1985 Chrysler LeBaron Review - The Butterfly Effect

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DISCLAIMER!
The thoughts, feelings, and opinions expressed in this video are the sole thoughts of Zack and no one else. The purpose of this video is to provide entertainment with the hope that you will take what you see and formulate your own opinions. I highly recommend consuming other reviews of this vehicle before making any form of financial decision.
#Chrysler #LeBaron #Kcar
Timecodes:
0:00 - Intro
1:04 - Engine / Transmission
1:47 - Interior
3:31 - BFB Test
3:41 - Back Seats
4:15 - Trunk / Cargo Space
4:32 - Exterior
4:57 - Final Thoughts
8:33 - Outro

[@redneon06]

My Grandma had an 88 Aries. White with a red interior. It felt like a solid car. She drove it into the late 90’s. Then traded it for a red Neon.

[@Richard-Allen]

my mom had a neon bought new in the late 90's and it was a real pile talk about a piece of junk it broke down all the time, looked nice from the outside though

[@cabaneencac5168]

what a mistake

[@scuzzo7]

I had this car as a convertible a long time ago. I loved driving it.. with the top down. The engine (a Mitsubishi 4 banger by the way) had a bad carb with a stuck autochoke making the car stance at a red light every time, the power steering belt was a very weird size and would just randomly stop gripping and man.. the body was ruuuuusty. I think I was actually lucky my floors were still intact but that car was not salvageable. I had a great summer and a half of driving it before it was it's time to retire. I still miss it often and I wish it was built better. The 'American car' feeling was top notch, the windshield was nice and far away from your head and it was just a flat open car otherwise. And the small size made it excellent to maneuver and use in a city like Amsterdam. If I could find and afford a proper one I'd get it in a heartbeat.

[@67marlins]

I had an 1981 Aries and loved it. Trouble-free, which impressed me since it was in its first year of production.

[@andyk6796]

My grandma bought a new '85 LeBaron convertible that year. Red with a white vinyl interior. Had the 2.2 Turbo, so pretty decent acceleration for the time.

[@steverado87]

2:45 actually this is an SPS unit which was a dealer installed radio at the time! They look very similar to factory units at the time

[@deeznice2006]

audiovox sps (special performance series)

[@klwthe3rd]

I never realized that it was a dealer installed radio?? Didn't the Lebaron atleast come with a factory AM radio??

[@klwthe3rd]

Best part of this video is giving honest and true recognition to the K car for allowing Chrysler to continue on to things such as the minivan, Jeep brand and saving Chrysler all together. When Zach pointed to that newer Dodge Caravan and said, "You're welcome" i couldn't stop laughing. This might be historically one of his best videos to date.

[@robertgruver9613]

I had three of these back in the day- an 82 Reliant wagon, an 86 leBaron coupe, and an 86 convertible. The wagon was a naturally aspirated 2.2, the coupe and convertible were turbos. They were good, solid, and reliable cars.

[@jchoward6451]

I was surprised you made no snarky comment about the Joan Claybrook/NHTSA mandated 85 mph speedometer. As you mentioned, coming out of the fuel crisis of the 70s they didn't want us driving too fast: wasteful, you know. As if the car might have been able to exceed 85 ... I owned a Plymouth Reliant. I'm a MOPAR fan and was stoked about Lee Iacoca and the idea of the K-Car. It was a nice-looking car and pleasant enough to drive and ride in. Alas, I found it to be underpowered which caused me to put my foot in it more, which erased any fuel savings of the smaller engine. Thanks for doing this review. You're right, it's very important in the history of Chrysler.

[@jkeelsnc]

My grandmother had an 86 Lebaron 4 door. I believe it had the 2.5 instead of the 2.2 though.

[@jeremiahallyn4603]

Is the car named Maybel? Judging by the license plate. If it is, that is a perfect name for a classic car like this LeBaron 👏

[@jonathanmorrisey5771]

One correction is that Iacocca and Chrysler didn't just buy Jeep. They bought all of AMC assets from Renault including the Bramlea Ontario assembly plant where the LH cars were built

[@Johnnyynf]

finally, somebody appreciate the hero that this car is, in the age when Chrysler only know how to get drunk on HPs

[@kevinwong6588]

The waterfall grille is unique only to the 1985 LeBaron. Convertibles were built on the St. Louis assembly line from 2-door coupes, and the Executive series limos were built on the same assembly line by stretching the 100" wheelbase of the 2-door LeBaron coupe to 131".

[@klwthe3rd]

So the 1985 model year was the only year for the waterfall grille?? Really?

[@kevinwong6588]

@@klwthe3rd Correct.

[@ydmf2]

"I only see one LeBaron Freddy. Where's your LeBaron?" 😁

[@tdvandy2]

Great video and well done. The K platform saved the company and is definitely the most important set of cars Chryco ever built!

[@messedup4538]

Also the 1987 LeBaron Convertible was selected to be the pace car for the 1987 Indianapolis 500 race. Interesting fact

[@lincmerc1581]

What a beautiful filming location. That big, orange/red tree in the background sets it off.

[@Rusty5000]

I like trying to make similar cars like these in Automation, its interesting to see development of cars and how they impact future ideas

[@mbd501]

The LeBaron was the slightly upscale version, compared to the Dodge Aries and Plymouth Reliant.

[@Mintman83]

My dad had a Plymouth reliant K car we used to play find the hubcap as a kid when it flew off of there

[@LaytonKnightt]

How timely-yesterday I was looking up the car from Trains, Planes, and Automobiles. I think this is the same car.

[@highland96]

Great video, I wish I saw more of these cars over in the UK

[@Admajors]

Hey Zack! Not sure sure if you're interested in seeing another K car, but I have a '94 3.0L V6 Plymouth Acclaim that I'm happy to show off later in the summer after I get to a few more repairs. Ive found these K cars make amazing first vehicles, since they're cheap and relatively easy to work on (with very few electronics in the way). The fact that Haynes and Chiltons make repair manuals for these models is just the icing on the cake!

[@ShootingCars]

I'd love to! You can submit it to my website and we can find a time to film! Zackpradel.com

[@edwardturner333]

I had one of these! I loved it!

[@pdbsstudios7137]

le baron has arrived in town

[@davinp]

Lee Iacocca had advertised that their cars were just as good as the Japanese (Toyota & Honda). He said "If you can find a better car, buy it". Just search on KZbin for video

[@piuthemagicman]

yet to be fair that is great marketing by Iacocca & his team, appealing to the patriotic customers.

[@zythr9999]

Which many did as evidenced by who is still around today and who is part of an automotive group?

[@klwthe3rd]

One of my favorite videos of all time. His marketing was brilliant.

[@davidp2888]

You do your research and dig deep into the history. I appreciate that.

[@karoltakisobie6638]

Sadly Chrysler doesn't make anything remotely like K car. They don't even make cars anymore.

[@Realwessharpe]

Chrysler as a brand will probably not be around by the end of the decade

[@darthdarthbinkss]

@@Realwessharpe I don't think they'll even be around in a few years. All they have left now is the Pacifica.

[@sybsygstgstsgysg5330]

The Pacifica is definitely the only thing keeping them above water

[@Realwessharpe]

@@darthdarthbinkss Mark my words the Pacifica will become a Dodge or Jeep product if Chrysler goes belly up

[@666cemetaryslut]

@@Realwessharpe A Jeep minivan huh?

[@arthurmroyce]

My first new car after I got out of college was a red 1988 LeBaron GTS with the "upgraded" 2.5 liter engine and a 5 speed manual. I did not trust turbos yet. Livin' the dream...

[@klwthe3rd]

That was a beautiful car with a 5 speed manual.

[@arthurmroyce]

@klwthe3rd but a couple years later, I bought a red Stealth R/T. I had doubled my salary. September of 1990. One of the early 91 Stealths. Lots of zeros in the VIN.

[@Trenton-om9qs]

This car is a time capsule

[@bazilwreckerloughead]

My grandparents used to have a light blue wagon version of one of these, but I think the one they had was a Relient K.

[@Andyface79]

Yeah the wagon version of this was sold as the Town and Country and it came standard with wood trim. The vast majority of wagon K's are either Aries' or Reliants.

[@seville-798]

My friend never owned one, he had a grand marquis, but rented a convertible. It burned during his rental, but he enjoyed the car. Believe it was also a turbo.

[@dave11686]

My sister’s first car was an 87 Dodge Aries(Dodge version of the K)

[@NickJThibault]

enjoyed and learned a lot. thank you

[@darylkik6204]

Lee Iacocca was the man who came up with the Ford Mustang. Many K cars would only differ on the assembly line by Dodge, Chrysler, or Plymouth badges and some had both on accident. He paid the Government back early in full and saved one of the big three. I had a Dodge 600 (600 was to fool you into thinking it was like a Mercedes with numbers. Not even a small blind child was fooled.) My 600 going from Norton AFB to Apple Valley required being in the truck lane, automatic in first or second, AC off in that hot dessert and was honestly passed and honked at by the trucks climbing with me. Yes it was that slow, sounded like a tin can and guess where they sold thousands and thousands of K-cars? Yup the Air Force as Staff cars, Police cars, and all else. Cuss at my car at home, cuss at my car at work. Again he did save the company but man those 2.2 and 2.6 Mitsubishi engines had less than 90 horsepower and the car would get so hot on the highway. My first negative review on here. Your great, show is great, K-car bad memories of 25 miles per hour. lol

[@ryanwolff4058]

I owned a 1983 Chrysler LeBaron K-Car 2 door with a 4 manual transmission in 1991 while I was a senior in high school. Other than it being a 4 MT and having an all vinyl interior, it was identical to the car here. It was my first car, and the local Dodge dealer called it "the queerest 2 door LeBaron he'd ever seen." The only thing wrong with it was the computer control unit that created an issue with spark timing. Luckily, by 1991, it was easy enough to get a CPU from a junkyard LeBaron and swap out the unit. I should have hung on to that car longer than I did (I ended up getting a POS 1983 Mustang and regretted it).

[@klwthe3rd]

4 speed manuals in those cars were extremely rare!!! That car would have been worth alot of money today. Honestly i didn't even know you could get a manual transmission in a Lebaron. Hence why you local dealership made that comment.

[@andregonsalvez9244]

Great video Zach ! This is the upscale K car , very comfortable , fairly roomy and cheap to run .

[@piuthemagicman]

A New Yorker was even more upscale :) Oh and the Chrysler TC by Maserati, that was an ambitious Italian LeBaron 🤭

[@piuthemagicman]

@Brian Lee ah yes the Broccello LeGrande

[@zythr9999]

@@piuthemagicman which was a failure

[@piuthemagicman]

@Brian Lee Stellantis before Stellantis (today there are Fiats in the US rebaged as Dodge etc)

[@Dankcatvacs]

i heard stories my dad replaced the cam in my mom's dads reliant K when it was only a few years old or something traded it in on a dodge aries... but that was way before my time.

[@Jack-5718]

Everybody's talkin' at me. I can't hear a word they're sayin'. Just drivin' around in Jon Voight's car...

[@philricci2012]

Wasn’t his a convoight-able?

[@user30017]

Love these

[@dave11686]

Beautiful!

[@jonbaker3728]

I drive my 85 Dodge 600 convertible every summer. Make it my daily when the sun is out because the roof is torn and I don't put it up. Rides like a cloud.

[@klwthe3rd]

Fix the top dude!

[@Dazlidorne]

3:51 Dude, fix the headliner. It only costs a few hundred dollars.

[@chrislemaster2695]

That radio was discontinued in 1983

[@davinp]

My father had a 1986 Dodge Caravan. We don't have that van anymore

[@user-neptune84]

I remember the family have this car may through October 1991 brown and gold roof I was seven years old when my mom have it family vehicle #7 but it got burnt after the battery isn't bolted down correctly it tipped over

[@rxa177]

John Voight had a Lebaron

[@CostelloBrasco]

please do a review on the 1988 Chrysler New Yorker i love your work i wish you can do the review.

[@stefancarlberg7806]

Fun review . I have just get a 87 new yorker . Kinda fun little Yankee car ( i m in sweden) i think there is around 3 off them here :) More like this :)

[@202tupper]

U wedge the cup or bottle btw the bench seat & door, that's how we did it

[@FPH-yi8yl]

My parents owned a 1984 Lebaron 4 door with bucket seats up front, a center console, and a floor mounted gear selector. The interior was surprisingly high quality and my mother lliked the way that it drove. However, they kept it less than a year because it was a dealer demonstration car that evidently had been driven hard and not properly maintained. The car they traded for, a 1985 Fifth Avenue, was one of the worst cars they ever owned. In retrospect they should have kept the Lebaron!

[@klwthe3rd]

Those Fifth Avenues were built like tanks. You're the first person i've ever heard say their quality experience with that car was poor.

[@FPH-yi8yl]

@klwthe3rd yea, and I regret saying that too. It was sturdy as far as the body construction. However, it had all kinds of electrical problems. And one day the steering gear locked and the car had to be towed. The seats and carpet were high quality, but the headliner was cheap junk. We may have just had a bad apple.

[@klwthe3rd]

@@FPH-yi8yl The electrical problems are a total suprise to me as well. The only issues that i have heard for those cars over the decades of their ownership might be the lean burn systems(electronics), HVAC in dash components(made of plastic and break all the time) and suspension components tend to wear prematurely due to their excessive weight.

[@joeseeking3572]

This was a bit of a travesty for the LeBaron name, continuing its downhill slide from the once rarified height of coachbuilding in the 20's when founded by Hibbard & Dietrich. Yes, they bodied Chryslers, but oh so much, much more. Anyway back to the K car - 1983 Chrysler E class - a 'super K' on stretched wheelbase. Same underpowered 2.2, bit more weight. Flaccid suspension. Occasionally, after randomly announcing 'a door is a jar' the robot would hit upon the truth - 'your electrical system is malfunctioning'. Ended up with this as a discarded company car after my Dad fired the guy who this had been purchased for. It had been the guy's own choice withing some pricing parameters. Said something about him: fox body LTD would have been much better. Or please, a Dodge 600 ES with a stick - I mean that could have been halfway decent.

[@bwofficial1776]

This car looks way more dated than its model year suggests. It looks more 70s than 85. This was the same year the smooth aerodynamic Taurus came out and shook up the domestic sedan market. This car is weirdly stubby and boxy for being a compact because it's trying to look like a classic RWD full-size land yacht. I know a few former Chrysler assembly-line workers and they all speak highly of the K-Car, both about the cars themselves and their role in saving the company. There's a good chance this car was built in my home town and some of them worked on it.

[@philipperipoton1965]

love

[@michaelcoffey7362]

Cool 😀

[@johnnymason2460]

This is a car that would be a great first car. It does need a turbo to make more power, though.

[@Admajors]

Not arguing with your point, but I've got a '94 Acclaim with the 3.0L V6 and it has good power for a car this size. No turbo also means less wear and tear on the engine as a bonus.

[@johnnymason2460]

@@Admajors The Acclaim was built to hold a V6. The 1985 Lebaron wasn't. That's why a turbo makes sense there. That 3.0 liter V6 was in the 1993 Dodge Dynasty that my mother used to own. It was a decent engine.

[@unclebrucelive]

I owned this exact car, in the deep red, and it was a great ride...until the mitsu 2.6 liter engine blew up. I later found out these engines were failing at an unheard rate.

[@klwthe3rd]

Sadly the optional Mitsubishi 2.6 liter 4 cylinders were very bad in quality. That is why when Chrysler introduced their own 2.5 liter to replace that motor it was a much bigger success.

[@doug6191]

I certainly respect the role the K platform played in keeping the company alive. That said, this had NO business masquerading as anything close to a luxury car. Just....no. It's embarrassing to 1980s Cadillac and Lincoln to stand beside this as representative of American luxury, and those brands had terrible 80s products themselves.

[@willdowns1745]

Much like the car from Planes, Trains and Automobiles minus it being a coupe without the wood paneling

[@vincentblue6756]

My mom had a brown one .RIP mom we were on the way to Panama city

[@fortheloveofnoise9298]

Imports did not always have 4 cylinders during 70s and 80s plenty, like the Z car had a 6 cylinder....

[@nb7466]

My mom had a blue talking new yorker with the turbo when I was a kid n

[@adamogden5212]

would you wanna review my turbo new yorker?

[@ShootingCars]

Yes! You can submit it to Zackpradel.com/submit !

[@rodredoun1922]

Can you sell it?

[@matt8151]

No commentary on how the car actually drove?

[@kcarman88]

Be more fun under the hood if it had the optional turbo

[@messedup4538]

I can’t see this without thinking about “Where’s your LeBaron, Freddy?!” Daddy, would you like some sausage?

[@esserdennis03]

More chryslers!!!

[@vr4787]

With the finest Corinthian Leather- Ricardo Montalbán

[@sauerOFkraut]

I love k cars

[@scrambler69-xk3kv]

Giant bench seat. Really shows your age. Just so funny. Zack It is far from a giant bench seat, trust me I am 70.

[@celsovera91]

Perfect car for going down the highway bumping Mess Around by Ray Charles

[@zythr9999]

or waiting for a tow.

[@kilabot749]

This was Ashton Kutcher's car in Cheaper by the Dozen!

[@Doctor_Robert]

Weeeeeell... the XJ was developed by AMC before it was bought up by Chrysler. But, we can thank Chrysler that the XJ was in production as long as it was! ^_^

[@celsovera91]

All hail the K car

[@kc0lif]

i like the new yorker k car but LeBaron is nice rare car.

[@bc5441]

K-cars looked like Chicklets. Actually they look better when seen in hindsight than they did in their time.

[@andrewplantagenet5811]

My parents had a 1981 Plymouth Reliant wagon. White, no ac but it had the four on the floor and a cassette player in the radio. It was a horrible car. Always breaking down. I remember that I went they several catalytic converters as well as other various issues. I was only a little kid but I hated that car.

[@be5952]

I'm just thinking...I don't recall seeing many of the station wagon versions in those days. Do you recall---were they common? I *do* recall lots of the sedan versions. If your family's was so bad, was it older when you bought it, or did you have it from pretty new?

[@EnthusiastCarHangar]

I had an 85 Dodge 600SE that looked a lot alike. Check it out on my channel.

[@btrdangerdan2010]

You have some audio cutting in and out fyi

[@ShootingCars]

Do you have timestamps? Thanks!

[@btrdangerdan2010]

@@ShootingCars like for example 09:14 it's not necessarily cutting in and out there's just popping and cracking sounds that the mic is picking up very subtly.

[@ShootingCars]

@@btrdangerdan2010 Ah yeah, so unfortunately when some cars have the seats like this one, they make a lot of static electricity and sometimes it can interfere with my mic. Unfortunately I can't do much about it, and I don't know about it until I'm editing.

[@btrdangerdan2010]

@@ShootingCars ah got it.

[@rickymack2611]

I had an 85 LeBaron one upon a time, hated the dam thing

[@Foxonian]

The K car platform was derived from the Plymouth Horizon/Dodge Omni which was developed by a French car company called Simca that Chrysler had a controlling stake in.

[@timothykeith1367]

That is true, but the Omni/Horizon is the 'L' body - which alphabetically came after 'K'. Was Chrysler working on the 'K' before the 'L', or did they decide the 'K' development would take too long and went to Europe to get the 'L' for a more immediate production to sell ? Its probably that they originally had not decided to market the 'L' for the U.S.A. market, but got one from Europe to use as the template for the 'K', then later decided they also wanted a U.S. version of the European car. Thus, the older design ended up with the newer letter designation.

[@jonathanmorrisey5771]

The L-body actually came from Britain where it was the Talbot Horizon.

[@cabaneencac5168]

Americans never invent anything like the best Harley engine* which is of Porsche design .*that of the v-rod.

[@MyerShift7]

No, the K's are NOT based on the L-bodies. They share a powertrain in some instances, but per Burton Bouwkamp, head of Chrysler body engineering at the time, states the K is a CLEAN SHEET design.

[@jamesruiz4005]

The K Car

[@DoubleH2279]

Looks like a Homer Simpson car

[@meanyist]

Sadly my k car is the last purchase from chrysler there customer service and quality is terrible maybe they will go bankrupt i can't even have my lebaron serviced by chrysler anymore

[@kcarman88]

Radio isnt original, that is an audiovox sps dealer installed unit.

[@cabaneencac5168]

They would need another bailout to reproduce efficient cars & not just monsters with hemi like now.

[@67marlins]

A Chrysler ( top division in their corporate family ) without power windows? Makes no sense at all. Chrysler division cars were their corporate equivalent of a Lincoln or Cadillac.......

[@MyerShift7]

Someone is inappropriately using their modern equipment expectations to the past.

[@67marlins]

@@MyerShift7 Someone is too dense to comprehend a post.

[@zythr9999]

Chrysler isn't here, it's part of the Stellantis group Lol

[@davinp]

Chrysler went broke because they came out with a car in the late '70s that was very poor quality

[@markallen2984]

Those mid 80s Chrysler K-cars were so terrible & tacky but also they were so definitive of the era.

[@MyerShift7]

Except they're actually good, simple, and rugged, and no more tacky than anything else of the era. Aries/Reliant economy cars? Much less tacky and overdone than anything today.

[@jimmyjimjims7483]

Its too bad the Chryslers of today are absolute piles (in large part due to their boat anchor 3.6)

[@MyerShift7]

Funny because the Chrysler 3.6 is a good engine, and with features like VVT and variable cam phasing, some passed emissions without EGR, you have no idea what you mean by "boat anchor". Guess you're confused with GM's timing chain stretching 3.6's

[@jimmyjimjims7483]

@@MyerShift7 The GM 3.6 is equally bad, but I replace on average 10 or more oil filter housings per month on 3.6 Pentastar engines due to outright failure causing oil to collect in the V of the motor and pour down the rear of the engine. Due to them puking oil after the housing fails it often runs the motor low on oil and causes serious engine damage. I also quite frequently replace lifters and heads on these, usually at about 90k miles or so. I actually just yesterday did not only the oil filter housing but also the EGR and EGR cooler on a 2019 Pacifica (with 80k miles) equipped with the boat anchor 3.6 that milkshaked the EGR cooler. The owner of my shop has a 2016 Charger with the 3.6 that we've changed the heads TWICE on in 3 years. They can pass emissions all they want but a bad engine is a bad engine. All of my Toyotas have done well over 200k miles without ever needing a head or an oil filter housing, don't even get me started on the TIPM failures. Chrysler=junk

[@davinp]

This is one of the model's Chrysler built on the K car platform. They were ugly boxy cars

[@bwofficial1776]

The proportions are weird, it's compact but it's trying to have full-sized box proportions. This was the same year the Taurus came out and changed the domestic car market.

[@MyerShift7]

They featured clean, formal lines in a downsized body. Hardly ugly.

[@johnmc67]

No. So much wrong. No.

[@American-Motors-Corporation]

No they didn't just purchase the Jeep name from AMC they bought the entire damn company as a means to get it there's a big difference there oh and by the way those Jeeps from the 90s the others were all an AMC design from the 80s!!

[@vassa1972]

It's a bloody k-car

[@kcarman88]

Your point?

[@MyerShift7]

And? You hate affordable, efficient, easy to work on cars for the regular folk?

[@EbonyBunny1]

Chrysler is still around today? Chrysler stopped being an independent car company over 20 years ago.

[@CostelloBrasco]

please do a review on the 1988 Chrysler New Yorker i love your work i wish you can do the review.

[@CostelloBrasco]

please do a review on the 1988 Chrysler New Yorker i love your work i wish you can do the review.

[@CostelloBrasco]

please do a review on the 1988 Chrysler New Yorker i love your work i wish you can do the review.