Most dyed in the wool car guys and gals might scoff at a car like this 1986 Dodge 600 Convertible. “It’s not a real car.” “It has front-wheel-drive.” “It has a 4-cylinder engine.” I’m on the other side of the fence, but maybe that’s because I had the Chrysler LeBaron version and it was a great car. This one can be found here on eBay in Brookville, Ohio and the current bid price is just over $2,500.
In 1985, a few years after high school, I started a business and within a couple of years, things were cranking enough that I had the good fortune to be able to buy a Chrysler LeBaron convertible in 1987. It’s not that I wasn’t a fan of big, heavy, American iron and steel cars, but there was something nice and new and fresh and crisp about that front-drive LeBaron with a gray Mark Cross leather interior. Being able to drop the top was great, too. It’s the first and last convertible that I have ever owned, for some odd reason. After 30+ years, it’s time for another one.
This Dodge 600 looks really nice, almost like new. They were made starting in 1982 for the 1983 model year and production ended in 1988. You may remember these cars and the related Chrysler version as being the first convertibles made by a Big-Three (Ford, GM, Chrysler) Automaker to reappear on the US market since 1976. The 1976 Cadillac Eldorado convertible was thought to have been maybe the last convertible ever made in the US by a US car company and doom and gloom ensued… It wasn’t the last convertible, of course, and droptops have been around since Chrysler reintroduced them in 1982/83. VW had a convertible here in the late-70s but Chrysler was the first of the big-three US automakers to bring a droptop back to the US after the Eldorado convertible.
The interior looks almost like new both front and rear. It has Chrysler’s TorqueFlite 3-speed automatic with a floor shifter and this one has analog gauges. Mine had digital gauges and it talked to me since I didn’t have any other friends. I don’t know if the Dodge version has a little white switch in the glove box to turn the voice command on or off, but it was pretty cool in the mid-1980s to have a car tell you that “your lights are on” or your “door is ajar”. The convertible top on this one looks like new and I’m hoping that the seller has the boot for the convertible top when it’s in the open/down position.
The engine is Chrysler’s 2.5L inline-four which had about 100 hp. I had basically this same engine in a 1991 Dodge Spirit and it was 99% flawless all the way to 315,000 miles when the car rusted out so badly that the gas tank was leaking and a tie rod broke in a parking lot. It went to the junkyard, running like new. The seller says that this car has zero rust so that won’t be an issue here and this engine should go for many, many years to come. Have any of you owned a Dodge 600?
I’m a little embarrassed to say I like this car. There is one of these near me here in Tampa, and it’s fun to see it on the road.
Just to get it out of the way. Was this owned by Jon Voight?
Yes….there’s a pencil in the glove box with his teethmarks on it!
Get a periodontist to certify that and the value might go over $5,000!
Why do people criticize him for driving a non pretentious car? I think it shows character. I remember watching Tom Hanks get out of a PT Cruiser. Mr Hanks could have easily afforded any flashy car on the planet, but he was too mature for that. A nice (and expensive) car does not make you a man, you do.
Tell that to everybody here in Florida with either some outrageous (and useless) coal-belching monster truck, or some 500HP Mustang/Corvette/Dodge, drag racing three blocks from one red light to the next. So goofy.
I’m not sure if you are serious with your comment, but it was an episode of Seinfeld where George thinks he bought Voight’s Lebaron convertible because that was the previous owner’s name. Jerry continued to debunk it, even pointing out that the name was spelled differently.
I had an 89 LeBaron Convert for over 10 years.
it was a 2.5 turbo. Fast little beast. Got to 300,000 Kms or 180,000 miles
Tranny started to give problems. Offered it for 400 bucks. No one wanted it. Drove to wrecker who gave me 285.00 bucks
It’s a four passenger lawn chair. I love it.
my 5 speed caravan did 299,000 miles and i gave it to a poor student….was still running well with the 2.5!!
Between my dad and I, we’ve had a few of these k car offerings, no convertibles, but one being the Plymouth twin, an 86 Caravelle le, it also had the 4 pot, and besides the fact it could of used a little more power, was a nice car. His 90 New Yorker and my 90 dynasty both had the 3.3 liter V-6, major improvement, and in my opinion, one of the better Chrysler offerings. If the reserve is under $5k, I’d say someone should get a good buy.
I love it! I had an 85 Dodge 600 Turbo coupe from 1987 to 2000. I loved that car. Looked good, ran good, turbo was awesome. The Boston area winters did a number on it though. I did some sheet metal repair to the inner fender, but the road salt took it’s toll on it. Replaced it with a 1998 Plymouth Breeze. Still have the Breeze 20 years later! Wifey loves her Breeze. Mopar family.
Brought a new 1985 ES turbo convertible,it wasn’t a bad car.Never had the heart to sell it,still have it in storage after all these years.Black with grey leather.At this point it’ll be a retirement project resurrecting it.
I bought a 1982 Dodge 400 convertible, yellow with tan top. Great car. Only because the “ afterthought” back seat hoot too small for our kids I traded it for a1986 Dodge 600 convertible silver with burgundy interior in 1986. I kept it and still enjoy driving my 37 year old dodge!
Super nice car, except for the wheel covers, it is really me. Wonder what the price will get to? Spring is coming folks!
Had a girlfriend with a Mark Cross 85 LeBaron convertible in the early 90s. The car had the power to heal itself. Got her from being a draftsman where I worked, through four years of college and grad school. I always enjoyed driving it. She finally wholesaled it on dad’s lot when he bought her a sunbird ragtop for masters graduation. Had about 180,000 on it at the time and still ran great and was clean. She’s long gone but I’ve always had a soft spot for these. They show up in the south Florida classifieds for almost no money occasionally. I think older people pass and the kids don’t want them. If you can get it at a reasonable price, parts are still around. They made a bazillion k cars.
First brand-new car (and first convertible) I ever drove was identical to this one. I drove the homecoming queen in a slow loop around the football field at the homecoming game in fall of 1986.
I would drive this on the weekends for sure. These were nice cars in their day, affordable too. My 87 Dodge Shadow had the same steering wheel. I believe the used it in Daytona’s also.
This is, was, and will never be cool. It’s a shiny turd. Just look at it. It’s a fancy version of a driver’s ed. car at best.
I never owned a Dodge 600 but in 1982/83 I did work at a Dodge dealer. It was very exciting when the convertibles came back. Even if it was a small, four cylinder front drive car.
The biggest disappointment was the rear seat. It was literally paper thin. Absolutely no cushioning at all. Not sure why they did that but the rear seat was extremely uncomfortable.
I had one of these when I owned my used car lot. I took it to the auction one night. Had my Mom come with because she needed a car. I was going to have her pick out her next ride.
Anyhow, on the way to the auction I learned the hard way that the car would run out of gas when the gauge reflected an eight of a tank left. Not good! Mom & I were on the side of the freeway between Milwaukee & FondDuLac Wisconsin in the middle of nowhere with my Mom & a dead convertible.
She got her new car the following week.
That Dodge was a nice car, besides the fuel gauge inaccuracy lol.