The best surprises often happen at the oddest of times. After getting the oil changed in the Galaxie, I rolled up behind a Dodge Daytona.
Wrong! It was the swan song 1986 Chrysler Laser. A quick reference check reveals it to be one of the 8,300 Laser XE models made that year.
Best of all, it was in great shape. With the male driver and passenger both being around 16 or 17 years old, let’s hope this Laser sticks around to acquire some more quality stories.
Paul has a Dodge Daytona CC here.
I can tell spring is finally upon us. In traffic yesterday, rushing off to a meeting, I saw a early 70s Mach 1 and upon returning from the meeting I saw a Checker Marathon painted in “civilian” guise going the opposite way in traffic.
Well up until 1981, you could buy a civilian version without all that “taxi” stuff in it. They are much more rare then the Taxi models due to only 1000-4000 made each year. I had a co-worker that owned one(his mother bought it new) so most likely you saw one of the few civilian versions made.
Oh I knew that. Think of my comment this way, I was born in 1977 so therefore Checker cars were disappearing from the landscape by the time I was cognizant of cars. A kid born in 2005 (when he is 36) will probably say upon seeing a 2011 Crown Victoria: “Hey that was one of the civilian models!” Because I predict that by 2041 most of the “survivors” will be cop cars restored to be a symbol of Americana.
Only the 3rd post and going off-topic already. I admire the view out of the Galaxy. You see the hood! I can’t remember the last time I actually saw the hood of the car I was driving.
That is the one thing I miss most in new cars. I drove a Corolla last weekend; you could remove the hood and never know from the drivers seat.
I remember my day’s friend had a Chrysler Laser around 85. It was the first talking car I ever sat in. “The door is ajar”. Also had the Atari dashboard.
I’m always reminded of the Chrysler 1980’s comedy routine:
“The door is ajar.”
“The door is ajar.”
“You didn’t have to slam it!”
When is a door not a door?
Hopefully it’s the boy’s grandfathers car and the kid doesn’t drive it much.
My grandsons have borrowed my 70 Challenger R/T on occasions. Very rare occasions.
Agreed. Would have made a much better Plymouth. Plus Plymouth did use the Laser name 3 years later.
+1 and more strange things, they sold the Daytona as a Chrysler in Canada during that era….
Wikipedia suggests that the Daytona became a Chrysler in Canada when the Laser was dropped. That was presumably so that both of Chrysler’s dealer networks in Canada, Chrysler-Plymouth and Chrysler-Dodge, could have this car to sell (against the backdrop that both networks were expected to sell a full range of vehicles, and there was a long-running tradition for each to have equivalent vehicles). The elimination of the Laser would have otherwise left Chrysler-Plymouth dealers without a version of this car. As I understand it, it would become more common in the ’90s for cars badged as Dodges in the U.S. to be badged as Chryslers in Canada, for this reason.
In the U.S., where Dodge dealers did not sell Chryslers and there was no tradition of both networks always selling all of the exact same cars, it was fine for the Daytona to be a Dodge and for Chrysler-Plymouth dealers to lack a version of it.
So he’s about sixteen and behind the wheel of a cool “old” car? I’ll assume that he’s either grinning ear-to-ear or scared out of his mind, or a little of both.
are these considered ”old” cars by kids??- big-bargelike cars seem to be what kids consider old…this might just seem like an old 1990s car to a kid
I agree that it should have been a Plymouth, but it was instead positioned as something of a placeholder in the Chrysler line between the demise of the Cordoba and the ’87 J-body LeBaron.
We could wonder what if the J-body LeBaron was sold as a Cordoba instead? Chrysler used the LeBaron name in various sauces like a luxurious K-car Aries/Reliant who included a Town & Country wagon, a sportier LeBaron GTS sedan, J-body coupe/convertible and finally a luxurious version of the Sprit/Acclaim. The LeBaron name got the same fate as what Oldsmobile did with the Cutlass name.
Both were fairly shameless is using those names, debasing themselves every step of the way.
But Chrysler more so in that LeBaron originated as a custom body builder while Cutlass was never anything else than a model name.
I absolutely LOVE these cars! The ’84-’86 with the 4 sealed beams, an actual grille and the overall more hard edged styling was the best this car ever looked. Each facelift watered it down and ruined the look a little, IMHO. I also think this was a weird choice, badging it as a Chrysler…same as the Conquest. Two of these things are not like the others, and such. I hope that kid knows what he has. If this car is a turbo II and 5psd its a total score and I hope its preserved and (tastefully) modded to realize its full potential. Mustang and F body drivers of the time HATED these cars. Probably a huge sting to know that a fwd turbo 4 banger reskinned K car just ate your lunch!
Interesting idea on using the M body LeBaron as a newer cordoba. I always thought the J body Mirada would’ve made more sense as a Plymouth also, and the J bodied Cordoba LS would have been better as a new Dodge Magnum. It just had more of a musclecar take on the personal luxury thing. An LS turned Magnum, monochrome paint no gingerbread, bucket seats, hi performance 360 and a 4 in the floor would have kept Mopar in the ‘true’ ponycar wars all thru the ’80s.
Jason, did you happen to notice what type of wheels this Laser had? I thought they looked great with the 16 hole style. The ‘pizza’ wheels looked sharp too. Next to the LeBaron GTS and the Dodge Lancer, these were my favorite K-Car variant.
This car appeared to be pretty basic; I never was able to get close enough to see the wheels.
Im not real sure, but from what I was able to find online, the XE model is at least a turbo I which is non intercooled. If this kid is lucky, its a Turbo II with a manual. Still a very nice find and enjoyable as hell. If you REALLY wanted to take it to crazytown, a SRT-4 drivetrain is the way to go. The high output turbo 2.4 can be tweaked to right about 400 hp on stock internals. Yeah, you could use the PT Cruiser GT drivetrain too. BUT, it has a few limitations. The intake mani uses longer runners which emphasize low end (to counter the PT’s heft vs the lighter SRT-4) and the PT GT could be a slusbox vs standard manual trans in the Dodge…. but the money shot is the gear driven limited slip differential up front. It works like a tru-trac. A worked up SRT-4 engine/trans dropped into a ’84-’86 G body Mopar is one of my dream garage cars.
Does remind me of a Rover SD1 in Vitesse trim from the rear…
My uncle had one of these used when I was a kid in the early 1990s. He was in his early 20’s and all happy to have a really nice car. It was black and sleek and had black leather interior which was nearly flawless. However it spent more time being towed than it did being driven. Within a month he despised it and ended up making the lot he bought it from buy it back. It was the biggest POS.
Looks just like my old one…
A fellow my dad worked with had an ’85 Daytona Turbo Z. His was identical to the Matchbox car model–burgundy over grey, leather interior, “pizza” wheels. The car was his pride and joy and he kept it absolutely immaculate. I always admired the lines of the car, and while I never see them anymore, I still like the original Daytona/Laser for that very reason.
He traded it in on a ’91 LeBaron convertible in red. While that one stayed immaculate as well, and was quite a nice car, it never grabbed my attention like the Daytona did.