I just have to know the story behind this Chrysler Executive, photographed by William Oliver in the London neighborhood of Belgravia. This is a part of London brimming with embassies and consulates but surely this downsized limousine couldn’t be an official vehicle of one of them. Surely! And yet, as peculiar as this Chrysler’s location may be, the story behind this foolhardy flagship is even stranger.
This Executive’s age alone likely precludes it from being in active diplomatic service. Nevertheless, it’s not entirely outside the realm of possibility a consular corps somewhere in the world might have thought an Executive would make for good diplomatic transport. Though the Executive seems comically narrow, being a stretched K-Car LeBaron, it’s no narrower than, for example, a Volvo 200-Series and those were used in official capacities.
An Executive might have seemed less puzzling on the streets of London but in the US, it was profoundly bizarre. It was introduced in 1983, entering the scene as the flagship Imperial was being shown the door. Though the rear-wheel-drive Fifth Avenue would remain until decade’s end, the switch from Imperial to Executive atop the range was symbolic of the transformative change Chrysler was undertaking. But for trucks, rear-wheel-drive was out. Front-wheel-drive was king and Chairman and CEO Lee Iacocca wanted to prove just how flexible Chrysler and its new K-Car could be in adjusting to an era prophesied to be plagued by high fuel prices.
The Executive came in two variants: a five-passenger sedan with a 124-inch wheelbase and a seven-passenger limousine with a 131.3-inch wheelbase. For comparison, a FWD New Yorker used a 103.3-inch wheelbase, while the LeBaron had a 100.3-inch span. All these K variants, however, had the exact same width – 68.4 inches, or 5.8 inches narrower than the RWD Fifth Avenue. The Fifth Avenue was based on the 1976 F-Body platform which, at launch, was considered a compact platform. Despite the elongated wheelbase, total length of the Executive was just 4.7 inches longer than the Fifth Avenue. To an American audience, this was some kind of funhouse mirror limousine.
Less amusing was the price. At their launch in 1983, the two Executives retailed for $18,900 and $21,900. In comparison, an ’83 Imperial cost $18,688, while a Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham stickered for $19,182. Sure, a Cadillac Fleetwood Limousine cost a significant $8k more than an Executive Limousine but what titan of industry would want to be chauffeured in a stretched K-Car?
Another pertinent question: just who would want to drive an Executive limousine? The sole motivation for both Executives was a Mitsubishi-sourced 2.6 four, producing 101 hp at 4800 rpm and 140 ft-lbs at 2800 rpm. The only transmission was a three-speed automatic. Although the limousine weighed only 3250 pounds, that was still a lot of metal for a small four to haul.
ASC handled the conversion, using the front half of a LeBaron sedan and the rear of a LeBaron coupe and putting a lot of metal in between. They also employed bigger front brakes and tweaked the front suspension. The limousine’s cabin incorporated two fold-down, rear-facing jump seats sans seat belts. In comparison, the downsized Cadillac Fleetwood 75 used larger “auxiliary” seats that faced forward and doubled as foot rests. Most notably, the Executive had a power, sliding glass divider – just like a real limousine!
Executives came fully-loaded. That included power accessories, cruise control and a digital instrument cluster. The limousine even came with opera lamps, the ultimate in so-cringe-it’s-cool exterior gingerbread. The only options were an upgraded stereo and different 14-inch wheel designs. The color palette was quite limited – in 1986, for example, it was only available in black, white, silver and two different dark blues. What is this, 2019?!
Just two limousines and nine sedans were produced for 1983, though production was only beginning. The following year, ASC produced 196 sedans and 594 limousines.
The Executive Sedan was cut for 1985 and ASC produced 759 limousines. Remarkably, Chrysler and ASC produced more than Cadillac did of the Fleetwood 75 in ’85. Though the downsized Cadillac was also criticized for looking dinky and being underpowered, it was three inches wider and its anemic V8 produced more power and torque (thankfully!) than the Executive’s four.
In its last year, the Executive was belatedly given the gift of power. The Mitsubishi 2.6 was replaced with Chrysler’s turbocharged 2.2, producing 146 hp at 5200 rpm and 170 ft-lbs at 3600 rpm. That was more horsepower than the Caddy’s 4.1 V8 but still 20 pound-feet shy. A three-speed automatic remained the only transmission. Alas, the Executive experiment was over after a small run of just 138 limousines in 1986.
It’s easy to make fun of the Executive for the hubris of its creators and for how much it pales in comparison to its ancestors, but perhaps there’s another way of looking at this. Think of the Executive as an experiment, a means by which Chrysler could prove the flexibility of its new FWD platform. Consider that, when it was conceived, industry analysts were predicting drastically higher gas prices. Weigh the price and features of the Executive against the downsized Fleetwood 75 which wasn’t dramatically larger but cost almost $10k more. If you still think the Executive was an utterly bone-headed idea, then just think about it as a collector’s car. Wouldn’t this get your attention if it rolled past you at a Cars & Coffee?
Related Reading:
Automotive History: The Curbside Classic Comprehensive Chronology of the Chrysler K-Car Family Tree
Curbside Classic: 1986 Chrysler New Yorker – Just A Little Off-Broadway Production
Curbside Classic: 1983 Chrysler E-Class – Not Passing for Luxury
My first reaction looking the top picture was ‘is that a real picture, or is it a bad photoshop joke?’.
Jimmy Carter had one. Also Richard Nixon.
hope this picture link works:
http://my.net-link.net/~dcline/limopres.htm
“What titan of industry would want to be chauffeured in a stretched K-Car?”
I can think of somebody.
In fact, AFAIR, these things were created just for this purpose.
Any incremental sales were gravy.
Not unlike , say , the Mitsubishi Debonair & Nissan President sedans in Japan.
Created solely for their execs who couldn’t be seen in anything other than their own product.
Which actually begs another question. I wonder what Suzuki, Isuzu, Mazda & Honda bigwigs rolled in.
For a few years in the 70s, Holden supplied Mazda and Isuzu with flagship sedans: the Mazda Roadpacer and Isuzu Statesman de Ville. You’ll find both in my Obscure Rebadges series.
As for all other years, that’s an excellent question…
Dare I say it, but this Executive Limousine actually looks rather attractive in white. I think every picture of one I’ve seen before features it in black or navy blue. Also, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Chrysler of this era with the front fender louvres ripped off. In fact, isn’t it odd how the left side of the car is in significantly rougher shape than the right?
On an unrelated note, my first thought upon seeing the architecture of the background building is the headquarters of MI6 in the Roger Moore era Bond movies.
Wow, are those just glued on? Or bolted too? There’s a lot of “attachment points”, I never considered that they were a complete add-on with zero functionality, I’m going to have to look at the world in a completely different way from now on…
Why didn’t they give the 5th Ave to ASC to base the limo off of? Could’ve been a contender…
Because at that time it was believed that the M-body’s days were numbered, and Chrysler was planning to move to a 100% FWD lineup for its cars.
Presumably, I’m also guessing it was easier to stretch the K-platform, being FWD.
I’m pretty sure the 5th Avenue was “just one more year and it’s gone” throughout the entire 1980’s. Kind of like the GM B-body Caprice after 1985.
What likely kept the M-Body around past its due date was fleet sales.
There were SO many of them as police cars back in the day, that any retail sales of them would’ve just been pure gravy. For a company crawling back from the brink, every little bit helps I’m sure.
What, was 1988 the last year? Or did they make it to the early nineties?
1989 was the final model year for the M-body, and the final years of production produced two bits of trivia to delight the CC nerds among us (myself included): The last three model years were built under contract in AMC’s Kenosha plant prior to Chrysler’s purchase of AMC, and Chrysler went through the engineering work and expense of fitting a driver’s side airbag for the final model year of production.
Funny title. Even funnier car.
“Pardon me, have you seen my dignity?”
That is one sad, goofy, crappy wannabe car.
My reaction to seeing this on the street would be…
“HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! (take breath) HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA (take breath) HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!
Ha!
‘Pardon me sir, but where is the rest of your car’?
“Pardon me, have you seen my Dignity?”
“Right here, Sir!”
Nicely done, Pete.
I don’t suppose Suzuki has a model named “Self Respect”.
I would be driving them both with greased-hands as I can’t seem to hold on to either one very well lately. 😁
All the luxury cars Chrysler developed based upon the K Car, now look ‘lilliputian’ small by modern standards. While lending an air of practicality in that age of high gas prices and an uncertain future for large cars, they now look quite strangely undersized. As they somewhat did then.
I saw an early 80s K Car based Chrysler LeBaron convertible last week, in white, like the one below. It had a very strong Nash Metropolitan feel to it, when compared to the VW Golf and SUV located beside it. That was definitely not what Chrysler intended when these were sold.
When you offer an undersized car, built to a price, it looks okay when presented with no great pretenses like the K-Car based Shadow/Sundance. But when you genuinely try to mimic Mercedes or large American luxury styling cues, the design will largely end up looking like a parody. Especially in our current era, where cars are heavily marketed for their power and virility. Like the 60s again. These cars seem so out of place.
I’d drive that K-Car! In fact, as a guy in my early twenties, I really wanted one of these, and I was a Ford guy! It was a little expensive for my budget though.
I’d loose the wire wheel covers (although period correct) for a set of the wheel covers on today’s featured “limo”. Although festooned with the Pentastar logo, it’s pretty obvious where they got that idea… from my favorite Mercedes wheel cover EVER!
I was a teenager at the time, and was impressed by Chrysler being the one of the first re-introducing a factory convertible. Though Toyota and AMC did release targa-topped Celicas and Concords earlier.
I thought they were nice with the Mark Cross interior option and alloy wheels. Though I felt then, the concurrent newly introduced Riviera and Mustang convertibles were much more desirable. 🙂
It’s early and I’m feeling a bit contrarian.
Will is really onto something in the last paragraph when he talks about the fuel price speculation during the 1980s. In that light, these make a lot of sense. Iacocca may have been a vain individual but he wasn’t stupid.
Also, let’s not forget this car was found in London. London is known for many things but having wide open spaces for driving isn’t among them. So let’s suppose this Chrysler was used there for diplomatic purposes. The poor sap assigned driving duties would have an easier life driving something that was appropriate for the location. Really, would a stretched rear-drive Cadillac have been very easy to navigate in London? Me thinks not. This Chrysler, while ample in wheelbase in comparison to its foundation, would have fit this environment quite well. It roots for the home team without being ludicrous in size.
As proof of concept, let’s not forget Obama being in his presidential limousine when it bottomed out leaving a driveway in Ireland. Getting unstuck required a tow truck. The more manageable size of the Chrysler made it ideal for use in old cities.
Its funny when the limo gets hung up at 15 seconds and makes the clang sound. The crowd goes oooooooooh.
Hi Jason,
Nice clip, there. I don’t remember that.
I’d like to think that beast of a car would have some kind of capability to get out of that situation. From the sound it made, like a steel girder, it could probably shave off the top of the bump and keep going if it wanted to. ‘Merica!
It may have a rising suspension or something that they don’t want to advertise in a non-emergency.
Or it’s weirdly compromised, like the F-35 that can’t get wet without 24 hours of maintenance required afterwards because of the stealth coating.
Surely they wouldn’t put POTUS in a car that can be stopped by a bump.
(sigh…)
I believe you’ve got the wrong limousine. The one that got stuck on the ramp was an older GWB-era Caddy. Here’s the actual Beast in all of its GMC TopKick-based glory.
This is the text accompanying the video linked in my original comment. This video was posted in 2011:
“US President Barack Obama’s visit to Ireland got a little bumpy on Monday, after his armoured limousine got stuck as it tried to leave the US embassy in Dublin. A large crowd had turned out in Ballsbridge to wave farewell to Obama as he made his way from the Irish capital to his ancestral home in County Offaly. But their cheers turned to gasps when the underbelly of the president’s black Cadillac – nicknamed “The Beast” – caught the slope of the embassy driveway – hitting it with a loud bang. With the limo unable to move either forward or backward, Obama and his wife Michelle remained in the vehicle while a Secret Service agent directed a grey coach to park in front of it – obscuring the view of the media and the crowd, and prompting a few boos. Obama and his wife then continued their journey in a second armoured limousine, while the rest of the motorcade left the embassy via a different exit.”
Further, here’s a link to an Irish newspaper that reported on it. Sorry, it was not a Bush-era limousine and, further, I didn’t reference any specific limo other than to whom it was assigned. 🙂
https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/obamas-indestructible-limo-gets-stuck-on-dublin-ramp-26735513.html
This one should be filed under “you had to be there.”
It wasn’t just industry executives predicting drastically higher gas prices, it was everybody. Take the current attitudes about climate change and just substitute oil supplies. That was what it was like in 1980-83 – an international freak-out.
Chrysler was actually seen as ahead of the curve by dumping the “old fashioned” V8/rwd stuff and adapting to the new normal. And I have to give them credit – did Cadillac, with massive resources thrown at the problem, produce a new limo that was significantly better? Both are laughingstocks today, but at least the Chrysler was built with minimal investment. And fwiw, was a more durable chassis. Lincoln didn’t even try.
I don’t really mean to defend this limo as an objectively good one – it’s not. But fear and panic make people do things they would not normally do. This limo proves it.
And I am still laughing at your French’s Mustard line. A perfect analogy.
“you had to be there.”
Chrysler was back from the brink just a few years earlier. For the first time in years they were building cars that people were buying, and then, for 1983 the Executive Limousine comes out and Chrysler paid off its debt to the US Government 7 years early. This car was as much about Chrysler keeping the momentum going as anything else. Lee was a showman and this was part of his show.
I’m going to take a wild guess here and say that this limousine belongs to a tour company. It’s parked outside of a hotel (Diplomat Hotel, which seems to be a relatively affordable hotel for its location)… and I can see a tour company operating a vintage oddball limousine as appearing chic. And, like Jason said, it is maneuverable in London’s tight confines. This would actually be a decent car for such a purpose.
I look at the Chrysler Executive from the perspective of someone who vividly remembers Reliants and Aries, and not entirely fondly, either. So my views are necessarily prejudiced into viewing these as a laughingstock. However, I can easily see younger folks, especially from Europe, who had no first-hand experience of these when new, thinking that it’s really neat. After all, with its color-coordinated hubcaps, crystal-like hood ornament, cushy upholstery, etc., it IS neat. In retrospect.
And I’m shocked that these were more common (in ’85 at least) than the Cadillac Fleetwood limo. Wow.
I think he’s referring to the downsized 1985 Cadillac “factory” limousines (based on the downsized FWD platform and done by Hess & Eisenhardt) that sold less than the Chrysler Executive (one source says 389 Cadillacs were sold in 1985). The big old RWD limousines were still being made, but I think these were all aftermarket. I’m not sure how many were produced.
I checked the Standard Catalog of Cadillac, which I happen to have handy, and the data is sort of odd.
Among limousines, the Standard Catalog lists only the old-style, RWD Cadillac limos built for ’85… and only 405 of them. Meanwhile the 1984 total was a healthy 1,839 (I’m guessing they built extra in anticipation of a gap in production with the ’86 models?).
The same book lists the first FWD downsized Fleetwood limos for ’86 (with 1,000 produced). I think they were actually produced in ’85, though, so I’m thinking this might be an error in Standard Catalog’s data. I’m sure other sources have different data for this.
Regardless, I find Chrysler’s production of 759 limos for ’85 more impressive than what I would have guessed.
Nope, I was referring to the biggies as I mentioned rear drive. The type of limo seen in the stereotypical ’80s movie.
“Most notably, the Executive had a power, sliding glass divider – just like a real limousine!”
True for the Executive Limousine, but not for the Executive Sedan. The Limousine had those awkward filler panels in the rear door to create the illusion of a thick B-pillar, presumably to cover the divider.
I always felt that the Sedan was somewhat better proportioned than the Limousine (which is not saying much), but apparently most buyers who were at this price point were willing to spend a bit more for the utility of the jump seats. Or spend less, and settle for an E-platform New Yorker. Either way, given that the rear doors were hand fabricated by ASC, this would’ve been a perfect application for rear-hinged (“suicide” or “coach”) doors; it also would’ve made these a bit more distinctive.
I always wondered if the 0 to 60 times for these were measured with an hourglass, or maybe even a calendar.
“I always wondered if the 0 to 60 times for these were measured with an hourglass, or maybe even a calendar.”
BuzzDog, you may have just moved to the top of the list for winning the Internet for the day. The title of this post may give you some intense competition, however. ;o)
I had not remembered Ricardo Montalban being in Chrysler ads after the Cordoba era.
You mean you’ve forgotten how he said, “TurboNewYORkerrrrr?”
O.K., I am one of the very few who like these cars! I love my “mini-Broughamtastic” cars! As a teenager, I was more fond of perceived luxury styling elements rather than sporty designs. Here is a 1983 Executive Limousine in red. Note the original, more flush-faced grill used, rather than the 1984+ more upright grill.
“Wouldn’t this get your attention if it rolled past you at a Cars & Coffee?”
No, it didn’t in the mid eighties and it wouldn’t now.
Are you kidding? If I saw this anywhere I would likely be immediately pulling out my phone from my pocket to take a picture.
want one? I live in NJ USA and have one that needs total restoration but it does run (no brakes though lol)
It would seem the mini-limousine didn’t revolutionize the limo industry the way the minivan did the family transportation industry. Oh well, at least you tried Chrysler.
Anyway reading the comments has answered a lot of questions I had about these cars. But I have one more –
Who actually bought these things?! Who were the more than 1,000 buyers of these mini limousines who apparently said “ya know, I could get a Cadillac or a Lincoln. Or maybe a Mercedes. But no! I want the Chrysler Executive!” I mean to each their own, but if I were some important big shot who had the money to be chauffeured in the limo of my choice, this would not make my list.
Judging by the license plate, this is an ’85 model, and first registered in the UK in September 1992. Then again, if you run the plate through the UK’s MOT history website instead of its tax status website, then the plate comes back to a “Chrysler Voager” (yes, that’s how it’s spelled on the official government webpage) that has a diesel engine and was first registered in 1971, which obviously can’t be right. That casts a shadow of doubt over the tax status’s details, but they seem believable at face value.
What’s interesting about the Executive is that, today, these can be had in remarkably good shape for very reasonable money. Of course, you then have to drive it around, too. It’s not exactly a good choice as a daily-driver.
That’s why these failed. No one wanted to drive them, and no one wanted to be chauffeured around in one, either. “Economical” and “limousine” are two words that simply do not go together.
They looked comical then, and they look comical now. It’s all to do with the proportioning. You can downsize a car, but you can’t downsize the occupants. You can get rid of all the empty space under the hood and cram things up to the point of overheating, and you can chop off some trunk space that might only be missed once or twice a year if at all, but people still take up so much space.
Widen it a few inches, and it wouldn’t have looked so bad. If Mitsubishi Australia could widen the eighties Galant to make the first Magna, then Chrysler in America would certainly have had the engineering skill to widen the K-car platform.
Guess it was a management blunder that they didn’t do the obvious.
Our ’87 New Yorker was a good car that we put a lot of miles on.
When I still lived in the Youngstown, Ohio area, there was a convent in the northern suburbs that actually had one of these Executive Limousines. I would see it on my drive from either work to classes or vice versa. I don’t think I ever saw the car move once during that time. They were Oblates; essentially non declared monks or nuns who choose to associate with a monastic society. The convent was a rather normal looking suburban split level, as you would assume that monastic people wouldn’t be outwardly showy.
In 1979, I think everyone was convinced that gasoline would continue to go up in price; like so many other plans, no one imagined that fuel would become cheap again. Had we encountered $2.50/gallon gasoline in 1983, this probably would have been a bigger seller than it was. I was surprised to see that it sold as well as it did!
Like someone further up the string mentioned, who was buying all of these limos? I worked for some rather wealthy people back in the 80’s and the vast majority of them drove themselves everywhere. I also think it was right about this time we started seeing limos that were just stretched cars and SUVs, like the kinds that high school kids rented for proms and such. Was there really a market for a factory built limo any longer in the 1980’s?
I liked these, they were a refreshing change from the gargantuan fuselage Mopars and ‘74-‘77 biggies. I had no idea they were so rare. If I’m remembering things correctly back in the early nineties a co-workers drove a blue Executive that her husband had gotten at an auction for very little money. She always seemed a little embarrassed by this car, but I think she secretly enjoyed getting picked up after work in it – and if she drove it was parked away from other cars that might ding it up.
I remember when my sister had some family pictures taken of her and my nephews and niece (when they were quite young), posing next to one of these. My sister and her family all looked great (we Dennises clean up nicely), but I remember wanting to ask her, “Couldn’t you at least find a Lincoln or an Oldsmobile in that parking lot?”
Terrible proportions on these stretched K’s, but I do give Chrysler credit for throwing all the K variants they could come up with against the wall to see what would stick.
I have one in my garage in NJ USA if anyone interested, it needs restoration but does run
These cars were like the answer to a question that nobody asked.
I drove past this today in Finchley. It’s terrible but really intriguing!