Plymouth Reliant, Dodge Aries, and Chrysler LeBaron K-Cars
Originally written by Aaron Gold. Modifications suggested by Michael Swern,
whose 140,000 mile 1985 Reliant Wagon was still going strong when we
last heard from him in 2004; LeBaron added by Anthony Forte. See the "every extended K-car" (EEK) forum and Chrysler Town & Country.
The public clearly liked the new vehicles, quickly buying hundreds of thousands of them. In their nine years, the original K-cars were a true success story — and that’s not even to mention all their siblings with slightly altered wheelbases and suspensions, which were produced through 1994.
The K-car’s angular styling was the norm in the early 1980s, and with its long hood and short rear deck, it had good proportions; its performance was more than adequate compared with the other cars of the day, and with the average car of the muscle-car era, which was most likely to have a straight-six or economy V8 pulling much more weight.
The K-car platform proved eminently flexible, being stretched, compressed, and reconfigured to produce such diverse vehicles as the famed minivan, the 0-60-in-5.8 Spirit R/T sedan, and the exotic two seat Chrysler's TC by Maserati grand tourer. Even the base K-car became the Chrysler Town & Country wagon.
One reason for the cars’ success is how well designed the 2.2 liter four cylinder powerplant was. Except for a substandard average head gasket life [fixed in later years], these were reliable and able to handle far more power than originally foreseen. Unlike many small overhead cam engines, it is a noninterference design, so if the timing belt slips or breaks, the pistons and valves do not thrash each other into oblivion. Aside from the starter's location (under the back side of the block), routine repair and servicing is a breeze.
A 2.6 liter four made by Mitsubishi was available as well; it tended to have issues with the valve seals and an overly complex, expensive Mikuni carburetor, but was otherwise a strong design.
Many details of the new cars were refreshed; the Aries and Reliant ended up with the least door closing effort of any Chrysler vehicle, regardless of price, thanks to a new door latch, which was also more resistant to freezing. New door locks were introduced (these were used on other carlines as well). An electric fan replaced the engine-driven models of past models, with a standard shroud.
By 1982 Plymouth had the Reliant patrolling the streets of America in full police car trim. Reviving a term used in the past, it was called the Reliant Scout Car. Powered initially by a standard 2.2 liter 135 cid engine with 84 hp, or an optional 2.6 liter 156 cid 92 hp Mitsubishi Silent Shaft four, the Scout Car joined the midsized Gran Fury Pursuit and the Voyager as Plymouth's offerings to law enforcement. (this paragraph from Jim Benjaminson)
Chrysler, lacking a small V6, brought turbocharging to the masses during the 1980s. This brought some high performance variants, such as the Dodge Shelby Daytona and the Chrysler LeBaron GTC/GTS versions. Styling of these K-car derivatives was more aerodynamic and exciting than their Aries/Reliant ancestors, too — though the Aries and Reliant had put in over 320 hours of wind tunnel testing, and had 20% less drag than they had when initially penned.
While the K-car eventually ranged from sporty compact to minivan, most of that proliferation was not originally in the plans, which makes it all the more impressive. Burton Bouwkamp, head of body engineering when the K car was designed, wrote in 2009:
[With regard to minivans] ... I resolved not to go into production with a less than fully developed product, regardless of pressure applied. At times, I was unpopular when I told Hal Sperlich (President in 1982-3) that we weren't ready for production. Hal trusted me and supported me even when I did not tell him what he wanted to hear. He then had a bigger problem than I did because he had to tell Lee (Iaccoca).
The basic Reliant, Aries, and LeBaron, however, never got any powerplant more powerful than the 100 horsepower 2.5 liter single-injector four; even with those, if equipped with a stick-shift, the K-cars were quite sprightly. A fast-opening throttle gave garden-variety Reliants and such a feeling of power, even with an automatic transmission.
Overview (by Stephen Lyons)
The original K-cars, the Dodge Aries and the Plymouth Reliant, had a smartly integrated front wheel drive layout that represented a new breed of American automobile.The public clearly liked the new vehicles, quickly buying hundreds of thousands of them. In their nine years, the original K-cars were a true success story — and that’s not even to mention all their siblings with slightly altered wheelbases and suspensions, which were produced through 1994.
The K-car’s angular styling was the norm in the early 1980s, and with its long hood and short rear deck, it had good proportions; its performance was more than adequate compared with the other cars of the day, and with the average car of the muscle-car era, which was most likely to have a straight-six or economy V8 pulling much more weight.
The K-car platform proved eminently flexible, being stretched, compressed, and reconfigured to produce such diverse vehicles as the famed minivan, the 0-60-in-5.8 Spirit R/T sedan, and the exotic two seat Chrysler's TC by Maserati grand tourer. Even the base K-car became the Chrysler Town & Country wagon.
One reason for the cars’ success is how well designed the 2.2 liter four cylinder powerplant was. Except for a substandard average head gasket life [fixed in later years], these were reliable and able to handle far more power than originally foreseen. Unlike many small overhead cam engines, it is a noninterference design, so if the timing belt slips or breaks, the pistons and valves do not thrash each other into oblivion. Aside from the starter's location (under the back side of the block), routine repair and servicing is a breeze.
A 2.6 liter four made by Mitsubishi was available as well; it tended to have issues with the valve seals and an overly complex, expensive Mikuni carburetor, but was otherwise a strong design.
Many details of the new cars were refreshed; the Aries and Reliant ended up with the least door closing effort of any Chrysler vehicle, regardless of price, thanks to a new door latch, which was also more resistant to freezing. New door locks were introduced (these were used on other carlines as well). An electric fan replaced the engine-driven models of past models, with a standard shroud.
By 1982 Plymouth had the Reliant patrolling the streets of America in full police car trim. Reviving a term used in the past, it was called the Reliant Scout Car. Powered initially by a standard 2.2 liter 135 cid engine with 84 hp, or an optional 2.6 liter 156 cid 92 hp Mitsubishi Silent Shaft four, the Scout Car joined the midsized Gran Fury Pursuit and the Voyager as Plymouth's offerings to law enforcement. (this paragraph from Jim Benjaminson)
Chrysler, lacking a small V6, brought turbocharging to the masses during the 1980s. This brought some high performance variants, such as the Dodge Shelby Daytona and the Chrysler LeBaron GTC/GTS versions. Styling of these K-car derivatives was more aerodynamic and exciting than their Aries/Reliant ancestors, too — though the Aries and Reliant had put in over 320 hours of wind tunnel testing, and had 20% less drag than they had when initially penned.
While the K-car eventually ranged from sporty compact to minivan, most of that proliferation was not originally in the plans, which makes it all the more impressive. Burton Bouwkamp, head of body engineering when the K car was designed, wrote in 2009:
The K car was a clean sheet of paper design with a power train that was common with the L body (Omni/Horizon). We knew there would be 2 door and 4 door station wagon models but we did not anticipate the G-24 coupe (Daytona) or the convertible. Both were Lee Iacocca additions. We also did not anticipate the stretched wheelbase Chrysler and Dodge 600 (E Body) models. The E Body evolved from the success of the Plymouth and Dodge K cars.
[With regard to minivans] ... I resolved not to go into production with a less than fully developed product, regardless of pressure applied. At times, I was unpopular when I told Hal Sperlich (President in 1982-3) that we weren't ready for production. Hal trusted me and supported me even when I did not tell him what he wanted to hear. He then had a bigger problem than I did because he had to tell Lee (Iaccoca).
The basic Reliant, Aries, and LeBaron, however, never got any powerplant more powerful than the 100 horsepower 2.5 liter single-injector four; even with those, if equipped with a stick-shift, the K-cars were quite sprightly. A fast-opening throttle gave garden-variety Reliants and such a feeling of power, even with an automatic transmission.
