Stored 25 Years: 25K-Mile 1978 Chrysler LeBaron

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Here’s a rare one, and by rare I mean a car in a configuration (four-door sedan) that we’ve never seen before here on Barn Finds. We’ve only seen five LeBarons from this generation but all were two-door versions and one was a Town & Country wagon. This incredible rust-free survivor 1978 Chrysler LeBaron with only 35,000 miles on it is posted here on craigslist in Islip, New York and they’re asking $5,400 firm, but they’ll consider trades. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Mitchell G. for the tip!

The two-door version was a beautiful design, in my opinion, with sweeping rear quarter panels and a gorgeous boat-back rear valance. The four-door sedan lost those features. I’ve always wondered why the designers didn’t base the four-door sedan on the stylish two-door version. If only someone would whip up a quick four-door coupe Photoshop version… The vinyl room was standard on four-door models, optional on two-door models, and not an option on wagons.

The first-generation LeBaron as its own model ran between the years 1977 through 1981, right before the K-car platform took over the LeBaron name. I had one of those in convertible form about 39 years ago, and it was a great car, but nothing like this big chrome-bumper LeBaron series. This Eggshell White car appears to be in outstanding condition, other than some possible bumper filler material issues that show up in a photo or two. The seller took all vertical photos (sigh) but I cropped them the best that I could to try to show off this great-looking luxury ride.

Dang, it’s such an unfortunate world to have to worry about ne’re-do-wells stealing your car that you have to have “the club” on the steering wheel. I get it, though, it’s always been an iffy world as far as people stealing things and it may or may not be better or worse today. If I had to park a classic outside, I’d have one on the wheel, too. I always look for power windows on “luxury” cars and rarely see them on 1970s models, and they aren’t on this LeBaron, but the interior looks outstanding from what we can see, both front and rear. They show a photo of the trunk as well, nice variety of photos, seller!

The clean engine is Chrysler’s “Super Six”, a 225-cu.in. OHV slant-six with 110 horsepower and 180 lb-ft of torque, sending power through a three-speed TorqueFlite to the rear wheels. The seller says this car is all original with the exception of normal maintenance items, such as its new battery, tires, water pump, belts, tune-up, etc. This appears to be an incredible time capsule, I’d love to have this one. Have any of you owned a LeBaron of this era?

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Comments

  1. Driveinstile DriveinstileMember

    I agree with Scotty. This is a rare one. I always wondered why the top shelf Chrysler version of this body style didn’t come standard with the 318 V8, and that it came standard with the slant 6. But hey, 1978 people were worried about gas mileage. We had 2 different family friends that had Dodge Diplomats, one was a two door with a slant 6, the other a sedan with a V8 but don’t remember what one. They were well built cars at the time. This one is in surprisingly well preserved condition. People didn’t save on these back in the day.
    Hopefully it gets preserved with its new owner.

    Like 11
  2. Bob_in_TN Bob_in_TNMember

    Sure looks like a legit survivor. Nice to see bread and butter cars like this which are in good shape. Interesting that this model could be had with a straight six.

    Thanks Scotty for bringing us another not-commonly-seen car.

    Like 12
  3. Rustytech RustytechMember

    I had a 78 with the 318, it was one of the best car I think I have ever owned and I’ve owned many. This doesn’t look like the top line model thought. That would be the “Medallion”. Mine had every option available and very plush leather and the Vinyl top was padded. There was a small medallion on the c-pillar. This car looks great but being from NY I’d like to see some under body pictures before rendering judgement.

    Like 5
  4. Joseph A Crook

    Scotty, I drove one of these with lights on the top. Some pencil pusher ordered it with the slant six and crank windows. The amazing thing we couldn’t kill it and some of us tried. The same person ordered a K car with police package. The Labaron was a good car. My father bought the Cross Country station wagon.

    Like 5
    • Stan StanMember

      Joseph what modifications were included in the K car police 🚔 package ?

      Like 3
      • Joseph A Crook

        Stan
        The K car police package had a certified speedometer. Stringer suspension and the biggest engine you could get in a car at the time. It was a worse car than the Diplomat/ LeBaron police car. It got sold at public auction. No one mentioned the blown head gasket. They returned the car and got their money back. The LeBaron police car and the K car police car were the worst police cars I ever drove. And I drove a bunch.

        Like 1
      • RICK W

        IMO, although Kcars supposedly saved Chrysler, they were perhaps an indication of Iacoca going loca 🤪 . The stretched Kcars, Imperial, Fifth Avenue, DYNASTY, and New Yorker were a sad end for storied Chrysler names.

        Like 0
  5. Fox owner

    Slant Six , no power windows and four doors. Nope..

    Like 2
  6. Melton Mooney

    My old car club used a 318 diplomat as an engine blow car at a car show years ago. Drained the oil and water, started it up, put a rock on the gas pedal and let it rip. It ran for just over 20 minutes before finally slowing and seizing up. Remarkable.

    Like 4
  7. JoeNYWF64

    They sold plenty of these 4 doors. I seen them all over the place back then. It’s the ’78 TWO door i never remember seeing

    Like 2
  8. Phil D

    A base LeBaron sedan with few options, not something you see very often. The Slant Six, though, is the Super Six (two barrel carb) version, which is preferable.

    Like 4
  9. Kurt Rogahn

    I had one of these from 1984 to’92, with the 318 Lean Burn engine. Nice car, didn’t give much trouble, but I was happy to move on to front wheel drive.

    Like 1
  10. Dave S

    The four-doors were rare? I used to see them around. I noticed them because I was driving mine in college during the late 80s. Bronze with bronze padded vinyl and a brown cloth interior. Super reliable, remarkably ugly, and solidly boring to drive. Bought it for $600, sold it for $500 to a friend who got a couple more years from it and sold it for $400.

    Like 1
  11. Dave Brown

    This particular Chrysler LeBaron is the base sedan. It does not have the Medallion treatment such as the hubcaps and the interior. Yeah, it’s the base sedan. The Medallion version was really quite nice. It was not a Seville, but it was nice. Motor trend ran an article comparing the Chrysler LeBaron medallion and the Cadillac Seville and I think the Lincoln Versailles and maybe the Dodge diplomat. The Chrysler did well in the areas that you would expect the Chrysler from the arrow to do well. Mainly its handling was vastly superior to the others except for the Dodge. My 19 77 1/2 Chrysler LeBaron two-door coupe, was aMotor trend ran an article comparing the Chrysler LeBaron medallion and the Cadillac Seville and I think the Lincoln Versailles and maybe the Dodge diplomat. The Chrysler did well in the areas that you would expect the Chrysler from the arrow to do well. Mainly it’s handling was vastly superior to the others except for the Dodge. My 19 77 1/2 Chrysler LeBaron two-door coupe, was a very stylish car at the time. I even had the standard tires removed and wide white wall tires put on. However, that 19 77 1/2 Chrysler LeBaron what’s the biggest piece of junk I had ever owned. It had lean burn. This was an attempt to make the V-8 engine, a 318, more efficient. It absolutely did not work. I would be driving down the highway at 55 miles an hour, which was the maximum legal speed limit, and this Chrysler would just stop. The engine would just stop. I would then coast to the side of the road and sit there and wait for someone to come and help me. There were no cell phones then. My young wife was always very leery driving this Chrysler because it was not dependable. The Chrysler dealer at the town I lived in did not have all the sophisticated computer needed to fix it. I had to drive an hour and a half away to have the problem temporarily corrected. This car never worked well. And the rear tail light continually filled with water every time it rained or if I took it through a car wash. Furthermore, maybe it was just the time, but it was hard to find one with power windows, power locks, or a tilt wheel. However, to it’s credit, it was a very good looking Chrysler. That’s why I bought it. I originally went into the city to buy a Volkswagen Rabbit. However, I ended up with the Chrysler. I was so proud of that car. It was the disco-mobile. Looking back, I should’ve bought the Rabbit.

    Like 3
  12. Roland

    I owned an ’80 2-dr with the restyled body in 1989-90 with 110k miles on it. Bought the car for $100 from a neighbor (it had electrical gremlins), $15 for a breaker points distributor and it was off and running. The 225 1-bbl was gutless, I drove it across the country and at some points the head winds were strong enough to keep me below 55mph. The motor died a tragic death when the cam shaft broke apart while on the highway. That was Thursday night. Friday afternoon I bought a rusted out 78 Volare wagon, and by Monday I was up and running with an extra $100 in my pocket after parting up the Volare without an engine. All told, I put 30k miles on it, then sold it to a friend who put another 80-90k miles on it. I owned an 87 Fury with a police package, the 318 really is needed in these cars if you had any desire to get out of the right lane.

    Like 2
  13. Pete Zaharia

    Only thing wrong with this car I can see is the type and where the right mirror was installed, otherwise GREAT.

    Like 2
    • Al Dee

      Exactly! — The right mirror is unusable where it’s mounted. The left mirror is mounted correctly – making me wonder who mounted the right mirror. I don’t think that’s a factory install as my ’79 Dodge Diplomat had duel outside mirrors and the right one was mounted properly and perfectly usable.

      Like 0
  14. RICK W

    The basic basis for the RWD Fifth Avenue. Among my numerous upscale vehicles, my 83 and 85 Fifth Avenues easily held their own in style, comfort, luxury and panache. As for LeBaron, the moniker was used for many incarnations. None IMO came close to the full size LeBarons of the 60s. Notably 61 LeBaron, the grand finale of Exners fabulous finned OTT fantasies for Chrysler. My Fifth Avenues had the indestructible 318,providing plenty of power!

    Like 1
  15. SubGothius

    They “didn’t base the four-door sedan on the stylish two-door version” because these M-bodies (along with the Diplomat, Gran Fury, etc.) were basically just a mildly-revised F-body (Aspen/Volaré), retaining the original passenger cell structure (including the doors) as-is.

    The M-body two-doors at least allowed for more styling revisions aft of the B-pillars, whereas the four-doors could only be revised aft of the C-pillars, tho’ of course both could get variously-restyled front clips.

    Like 2
    • nlpnt

      The real surprise is how much differentiation they put into the wagons – wider, wraparound taillights that extended onto the hatch and distinctive C pillar trim, both shared with Diplomat wagons but not Aspen-Volare ones. Much more distinction than GM put into the back half of their wagons between divisions in this era.

      Like 0
  16. Zappenduster

    If you stare at those seat patterns long enough, the “Time Tunnel” opens!

    Like 0
  17. Bob C.

    110 horsepower? Must be the 2 barrel “super six “. That was a huge improvement for the time. I drove one .,

    Like 2
  18. Al Dee

    I bought a ’79 Dodge Diplomat 4DR – (the model with all the bells and whistles – I don’t remember the name for that model). It came with a slant six / auto torqueflite tranny – like this LaBaron – in Dove white (a gorgeous light shade of gray) with a maroon padded vinyl rood, bucket seats in a maroon velour interior, AC, AM/FM stereo cassette radio, electric windows, & cruise control – basically the works. It’s spacious trunk was also a nice bonus. The slant six had plenty of power to move the car down the road – even with the AC running, with great gas mileage, and the car handled exceptionally well and it rode like a dream. I really enjoyed that car as I traveled a lot in my job at the time – (the mileage reimbursement made the payments on the car – nice) and its looks was very stylish and distinguished IMO. I didn’t have a garage at the time and the car held up very well always being in the weather – no rust anywhere in all the time I had it – of course I took very good care of keeping it clean and waxed with a special oil treatment for the vinyl roof. If there was one just like it in the same condition as this LeBaron, I’d want it!

    Like 2
  19. Car Nut Tacoma

    Lovely looking car. Although I was way too young at the time to drive a car, I remember this generation Chrysler LeBaron. I found this more attractive than the K-Car version that arrived later.

    Like 1
  20. Allen BachelderMember

    My ’79 LeBaron T&C was a nine-year-old, 89000mile one-owner car when I bought it. It was a 318 and absolutely bulletproof. It had power windows, A/C and leather bucket seats in front, IIRC. I drove it from Virginia to Minnesota many times; my ex drove it from Virginia to Texas.

    I’ve owned well over 100 cars in my lifetime – including a lot of great ones, but that ’79 LeBaron always stands out in my memory. I’ve never owned a slant-six but they sure attracted a lot of raves back in their day.

    Like 1
  21. The Cadillac Kid

    The Club! Really worthless. One little cut on the steering wheel with bolt cutters or hack saw and it falls right out.

    Like 0
    • nlpnt

      Takes a while though, which is the whole point. On this car it’s practically a period accessory – didn’t they first appear in the early ’80s? – especially since any thieves would be unlikely to be versed in the black art of starting an automatic-choked Lean Burn engine having only dealt with EFI to date.

      If someone sees it in the window and moves on, it’s done its’ job especially if the alternative is the owner returning to find it with a smashed window, hacked-out ignition…and flooded engine.

      Like 0

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