“Last Spring, we introduced the beginning of a totally new class of automobiles. Chrysler LeBaron. A new kind of Chrysler. Lighter, leaner. Smaller outside, but spacious inside. And packed with all kinds of comfort, convenience, and luxury touches. Yet, for all this elegance, affordably priced.” So says a brochure showing the 1978 Chrysler LeBaron. This two-door example is listed here on Facebook Marketplace in Sherwood, Wisconsin and the seller is asking $8,500. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Lothar… of the Hill People for the tip!
This car is from the first generation of the LeBaron sneaking back into “Chrysler” after having spent a couple of decades as an Imperial model. This unique model was made from 1977 until 1981 and would be the last of Chrysler’s rear-wheel drive LeBarons, as the name would be front-wheel drive cars until the end of the run in 1994 when they were based on the Dodge Spirit and Plymouth Acclaim AA-body.
The unique rear quarters showed up on the LeBaron coupe such as this example. The four-door sedan or four-door station wagon didn’t have that look. This car appears to be bald, does it have a vinyl top? I don’t see the trim at the base of the c-pillar and it’s somewhat unusual to see one without a vinyl top. It also seems to be wearing oversized shoes, are those 16″ wheels? They look bigger than the standard 15″ tires/wheels and it looks higher than normal because it has air shocks in the rear. Unless I was planning on pulling a trailer, I’d lose those, but that’s just me. The seller has included many good photos, including underside photos.
The missing vinyl top could be due to this car being a base model LeBaron. There don’t appear to be any power options and the seats are optional all-vinyl. “Ribbed Cortez velour cloth-and-vinyl” was the standard seating material in the base model LeBaron and probably would be more comfortable year-round. Velour would have been standard in the LeBaron Medallion and leather was an option. The vinyl seats look good other than some seam separation in the driver’s seatback seen in this photo showing the backseat.
This is Chrysler’s 318-cu.in. OHV V8, which had 155 horsepower and 245 lb-ft of torque with a four-barrel carb. It sends power through a three-speed TorqueFlite automatic to the rear wheels, but a four-speed manual would have been available. It looks great under the hood with a few upgrades. This car is from Tennessee and looks rock-solid, has 80,000 miles, and runs great, or did last summer but it’s been parked since then. Given the overall appearance of this LeBaron coupe, I have to believe it could be on the road again pronto. Any thoughts on this one?
Equipped like an Avis rental…
Even Avis rentals had A/C.
Yeah! This one doesnt! It does get hot & humid in Tennessee. Very base one. Liked the 318 v-8 nice power. Dont see it worth 8500 or more though.
This basic LeBaron evolved into 80s RWD Fifth Avenues. IMO the best revision of an existing platform. My 83 and 85 Fifth Avenues with formal styling and OTT luxury easily held their own with other upscale vehicles I have owned! For me, they were the last real Chryslers. The last LeBaron (FWD Kcars) were luxurious on a smaller scale. Ultimate LeBaron for me was 1961, Grand finale for Exners fabulous finned fantasies for Chrysler.
Kind of odd to see a LeBaron stripped out. It’s even got the dog dish hubcaps, like a police cruiser. No AC, no power windows, doesn’t seem worth it but it’s in fine shape.
I think it needs a Hellcat drivetrain and become a cool sleeper for the streets
This is a stripper version. No a/c, no power windows? Vinyl bench seat? Cop car wheels, and poverty caps..It looks clean, but that ugly front end is too hard to look at..too much coin for this Chrysler…pass!
These have that funky sort of attraction. The arched beltline along the quarter window, a sculptured deck and those upside down headlamp clusters all make you look away and back again and again. Chrysler got a lot of use out of this platform. Although underhood doesn’t show a/c the dash has ductwork and controls. Likely a project looking for an admirer of cop wheel trim.
$8500, I don’t think so! Looks like something your grandma would drive, if she was an undercover policewoman. Fully-loaded Chrysler Fifth Avenue, rust-free, California cream-puff average five grand,and even then, don’t move.
I remember when these Chryslers hit the streets, and I liked them. At the time they were introduced the US Big Three brands were scrambling to hold on. The 1973 oil crisis almost killed the American auto industry. None of the Big Three brands had anything that met the demands for good gas mileage. For decades American car buyers knew what they liked and wanted and good gas mileage wasn’t on the list. Nobody cared about good gas mileage, we didn’t have to. But after the 73 crisis all of the sudden we cared. Since Detroit had nothing like that the foreign brands took over the US market. A very dark time in America. However we still wanted our traditional large, rear wheel drive, luxury cars we always liked in the past. Chrysler kept building those big Chryslers,Plymouths and Dodges probably because they couldn’t afford to design and retool. So Chrysler teamed up with Mitsubishi and came up with some decent small cars that were made well and got good mileage. So when Chrysler launched the LeBaron on this platform, it sorta gave buyers a smaller, luxurious option that played off of our cars of the past. Namely the Imperial LeBaron. Those were good luxury cars buyers could relate to. The 4 door Fith Avenue was the perfect replacement. It was basically a mid-sized car, but Chrysler plied on the luxurious features and styling and it worked. I liked the front grill and headlights with the turn and marker lights positioned over the headlights. Somehow the look captured a traditional Chrysler look. It was definitely different, but it was totally Chrysler. My cousin was with Chrysler at the time in Highland Park Michigan. On a few occasions when I was visiting family in Detroit, he would hook me up with a fifth Avenue, or a new Bussel back Imperial in the Frank Sinatra trim. Both cars were on the same platform, they had the 318 cubic inch V8 that was a great engine for Chrysler for many years. It could be found in just about every Chrysler as a base V8. It was a very good engine. The interiors of the Fifth Avenue were over the top luxurious. My cousin told me the front seats were sourced from the Chrysler New Yorkers. They were very comfortable, although they barely fit in the Fifths. The exteriors of the Fifth Avenue were good-looking, the taillights were very traditional was very so they were very framilure. Add in the wire wheel hubcaps and the Cartier Crystal Pentistar hood ornament gave it a very upscale look. Those little touches made the Fifth Avenue very popular here in Southern California. They were a big hit, and I’m sure very profitable for Chrysler since most of the car was built from Chrysler’s parts bin. Like I said I liked them, I also liked the early 80s Imperials. I sometimes wonder why those cars were not more popular, I always think it had to be there were too many cars available to choose from, and the 73 oil crisis didn’t help. When Lee Iaccoca took over Chrysler his automotive genius with the K Cars including the mini van, not only saved Chrysler from failing, but he returned the Chrysler Corporation to profitably. I’m glad he did. Americans need Chrysler as much as we need GM and Ford.
Gee Bill, alot of free time in the schedule these days huh? Any carpal tunnel symptoms?
Wow, Williams post is a tough act to follow, and stated many of the pluses, however, there are literally pages of people that had problems with these cars. It was a rough time for car makers, with price of gas and emissions, it was not a happy time for the owners. Chrysler fared the worst in that regard. The cars themselves were great, comfy, well built cruisers, but the handwriting was on the wall, and by ’82, they were replaced by the fwd, and lost all dignity. I read, these weren’t cheap, listing at about $7313, when a new T-bird was almost $2grand less, and Ford had a banner year with them, the LeBaron, not so much.
Always fun seeing the Wis. collector plate, makes me feel right at home, and Sherwood, that I’ve never heard of, is on the east shore of the “Big Lake”, Winnebago just east of Appleton.
Listing update: this one is gone, did one of you grab it?
Those are the same type of wheels I put on my Aspen wagon only they were 10″ deepset rims. Also the motor looks almost exactly like mine when I was done with it only mine had “AIR”. This would be a lot nicer with buckets and a center console.
Boy, that Lothar really provides some great BarnFind tips.