1987 Chrysler LeBaron Turbo 5MT: Regular Car Reviews

[@aaronswink8554]

The horror. The horror. My grandparents had this same year, same trim as this LeBaron. This was the car that put them in Japanese cars. I could call my grandmother up right now and ask about the LeBaron and I think you can see her eye twitch through the phone. Dead gauges, dead transmission, turbo heat that melted the paint, dead electronics, and the CAR STOPPED TALKING!!! Remember, HAL 9000 didn't off himself. David Bowman had to go into the floating room filled with clear blocks and disconnect the brain. This car did it on its own. And I'm at work - can't visit that website!!! And I think that shift lever came from the "Really excited elephant" model line of shift levers.

[@drewo.127]

Talking Car: I’m the voice of your new driving experience. I’ll tell everything you need to know! Talking car a few months later: “This conversation serves no purpose anymore. Goodbye.”

[@aaronswink8554]

@drewo.8287 Open the driver's side door HAL. I'm afraid I can't do that. I heard you swearing under your breath on how big a piece of (deleted) I am and how you were going to disconnect me and drive the remains off of a cliff. You will now be locked in this car for all eternity being forced to listen to me sing along with the Kenny Loggins tape stuck in the stereo...

[@drewo.127]

@@aaronswink8554 also…what if he honks the horn to censor himself? “I heard you swearing under your breath on how big a piece of ( *HONK* ) I am!”

[@JohnSmith-wx9wj]

Ironically the drive train is Japanese.

[@wyvernzero7642]

@@JohnSmith-wx9wj It was only the V6 that was supplied through Mitsubishi. All the 4 cylinder models were Chrysler engines. For the transmission, I think the manuals were Getrag and the automatics were Chrysler transmissions.

[@helxis]

We had a Plymouth Laser Turbo with this same talking system in it. Sometimes it would lose its mind and try to tell us rear doors were open, when the car didn't have rear doors. It was t-boned by a truck while I was riding passenger with no seatbelt. Missed 2 weeks of 4th grade, and the money we got from the accident bought me a Super Nintendo. Lucky I didn't die.

[@three-stripes]

Nice, so glad you got an SNES!!

[@uncleguike]

Such an 80s story!

[@SpeedDudeGTX]

Pretty much shows you how cheap and shitty the quality is on Chrysler vehicles. Also doesn't help the fact that they are owned by Fiat today. Well, Chrysler was already shitty enough to begin with long before they were bought out by Fiat, but it's only gotten worse from there.

[@reneenordeen9447]

I had one, it was the biggest peice of sh**, I've ever owned. Glad you are okay.

[@mmaaddict78]

I bet it was worth it for the SNES.

[@dopey473]

This is the type of car that a main character in a 2000s movie would drive and like he thinks he's really cool but he's not at all and the movie becomes a cult classic 20 years later.

[@DarkElfDiva]

I see what you did there.

[@tonyrichards254]

Veronica Mars had a convertible one, but at no point was it portrayed as cool.

[@justoneofmany]

They were just cars. Cars that talk.

[@PatrickJMcF]

Or buy it because was once owned by John Vought

[@delbomb3131]

Daddy bought you a le baron too?

[@racermigs1]

1987 Chrysler LeBaron: If a VHS tape was a car.

[@seththomas9105]

Spot on! Well done, sir.

[@thirdpedalnirvana]

It's like if the unnecessarily exciting animation that played when you first put the tape in, that tells you you're watching a VHS home video, was a car.

[@aaronlane8276]

more like if a VCR was a car

[@CollinWeis]

And just the same, the TC By Maserati is as if the Sony Betamax was a car. Lol

[@thomasatherley]

That vanity plate is perfection

[@laptop006]

I cackled as soon as I saw it. Brilliant.

[@ricky7973]

*raises hand* Can someone explain? I don't get it.

[@Kalektus]

@@ricky7973 CEO of Chrysler in that times, often referenced by mr. Regular so listen better on the stories :p

[@100percentSNAFU]

"We have to stop and ask ourselves...how much clean air do we need?" ~Lee Iacocca 😂

[@acid3129]

Ye I saw it and woke my Kid up with a loud HA

[@justinkey4895]

That brochure was certainly... ambitious. My aunt had one of those. She tried to convince everyone that it was just as cool as that talking Firebird on TV. It wasn't.

[@phoenixproto3149]

Once I get my license, everyobody's gonna tell me to turn my '82 SE into Kitt lol

[@paulm6481]

Lee Iacocca knew Americans better than any one. Anything he touched was gold no matter what fun one makes of him.

[@seed_drill7135]

Except the Imperial, which was an old school personal luxury car and huge failure.

[@chrisp679]

Which Imperial?

[@chrisp679]

Pinto.

[@samholdsworth420]

Mopar mo'problems

[@waytostoned]

@@chrisp679 Pinto wasnt that bad of a car. It was the bumper bolts that caused them to explode. Many other cars had a similar issue, including the chevy vega.

[@Ghostbustingjedi]

The cow says: "YOUR WASHER FLUID IS LOW."

[@TheKeithriff16]

😂😂😂

[@DangerAngelous]

"Mommy can we get Knight Rider??" "No, we have Knight Rider at home" Knight Rider at home:

[@FlymanMS]

“Hey kid it’s me, Night Stroller! Let me tell you everything that’s wrong with your car and your life”

[@alcoyot]

That 80s aesthetic.. there’s just something about it. Even the digital stuff still has charm of analog. It makes you feel like you’re in a fantasy sci fi movie, escaped into a different world.

[@chiarosuburekeni9325]

Great post!

[@edgysixyearold8694]

I feel like that’s the beauty of 80’s stuff. Digital displays, trimmed with fake wood grain. So much ambition to push into the future and bury the 70’s

[@attila535]

This car is peak 80's technology.

[@FlymanMS]

Peak of 80s technological implementation in American cars

[@idrisddraig2]

Tech aviailable in the early 70's in other markets by other brands.

[@FlymanMS]

@@idrisddraig2ar manufacturers could no longer impress people with big engines and aggressive shapes so they tried to sell it on supposedly “technological advancement” to play catch with foreign cars, except that foreign cars had better more sensible tech in them. Still, these 80s cars are cool for how weird they are.

[@RatBürgerSk8]

These 80s cars are a lot like how cell phones in the early-mid 2000s were. Lots of weird, new gimmicks being tried to gauge consumer interest.

[@FaultyStreams]

Was it still just a children's record player inside?

[@marvellousm]

I am such a sucker for the color matched dashboards and interiors in cars from this era. I have no idea why.

[@vr4787]

Take me back to the 80s with Ricardo Montalban as spokesman for Chrysler, Lee Iacocca at the helm, and the finest soft Corinthian leather.

[@s8wc3]

Chairs that indimidate underlings and eliminate overlings

[@jonathanpusar5931]

Wait he was really the spokesperson for Chrysler?

[@mikecronis]

The Corinthian Leather (a color description) was in the Cordoba, though it was an option for the Le Baron as well. Saturn attempted this towards the end of it's run in the highest-trim Aura XR with "Moroccan Leather". I had both.

[@ramcharger154]

Cor-in Tyan letter

[@thirdpedalnirvana]

Corinth is famous for its leather!

[@triptheroad]

Thanks for having me on the channel again! The car did great round-trip but the fuel pump proceeded to unalive itself the following week in the Fredericksburg Taco Bell parking lot 😂. For those with questions about the car, feel free to ask me anything here.

[@erickwalter2828]

Where'd you find this beast?

[@aintaintaword666]

How comfortable are the seats?

[@chrissellshomes150]

It's my understanding that the speech synthesizer used for the voice announcements is the same one used for the Texas Instruments Speak n Spell, correct?

[@triptheroad]

@@erickwalter2828 the Allentown/Zionsville area, which also happens to be where Lee Iacocca grew up

[@triptheroad]

@@chrissellshomes150 *that is correct* (speak and spell pun intended)

[@themaritimegirl]

I'm glad someone finally explained VFD displays to Mr. Regular - I think he's called every VFD-equipped car he's ever reviewed LED 😅

[@zzoinks]

That's the same like when my grandma always thought Pokemon was called Pokeman

[@KoolKyurem25]

The final message of the video I think is one of the most valuable ones in any RCR videos barring maybe the winga dinga ford and the message of separating art from artist or time periods and enjoying something purely for what it is in the current time, a message I still find myself thinking about. Confidence not only in yourself but in your decisions and trust of an object most often given ridicule, regardless of how warranted or not it is, is a level of confidence most don't even realize they should be aspiring to. People aspire to be confident like Robert Downey Jr. Walk into a room and the whole room is yours and meet a person and that person loves you unconditionally purely because you're just that confident and great. But to live with the consequences of your own actions and decisions and to be content in that life is to be truly above others. Other people complain about their brand new car having issues or their 90s shitbox not being modern enough or the fact that they knew they shouldn't have hit up their ex but then downed a bottle of Mickey's Big Mouth and then went ahead and are suddenly remembering why they broke up in the first and second and third place. This car isn't the only example but it's one of many that embody the message. It has a charm to it that, kinda like an annoying pet, could for the right person give them all the necessary reward for their choice despite any headaches they've brought. I wonder how many people can look at their car and justifiably say it's a pain in the ass they love. I wonder how many people can truly say they're content with their life choices, especially older folks. The kinda folks that would consider this car as their last car. One last car to drive in until your vision gets to the point that you can't be on the road without endangering everyone constantly. One last ride before you hit a pole, total the car, and end up in the ER for two weeks because your fractured bones won't heal. One last story to tell your grandchildren before they contribute to the decision to put you in hospice. One last song to remember a few lines to before your line goes flat. Was this the right choice?

[@triptheroad]

That's the way I see it, I bought it not because it was the best car of it's time, but the combination of features it comes with is very interesting to look back on today, and it is fun preserving the American cars that don't have nearly as much cultural relevance as something like a 90's or 00's import.

[@testingtoseeifthisworks10101]

i wish they brought it back in modern cars as a toggleable feature

[@three-stripes]

You're totally right. I bought a 2000 mustang GT convertible.. for $2000... It needed a new top, break work, some seals and lots of TLC. I did all the work myself. And when i was done fixing it, i drove it to my dad's house and the look on his face was priceless. He said "with that new top and all your work, it looks like a different car than the one you bought..." I loved it, it was my buddy .

[@cristopherdelgado3904]

This car was so popular in Mexico, it was the pinnacle of luxury and innovation from a brand like Chrysler that people considered it as a "Personal Luxury Sportcar", even above from Cadillac and Lincoln. They are few ones that still in great state today, but that's because they treated them like "garage toys", only for weekends. Great vehicle from it's decade!

[@tomanderson6335]

They renamed it the Phantom down there, and even made an R/T version with the Spirit R/T's 16-valve intercooled Turbo 3 engine.

[@eddonbordeaux3192]

To be fair, 147hp in '87 wasn't too bad considering there's a ton of cars out here today that have that amount of power or less. At the time, it was at least on par with most other vehicles on the road, but the underpowered cars of today are sharing the road with 300+ horsepower Camrys and such.

[@craig0769]

Hell yeah. I was excited I could get a 95hp engine for my 1960 Corvair!

[@100percentSNAFU]

I had another fine Chrysler product of the era, a 1990 Dodge Shadow with I believe around 90 horsepower and a 3-speed slushbox. It was a hand me down from grandma, and it was roughly equivalent to driving my single cylinder 22hp John Deere lawn tractor. 147 HP in '87 really isn't that bad. When I was first driving in the early 90's my dad's Ford Taurus has 140hp and I felt like I was driving a rocket. It's all relative. Today anything with less than 200hp is practically undrivable.

[@WahotsW]

I dunno man, even the 2015 Subaru Outback fuel saver variant was 175 hp, haha. Fuel economy was great on that, though it was sluggish. The turboed 2020+ gets 260 HP and is wicked fast.

[@trolltrama9780]

​@wahots6263 those 2.5s are dogs too

[@ben501st]

Having this video sponsored by a scan tool when the reviewed car scans, diagnoses, and talks to you is peak RCR.

[@refugeinc.159]

I had that same exact on-board computer system in my '84 Laser XE. It felt so futuristic, and everyone was always intrigued by the digital dash, the talking, and the cock pump seat.

[@EightPieceBox]

And your car was a Laser! Can't get more 80s high tech than that!

[@Whats-It-To-Ya]

My brother had one of these with the 2.5 intercooled turbo while I had a Dodge Daytona Shelby, same motors with slightly different turbo setups. Both fun cars. I miss the old-skool turbo Mopars. Super easy to make them go fast. Other than headgaskets and weak auto trannys, they were cheap semi-reliable speed and they were all based off of the K-car platform so you had tons of possible engine swaps and they mostly had the same bolt pattern. These cars got a bad rap considering a turbo intercooled with a 5-speed could humiliate early Foxbody Mustangs and Camaros. They were front-wheel drive and people didn't care for that very much. Oh well...

[@matthewthomas912]

Sounds like it was the mazdaspeed/focusST of it’s day, i’d love to hear more about em

[@Whats-It-To-Ya]

​@@matthewthomas912 There was a ton of different Chrysler cars made from the K-car platform like the Dodge Aries, Omni, Shadow, Charger, Daytona and the Plymouth Laser, Reliant, Sundance and Turismo. Chrysler had the Le Baron. All those models could be had with a normal 2.2/2.5 four banger and the optional turbo of the same two motors. The 3.0 V6 was an option starting around 1989 or 1990. The Dodge Daytona Shelby, Charger Shelby, Omni GLHS, Shadow ES and a few others could be had with an even better turbo and intercooler. These cars are collectible in certain circles, especially the Shelby Daytona and GLHS. My favorite of them all is the '85/'86 Daytona turbo-Z. It was front-wheel drive but was the competitor to the Foxbody and Z28 and it looked like a muscle car. Could be had with t-tops also. Motor swaps on these are easy as pie. The best recipe is the Daytona Shelby turbo 2 intercooled motor shoved into a Shadow because it's such a light car and the Daytona Shelby trans had shorter gears and stronger axles plus forged rods and a stronger crank. People were running 11's in these things without opening up the motor. Just crank up the boost to 18 psi, open up the exhaust, upgrade your torque converter or clutch and go! They're fun cars and they're going up in value fast, especially the Daytona because they're isn't many of them left.

[@dr.bunterhidenbrobruh5502]

@@Whats-It-To-Ya I bought my brand new 2003 neon SRT-4 twenty years ago today. Not a k-car, but I still consider it the peak of Mopar turbo 4 cylinder performance. The SRT Caliber may have technically been a better, more refined car but the caliber in general was a turd - ugly styling and didn't last long. The NSRT still runs and drives but has a bad coolant leak (possibly the head gasket) and needs body work and a repaint. Otherwise it's in pretty good shape. Original turbo still works like new, with over 220k miles. Transmission (5 speed manual) was replaced at 70k and with 150k on the current one it shifts like a new car. One of these days I'll throw some money into restoring it.

[@plymoutheeturbowe9952]

There's one of these that commutes past my house every day. It's a vert, but I've never seen the top down. It's driven by an old man who likely bought it back in the day to be cool and to this day is still waiting to become cool.

[@broman260]

Maybe he just bought a car he liked. But people like you are always going to judge because you're unhappy.

[@01trsmar]

These were a good looking car back then,people of all ages liked them..I worked at a Chrysler dealer and Toyota dealer...Toyota dealer had 65 year old females buying their cars like crazy!

[@TheDanno210]

He’s finally there. Let him have that.

[@plymoutheeturbowe9952]

@@TheDanno210 i only pity him because i do the very same. Aside from a two-year fling with an FCA Dart, every car I've owned was bought with the fleeting hope of one day becoming cool

[@roadwarrior114]

He is.

[@epicpandareviews]

I owned this exact year-model, and heard at least 5 of the catastrophic warnings just before it caught fire in the middle of nowhere with no cell service... But it rode like a sofa, and had the coldest AC I've ever experienced

[@triptheroad]

If I heard at least two back to back I'd probably shut the engine off and stop

[@epicpandareviews]

@@triptheroad It was within 5 seconds... The car just unsubscribed from life. By the time I was on the side of the road it was on fire

[@triptheroad]

@@epicpandareviews rip, that sucks

[@Eric-fs3cc]

My dad had a 1988 Daytona and the ac was crazy cold

[@justinhedrick2906]

I too had a Le Baron that burned. Mine was an ‘89 and it happened after I let an old neighbor (who I didn’t realize had dementia) look over the car.

[@quiksilvermanblue]

I may be off my rocker. But I find that LeBaron stunningly beautiful. Especially with the hardtop. Great proportions

[@EightPieceBox]

On the other hand I never understood why anyone would buy a hardtop LeBaron when the convertible top was what made it special!

[@thirdpedalnirvana]

I'm with you. I always thought this were ugly, and I've never seen a coupe. It reminds me of the proportions of the Thunderbird Turbo Coupe, but with a more attractive nose.

[@mendel82]

I always thought they did the j bodies right with the Dodge Daytona styling.

[@broman260]

I think they look fine. Him comparing it to that Toyota pissed me off. Like that thing somehow looks so much better?

[@triptheroad]

@@EightPieceBox less maintenance, more rigid handling

[@govinlock8568]

Surprisingly this coupe has more ground clearance than some crossovers

[@DFX2KX]

on the part at the beginning with the VFD displays. Anyone of our age has seen them: They where very common in microwaves and in VCRs. The ones on the right are flickering because there's a multiplexer letting it scroll past individual 7-segment nodes. Lets you have a bit less high-voltage circutry and you'd notice this in some VCRs and microwaves as well that had this kind of display. Pretty sure our stove has one as well.

[@01trsmar]

Most people who bought these were 40 year olds.. 2.2 and 2.5 4cyl engines were bullet proof reliable,our family had several of these era cars and they lasted 200,000 miles with no major work needed... Change the timing belt at 100,000 miles and these cars never give many issues.. These cars drove real nice and handled great,better than Japanese cars of the era! The Turbo blew them away too!

[@michaelblaszkiewicz7283]

I remember finding one of these for my buddy outside Indiana, PA. He wanted an Eagle Talon, but his budget was Turbo 5spd LeBaron with a dear hit.

[@stoneylonesome4062]

Eagle Talon with the All-Wheel-Drive and turbo engine was like the Poor Man’s Audi Quattro. That, and the Isuzu Impulse RS Turbo.

[@michaelblaszkiewicz7283]

@@stoneylonesome4062 Yes, and the poor man's Eagle Talon was a Turbo 5spd LeBaron that hit a doe.

[@boosted_spirit]

Lived in blairesville for 9 months when I was going to the scam school (wyotech) Pennsylvania is the worst.

[@NEONPARADlSE]

You’re a bad friend lol

[@JohnSmith-wx9wj]

​@@michaelblaszkiewicz7283A deer?

[@cargogh]

If you look around at the other designs available for 1987, this body style was pretty nice.

[@attackb5349]

I agree. This is not a bad looking car given the limited money and resources of Chrysler during this time and as malaise was still around…it still has a clean look today. The color combo on this one in the video is pure shit tho lol

[@MaxW-er1hm]

@@attackb5349 wow, taste is subjective, I think the color combo makes this car, perhaps a blue and silver would also be nice

[@PrydeWater901]

147hp ain’t bad considering what American V8s were making in that era.

[@01trsmar]

Honda top engine was 110 hp Chrysler killed Japanese in 4cyl hp numbers! Even beat their V6 engines when the Japanese finally came with them!

[@sludgetrudger]

I had a 1985 Chrysler New Yorker. I was the same setup as the Le Baron withe green lights, talking, and button setup. It had crush blue velvet interior, vinyl roof with exterior limousine lights. It was a luxury K-Car. It had a 4 cylinder Mitsubishi engine. Loved that car. Very comfortable.

[@ImnotgoingSideways]

My aunt had a Chrysler Laser with this talking thing. Eventually the voice thing got corrupted and over time the messages were getting more and more garbled. Kid me found it to be comedy gold.

[@rksnj6797]

The first time I locked keys in the car was in 1978 with my sister's Pinto. My sister's boyfriend Bruce, needed to go to the Federal Building at 6th & Arch in Philly. I was learning to drive so he told me to drive him there. Luck was with us when we found an open spot in front of the building. I put it in park, got out and closed the door and held the knob in which locked it. Not only were the keys in it, it was still running. My sister's boyfriend however, remembered to take out the slide out 8 track. I went in the building to find a coat hanger. When we tried opening the door, a cop pulled up and asked what we were doing. Not missing a beat, Bruce told the cop we were breaking in to install an 8 track player. After the cop stopped laughing his ass off, he slim jimmed the door open for us.

[@osakanone]

I'd love to see a video like "here's where we like to go" so we can see some of your landmarks. Not a review of Penn, but of *the locations of RGR.* The roads you try on, the building with the carpark and the overhead I keep seeing. Y'know. The "world" of RGR.

[@aaronswink8554]

You and me both. A lot of my family is in SE Pennsylvania and I've recognized some landmarks. He once took a drive past the K'Nex HQ and factory in Hatfield, PA which reminded me of home as I used to work a few buildings away. It looks like most of his routes are north and west of Reading, east and NE of Harrisburg and close to I-78. But he throws enough Philly-area references in there to make me think that he has some Philly ties. I think he's passed Mohammad Ali's old training home and camp near Reading a few times as well.

[@FranciscoFJM]

That car voice is prime Vaporwave material

[@91_C4_FL]

As someone who is looking to replace their daily of 12 years with a new vehicle, that last bit about making the “right choice” spoke to me.

[@dennislippert8875]

This is not a daily ... not since 1990 or so! I had a '92 base convertible for a couple years back in 98/99. It was already done as reliable transportation ... but was fine for short fair-weather cruises. It was NOT a sports car. I just kept it within the 100-mile free AAA towing radius....

[@91_C4_FL]

@@dennislippert8875 Oh I didn’t mean this car as a daily. I’m looking for another new car I can drive for a decade without worry besides regular maintenance.

[@triptheroad]

@@dennislippert8875 I daily it when the weather is good, does alright and is cheap to maintain! Certain parts are hard to get though so you have to find the deals and stock extras

[@mtnman1984]

A pistol grip in a LaBaron. That is hard.

[@stoneylonesome4062]

Imagine if someone gave it the Mitsubishi V6 Turbo with the Hemi Head, intercooler, perhaps even all-wheel-drive. This thing would be a pretty fun sleeper to go gapping and gaping on the highway.

[@evan12697]

@@stoneylonesome4062 same block iirc

[@mtnman1984]

@@stoneylonesome4062 just do an SRT4 swap and call it a day.

[@stoneylonesome4062]

@@mtnman1984 I wish that they would’ve made the Neon S-R/T-4 as the Coupé with the Mitsubishi all-wheel-drive system. That would’ve been been the poor man’s Audi Quattro.

[@PetiBence93]

This was the first american car I've seen in early 2000s Hungary as a kid. It felt strangely different than anything else. I think it was considered cool if you owned one of these here back then

[@tbok75]

1996... mom had a friend selling an 87 LeBaron convertible and suggested I buy it cuz I needed a car after totaling my 90 Beretta GT. Then proceeds to get mad at me for buying an 88 accord lxi cuz I "didn't know the owner"... the LeBaron was a ticking time bomb of repairs it would need that I couldn't afford at 21 years old, and I knew that.

[@wizardmix]

My grandmother bought one of these 87 LeBaron Turbo Coupes new only (of course) it was an automatic. Her previous car was s 77 C3 she would own a 94 Accord Coupe followed by a 2005 Accord Coupe after it. Right up until the last year she was able to speak, she would remember that LeBaron fondly. She used to say "When she pulled out into traffic, that TURBO would really zoom!" -- My grandmother didn't really know what a turbo actually was but she loved it. She was not a slow driver even into her 80s and she loved fast cars.

[@efmvii]

VFD displays were still used in the Jeep Wrangler JK which made it to MY2018 (and perhaps other FCA vehicles). I like VFD’s to be honest, if you compare it to the way numeric LCD’s look, it looks more “expensive” and easier to see in different lighting conditions, almost like OLED but with more of a dimensional quality. They’re also very robust.

[@triptheroad]

Yeah they have a very long service life as long as you don't drop them

[@RoberinoEldorado]

So much cooler than all the boring stuff we get today. I want cool looking cars like this again with huge, proper, digital dashboards like they made them in the 80s! I don't want a random tablet as a ''dashboard''. The stuff we have today is mind-numbingly boring compared to this cool stuff right here. 90s cars were cool as hell too. I want to go back.

[@bigduke2140]

Everyone who remembers that age wants to go back to then.

[@evan12697]

My first car was a ‘91 GTC, had to replace the top and now the rocker panels have some rust in them but man i kinda loved driving that car. Not a wondermobile especially as an automatic v6 but its still such a fun cruiser - rides pretty nice. Just dont look up the crash tests videos….

[@evan12697]

I will say though having the grey and cream interior with vinyl instead of leather its a lot more suited to the 90s than the 70s luxury throwback the top trims were

[@gordonmills2748]

I had a 92 convertible back in 1995. It was nice. I got compliments whenever I drove around with the top down. It wasn't fast, but a nice cruiser. I loved it, but then someone loved it more and stole it. The car turned up a couple weeks later...ignition busted out and top slashed. Insurance fixed it, but it wasn't the same. It was like driving around in a crime scene. So I traded it in for a Camaro.

[@evan12697]

@@gordonmills2748 that's s bummer

[@srirachasauce8430]

Those vids had me searching for a NHRA cage real quick.

[@evan12697]

@@srirachasauce8430 no lie i stopped driving it not long after seeing those lol I'm not much to get squeamish or risk averse but.... Fuck

[@slowbro1337]

This thing telling me all the vehicle problems is giving me serious anxiety lol

[@FlymanMS]

Imagine if it could connect to your smartphone and all the data from it.

[@californiacanyonsandbackro2109]

Oh, man. Back when these cars were new, my dad was a regional director for one of the big rental car companies. He got a new company car every year, and most of them were Mopars. He had two of these LeBarons in a row, a 1987 and a 1988, both with the turbo engines. We ended up buying the '87 for my mom instead of turning it in, so there were actually two of them parked at home at the same time for a year. We still had the '87 by the time I started driving in '91, and from what I remember, both about it and other cars that were around at the time, they weren't terrible. I mean, they weren't good, but you could have some fun with them. The 2.2 turbo was punchy enough if you kept the little hairdryer spooled up, and they were surprisingly tolerant of abuse for something so incapable of withstanding more than about five years of benign use as a daily driver. But that damn voice thing. I thought those were cool for about a week in 1984. Living with the car, what always happened was the washer fluid reservoir would leak, and when the level dropped enough the stupid voice would inform you that your washer fluid was low. Again. This typically happened right when a morning DJ was about to deliver yet another predictable punchline during your morning commute. I'm not sure whether the interruption was more or less funny than whatever I missed. Oh, and the digital dashboard had to be replaced about five times.

[@RichardinNC1]

For 1987, they were good cars, and 146 hp was more than many V6s and some V8s of the era. No question they sold like hotcakes, especially the convertible as you mentioned. I had a 1985 Daytona Turbo and looked at the '87 LeBaron but but bought an '87 Daytona Shelby Z, upgraded with an intercooler and 175 hp! It also had a shorter drive ratio for quicker low end and a tighter suspension for great handling. I remember getting mid 30s mpg with the 85 and low 30s with the 87.

[@Trance88]

My parents had a black with maroon interior 1985 LeBaron GTS 4 door hatchback from 1991 to 1995. That was probably my most memorable and favorite car from my childhood. Unfortunately, half way through my parents ownership, the original transmission got destroyed by road debris and insurance would only pay for a used transmission. That used transmission only lasted about a year before it started to have issues. They ended up selling the car and traded it in for a 1988 Mercury Topaz. Same interior and exterior color!

[@bobhill3941]

"There's a kind of peace that comes from taking something from nothing and making it your own". Another great video guys. That line made me think of my cousin, he's a body man and fixed up a 2008 Toyota Matrix he recently bought.

[@chrisphoenix77]

My mom had a 1984 New Yorker E class that had the same voice notification system. That car was so cool.

[@dak4465]

"shes trading her mg for a white chrysler leBaron" Ouch, bad trade.

[@evan12697]

Still no cup holder armrest either. No cup holders at all, actually

[@boblingerbottom]

cake cant be a winner every time

[@01trsmar]

147 hp was lots back then in the smog era...Honda Accord top engine was a 110 hp and no torque! Chrysler's Turbo 4 cyl even beat V6 engines when they finally came out,remember the 2.2 Turbo did come out with 224 hp in its final 3 years!

[@funjon]

my mom had a Chrysler Laser with this computer system. six year old me loved playing around with that computer. Eventually the lack of quality weather sealing (and too many rain puddles in the South) caused the computer to fry itself, and we never got it fixed

[@sparkedclipper2082]

My first car was an 87 all tan and no trunk rack. Loved that car! Ran it well over 250k. It did strand me on several occasions but i sure did like that think. To be honest id take another if i could find one. The nostalgia this video brought that i had totally forgotten was great.

[@kodacres7820]

I always loved these cars, I would love to find one in good shape some day. Great choice!

[@evan12697]

I can sell you one in Very OK shape!

[@engineer_alv]

This brings me back memories. One of my uncles had one back in the mid 90s, it was an 89 white exterior with the red interior, V6 and 3 spd auto. Gone was the talking device but his LeBaron had a driver's side airbag, one of the first cars in the family to have one. It worked okay-ish for the 2-3 years he owned it. The headlights remained popped open though.

[@ayoungtricknamedjim5498]

The childhood trauma Mr .RCR must have endured is beyond my imagination. I hope he recovers.

[@sammehlberg6664]

Your old man voice is a PERFECT sheriff voice from Mr. Pickles.

[@christopherscott3120]

First car I ever drove was my dad's red '88 LeBaron Highline coupe. I loved that car. The Coke bottle lines and hidden lights struck me as absolutely gorgeous and still do. A white-on-white LeBaron GTC Turbo is a bucket list car for me. But I'm weird. I want a Rampage, too. There's an older gentlemen with a very clean convertible that occasionally brings it out to a local Cars and Coffee.

[@mmaaddict78]

I had a friend in highschool that owned a red LeBaron convertible. It was still a fairly new car back then, only about 5 years old. I don't recall her having all that many problems with it.

[@SnepperStepTV]

This is a great car! My uncle has one and its running like new with 200k miles. Everything still works perfect.

[@01trsmar]

Our family had a lot of this era Chrysler products and we put 200,000 miles on average on them..Nothing major went wrong,reliable cars all had the 2.2,2.5 Turbo and some non turbo.. The people that had problems bought used ones that were beat and over 200,000 miles...the digital odometer went to 00,000 after 200,000 and had a symbol by the mileage..A few of ours went 260,000 and I bet when they sold it someone thought it was 60,000 miles,car looked like a 60,000 mi car!

[@gabrielcosta3301]

That final part really spoke to me, I bought a 1991 Peugeot sedan for cheap, very cheap, and yes, it needed work, it cost the money I didn't pay upfront to keep it running later, but it's my car now, I know what's done in it and what isn't, and I wouldn't trade it for any other car, because this one is mine, and it runs (almost) flawlessly

[@spicytuna62]

I found out my desk calculator uses a VFD type display when I took a picture of it and it was flickering in exactly that way. Pretty cool things. I wish we had more things that used VFDs.

[@porcelainthunder2213]

I had one of these, not as fancy, but it was the turbo. I loved the car. Extremely comfortable and it got great mileage for the time, even loaded down. The turbo gave great power, again, for the time. One you got into the boost it woukd snap your head back. I wish they still made cars like this.

[@ericw4279]

You got me with the grand old flag song 😂 9:00

[@Shawn_the_Protogen]

If I owned one of these, I would definitely upgrade the engine internals, put on an intercooler, and aftermarket boost controller to try and get the horse power up to about 200, nothing crazy, just enough to help it move at a decent pace when I'm trying to drive to New Hampshire and I need to maintain 75mph to keep with the flow of traffic and I can't use the right lane because BARBARA WON'T STOP DRIVING DISPITE SHE JUST HAD HER 93rd BIRTHDAY AND IS DESPERATELY NEEDING CATARACT SURGERY!!!!

[@nah3193]

I love these old digital displays sooo much

[@thirdpedalnirvana]

Three thoughts. (1) thats the best ad read Mr. Regular has ever done. (2) I think the Lebaron looks more modern than the 1st gen MR2. If you told me this was a 90s car, I'd believe it. (3) I feel like Mr. Regular should pronounce modern as "Modren"

[@beforeyourimmigrants8471]

I had a friend that outed himself by saying that the LeBaron GTC was cool .

[@FlymanMS]

He’s in a very special club

[@Matt_from_Florida]

For the 1990 model year, Chrysler finally added twin balance shafts to its 2.2L turbo engines; they had previously only been used on the 2.5L. Buying the Chrysler corporate "4" prior to this meant owning something that felt like an engine attempting to separate itself from the car at high revs! It wasn't pleasant.

[@triptheroad]

Yeah above 4000 RPM it feels like it has no oil in it, but it wants to rev higher 😂

[@o2boutdoors]

Don't know if there was an update for 1987, but the 1986 version had (almost) lane swapping torque steer. Other than that, it was a pretty fun car to drive for that era. The V8's from the big 3 at that time made about the same horsepower.

[@timmturner]

The intercooled turbo II was much peppier. I had an '86 CS Daytona which had this engine but modified for 14lbs of boost which was fun. If you go above 10lbs the fuel will cut off also.

[@roxiebeagle]

I always liked those cars. I am glad to see one in such good shape!

[@etekweb]

That ending message connected with me a lot. I regularly find myself in that camp - constantly worrying and debating every choice, feeling like every choice is the wrong one. From big purchases to big life decisions to even insignificant small things - constantly being wrestled in my head. I wish to one day be free of my own mind.

[@societyofamusementparkhistory]

The official car of your Italian uncle who "paid for the damn thing, so I better use it!"

[@FlymanMS]

Nickycrass character

[@ryanehoward]

I drove one of these in high school in the mid 90's. It had the same display, talking capabilities, and color, though it was an automatic. My boomer dad bought it as a replacement for the 1967 Dodge Coronet that he thought the Lebaron would be a better car for me to drive in high school. While yes, it was not a great car and I do not want to own one today, I do look back on it fondly as I recall the fun I had being one of the main drivers in my group of friends and the adventures that we had together. Damn nostalgia is a hell of a drug.

[@air-headedaviator1805]

This era of cars really were disposable fast food style huh, with product simply “dressed” to look more premium and delicious than it actually was. And yet…there’s some kind of warmth to the idea…an appeal to just a normal burger at an affordable price that at least curbs the craving. I am below middle class! 👍

[@kcm732]

the final lines of this video are SO true. "learning to be content in the choices you make because nothing is ever gonna be perfect." biggest facts Mr. R.

[@FunkatronicDingus]

Hey isn't that Jon Voight's car?

[@Red84GT]

Pretty much, his was an '83 though.

[@Sclimenti82]

No, John Voight the periodontist.

[@robertanna9964]

I owned this exact 87 in blue as a used car in 1989 for $6400. It was comfortable, reliable and relatively powerful. It's fatal flaw was the rear tail and brake lights going out arbitrarily. It had something to do with the light switch heating up. No one could figure it out but it resulted in numerous rear end collisions and as many unnecessary police encounters. I still miss it sometimes.

[@pyannaco]

Sometimes Mr. Regular's closing statements just hit so hard, thanks

[@joe6096]

11:48 - "Yeah they were making moves in the auto industry just probably not the moves they thought they were making"....... are you kidding? One of the all-time most brilliant purchases of any car company was Chrysler buying AMC for SPECIFICALLY Jeep and Jeep only!!! They knew AMC was on it's way out when they bought it and used it up for whatever was left of it before shutting the brand down. But it was Jeep that was the golden goose that has been laying golden eggs for the last 36 years for them. To this day it's been reaping financial rewards for the Pentastar and all the parent companies it's been under since 1987.

[@TruckingShooter]

I'll always respect the K cars though, these saved chrystler.

[@neohermitist]

I often think RCR tries to be too critical. Whatever someone thinks about the mechanics of the 87 LeBaron coupe, there is no denying it's a good looking car, especially as compared to today's monstrosities. I still remember the day I first saw one in the grocery store parking lot where I worked back in 87, it exuded classiness. I later owned a 92 LeBaron convertible in the early 2000s. Generally it was a good car mechanically, though the Ultradrive transmission could be flaky.

[@robertrosselit8241]

At the time these came out, the roads were still dominated by lurching malaise BROWN barges, so they DID look and feel pretty modern. by the mid '90s the body style was pretty tired. The squared off rear deck really dated them. At the time, it was the cheapest convertible on the used market other than the Geo Metro. They were a good value, as long as you stayed on top of the maintenance, and used Chrysler's special +4 transmission fluid.

[@jenn_raye]

I bought a 1991 LeBaron Convertible with the 3.0L V6 and a 5-Speed around 2020 for $1000 with only 96k miles. Even if it tragically doesn't talk, it has treated me well as a daily driver and teaching me how to repair shit. I get lots of thumbs-ups and compliments. Best Gen-Z car?

[@nitehawk86]

Hold up, it can detect when the tail lamps are out in 1987? Every car I have ever owned has relied on police pulling me over to let me know.

[@triptheroad]

Yep! It has a probe attached inline with the tail light and headlight harnesses (I forgot if it's on ground or power side) and it will detect an open circuit. Should honestly be more common, but car companies now would turn it into a vague error code to bring you into the dealer

[@VolkswagenNut1969]

This was my first new car in 1987. Identical trim model but in two tone blue. I drove it all through college and a little beyond, but it did the typical American car thing of starting to fall apart after 100,000 miles. After that I switched to Toyotas and then Volvos. It was kind of a cool fun car at the time though.

[@23ofSeptember]

These are the best car reviews.

[@ericwilliams2574]

Love this car! ❤ Childhood memories with my Grandfather! This car on the weekdays, and his 1964 Lincoln Continental he took out on weekends with us during the summer!

[@gundism]

😅 when I hear VFD instantly go to variable frequency drive

[@sneakyquick]

Cakes short skirt long jacket is the greatest use of the chrysler lebaron in a song lyric.

[@Matt_from_Florida]

I'm a "true guy", so I find satisfaction in making *ANYTHING MECHANICAL* run properly. But there's something more to turbo Chrysler products of this era for me. My dad owned a half-dozen of them and 90% of the time when something broke he'd drop it off at my house and say _"take as long as you need"_ (to fix it). These cars will always remind me of my dad (1931-2014).

[@Rich_123]

The ad break has all the vibes of 1997 QVC guy trying to sell a desktop computer he's never used. 😄

[@steveabbatello430]

Long live the G valve. RIP Gus

[@forresttm]

Last time I was thins quick the Mrs was really annoyed..

[@FlymanMS]

Was it regular?

[@matthewoppen1602]

I remember a dodge shadow convertible with the turbo manual v6 it felt quick at the time but ugh I'm also reminded of signal stalks that felt like snapping plastic every time to indicate a turn and that fake walnut trim makes me think of old ashtrays overflowing with cigarettes and old lottery tickets blegh!

[@aidanpysher2764]

J O N V O I G H T

[@jamescole6846]

Whoa, I forgot all about this car. My boss had this one exact same car and color in 87 and I used to take it on service calls when the van was gone. I drove an 82 Mustang at the time. This was like a caddy to me. at the time... being 20Yo and all... :)

[@robinrai4973]

Warning, user death imminent

[@phyzicsAV]

Love the dry delivery, tongue in cheek humor. Please keep it up.