With just 3,800 miles on the clock, today’s Nice Price or No Dice LeBaron Town & Country is a true time capsule of ’80s glory. It even has a bench seat in the front! Now priced about 30% more than when it was new, we’ll have to decide whether it’s worth it to feel the MTV-era vibes.
With the introduction of the Prius in the late 1990s, Toyota rewrote the meaning of a “hybrid auto.” Before the Prius mated electric and internal combustion motors for power, a hybrid auto typically meant an American engine in a European car. The Sunbeam Tiger with its British-built body and Ford 289 was a hybrid. So too were the Iso Rivolta and the clutch of Bizzarrini, which sported Chevy small-block power.
The 2013 Cadillac Escalade we looked at on Thursday is a hybrid in the modern sense, featuring a gearbox employing two electric motors to aid the V8 engine in both driving the SUV and keeping its high-voltage battery full of electrons. That was, and still is, a fiddly system with a number of known failure points. On top of that, our Escalade already had 140K under its belt, so those failures could be expected at any given time. Those factors led to warnings in the comments and eventually, a 65% ‘No Dice’ loss for the Caddy’s $11,995 asking price.
The finest little 80’s Chrysler K-car wagon in existence
In the 1933 novel “Lost Horizon” by James Hilton, a small group of Westerners survives a plane crash high in a remote, uncharted part of the Himalayas. There, they discover a lamasery—Shangri-La—which seemingly has magical properties that slow aging among its inhabitants. This comes at a high cost: the inhabitants are trapped there, because leaving means rapidly aging and dying. I know, bummer.
Today’s 1986 Chrysler LeBaron Town & Country looks like it was just magically freed from some mystical Shangri-La, as it appears in as-new, almost entirely original condition and has less than 4,000 miles on the clock. How did this come to be? The seller has a succinct recap in the ad:
Back in 1986 a man bought his wife the finest station wagon Chrysler produced, this LeBaron Town & Country TURBO wagon. She only drove it 1500 miles before parking it in the garage when she became ill, and ultimately passed. The car ended up in climate controlled storage at a Chrysler dealer for 30 years. Then during Covid it was brought back to life with a new gas tank, driven a couple hundred miles and ended up on consignment at World Wide Autos in Colorado.
The current owner bought the car four years ago, brought it to Georgia, and replaced all the rubber bits, fluids, and the non-working factory stereo. Other than those updates, this K Car is claimed to be just as it left the factory.
Two point two
This Town & Country has the goods, too. An unexpected decal on the hood announces the engine: a 2.2-liter Chrysler four with fuel injection and a Garrett T03 turbocharger. The motor was factory-rated at 146 horsepower and 168 pound-feet of torque, which might not seem like all that and a bag of chips today, but back in the mid-’80s it was pretty impressive.
Befitting this car’s role as a Town & Country cruiser, the motor is mated to a three-speed TorqueFlite automatic which drives the front wheels.
According to the ad, the car is 100% roadworthy and even has working R12 A/C. Before the current owner took possession, a previous owner replaced the gas tank. That, the rubber, and the radio are apparently the only hard bits of the car that aren’t factory original. That makes this LeBaron a total time capsule, and the seller boasts it’s a hit at many local car shows.
Town & Country
Of course, this also has the look that anyone with an “I HEART THE ’80s” tattoo will simply gush over. There’s an old joke about a traveler stopping into a bar in the South and asking what kind of music they play there, to which the bartender replies, “Oh, we got both types: country AND western.” This LeBaron is similarly a Town & Country model, meaning it has the faux woodgrain paneling down its flanks emulating the classic Town & Country Chryslers of the 1940s. That’s in amazing condition with no apparent fading or damage. Under that is a coat of elegant black paint that looks to be simple, single-stage. Chrome wire wheel covers complete the picture.
There’s more old-school goodness in the cabin, as it features a wide split-bench seat in the front, clean gray cloth upholstery, and a low center tunnel afforded by the FWD layout that offers a ton of foot room.
This is a high-end K-car, so it has power windows and locks, cruise control, a tilt wheel, and the aforementioned A/C. The modern Sony stereo is a bit of a letdown, but is probably more useful than the non-working original, even if it spoils the overall throwback experience.
A clean deal?
This LeBaron comes with a clean title, and the seller suggests that while museums are welcome to snap it up, the wagon should really be enjoyed on the road. That, of course, means adding to its miles, which takes away one of the car’s unique ownership aspects. Maybe put it on a flatbed and drive it around so you can enjoy the experience without ruining that uber-low mileage fame.
Whatever the choice, we’ll now have to consider LeBaron’s $18,900 asking price. That’s a good bit higher than the around $12K it cost when new, but inflation has taken its toll, and honestly, where are you going to find another one in this condition and spec? Supply and demand is one of the first things they teach you in Econ 101.
What do you think about this LeBaron and that $18,900 asking? Do you feel like a buyer should be resigned to pay that price given the car’s rarity and condition? Or is that too much even if this LeBaron offers both Town AND Country?
You decide!
Facebook Marketplace out of Cumming, Georgia, or go here if the ad disappears.
Hat tip to Clay Horste for the hookup!
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