Suddenly, it’s 1985 and we have a variation on ChryCo’s ubiquitous “K-car” platform to review. In this case, it’s the sporty Chrysler Laser and this beautiful example looks as if it just rolled off of the showroom floor. Seemingly everywhere at one time, along with its corporate cousin the Dodge Daytona, these were reasonably priced consumable cars and finding one today, in this condition, is a rarity. Located in Richland, Mississippi, this lovely Laser is available, here on eBay for a current bid of $2,425 with the reserve not yet met.
Introduced in 1984, the Laser lasted three model years, and according to Hemmings, saw total production statistics of 147K copies with 1985 being responsible for about 50K of that total volume. Two trim levels were offered, the standard XE and the performance-themed XT such as our subject car. Hemmings adds, “Looking to draw buyers out of import showrooms and into Chrysler dealerships, in 1984 Chrysler introduced a model it billed as the brand’s “first sports car,” and later as the “first front-wheel drive sports car built in America“.
The seller tells us that he bought this car in April for his teenage son (big mistake! I learned that sort of thing the hard way with my teenager) but now he’s going to sell it. the odometer reads 6K miles but the seller suggests, “The odometer does work-I do not know if it rolled over or not previous owner said he didn’t know. The odometer only goes to 99,999” – I can’t imagine that it’s not a rollover. Regardless, the car shows extremely well with no clearcoat delamination (an ’80s ChryCo favorite), finish fade, crash damage, or scuffed bumpers. The down below images shows just a hint of faint surface rust on the underside of the rocker panels but it’s nothing of concern at this point. Nice to see are the original alloy wheels that seem to be free of corrosion and curb/road rash.
Upfront is a sideways mounted 142 net HP, 2.2 liter turbocharged, four-cylinder engine attached to a five-speed manual transaxle. This engine was a major hit for Chrysler in this era and provided spirited performance for many different models. Unfortunately, no comment is rendered regarding this car’s motivational capabilities.
The interior is not well photographed or described but from what can be seen it appears to be in good nick. It’s the optional “Mark Cross” leather edition and the seats show very well. Additionally, the cargo area is indicative of a space that probably hasn’t seen a lot of hauling activity, at least based on the condition of the carpeting. I know that I enjoyed these very common ’80s hatchback designs, I owned an ’83 Toyota Celica GT and I was amazed at how much stuff I could cram into that seemingly limited space. Unlike the Laser XE, this XT edition has a simple and clear analog gauge instrument panel that I certainly prefer over the digital version. The seller mentions that the A/C has been converted (I guess to 134 refrigerant) and it blows but it’s not cold.
There you have it, this Laser is in great condition and it’s trending in low-bid territory, hard to say where the reserve is set. For Mopar, the ’60s were the time of the muscle car, while the ’70s were more of a faint reminder of what they had in the ’60s with cars like this 1975 Dodge Charger Daytona. Will cars like this Laser serve as a reminder of what their ’80s standard performance bearer was?
I definitely believe this car only has 6k miles. I bought one of these, brand new, in 1984. It left my driveway on a tow truck more times than it did under it’s own power. After 2 months and countless, (literally too many times to count), dealership visits, the dealer bought it back. It had almost 1,200 miles on it. It looks like it has 6 k because that’s about as far as the can get in 35 years between the dealership unable to fix visits.
I worked at a Chrysler dealership in those years and when I drove in the morning I saw all the work I had to do all lined up in the yard. From mini vans to K cars to a few of these cars with burned up turbos. They kept me busy as the other techs were just for Ford products. It was a split dealership
Easy way to tell if odometer rolled….does anything work. I had one of these. Great car for about 30k miles and then everything broke. I mean EVERYTHING!
Had a buddy that bought a two year old 88 turbo CS Daytona in the spring of 1990. Had that thing for 3 or 4 months, but most of the time it was in the shop. He bought it with like 29K miles on it. That red beauty looked brand new. He only put a few thousand miles on it because, as said, it was forever in the shop. I had a short Chrysler warranty n it, so he paid for nothing, but it was nerve racking. He kept getting the Dodge dealer he bought it from but he refused. Once I went with him to as he picked up the car from the shop and I could hear he and the manager go at it at the top of their lungs while I waited in the showroom. No one would take it on trade, and interestingly enough, not a single Chrysler dealer would, apparently they knew the reputation. Right before the small warranty went away, he got a Honda dealer to take it in on trade for a new base 1990 Civic. The total opposite of the Daytona, but that car ran for 20+ years for him. He told me he would never buy another Chrysler car again. Too bad, the car itself was super fun to drive, when it did run. I really enjoyed winding it out, but when you are terrified that it might implode, you just can’t enjoy anything but quiet non stressed driving. I had driven a new Daytona at a dealer a few months before, it was a non turbo 2.5 and a five speed. I thought it was great. Not the thrill of that 2.2 turbo, but quiet, smooth, comfortable, and reliable. I told him about it, and it could have been his, brand new, for about the same as that 28K mile turbo, but he laughed and insisted he needed the power as he wasn’t getting any younger, and he wanted to feel young. That turbo made him feel old indeed. I have read that the non turbos were pretty bulletproof.
Our ’86 Daytona Turbo Z never missed a beat. Guess they worked out the bugs by then.
Did this guy find this in a museum? It’s so clean looking! I was working at a Chrysler dealership in the parts department back then. Yeah the first year was a problem for the Laser …. Remember this was new idea and the mechanics went to school on this vehicle. Anyway these wheels are perfect. I am amazed they lasted this long. The engine compartment looks brand new. I would not mine owning this. They where quick but pulled hard to the right. If I remember the right shaft was shorter than the left which added to the problem. I could write a lot more on this. But would run out of room.😂..I did drive these and had fun driving them. Good luck to the next owner.🐻🇺🇸
Great looking shifters, and seats 💺 in these turbo Chryslers
I wonder what the reserve on this will be. It’s in the realm of a low mile used car or a survivor classic depending on who’s looking at it. The previous owner bought it for his teenage son who was not interested. Probably that’s a good thing. It would be better in the hands of an enthusiasts. This would be a great nostalgia stick shift car to own.
A teenage owner would just kick the crap out of it and it would end up junk a couple of years from now. I want to say it deserves better but that would be a fun experience for the teenager.
Who said it was the kid not being interested? It could be Mom objecting to “acceptable in the ’80s” standards of safety equipment…
I tried to trade my 83 Shelby charger in on one of these but no dealer would take my trade
This is not a XT it is a base Laser. In 1985 the Laser XT had a digital dash as did the XE. The XT had ground effects, and different wheels (8 spoke). In 85 the XT was a mid year production car and was a 1985-1/2 Laser XT. It had the analog dash in 1986 not 1985!
This was my 1985-1/2 Laser XT that I ordered brand new before the dealer even knew about it, (only available for 2 weeks with t-tops in 85).
https://barnfinds.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/1985-half-Laser-XT01.jpg
@Adam. Beautiful laser. That’s the exact car I fell in love with in the 80’s. Only the 88 Shelby Daytona topped it for me.
Beautiful car. The wheels were called Wagon Wheels. The Laser for sale has Pizza Wheels. I too had an 85 XE. It had the Swiss Cheese Wheels (like the pizza wheels but with more holes).
With a 140 HP….it represents the decade of the ’80’s pretty good.
Chrysler Advertising this as Sports Car….at least provides some chuckles !
Apparently sold~~~??? I cannot find this on E-Bay
It’s listed as a “1985 Chrysler Other” (apparently “Laser” was not provided as a selection in the Model menu), but here’s the direct link:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/354431552137
This vehicle has a replacement speedo/odo in it. If replaced legally there should be a sticker on the door or door opening indicating what the mileage was at replacement. I would say, “mileage unknown”.
I agree replacement odometers the tenths were red original ones were black.
About 25 years ago there was a guy in my neighborhood who had early 90’s or late 80’s (I’m
not sure what year they stopped making these) Dodge Daytona Shelby, bright red with black leather interior, the car looked mint inside and out, really a cool looking car for an 80’s car. No plates. I knocked on the door and spoke to the owner to see what the deal was, he said it had an engine problem which was exactly what I was figuring. I was also figuring I could snatch it up cheap $500-$1000, I knew exactly which donor vehicles I was gonna get for a complete heart & soul transplant, either a wrecked or retired Dodge Diplomat police highway car or a Parks Dept Ram Charger, a 5.2 or 5.9 v8 would’ve got that Daytona up to speed with the Mustang GT, Pont GTA, Camero I-ROC, maybe even Vette level performance with the 5.9 v8 w/a 5-sp manual trans. But unfortunately for me the owner wanted around $3,000-$4000 for the car so that shot down my plans. He probably did me a huge favor by asking such a ridiculous price for a parts car.
U knew that the car was fwd right? Gonna take donor drivetrain and make it rwd! Ok then. That guy saved u a huge headache by wanting to much for it.
I’ve always thought Chrysler made a big mistake building these as economical fwd cars. They already had the Omni and the K car for that. I hoped when I first saw the previews for these they would have been rear drive with a v6 or v8 options and could have competed with the Mustangs and Camaros
I beat plenty of Monte Carlo SS and Z28s with my 1984 Daytona Turbo. Just sayin
I’m sure you did, but I’m thinking more sales wise- People looking for a sporty like the Mustang ,may have been swayed by a similar platform car from Dodge. V8 performance Camaro and Mustang buyers wouldn’t have been interested in this
I worked in a salvage yard, and when you work at one you find out what not to buy. This car was one of them. I dismantled many of these vehicles, and I don’t remember ever finding one without a cracked cylinder head. We did sell a lot remanufactured cylinder head though, the 2.2 and the 2.5. These things were turds.
Tim, all 2.2 and 2.5 heads were prone to cracking. The crack is between the coolant passages, not coolant to oil. The head on my Shelby Charger is cracked and it does not affect the performance. I have over 170k miles on it now. The biggest problem I saw with these engines was (1) people did, and still do not, read the owners manual to learn how to take care of their cars. This is true for any brand. (2) The turbo versions needed synthetic oil and Mopar filters. The synthetic oil would not break down as standard oil would. Too much info to put here as to why. But for cost reasons the general public would not use the Mopar filter as that is the filter it was designed with. There is a LOT of substandard filters on the market and it is hard to tell the difference. IMHO Fram is a substandard to the Mopar filter. Yes they cost more but as the old saying goes you get what you pay for.
Mike, who was making filters for MOPAR back then? I don’t recall the turbo engine using a different filter.