1983 Chrysler LeBaron convertible: A Roadway Disaster

This is very confusing.  Chrysler has, for a while now, been creation  pseudo-luxury cars. Even today, the  Chrysler  300 S has become a “poor man’s Bentley.” And even though those cars are far from perfect, they do, at least have a few redeeming features. The new ones have started to look nice, and has become comfy pseudo-cars in a line up that even includes a 5.7L V8 powered Sedan. But that’s not what we are here to look at today. Today, we are here to look at the odd and dumpy attempt at class that was the infamous 1983 Chrysler LeBaron.

Hmmm, where to start with this one. Well, with a car this awkward and dumpy looking, there isn’t really a good place to start. Every possible starting point is as bad as the next. So, here it goes.

First off, did someone forget to tell the folks at Chrysler that boats belong on water and not on land? Seriously, look at the second photo, the one angled from the back of the vehicle. It you were to cut off the wheels and fill in the gaps where they are supposed to go, put it on the water and you it would take a stretch of the imagination to think it was anything but a boat. The metal rack and the wood paneling on the side signal even more that this thing belongs on the water and not on land.

And the comparisons to large seagoing vehicles don’t stop there. The boat aspect of the design appears to have worked it’s way into the way the boat... uh, I mean car, handles. Cornering this thing was a nightmare. Not least due to the horrible weight of this thing. Never before has a four wheeled vehicle been flipped so easily whilst going around a gentle curve at 15 to 20 Miele an hour. And if you thought trying to get it to go around simple curves, bends, and turns, was bad, wait until you try to dive the thing in a straight line after only six months of owning the vehicle. It gets ugly fast. The ‘83 LeBaron didn’t react well to  wear and tear to begin with, but the steering in the vehicle took a particularly bad hit. After only 7 months or so of driving the  convertible shitbox, drivers expressed complaints that the vehicle wouldn’t drive in a straight line anymore.

It was an absolute nightmare. Not to mention the horrible excuse for a  canopy roof  found on the convertible version. The roof tended to rip open seemingly out of nowhere, when,  in actuality, all that had happened was that a small gust of wind had blown the wrong way across the roof. The paper-bag style quality of the roof is what lead to so many material replacements and taped up holes on the vehicle, and became one of the reasons why America, and the rest of the world, would like to forget about this horrible hunk of junk and put it out to sea where it belongs... and then sink it with a cruise  missile.

Car Spotting: Art On Wheels

San Francisco is an amazing city  filled with good food, good people, fun and interesting places, art, and of course, cars. And sometimes those things collide, as seen in the photos above. This vehicle, it appears to be a Volkswagen Van/Deluxe Type, was found on Stockton Street, just outside of San Francisco’s iconic and recognized Pier 39. It it a rolling art show, covered in what appear to be hand made paintings of San Francisco, as well as a massive  tie-dye  Swirl that takes up most of the vehicles front end, apart from the windshield that has been kept clear of any obstructions, paint related or otherwise, due to legal driving conditions. From the quick shots I was able to get of the vehicle as it drove over the hill and through the intersection, it appears to be made of all original parts and pieces. The vibrant and bright paint on the front and sides of the vehicle throws the non painted parts, the hub caps, window lining, bumper and faded  roof, in to sharp relief. There are quite a few  artistic cars in San Francisco, this just happens to be the only one I actually got a shot of last week. And I’m very glad I was able to see it.

Car Spotting: Chevy Custom

We, here at The Big Car Lot are proud to introduce what we hope will be a new series, Car Spotting. This series will consist of photos of cars we ourselves find in real life, along with short to long descriptions of the vehicle. With that out of the way, let’s get into it.

Here we have a gorgeous custom car, that appears to be a custom Chevy. This splendid gem of a Car was found in the sunny little seaside town of Avila Beach in California. From the outside, the car appears to be a restored classic, with a two-tone sparkling orange paint job that glitters I’m the light. However, several details of the car show that is a custom build. First of all, there are no brand markings on the vehicle. Second of all, the interior has, not only a beautiful looking old style dashboard with a modern finish, but it also has the word “Custom” in big silver raised letter scrawled across the bottom right hand corner. The steering wheel, with its multiple colors complements the dashboard set up perfectly,  and the whitish silver of the dashboard looks amazing. And lastly, when the car came down the hill, just across the street from the restaurant window where I was sitting enjoying my calamari, everyone’s heads were turned by the sound of the custom V12 engine.

Plymouth Prowler (1997 - 2002)

Have you ever dreamed of owning a PT Cruiser that had a bastard child with a 1930's Ford Roadster? No? Well fuck you because here it is.

That was basically the marketing for the car that most people refer to as the weirdest car of the 1990's/ When it came out in 1997, nobody knew what to think, exact that Acid and a car designing workshop don't mix very well. With bumpers that looked like over-sized versions of the ones that normally are reserved for go-carts at the mall, and colors so aggressive they made the entire world want  to kill themselves, this car was certainly an interesting direction for Plymouth, a company that, at the time was making boring and bland family cars.

The Plymouth prowler just showed up out of nowhere one day and became the laughingstock of the car community. Nobody really knows what audience the thing was intended for, crack addicts looking for a new fix perhaps? Anyway, the car came with a 3.5 L EGG V6 engine and an 4-Speed 42Le automatic gear box. Unsurprisingly, this car was perfect for modifiers, and mod shops were taking in more of these cars than almost any other hot-rod style car in 1999. Also, the car was loud to begin with, very ;loud. The whole point of a smaller V6 engine as apposed to a bigger V8 was to save space and weight. however, the folks at Plymouth must have liked noise quite a lot as they removed all noise dampening parts from the vehicle and it's engine casing. And that is even before modifications were installed by people who want a bigger kick out of their "road buggy." This was made easier with the slightly larger version of the car being made available starting in late 1999. The slightly  bigger frame of the Late '99 Prowler meant more space for more things. Thus began the modifications that led to the nightmarish and loud V12 Prowler, found in mod shops across the country. The vehicle was so loud when fitted with a V12 engine, that it came close to hitting the noise regulation limit for vehicles in several states. Finally, in 2002, production of the vehicle stopped after America finally came to their senses and opened their eyes to the odd monstrosity that was the Plymouth Prowler.