickups mirrored Chevy practice from 1955 on. However, there was a half-ton, long-bed GMC pickup, Series 102 (short beds were 101), as far back as 1947.

Interestingly, Ford did offer an 8-foot bed during that time, but only on the 3/4-ton F250 models. Dodge, on the other hand, offered a long-bed half-ton model from at least 1954 to 1958, but in Chevy’s 7-1/2-foot size. Throughout the period, all three makers offered 6-1/2-foot “short bed” half-tonners, and full 9-foot, 1-ton pickups. My primary source for the above data is the “Standard Catalog of Light Duty Trucks,” augmented by manufacturer’s literature where I’ve been able to find it.
A neighbor of mine had a 1960 1-ton Chevy pickup. The stepside bed was badly rusted, so he removed it and mounted an 8-foot Fleetside bed instead. To do so he had to cut a foot off the chassis, but it worked well enough. It looked really odd, though, since the rear tires did not line up with the Fleetside wheel arches.

Q. Why do some car hoods have insulation? Noise reduction seems minimal. Wouldn’t that keep heat in the engine bay, something you would NOT want? — Mark Axen, Stony Creek, N.Y.

A. I think air flow in a modern engine compartment is through the grille, around the engine and downward ahead of the firewall, then out the bottom. That’s why we see insulated firewalls as well as hoods. The hot air does not stay in the compartment when the car is moving.

Q. I inherited a 1982 Chrysler LeBaron convertible, Medallion Edition, with 97,000 miles, one owner. I spent $800 getting the carb rebuilt to pass smog and $850 for a steering rack replacement. Now the car doesn’t leak any oil. I have a few questions: What signifies a regular K-Car and a Medallion Edition one; what makes it special?

The car seems to run lean. I run the engine and spray brake cleaner under the intake below the carb and the idle goes up. However, I did a smoke test and couldn’t find a leak. Is this common? 

Is there a supplier that I can get the plastic plugs that connect to the driver’s window and door lock switches? Years ago I saw a company at SEMA.

I’m trying to make this car more comfortable to drive. On my list are a heater fan motor resistor and radio or speaker replacement, when I find out why the volume is so low. Cruise control needs to be fixed. It’s a nice car, although the suspension rubber parts squeak like an old lady. — Mike Ramos, via email

A. The name LeBaron, originally a prestige American coachbuilder, was acquired by Chrysler Corp. in 1952 with the purchase of Briggs Manufacturing Co., which had acquired the LeBaron brand in the late 1920s. From 1957 to ’77, it was used on an upscale series of Imperial models. Beginning in 1977, it was applied to an M-Body midsize Chrysler sedan. In 1982 it was transplanted to Chrysler’s front-drive K-car line, in coupe, convertible and station wagon forms. K-car LeBarons came in base or Medallion trim, the latter an array of bright moldings and accent stripes, topped off with a vinyl roof covering on coupes and sedans. For 1983, Medallion trim was replaced by a Mark Cross package with leather interior and a larger, Mitsubishi-sourced 2.6-liter engine. There was a Town and Country exterior simulated wood option for wagons and convertibles as well.

K-body LeBarons continued through 1988, but Chrysler wasn’t through with the name yet. From 1985 to 1989 it also graced a midsize H-body hatchback, then a J-body personal luxury coupe and convertible until 1995. Overlapping the luxury coupe was an AA-body midsize sedan built from 1990-1994.
Your car was one of 9,780 Medallion convertibles in 1982. Base convertibles were rarer: just 3,045. Perhaps we have some readers who can give some advice on tuning and parts sources.

To submit questions to this column: E-mail
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5225 Joerns Drive, Suite 2, Stevens Point, WI 54481

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By Brian Earnest

It’s not easy to come up with a list of 1980s cars that most enthusiasts would consider “collectible,” but the 1982 Chrysler LeBaron convertible probably belongs in the conversation. It may never go down alongside the ’32 Fords, ’57 Chevys and Hemi Mopars on any all-time collector rankings, but the ’82 LeBaron ragtop had plenty going for it.

First, and most obviously, it was a convertible in a decade where droptops were not really in style, particularly when it came to larger cars. Chrysler had been totally out of the convertible game for many years — in fact, nobody had made a domestic convertible since the 1976 Cadiallc Eldorado — but the fabric top was finally back in ’82 for the LeBarons.

The LeBarons were also noteworthy for their front-wheel drive, which was a first for Chrysler. The model was moved to the Chrysler K platform for the model year, making it about 800 lbs. lighter and about two feet shorter than its predecessor. That gave the LeBarons really good gas mileage for the time (between 25 and 40 mpg) and made them appealing to a wide audience.

But as nice as they were, not that many ’82 standard LeBaron ragtops hit the streets. A total of 3,045 of the LeBaron convertibles were built, along with another 9,780 of the more upscale LeBaron Medallion versions — for a total of 12,825.

If the ’82 LeBarons ever do catch fire with the car collector crowd, guys like Jerry Davis of Concord, N.C., will certainly be ahead of the curve. Davis has owned three of them, and has two unrestored cars in the garage at the moment – a lovely white version and a brown car that he recently acquired and is still cleaning up. Davis’ affection for the cars has been long-running, too. He owned his first ’82 LeBaron back in 1990s and has been a fan of the cars ever since. “I really, thoroughly enjoyed that one and we handed it over to our daughter to go back and forth to college in,” he said. “By that point it was a 10-year-old car … But as I’ve gotten older I decided to go ahead and get another one.

“They are fun, cheap convertibles and you can have the wind blowing through your hair without a huge investment. Old cars can be extremely expensive if you let them, or you can be extremely cheap, like me. But they can be inexpensive and you can still have fun with them.”

Davis found his white car in California and it was too nice to pass up. The car had just 44,000 miles on the odometer, was completely in tact and had obviously been well cared for. “A woman in California owned it, and her boss liked the car and he finally talked her out of it and he bought it from her,” said Davis. “Then he eventually decided he didn’t want it anymore and I found it on eBay. What caught my eye, of course, was that it had 44,000 actual miles on it.

“I got it for a really good price, and when I finally got it and really looked it over, I thought, ‘This is really, really nice!’ It had a few scratches on it, and the tires on it were so old they had dry-rotted to the point where they were splitting through the tread. I was tempted to leave them on it, but I was afraid I’d blow a tire. But there were no tears in the upholstery or anything. It needed a change of tires and some cleaning, but that’s about it.”

The ’82 LeBarons were well-equipped for the period and came in two-door coupe, four-door sedan and two-door convertible configurations. They came standard with a 2.2-liter Trans-4 engine that, mated to a four-speed, was rated at 84 hp. A 2.6-liter Mitsubishi-built overhead-cam four-cylinder rated at 92 hp was optional for the LeBarons, and both of Davis’ cars have the 2.6.

The LeBarons were based on the K-Car, but they were clearly more upscale, with standard amenities such as a four-speed manual transaxle, power steering and brakes, cruise control, tilt steering, power windows and door locks, digital clock, electric cooling fan and day/night inside mirror. The fancier Medallion version added halogen headlamps, a light/gauge alert group, dual mirrors, bodyside stripes, color-keyed wheel covers and trunk dress-up items. A “Mark Cross” edition was also available for buyers who wanted their LeBaron loaded with everything. It included the 2.6-liter engine, a special interior, air conditioning and a few other goodies.

As is often the case with old car purchases, Davis came across his third LeBaron, a Mahogany Brown car with a white top, by accident. “I saw a Craig’s List ad for an ’82 convertible, and I told my wife we surely don’t need it, but I had to go look at it,” Davis joked. “Turns out the car was only about three miles from me, and it had been there in the family since it was new.”

The car was another all-original specimen with 80,000-plus miles on it. The only real drawback was that it had been sitting outside, albeit under a cover, for quite some time. “It was covered, sort of, but it was still outside storage,” Davis said. “When I first saw it it was all dirty nasty. I took two months until we could get the deal together, but I finally decided I would buy it … It needed a lot of cleaning, but when I opened the doors up, except for the cobwebs, the interior was absolutely immaculate. I’ve been scrubbing the paint to get all the junk off and working on the inside. I pulled the wheels, then took the gas tank off because it had been sitting for so long. Turns out the tank was totally clean on the inside so I did a lot of extra work for no need whatsoever.

“But when I put the air cleaner back on it, it fired right up,” Davis remarked with a laugh. “It hadn’t run in about five years! And I charged that battery up, and lo and behold the battery is still holding up. It runs good. I’ve driven it around the block some and I’ll get it all cleaned up and everything and it’ll be a nice car. Right now we still have kind of the ‘before and after’ with the white one and the brown one.”

Davis jokes that he and his wife have become known as the “convertible couple.” In addition to their LeBarons, the family has a 1963 Plymouth Valiant convertible and Christine’s daily driver is a Miata ragtop. “And all of them are white except for the one brown one,” Davis said. “That’s the oddball.”

Davis said he is still on the lookout for a older car to restore, but for now he’s happy to have some hobby cars that are a blast to drive and easy to keep running. And if his LeBarons ever get hot as collector cars, Davis figures that will make them even more fun to own.

“Hey, they only made about [12,000] of them and there’s no telling how many got crashed or are gone now,” he said. “There can’t be that many of them. It may very well become a collectible type car. It’s certainly a nice-looking car, with the leather and all the chrome.

“But I really just enjoy them. It’s just fun to participate in the hobby.”

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The post Car of the Week: 1982 Chrysler LeBaron convertible appeared first on Old Cars Weekly.

The Imperial was one casualty, so when a mid-size Chrysler Corp. was launched in 1977, it was given a name long tied to an Imperial series: LeBaron. Although the Imperial had rarely provided serious competition for Lincoln and Cadillac, its failure to return for 1976 surely pained the company.

A LeBaron station wagon appeared in 1978 and was given another name long associated with upscale Chryslers, Town and Country. This one is a 1979. (Bob Tomaine photo)

And if it was embarrassing to admit defeat in the luxury market, it was equally so to watch quality problems appear soon after the Aspen/Volare’s 1976 introduction. It also must have been at least a little frightening to any manager or executive paying attention, since the Aspen and Volare were as replacements for Dodge’s Dart and Plymouth’s Valiant, respectively, and the two older models were generally well regarded as solid, dependable cars.

Despite all of that, there was reason to hope. Chrysler’s big success of the time was the Cordoba, introduced in 1975. The downsized luxury coupe perfectly followed the classic long hood, short deck formula, but with its twin at Dodge, the Charger, each wore styling fresh enough to distinguish it from the competition. The Cordoba really was smaller – its 115-inch wheelbase was 9 inches less than that of a New Yorker, and its overall length 11 inches less, but it still weighed in at 2 tons, and that left an opening for another model that would be smaller yet.

That was where the LeBaron came in. With dimensions comparable to those of the Aspen/Volare to which it was distantly related, the LeBaron weighed 400 to 500 pounds less than the Cordoba. It did offer one big similarity to the Cordoba, though, in that the LeBaron had a Dodge derivative ‘ the Diplomat ‘ that barely differed from it.

Among the shrewder parts of the planning behind the LeBaron was that it did not target those seeking basic or mid-level transportation. Instead, it was carefully aimed at luxury-car buyers in the same kind of thinking that had created two of its contemporaries: Cadillac’s 1976 Seville and Lincoln’s 1977 Versailles. All three felt small when compared to their respective full-size brethren and were touted with descriptions like “international-size” and “precision-size,” most of which were simply ways to say “Mercedes-like” without actually saying it. The Versailles is so obviously based on the Granada/Monarch that it could easily be taken for one of those less-expensive cars, but the Seville and LeBaron disguised their roots well; a Seville looks little like a Nova and the LeBaron’s resemblance to the Aspen/Volare is effectively one of family identity.

The LeBaron today would be described as “nicely equipped” with its 318-cid V-8, automatic transmission and power assists. But since its option list included such items as air conditioning, power windows and seats, road wheels and a sunroof, it would probably also be called a “near-luxury” car. Hair-splitting aside, the Le-Baron soon proved its planners right; it sold about 46,000 examples in its short first year, and that figure rose to about 128,000 in 1978 before falling to about 96,000 in 1979. However, nothing is free, and it fell to the Cordoba to pay. That model’s first-year sales had hit about 150,000 and the number reached about 168,000 in 1976, but dropped off slightly to about 163,000 in 1977 when the LeBaron appeared. That might not have caused panic at Chrysler, but the trend intensified with just some 108,000 Cordobas sold in 1978 and about 73,000 in 1979. That was the last year for the original Cordoba and the down-sized, restyled version that followed never produced anything like the enthusiasm generated by its predecessor. It continued only through 1983, even as the LeBaron pressed on.

Certainly one of the more curious additions to the LeBaron came in its second year, when buyers were given a choice of not only the 318 and a newly available 360 cid, but also one of Chrysler’s most enduring engines, the 225-cid “Slant Six.” If that wasn’t enough to surprise potential customers, the standard transmission was now a four-speed with an overdrive top-gear, but changes weren’t limited to drivetrains.

Beyond normal year-to-year differences, the LeBaron sedan and coupe were joined by a station wagon. It made good sense; the full-size Chrysler wagon had sold poorly in recent years and was therefore dropped, freeing up another important name so that the new LeBaron wagon could become the Town and Country.

When the new LeBaron debuted in mid 1977, it was the lightest Chrysler ever produced and was available as a coupe or sedan. This red LeBaron coupe hails from 1979. (Jeremy Tietz photo)

It was a smart move. While the merits of simulated wood versus the strengths of genuine wood can be debated and usually are, the Town and Country name, even in 1978, recalled to many the high-end Chrysler woodies of the 1940s and early 1950s. Few commented on the fact that the LeBaron Town and Country wore its side paneling bumper to bumper, like most wagons using plastic wood trim, and unlike true woodies. However, a non-plastic-wood-trimmed wagon became available in 1980.

That change was part of a restyling that reduced the roundness of its body panels and edges to give the car a more angular quality. It added up to a fairly different ‘ but clearly related ‘ look that would continue through 1981 on the LeBaron and then, via one of the era’s more complicated reshufflings, on the New Yorker Fifth Avenue. The explanation is that Chrysler dropped its full-size models at the end of 1981, placed the LeBaron name on a new, smaller model and moved the New Yorker name to the former LeBaron sedan. Names continued to bounce around, and for 1984, the one-time LeBaron was simply a Fifth Avenue and still looked about as it did in 1980.

In its final identity, it would run through the 1989 model year with few visual changes. By the end, it was a decidedly low-tech survivor of an earlier age and easily found buyers who wanted exactly that: a large, rear-wheel-drive luxury sedan with a V-8. After some 43,000 sales in 1988, though, Chrysler just couldn’t find enough of those customers, and with about 17,000 Fifth Avenues sold in 1989, the design was retired and the name ‘ like LeBaron and New Yorker ‘ found itself on a new car.

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