While we may find them oddballs now, vehicles like this 1984 Chrysler LeBaron station wagon were considered somewhat high-brow back in the day. Loaded with luxury features and the iconic wood grain veneer up and down the sides, the LeBaron certainly looked the part of a high-liner and captured at least some of the spirit of the previous era of land-yacht wagons with all necessary features save for sheer mass. The seller describes this example as a low-mileage unicorn with all of the best boxes checked, including the Mark Cross leather interior and Mitsubishi-built 2.6L engine. Find it here on Facebook Marketplace with just 41,000 miles and an asking price of $3,500.
I believe the wagons were referred to as Town and Country models, revising a longstanding namesake within familiar Chrysler nomenclature. The LeBaron of this generation marked a shift towards front-wheel drive, courtesy of the K-Car underpinnings, which effectively revised much of the company’s lineup in the U.S. with economical performance and the availability of turbocharged powerplants. Today, the fact that they still show up for sale seemingly no worse for the wear is a testament to the K-Car’s durability, in my opinion. The Mark Cross package got you the unique leather seating pattern and door panels seen here, all in excellent condition.
I thought the Mark Cross option also got you a digital gauge cluster, but apparently not. You also got fake wood on the dash, fake wire wheel covers, and of course the fake wood paneling on the side. Don’t get me wrong, I understand no one wants to pay for the cost of real wood trimmings, but I have to wonder if the design team got tired of using the words “fake” or “faux” when planning this lineup. Regardless, the good news here is many of these cars appear with those trim pieces looking quite tired, even from just regular daily use after a few decades on the road. Not this example, which leads me to believe it had to have been garaged and cared for since new or not long after.
The carbureted 2.6L four-cylinder was a mainstay across both Mitsubishi’s and Chrysler’s lineups in the 70s and 80s, and is paired to a three-speed automatic transmission this application. Said to be a largely reliable mill, the low mileage on display here should ensure the next owner gets plenty of years’ worth of use out of this long-roof Town & Country. These wood-paneled wagons and convertibles are certainly an acquired taste, but examples like these are attractive if for no other reason than the appeal of driving a vintage vehicle with some extra utility. For the condition on display here, the price seems fair. Thanks to Barn Finds reader Lee Scharff for the find.
Was it owned by Mrs. John Voight?
Gee guys, don’t you get tired of this reference?
Nope!
Nope! Ferris Buellers Mom!
too bad that Facebook sucks and I am not on it….wish it were on Barnfinds Marketplace instead !
Which brings up the point that anyone selling a vehicle on FB Marketplace is not going to be interested in selling it to anyone but someone locally.
So, these may be interesting to look at, but if something that you actually wanted to buy, you would be out of luck.
I disagree. I will take money from anyone, as long as it is legal currency. It doesn’t have to be a local buyer. I bet those that sell on Facebook feel the same way.
Green is queen!
It looks good and seems cheap enough,but I am not a facebook/twitter person as well. And never,ever will be.
PJ
I was selling Chrysler s in early 80s and did sell a few of these and they are a very nice ride!
The john voight reference is welll worn out.
Its right up there with “but honey its been posted for weeks and no takers” when something is grossly overpriced.
Time for new material.
Don’t forget “put a LS in it ” !
Only the dollar store crowd found these cars to be “high-brow”.
She’s sold! Moving to Wisconsin. Thanks Barn Finds!
Thanks for the update Colin!
Congrats!
Thanks for proving my above statement about FB Marketplace only supporting local sales as incorrect.
Wow – you’re really diversifying, Colin!
I used to work for Mopar parts division stating in Oct 1983 as an Account Executive going to Mopar Suppliers that were behind schedule in shipping service parts requirements to Mopar causing back order conditions at dealers. I used to order these Town and Country wagons for my business car usage. The ones i ordered had the 2.5 Litre engine with turbo charger and digital dash board. These were some sweet cars and i would have to order a replacement vehicle as the company did not want us to rack up a lot of miles on them.. I used to turn in my vehicles with 12-14000 miles on them. These vehicle were built at the Newark, Delaware plant and they did a good job assembling these as I never got stranded on one of my road trips traveling for the company. One thing to look out for with the Mitsubishi engines is the counter balance shaft has a hole drilled in it which provides oil lubrication and if the hole gets plugged you get no oil,thus no lubrication, result engine failure.
Fugly brand new
Real fugly now
If you don’t like the car, why waste your time scrolling down to comment? Just move on, genius.
Because everyone is entitled to their opinion
Unless you are a leftard
Then
Its understandable …
I love the Ferris’s Mom comment! This looks nicer to me now than it did when new. As far as high brow goes, Growing up my friends parents bought a new 87ish Reliant station wagon. No where near as loaded as this car. Compared to my Mom’s Escort station wagon that Reliant felt like they were living in the lap of luxury. To a kid anyway..
Haha my own Mom replaced her ‘78 AMC with a brand new white ‘87 Topaz sedan with red interior. Not exactly the peak of luxury, were they? Funny thing, twenty years later, I bought one just like it…from my Dad.
Those Tempo/Topaz twins were nice little cars. My aunt bought a 90 Topaz and I remember it as a nice car. It was loaded…for the day anyway.
To Jett: Well said !!!!!!!!! Some people do not know a good vehicle if it bit them right where they sit!!!!!
They get a bad rep, but the Tempo/Topaz were decent little cars. I owned both a 5-sp ‘90 Tempo coupe (loved it!), and a 3-sp automatic ‘93 Topaz sedan (it did the job for a year and a half, was just gutless), and they served me while—over fifteen years and nearly 300,000 km in Canadian weather for the Tempo, until the floorboards started to rust out. I can’t vouch for the K-cars, but they were everywhere in the day, and I still see them around, so someone did something right.
Once again, just a glance at the speedo and the mileage claim is bogus. The odometer has been wound back.
What are you basing that on Kenn? Seller has owned it for 11 years. His neighbor bought it new. I’ve seen all of the service records, video of the car, mileage log. It’s been stored under a cover in a garage most of its life. And if you know these you know the interiors had a half-life, especially the leather. But in any event what does it matter if it has 40k or 400k? I believe it and I bought it. Won’t affect you or anybody else if this was some high end odometer tampering conspiracy on a $3500 car ;)
For $3500.00 I think you got a terrific buy.
Congrats Colin, nice purchase! Being in Wisconsin (for now( myself, I hope to see it at a car show some time.
I would have looked into buying it myself, especially at that asking price, if I weren’t trying to unload a few vehicles already.
I probably would not have been real successful, as I too am one of the cavemen who refuse to go on Facebook.