imn glad that there are people out there actually trying to preserve these cars. I dried saving a Plymouth Sundance, lost that fight as a dirt poor college student.
I learned to drive on an Aries! When I was a driving-age teen both my friend and my parents had K-Cars which we drove to high school. He once said to me, "Driving this car will kill any teenage libido that you have." I nodded in agreement and thought it for the best, as having this car achieved the opposite effect on in the dating dept. Still this video brought back fond memories, just none that could have taken place in the back seat, sadly.
my first car I got myself as an adult in 1992 was a 1984 Chrysler Town and Country wagon. Then I got a 1984 Dodge Aries wagon then a 1984 Plymouth Reliant wagon. I started by business in them. I loved the stately looks on a budget. I got each one for a song and dance because I had no money, I was renting a room, and this was all I good afford and I was happy. I was proud of it. To be 24 again. Remember guys, life will never be as good as it is when you are young and starting out.
In the early 80s, Lee Iacocca demanded high quality and even starred in commercials saying there cars are just as good as Honda & Toyota. He also said "If you can find a better car, buy it"
And people did just that. That's when Civic, Corolla, Sentra etc really took off and became objects of desire of young,thrifty and mod crazy backyard mechanics.
@@karoltakisobie6638 I always thought the emphasis should've been "if you can *find* a better car, buy it!" that being the era of "voluntary" import quotas.
@@weegeemike yeah my uncle was CFO of chrysler durring the merger with benz and chrysler was making a huge profit ratio over mercedes it was sad like $120:1 and mercedes thought they were richer and better in everyway. this was even when chrysler was circling the drain. mercedes is always hemmoraging money typical european socialist bullshit!
We had three of these in the driveway, and my uncle had one next door. I bought an 87 daytona in 95. These cars were very reliable. They developed an engine knock after a while. That old daytona got me back and forth to college for 4 years, commuting 40 km every day. I sold it after I graduated, and it ran for another 4 years.
I like those gauges. Clean, simple, and functional. The woodgrain print isn't even bad. For sitting for so long, this car looks pretty decent. The floors aren't as rusty as you'd expect from a Midwestern car. The engine is so simple that this probably fired right up with some fresh fluids. It's nice to see these once-disposable cars still on the road with loving owners. It is impressive how this shared the road with the Taurus wagon. The Taurus came out only a few years later but looked like it was 10 years ahead.
Kudos to Carl for rescuing that Chrysler Aries from a field and putting it back on the road and keeping it running the K car across the board, no matter which model it is is getting more rare because it’s going extinct because so many people don’t care for them. It’s refreshing to find someone that does because they are unique in the fact that that is the soul vehicle that kept Chrysler afloat and saved the company from bankruptcy and that’s why we have Chrysler today so be it it’s morphed into a glorified Fait but if Chrysler would’ve went under show would dodge and we wouldn’t have any of the 5.7 V8 chargers and challengers and hellcat and the demon. They will be nothing there if it wasn’t for the humble K car that saved not just Chrysler, but dodge as well and that is what makes the K car special thanks to Lee Iacocca and his K car
,I''m late to the party here, but I hate how people fail to mention just how much Daimler held back and robbed Chrysler. They put them in the position to not have money (got jacked by Daimler) and need the bailout. If people forget, GM needed bailed out, Ford almost did - they even put up their logo as collateral for their loans. Chrysler had the money to be fine before Daimler. Daimler gave parts here and there, but even made the Crossfire on the old platform to prevent them from competing with the new mercedes version coming out. Daimler almost came close to canceling the pentastar engine as they were going to use a modified version and knew the merger was going to be dissolved soon. Imagine getting what is the biggest engine change that was put in almost everything - deleted. The pentastar did have some recalls, if I remember it was piston 6 that was out of spec mostly from the mexican plant. I am surrounded by pentastar engine powered cars in the family. Not one had a failure. Well, actually one did. It wasn't the engine it was the operator. They had a coolant leak and didn't fix it. They still drove after seeing the white smoke and temp needle screaming for help. Thus, head gasket failure. At the rate of fixing versus dropping in a new one - it was just easy for the indepedent mechanic to pull and replace. The vehicles actually treated with dignity have had no more issues than any of my friends other makes and models. I almost feel though, Fiat wanted to do the Dart last minute and fail as Obama said the Fiat 500 doesn't count for the mpg car promised as part of the government loan. Had it been reliable, or not brought in the market as manual only for while - it could have been great. Hyundai provided the 6 speed auto, and guess what - every single automatic made was recalled due to a linkage issue that could cause the vehicles to roll away. Sometimes you don't go to competitors for a vital part. The 2nd gen 200 was also lovely, but people were not prepared for dog clutches in the zf 9 speed. The whole ordeal about the rear entry was also probably done to kill the car. My y gess was it made more room for the platform money printer - the jeep cherokee.
I have the exact same car, colour and all, but with the 2.5l and the Plymouth Reliant badges. The most reliable and easy to work on vehicule I ever owned
The last time I saw an Aries was in the early '90's when I was in the Army National Guard. K-cars were often used by the armed forces for staff cars, and the ones the various Army departments used were a just-this-side-of-lime light green. Not quite lime-intense. In my initial physical when I joined, I saw base MP's using actually cool looking light blue two-doors with bubble lights on top. I decided then that I really wouldn't mind owning one, but having driven one of the staff cars later on, they really rode and drove like a thinly-padded tin can. Very sparse and minimal feeling structurally. Did anyone notice the manual shifter hump in the front floorboard there? 5-speed with turbo...that was my goal, but never found one.
This car is a diamond in the rough. Finding new carpet and left blinker lens are the first priorities, but those floors really are solid and I'm amazed the DODGE trim over the license plate is intact - usually those were the FIRST things to go on K wagons and early minivans that used the same part that was Not A Handle but looked just like one, not solidly made and attached to function as one but inviting use as one until they broke.
Fortunately I do have the carpeting AND new headlight trim with the turn signal lenses for it. Working on it is just super low on the priority list right now.
FOLKS! Seeing the video title I thought you were talking about me and my obsession with these darn cars hahaha. But yes, I do have the carpet for it as well as the lower trim panels that hold it in. No, there was no center console when this car was built... it's a el cheapo fleet special so buckets and open space is what you got. I think I might have some old videos about the thing when I first got it but after swapping the wheels and tires, putting on a new timing belt, and resealing the valve cover I haven't done anything with it besides store it for a while because my plan for it is to install a 3.0L V6 with some Diamante parts for a substantial boost over the 2.2L TBI engine and replacing the fender that got socked by a deer before my ownership. It's just been on the backburner for a while because I kind of like my blue 81 Reliant wagon quite a bit more!
Zack, excellent review as always. I was glad you've reviewed this car in this condition. I recall seeing a lot of K cars on the roads in early to mid 90s. They were certainly not the prettiest but rather universal being a station wagon. Odd time I see one restored and I can't resist to turn head. Cheers!
The original K cars were not available with a V-6. They come with the 2.2, 2.5 and the 2.6 Mitsubishi motor. And they did have a bench seat in these Aries as well usually in the base car and buckets were optional.
I currently own an 87 aries sedan I love it and everyone thinks it's odd so it's perfect. It's been down for a couple years and im trying to make it road worthy again. It's nice to see people talking about it!
My dad…(RIP!)…..had a 87 Aries Sedan……a rental return before the stereotypical stories about rental lease returns being beaten on. It may have been a rental return but in decent shape. Dad had it for about ten years before the plan got punctured. My last tint was late 1996…..hey watch the…”Driving to Maine” comments…..that’s my home state!
I love these Chrysler K cars. I really do. I think they're pretty cool. I wouldn't mind owning one for myself. I'd want a light blue '87 Aries 4 door sedan.
this video makes me exited for the day you review my wagon. :) I'm the one with the 86 Buick century love your videos, and good for you for so much growth! getting over 100k is definitely an achievement.
An excellent simile comparing Chrysler to an attics behavior. The sad thing is I don't think it's exclusively Chrysler that has this problem I think it's all three of the former Big Three, just some have been more successful at barely squeezing out than others. The problem for whatever reason is the companies have leadership that lack discipline and lack vision And will not remain consistent. They find a cash cow then they ride high on the cash cow and try to shut down everything except for the cash cow, then the market changes and the cash cow becomes an old dog and instead of holding on to the products that are not as profitable that can save them during the hard times, they focus on the short-term and almost die in the long term. They also had a problem with refusing to use their good engines like the 3.3, 3.5, and AMC straight 6 and anything other than they absolutely had to, then with their bad engines like the 2.7 and their mediocre engines like the powertech family using them in practically everything. In the same thing applies with the Ultra Drive transmission. They should have gave up on it excepted the loss, and purchased a proper unit that was not going to let their customers down or at least build a four speed off of the torqueflite family.
Those huge scripted warning lights! 🤣🤣😳😳 The RIGHT & LEFT as well as arrows! Were the people buying these new expected to be partially sighted,or just stupid?!
If you are addicted to wagons, this K car, and the Taurus wagon will suffice, BTW, The aries easily buries the speedometer on the interstate, 100Mph is easy
That thing is just BARELY street legal if at all lol, all the people I knew who had one of these ended up on a registry where you gotta notify the neighbors when you move in
@@capcom7794 It's true the KCar was a successful failure. Without it there would be no minivan, in those days Chrysler Corporation couldn't re tool to build a minivan from scratch. So they took a K car chassis and built up. The 1984 Plymouth Voyager and Dodge Caravan were born. The 1st minivans were underpowered they only had 2 engine choices the 2.2 liter KCar engine or a 2.6 liter Mitsubishi engine. Chrysler didn't come out with a 6cyl until the 1989 model year it was taken from the Dodge Dynasty and Chrysler New Yorker also a Mitsubishi 6 cylinder engine....
