I’ll admit right up front that I’m very biased on these K-car convertibles as I had a similar Chrysler LeBaron convertible in a similar year and similar color. Mine, however, wasn’t the turbo model and that makes this 1984 Dodge 600 ES Turbo convertible something special. The seller has this car listed here on craigslist in Belton, Missouri, just southeast of one of the great cities in America: Kansas City. They’re asking $4,000 and I’m going to try to get through this without buying it.
I think this look is a home run: the blackout trim, and that sharp, angled prow-like grille, not to mention those classic pizza wheels. I personally wouldn’t add or subtract one thing from the exterior of this car. I even like the color, or tone, as my LeBaron convertible was also silver but it had wire wheel covers. It was a nice car but it didn’t look as “cool” as this Dodge 600 ES turbo does, in my opinion.
The Dodge 600 was available in a four-door sedan, a two-door coupe, and a convertible. The sedan models were based on Chrysler’s E-platform which was a slightly-stretched K-platform. They were made for the 1983 through 1989 model years overall with the convertibles being made for just 1984, 1985, and 1986. This car has a mere 41,000 miles on it and no rust – that’s incredible.
The driver’s seat looks like it has an issue and there are wrinkles and some overall cleaning to do, but the interior looks great otherwise. As I said, I’m a big fan of these cars, they, along with the LeBaron convertibles, were the first American car back to the convertible market after the 1976 Cadillac Eldorado convertible was supposed to be the last one ever. These cars will most likely never be big in the collector market but they really define the 1980s to me.
My LeBaron had the 2.6L Mitsubishi engine but this Dodge 600 ES Turbo has a turbo 2.2L inline-four with 140 hp. This car runs and drives great and it sure looks like it’s in outstanding condition. A no-rust, low-mile, two-owner, first-year Dodge 600 ES Turbo convertible is one to collect if ever there was one. Have any of you owned a car like this Dodge 600 ES Turbo convertible?
The K-Car we don’t deserve
A TURBO,,( whistles), well, it was the 80’s, and they tacked turbochargers on lawn mowers, at least Tim Taylor did. I know many may think, why bother, but I had a Plymouth minivan with this motor, and I tell you what, that little bugger had some steam. I read, the turbo added 50 hp. Loved oil, but it had power. The car,,meh, while it did save Chrysler, most Mopar fans would love to forget these. I had several K types, and all were good cars.
I have to agree with the author that it looks good but that is where it STOPS!
These were horribly built , cheap was the motto
No handling, no braking,no power, no steering response,did you say cowl shake !?
You must have gotten some bad vehicles because, I had 3 and they were all good. Never had the problems you are mentioning.
Lots of plastic that broke easily too.
Placing this in its 80’s context, I’m with Scotty, this is kind of neat. Looks good, seems to be in fine condition, the turbo provides a little more oomph. Take the grandkids to run errands or to Sonic, I’m sure they would have a blast. And for a measly $4000, why not?
Well, in the 80s, we all wanted performance and there was nothing new available , i had company supplied cars and drove escorts cavaliers and k cars and at night and weekends only rode in old muscle cars
Those days are gone , every available slush box from any auto maker outperforms and outhandles the malaise era k cars and such, a 1k used hyundai is better than this 600
A drive to nostalgia with this is like going to get a tooth removed without any pain killer its just too PAINFUL
Scotty, I’m with you. I had a friend who had this exact car in Bronze, drove it everywhere, oil consumption a minor issue, he put a ton of miles on it, I drove it for about two weeks and loved it. What’s not to like? If I had the room I’d jump on it.
I have a 84 lebaron convertible with 24K on it.
Our family friend bought an ’86 LeBaron Turbo sedan chocolate brown with every option available. It was his only new car in his life and he passed 6 months later. He never really got to enjoy it. My aunt bought it from the estate and drove it sparingly until 1994. She wanted me to sell it for her so I detailed it and finally got to drive it. It was not like any other luxury car I had ever driven. It surprisingly sold very quick as it had very low miles, but my Aunt was much happier with her new Toyota Avalon… :0)
A K-Car is a K-Car is a K-Car no matter the trim level or configuration…..JUNK!
You really have no clue about cars. If it is a convertible it has a value. The top goes down the value goes up and these have been selling in that price range.
Just to be fair GM X Cars from the eighties were junk too including Ford Tempos and others from the eighties, all junk.
Working in a salvage yard in the mid 1980s I did my part in crushing hundreds of 80s malaise cars . The may have been recycled into anything, but whatever it was, it was better than the early 80s bombs
The X and K cars got better over the course of their runs, the original Aries/Reliant K in post-facelift single point EFI form was a decent cheap beater even at the turn of the millennium and if you scored that engine in an ’88-90 Omni/Horizon manual you had a $500 beater (or, a decade before, a $6000 new car) quicker than any Toyota or Honda less than twice its’ price.
Wow, tough crowd here today. I had a 1985 Dodge 600 Turbo coupe. I loved it. The Massachusetts winters did a number on it. Sold it in 2000. Replaced it with a 1998 Plymouth Breeze. Breeze still runs good, looks good with about 85,000 miles on it.
Did these come from the factory with the pizza wheels? I don’t think so, and may not have been available in ’84.
My ’86 GLH-T had them, along with a nice set of low profile performance tires from the factory.
If this had a manual, this would be a lot of top down fun!
Those wheels were regular production and were standard on the Shelby Chargers and the 600 Turbo. .
That’s a screaming good deal. I’ve got to 85 600ES convertibles, both in gold but I’m trying not to pull the trigger. I think the silver color works much better but gold was more common. The mark cross leather interior looks to be in great condition and you can’t get much of a convertible can any kind of good condition and running for $4,000.
Yep I did have one (2.2 non turbo) and I can agree on everything you said except one:
Mine was an ‘82 so that info about convertible availability is off a little. I had 2 btw, and loved them both.
I had the twin to this one in black that I bought new. Nice car for what it was, smoked the turbo at 40k but replaced under warranty.. Like to have it back..
The K cars got a bad rap and they may not have been a shining star in automotive history but like all appliances they were good at what they were designed for. This is true especially when compared to the other domestic offerings in the early to mid 80’s.
I got one of these as a loaner from a small dealership back in the day and it was comfortable and surprisingly fun to drive.
One good thing about these was that they were like Legos and you could mix and match parts with most everything that Chrysler made in that timeframe.
My buddy in high school made a pretty cool Dodge Rampage with a Turbo II out of a GLH with a digital dash out of a 600 and Mark Cross seats out of a LeBarron. I have to admit that while I was driving an 82 Accord hatchback I thought that the little Dodge was about 100 times cooler. And even though the Accord was better at being a car than the Dodge it wasn’t nearly as fun or good looking as the Rampage.
This car is a good deal and should provide lots of fun for very little money.
I do remember that there was a great story I believe in Car and Driver back when these came out where they drove a 600 sedan down from LA to Cabo along with a couple of other sedans and hit a cow in the middle of the night. They pulled off the bumper and drove the rest of the way.
If I had 4000 lying around I think this would a good car to take the grandkids to Dairy Queen
That “issue” with the driver’s seat looks to me like a leaf that blew into the open top car…
I had a 600 sedan. Other than being under powered, it was a GREAT car.
My toaster has more style than this. Yawn…
Good point !
I have an ’88 Lebaron 2.2 turbo convertible. Garage kept all its life, still looks good inside and out. 73k miles. Of course at about 40k miles the head gasket went, the roof material tore apart when it was about 3 years old, and I’ve put 3 a/c compressors on it…but it still runs like new!
I have an 82 LeBaron convert with the Mark Cross interior. I bought it about 9 years ago, 12,500 original miles, all original, except top, tires, muffler, and belts and hoses. I did replace the timing chain adjusters. You are right, the 2.6 is very under powered, but I live in flat country, so no problems. I’m 6-4 and 240 lbs, those leather seats sit very, very nice, oh, one thing, it does get 27-28 on the road!