The K Car and all of its many permutations are a challenge to keep straight. Jason Shafer’s excellent Complete K-Car Chronology is as good as it gets, but it missed this European-market oddball posted at the Cohort by T-Minor: the Chrysler Saratoga.
It’s a bit of a challenge to fully grasp, but Chrysler was on quite a roll in Europe during the nineties and well into the aughts. It was mostly based on the huge success of the minvans and the Grand Cherokee, which were both assembled especially for Europe at Magna-Steyr’s plant near Graz, Austria. And since Dodge and Plymouth had little or no brand awareness, all the non-Jeep cars were branded as Chryslers. Which lead to some oddballs, like this Saratoga, which was of course a Dodge Spirit, in spirit and in the flesh, except for the Chrysler grille, which still had the Dodge cross-hairs.
Why didn’t Chrysler just sell the LeBaron? Well, it was probably too upscale for Chrysler’s marketing. There was no way they could sell these against Mercedes and BMWs and such, so they focused on the popular-priced segment (Opel, Ford, etc.), and the Dodge version made the most sense. There’s no doubt that Chrysler’s success in Europe in the 90s was one of the attractions for Daimler-Benz in “merging” with Chrysler, as a lower-priced brand that didn’t dilute their own Mercedes brand.
Not surprisingly, Chryslers sold particularly well in Austria. Well, they were locally-made; just about the only cars to be made in Austria, and by the famed Steyr works, no less, where the last home-made Steyr-brand Puch 500s had been assembled, using Fiat 500 bare bodies mated with Steyr-Puch’s running gear. The Chryslers were the closest thing Austria had to a home-market car, even if the Saratoga wasn’t built there. Maybe they should have named it the Chrysler Salzburg.
Quirky looking car with all the tacked on bits for the European market, but it must be reliable enough since Europeans seem to get rid of their vehicles quicker than Americans. Perhaps I should not be surprised the paint looks so good, but I am. The trailer ball and shaft sure look odd, but that seems to be the defacto design in Europe.
Poland has a Chrysler Minivan fan club, but I do not know which other Chryslers have such a following nor do I know if other countries love Chryslers as much.
“Why didn’t Chrysler just sell the LeBaron?”
The LeBaron, especially in convertible form, was relatively popular in Europe, though I’m not sure it was officially sold in Austria.
My guess is that it was officially imported, just like the Saratoga.
I found this photo on the website of the Dutch Chrysler LeBaron Club.
(That’s right…we’ve got a club for pretty much anything)
I believe the author was referring to the Chrysler Lebaron sedan, the “luxury” version of this Dodge Spirit.
Too Broughamy for Europe, I suppose.
I remember seeing one or two back in the 90s but they might have been grey imports.
Yes, the third generation LeBaron coupé and convertible were very popular in Germany as well. According to German Wikipedia, more than 560.000 units were sold in Europe.
Chrysler K car is virtually everywhere, dressed up or tuned down.
But not in Australia. We did get Neons though.
Were the Steyr-built Chryslers considered to be better built than their American counterparts? Has anyone made a comparison? I know that the Talbot Horizons built in the Valmet factory in Finland were considered to be of higher-quality than the Simca-built versions (for example).
According to some. But then chauvinism may have played into that.
Interesting CC vocabulary effect. This is the second time in a day I’ve come across the word chauvinism used as a synonym for patriotism. I wasn’t aware of the meaning before…
Talbots Horizons were made in the Villaverde factory in Madrid and there were considered very reliable in Spain. Even the police used them for patrolling for a long time during the 80s, One of my friends had a Horizon handed down from his parents and I remember during the nineties, when the car was about ten years old, and it was better built than most of the cars of the same era in Spain, compared to a Seat or Renault.
That’s what I’ve heard from more than one source, and even that Chrysler US sent some engineers to find out how the Austrian Voyagers were put together better. Whether they applied what they’ve learnt when they went back I do not know. But I bet they had some good food when they were here.
Austrian (Steyr) and Swiss (Berna, Saurer) on- and off-road vehicles were always of the highest build- and material quality. Unfortunately too small to survive as independent manufacturers, as time went by.
I’ve often wondered why different plants, presumably using the same machinery, have vastly different perceptions of quality. There are people who swear up and down that, if you buy a Honda from the 1990’s, if you get one built in Japan it will be a jewel and if you get one built in the USA it will be a lemon. Reverse patriotism, almost?
Certain plants just have infamous quality control and management, like cars from Wixom, Mi were usually well screwed together and those from Hamtramck, Mi ( I mean the old Dodge Main ) couldn’t be worse.
The Fiat Bravo behind the Chrysler is an interesting car we’ve yet to see covered on CC. Fiat’s retreat from prominence in the European market is an interesting topic, and with Italy’s auto industry continuing to decline (which is why Marchionne is so eager to acquire and collaborate with other firms), highly relevant.
The Bravo/Brava is one my list, amongst other fun Fiats…..
For all the times I travelled to Europe I don’t recall seeing any Saratogas or older “Chrysler” sedans. But it seems Chrysler mini-vans new and older were everything including parts of Eastern Europe. Grand Cherokees were also in great abundance so it quickly became obvious to me Chrysler has a very good following in Europe.
Haven’t seen many of these in Norway, but in the 90s and early 00s, the Chrysler Stratus was pretty common. Think it was based on a Dodge Intrepid or something. I have nbo idea. Here’s one with Norwegian num-plates. http://srv2.betterparts.org/images/chrysler-stratus-02.jpg
No, not based on the Intrepid, which had a N-S engine with FWD. Your Chrysler Stratus is the same thing as our Dodge Stratus, which was the same thing as our Chrysler Cirrus (yes, two cloud cars), which became the Sebring, which became the 200.
Chrysler Ottakring?
🙂
Given that it was in the 15th Quarter, Chrysler Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus would be apter:)
15th? Close enough, Ottakring is 16th.. 🙂
I know… Ottakring probably is catchier:)
Glenn:
The Chrysler Cirrus is 1 of 3 cars known informally as the “cloud cars”. There is the Chrysler Cirrus, Dodge Stratus, and Plymouth Breeze. These cars were a replacement of sorts for the Chrysler LeBaron SEDAN, Dodge Spirit, and Plymouth Acclaim. The Dodge Intrepid is a bigger car though it’s styling (heavily) influenced the styling of the “cloud cars”.
The Plymouth Breeze died with the death of the brand while the Chrysler Cirrus is now the Chrysler 200 and the Dodge Stratus….well, it changed names a few times before becoming the Dodge Avenger and then just being pulled (indefinitely, or permanently) from the U.S. market.
The Dodge Intrepid switched to RWD or AWD and is now the Dodge Charger.
To the extent that “Breeze” doesn’t quite fit the concept, there originally was no Plymouth version, and the term “Cloud Car” was coined in response to Cirrus and Stratus. Prior to the introduction of the Breeze, I remember seeing a joke (probably in Car & Driver magazine) that there would be a Plymouth version called the Cumulonimbus.
The Chrysler Stratus that Glenn mentioned was probably another example of a car that was “really” a Dodge being badged as a Chrysler due to better brand recognition in the country/region where it was to be sold. Unlike the car that is the subject of this post, the original Dodge model name was retained.
I just shot a Saratoga a couple of weeks ago here in Germany. I don’t remember seeing those very often when they were new, if at all.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/robotriot/17199212551/in/album-72157630889369910/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/robotriot/16579602723/in/album-72157630889369910/
At a car show, no less, judging by the 1958 Caddy and the Pontiac convertible seen in the second photo.