Chrysler LeBaron Convertible, 1982
Chrysler LeBaron II
Chrysler LeBaron II•
•18 views
Chassis No.: 1C3BC55D4CG136902
Auction: Kissimmee 2024
Auction date: January 14, 2024
Lot No.: K216
$6,000 | High bid
- Odometer: 27,187 miles
- Engine: Inline 4-cylinder
- Transmission: Automatic
- Exterior: White
- Interior: Brown
- Body: Convertible
- Inline 4-cylinder engine
- Automatic transmission
- Leather interior
- Power-operated convertible top
- Power brakes
- Power windows and locks
- Air conditioning
- Odometer reads 27,187 miles
- Clean CarFax
There is a certain sense of pushing the needle hard, and legendary Detroit manager Lee Iacocca knew it well. That was how this unique car arrived on the scene. In the mid-1970s, Cadillac announced it would build its final convertibles, supposedly the last-ever examples the domestic market would ever create. As he worked feverishly to rebuild Chrysler, Iacocca dusted off the LeBaron model as his first-ever Chrysler built on the new K-car platform. This one, a convertible with an odometer that reads 27,187 miles, is a prat of that success story.
The word LeBaron has been on premium models in Chrysler’s vehicle lineup since the 1920s, named for the firm set up by American auto designers Raymond Dietrich and Thomas Hibbard. For power, Iacocca’s ideal was moving rapidly toward downsized vehicles with better construction and well-engineered smaller powerplants. The power for this LeBaron came from a 2.2L SOHC inline 4-cylinder engine, built on the same Trenton, Michigan, engine assembly line that had done 383 CI and 440 CI big-blocks for decades. The front-wheel drive design featured an automatic transaxle, and it came with power brakes as well.
Iacocca is stated to have turned to another noted Chrysler subcontractor, Creative Industries, to complete the initial convertible top installations, and just over 3,000 were sold that first model season. Painted white with a matched white top, this LeBaron is loaded, especially with its premium red and brown leather interior with wood-grain trim accents. There is a power-operated convertible top, power windows and locks, air conditioning, bucket seats with a console and floor shifter, a remote driver’s mirror and a Clarion AM/FM/Cassette stereo. There is a digital clock and leather-wrapped steering wheel as well.
Outside trim includes the centered hood pentastar, script LeBaron emblems, a set of classic wire wheel covers and white-stripe tires. The Chrysler Corporation almost died in 1980, but Lee Iacocca and cars like this LeBaron are what allowed the Challengers and Chargers of today; this is indeed a car that saved a brand.
https://www.mecum.com/lots/1101623/1982-chrysler-lebaron-convertible/
Cost
22,035 AED
