1981 Plymouth Reliant K Wagon Review - A Strange Start To The K Car! 

FoLkS!!! I'm glad you enjoyed driving around my old Reliant K. It's still a work in progress but I've had it for over three years now. It very well may be the LAST ONE in Illinois!

Some clarifications and information from someone who was alive during this era and remembers it well. First, the item you call a "spoiler" on the rear hatch (above the window) is actually called an air deflector. It's primary purpose was to direct the flow of air over the back window to keep it more dust free, thus aiding in improved visibility. This was especially true when driving on unpaved roads. Most station wagons offered them as standard equipment or optional at extra cost. Secondly, in regards to the stationary rear door glass. I am not sure why Chrysler went with this design. However, GM used stationary rear door glass as a way of increasing rear hip room on their downsized 1978 A-body station wagons (Chevy Malibu, Pontiac LeMans, Olds Cutlass, and Buick Century). By making the door glass stationary, it allowed the designers to recess the armrest further into the door, thus increasing hip room and overall width. On another note, I have noticed you refer to the pull-down armrests in front and rear seats as "consoles" which isn't correct terminology. A console is the unit that runs between front bucket seats and a very few rear seats on some specialty sports cars. One exception to this rule was the 1974-'76 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham Talisman editions that were luxury four seaters with front and rear velour covered consoles with lights and writing tablet. The pull-down padded things you call consoles were/are referred to simply as armrests. In the '80's, the manufacturers started adding cupholders to the armrest. Really enjoy the channel and look forward to your reviews!

One of the reasons for the non-roll down windows was to lessen the weight so the car could be put into a better mileage category so the manufacturer could sell more large gas guzzling vehicles and not be penalized by the government. GM started doing that with the 1978 A-body cars.

We had an 83 Aries, 85 Reliant Wagon, 89 New Yorker, and a 94 Shadow. I forgot about the 95 Caravan. Yeah, lots of K cars in my youth.

The rear “spoiler“ isn’t really a spoiler. It is designed to bring a lot of air DOWN across the back window to keep it clean. If you lived on a dirt road that got dusty, this was a good thing!

In 1990 I drove an 84 Aries K from NYC to LA and back. It was an adventure!

I think that spoiler on the back helped with airflow to prevent the back window from getting dirty. Without the spoiler, dust, rain, snow, and other junk would get easily stuck to the back window and block your vision. That spoiler helps to push air down the window to keep it cleaner Or i could be completely wrong, dont quote me on that

I so appreciate the joy you exude in your videos. Your love for cars is palpable. And, at 62, I really enjoy seeing cars from my youth through younger eyes. Keep up the great work, Zack!

Late 70’s through mid 80’s four door rear drive GM G bodies had rear windows that didn’t open. For example, the Olds Cutlass, Buick Regal, etc

Anyone else notice that the K car wagon looks a lot like the Fairmont wagon in its shape? I know lee iacocca was around during the development of the Fairmont when he was at Ford.

These were everywhere when I was little. My neighbor had a gray Reliant, pre facelift. The people across the street had a facelifted Reliant Wagon. My cub scout troop later had an early Aries wagon. He also had an old Cordoba from the late 70s. Big shuddering beast, that. It's fun seeing this video, it's like meeting an old friend.

I was a freshman in high school when these first came out...and was close to getting my learner's permit. My older brother was looking for new car and bought a new 81 Plymouth TC3 with the 1.7 VW based four. The K cars were starting to populate the showrooms and had the oddest feel to them...spartan and not terribly refined. You never thought this basic of basic platforms would underpin the rest of Chrysler over the next 10 years. They shaky, coughy driving dynamics were there when new, thanks to emission controls and complex carbs. The "engine" light was to alert you to either overheating or low oil pressure.

In 1992, when I was starting out as a young man in my contracting business, I had 1984 Reliant Wagon. Loved it. Thought the boxiness was the poor man's cadillac. But I made a bad turn one day and got T-boned, so I replaced it with a 1984 Chrysler Town & Country wagon. Same car but with wood grain and leather and a talking computer. Then one day at work in Jan 1994, I accidentally burned it down. lol. So I replaced it with a 1984 Dodge Aries wagon which I painted red with spray cans. Kept that til '98 parked in front of my house because I got a '95 chevy astro van. The city towed it away and I told them they could keep it since It wasn't worth the impound fee. I'd pay a lot money to have that car back now. Loved those cars. Got me started in my business and never let me down. Although after a nightly rain, I had to squirt ether into the air cleaner to get it start. But cars were so simple back then, I could pop off the air cleaner cover and do that in 30 seconds. I could change the alternator as well no problem. To me at the time, those cars were large, advanced, modern and luxurious compared to what I had known.

The engine warning light is not a check engine like on modern cars but it comes on if the oil pressure is low or if the engine is overheating because there no coolant temperature gauge nor a oil pressure gauge

My family had a 1984 Plymouth K Car Reliant Wagon in beige and it's what I learned to drive on at 16 to get my license back in 1990. My family had that car for about 5 years. That thing was a piece of crap even then. Seeing that interior again via this video had me shuddering from my memories spent in that car. Was more than happy to see it gone just after getting license, but unfortunately replaced with another Chrysler turd, a 1991 Dodge Spirit. After 2 POS pentastar products my parents finally wised up(well at least my mom did!) and stopped cheaping out and bought a Honda.

I can rem, back then Lee Iacocca had a commercial out saying be American Buy American !

Someone I knew had wagon like this but with standard tranny. It was in mid 90s and he was a house painter. He put on some insane milage on it and did most of mechanical work himself. Btw-that little spoiler on back when installed correctly was meant to deflect a bit of airflow from roof onto rear window and blow water and dust off. When in motion wagon creates maybe 3ft air dead zone and stuff like water,dust and mud collect on rear end and cut visibility. Very useful gadget just like that small rear vent window. It cooled car faster and better than AC.

Loved my 81 Reliant wagon. I shipped it from California to Indiana because I knew it would handle well in the snow. The 2.6L “Hemi” was great!

My first car was a 1981 Plymouth Reliant K sedan. Literally shit brown color, but it was a 2 door with the “lady-killing” landau roof, which made me pretty much the coolest guy in my high school parking lot and virtually irresistible to all the late 80’s high school hotties! Of course, I swapped out the factory stereo for a sweet Kraco cassette player (with 5 band graphic equalizer!) and Pioneer rear window deck speakers!! I totaled it about 10 months later, then drive an ‘84 Ford Escort (which was actually a great car) as a HS Senior. Sold the Escort when I went to college and when I got home the next summer, all I could afford was ANOTHER Reliant!! This time I “upgraded” to an ‘84 Reliant K WAGON which (unbelievably) was the exact same shit brown color, had been hit (and not repaired) in the passenger side rear, had no reverse and leaked ATF daily. My good ol’ “War Wagon”!!! Thankfully, I’ve been financially successful and can now afford whatever I want to drive, but as my daughter turns 16 next month, I marvel at the difference between whatever we buy for her first car vs mine!!

I had the Dodge variant of this wagon (Aries) for all of 4 months from October 2015 to February 2016. I would've kept it if I had a lot more disposable income at the time. Unfortunately, for it to be highway ready, it would've needed a new transmission and valve cover gasket which would've been about as much as I paid for the car ($800). I bought it from the previous owner as "running and driving" which it technically did, but it ended up overheating on the 50 mile ride home. The carburetor wasn't functioning properly. None of the warning lights worked on the dash. It had several sidemarker/turn signal lamps out. It drove like a baby Lincoln for the brief time I was able to drive it.

Saw one just the other day, it was a red coloured one and they had some damage, quite a bit of rust too. It sounded like somebody stole their catalytic converter or something.

The fixed rear door windows were used by GM in the A/G body line when they were downsized in 1978. We had a 79 Olds Cutlass with the fixed rear door glass and rear quarter glass that you could open, albeit limited It was a cost and space issue, plus must new cars were getting air conditioning. I believe the K Car got roll down back windows in 1982...and first extended K Cars were introduced in 1982...Dodge 600 and Chrysler Lebaron.

My grandparents had a 1981 Dodge Aries wagon with the 2.2 liter it was red with red interior I use to borrow it as a teen and go camping in it since the back seat folded down and you can sleep nicely in the back of that thing it was the best.

I think that trend where the rear windows weren't going down was the stupidest trend in automotive history, keep in mind air conditioning was still optional in a lot of cars back then, I would have been annoyed if I was a kid back then and my parents didn't get that option and you couldn't put the windows down. Automatic seat belts would be a close second though.

Legend has it. buyers had steering wheels coming off. On these. Driving off with from brand new car lots.

Omg I had that car when I was young, wish I still had it for memories. Thanks for reviewing.

My grandpa was a vet and had 4 k cars and once he had 2 of them at the same time. They was decent cars. He never had a problem with it. As time went on though he had to retire those cars and get something else.

0:11 FOLKS!! HE SAID IT!!! 😂

These weren't bad cars! I owned an '83 (well USED) Reliant "K" wagon with the 2.2 liter engine. It was a good ride, but in Northern Minnesota, rust was "THE KILLER"! Mine had ROTTED shock towers that finally "blew through"! This put the shock/struts into the hood! It ran GREAT, while it drove! The 2.2 liter STILL SURVIVED!

My first car, and the first in my HS group to have one. Hauled around everyone… 13 in the car was my record. Thought I broke the suspension when I got out to fill it up, and freaked out, yelling at everyone to get out. Seemed normal once everyone was out, so we all got back in and on the the next party! Also mine did not have the Hemi, but it did have back windows that rolled down, albeit only half way LOL

I had a 1984 Dodge Aries with the 2.2L engine. Had a good ride actually and a good amount of room. I believe my 1984's rear passenger windows rolled down. The sheet metal on the K cars was very thin. My 2012 Ford Focus hatchback weighed about 100 lbs more than my K car wagon. I had the 2.6L Mitsubishi engine in my 1985 Plymouth Voyager.

I think Chrysler (unlike GM) learned their lesson and added roll down rear windows by the next model year. I’m sure the alloy wheels were a later add but really dress up the exterior. In the early 90’s I worked for a small industrial father and son hydraulics shop who’s (father) owner had an 85 or 86 Caravan with this same Mitsubishi 2.6 engine. It was course, thrashy and slow. One day I was tasked with driving a manual transmission International Harvester U-haul truck for a day to pickup and drop off a large part. At the end of a very long and late day I dropped off the truck and hopped into That same Caravan to drive back to to shop. It felt like driving the smoothest, plushest Cadillac after driving that terrible U-haul all day. The son had an 89 fully optioned Nissan SEV6 5 spd. Extended cab Truck. That thing was like a tough sports car. We routinely overloaded that poor truck (even breaking a rear leaf spring one time) and it kept coming back for more. They also had a 90 Mazda B2200 for a shop truck. That thing was a beast. It took such a beating and never broke.

Great 👍 review ! These cars helped Chrysler get back on track after suffering quality control issues . I enjoyed driving them back in the day , they were pretty reliable and roomy/comfortable .

Karl is a good guy and it’s a nice car I’ve seen it in person

The JC Whitney bug deflector. My Grand Marquis came with one.

K Cars looked like Chiclets. I was expecting the weird window to roll down halfway-fixed apart from the small vent window is truly weird! The Reliant name always seemed strange: why give a car a name that means “to have or show dependence?”

Grandma had one exactly like this one in white, except it was a 1982 model and badged as Chrysler Dart here in Mexico; I believe it had the 2.2 instead of the 2.6, and had the 4 speed manual. Unfortunalte they sold it in the late 90s to a family we're friends with, and then they sold it to another guy that's been keeping it running well into the 2020s. I think by now it should have at least 300k miles on the clock, oof...

Oh man, I forget those big deflectors even existed. They used to be everywhere……I remember some of them had writing on them, including “BUG OFF”

81 was ALSO the last year any Plymouth had the old school logo on the hood ornament. 82 and onward was the pentastar we all know

I absolutely love these reviews Zach! Keep them coming.

Lol that license plate is hilarious even if it’s technically telling the truth

My best friend was gifted an '84 Aries sedan our senior year of high school, we called it White Lightning. As no one in our friend group was under 5'10, we had to play rock paper scissors to decide who had to sit in the back seat. Good memories and a solid car, even though he might disagree now.

The Pontiac LeMans also didn’t have roll down windows in the back. Just the vents. As a kid, I hated it!! 😂😂

The car that saved Chrysler. It was cheap, it was space and fuel efficient, and it didn't drive like a boat. My grandfather has a box full of those VFD "Chronometer" clocks that he "acquired" from the factory while he was building these.

I think the Mitsubishi marked valve covers weren't phase out until 1983. I have it on my 82. You can see the shape of the rear window that it wouldn't have cleared the curve for rear wheel well. However, they probably could have made it lower half way like the Ford Granada.

Love K Cars especially the wagons and what I call the K Van which I had an early model 4 banger and I kick my ass every day for junking that. Damn they run good.

Ks were EVERYWHERE when I was a kid. My upstairs neighbor had one, my neighbor across the street had one, my best friend's grandmother had one, her next door neighbor had one... now the only one I see on a regular basis is the Dodge 400 convertible a guy down the street from me owns. God, I'm old.

Great video (as always)! I'm still amazed by the fact that they got away with that front styling. If I were Mercedes, I'd probably have some problems with that...

I love this channel. My aunt used to have one of this, and she had it way into the mid 1990’s.

Great video! But a correction; The Mitsubishi branding on the valve cover was never removed or changed, I have no idea where you got this information from. ALL Chrysler models that used that engine had that branding. Additionally I have a 1984 Executive and it too has the branding.

Even on the 1984 Chrysler Minivans, the back windows don't roll down, they could only push open.

Zach , Chrysler had a 2.2 liter American engine The wagon's and the minivans got the Mitsubishi engine Chrysler didn't get a V6 till 1988 model year that also was a Mitsubishi engine the New Yorker engine. Per the window there's no child locks so a child could open a window and climb out while the car was in motion. Until child locks came out some auto makers used to make a back window stationary.for safety reasons. Without the K car there's no minivan today The k car provided the flat floor needed for a minivan

Reminds me of the Datsun 280c estate my parent had

A little shaking, a little coughing…these were terrible real fast back in the day. After a year or two of wear and tear they went from marginal to scary. The Mitsubishi engine was the only thing good on this car, the smoothness and 5-10 extra horsepower over the 2.2, plus the actual reliability made any k car back then more tolerable

It look kinda luxurious in the outside bc of the chrome stuff 9:06

I see this wagon has that common aging-'80s car-affliction - the rotten-foam-covered cardboard ceiling where the headliner used to be! Neither Ford or GM had a compact wagon in this class when these came out. So initially, I liked these wagons. But I was shocked to see a hard metal slab on top of the dash, where most cars had padding. I believe the K-cars did get padding later., and roll-down rear windows. Today of course, many vehicles have hard plastic dashes that break into jagged shards in an accident. I guess the airbags are supposed to save us from that! As for Mitsubishi, back then a book came out about the increasing levels of Japanese product sold in the US, titled "From Those Wonderful People That Brought You Pearl Harbor"! 🙂

Came here for early 2000's christian rock music. Stayed for the wagon

The reason why ww2 vets were still mad at Mitsubishi because they manufactured the planes that bombed Pearl Harbor

It’s true, 78 to 86 G-Body GM 4 doors don’t have roll down rear windows. Don’t 100% know why, it seems like there’s enough room for it to roll into the doors at least partially like most cars but they don’t. Just vent windows like this one

Tge thing is about it is Mitsubishi was owned by Chrysler around that time!

The K car is what saved Chrysler from bankruptcy during the Administration of Lee Iacocca which was CEO from Ford Motor Co as well at that time .

My dad had a reliant sedan I think it was a 86. I remember being 3 years old on the side of the road playing find daddy’s hubcaps which came off quite often.

Mitsubishi made japanese zeros and other plane engines for the war. Theyve been around a long time.. I might understand why old timers were upset

I owned a green sedan my.cheapest car i owned in 1990 $400.00 to be exact smaller engine lasted a year

It was not the WW2 Veterans that was upset. I was the fact it was advertised as a all American car and Chrysler wanted the Government loan and people saw this as less American jobs. It was jobs, jobs & jobs for Americans they wanted.

I am sure, they left Mitsubishi there because it represented reliability and quality since Japanese products were seen as quality well built products back in the day

The pov shots make it look like you're completely laying down.

They were handsome cars I always thought

I've only ever known 2 people that had one of these back then and weirdly both of them ended up on registries where you have to tell the neighbors when you move in 😬not sure what that says about the car but it aint good lol

I couldn't stand the K-car when they came out. Now I strangely want one, preferably in a wagon with a 5 speed.

My grandparents Aries had a back window you could roll down but it only went half way and that was for child proofing

All GM 4 doors A bodies, Celebrity, Lemans, Cutless & Century in the 80's had rear windows that did not row down.

Thats the first time i have ever noticed the Chrysler pentagon & Plymouth logo combined!! 😳😳 I am really surprised that i never noticed that back in the day when these cars were all over North America! Did they combine a Dodge logo/Pentagon or a logo any cars??

Hey Mr Zack I have been watching your car review you tube videos my prayers are with you all the way in Jesus name.Amen too all your friends and family. Your doin an performing excellent inn your progress in viewing these really awesome nice cool an luxury & sporty cars an trust an yeah SUVs. Just keep up the good work my brother.

Cool 🥰

Four lug nut wheels………gave way to five for the size class…..RenautnLe Car around the same time frame……three lug wheels!

my favorite plymouth but my uncle had a aries wagon is was white

Chrysler and mitsubishi had a long relationship long before 1981 they were rebranding mitsubishi back in the 70's like the 1976 to 1980 Plymouth Arrow and the Dodge Colt and the 1978 to 1983 Dodge Challenger all were built by mitsubishi for Chrysler

The 2.6 was in Chrysler cars until 1988…

You would have had to be old enough to remember what things were like in 1981, and the other cars on the road at that time, nothing fancy and most vehicles were bland and generic. GM had the X body platform that was the most recalled vehicle in history beating out the Aspen/Volare that the K car replaced, Ford had Fairmont and Granada and people were still buying cars based on MPG. Money was tight back in those days and land yachts were unaffordable for most people. The young people who whine about a car being underpowered should have driven a Pinto or a Chevette, or worse yet an AMC Pacer.

ls it just a car Or is it so much more? It's a superstar With the gas to the floor

The minivan helped save Chrysler

These were very unremarkable cars, but they saved Chrysler. They sold well because they were inexpensive, practical, relatively reliable, and got good gas mileage.

What was the "engine" light for in the pre ECM era?

My mom had a fairnount orange on black vinyl rusted away n she got a reliant burgundy with velour type seats got rear ended and got a horizon with a ski rack piss yellow with some checkered seats was so slow n ugly I used to ask to be let out a block away from school due to embarrassment

I love how offended Dodge fans were about the Mitsubishi connection. 😂 Dodge was making sht vehicles for 10+ years by this point. Those fans should be happy the brand existed at all.

What’s up, folks? Don’t you mean what’s up, guys?? I feel betrayed

The namesake of the christian rock band of the same name

Hmm wonder why it's struggling..

Plymouth. "Ply mouth".

For people who hated driving.

Worst junks ever. Either they've crushed 30 years ago or are rotting in fields.

The K cars were ugly boxy cars

Apparently headliners were optional back in 1981. 🥸