The Chrysler K-cars were basic, practical transportation, but for buyers who wanted a little more there was a K-car worthy of Ricardo Montalban.

Launched in the autumn of 1980, The 1981 K-cars saved the Chrysler Corporation, it’s totally fair to say. More than 300,000 Plymouth Reliant K and Dodge Aries K cars were sold the first year, reversing a dangerous trend in which none of the automaker’s products were selling to any degree. With the success of the K-car, it was a given that the Chrysler division would have its own version, too. Appropriately trimmed and equipped to suit the corporation’s premium brand, it was introduced in August of 1981 as the 1982 Chrysler LeBaron.

For its transformation into the LeBaron, the humble K-car received new front and rear end treatments with a more formal theme, including a classic Iacocca grille and rectangular quad headlamps up front. A vinyl top covering was standard, while the interiors featured deep pile carpeting and upgraded fabrics (nylon velvet standard, leather optional). AM radio, power windows and locks, a clock, and power steering and brakes were all standard, in contrast to the starkly equipped Aries and Reliant in base trim.

Of course, the mechanical hardware was all K-Car: unibody construction, front-wheel drive with MacPherson strut suspension at the front and a torsion beam at the rear. The standard 2.2 liter overhead-cam four offered 84 hp, while the optional Mitsubishi-built 2.6-liter four boasted 92 hp and twin balance shafts. Both were usually coupled to a Chrysler three-speed automatic transaxle. While a manual transmission was available in the K-cars, in the LeBaron it’s rare.

For the ’82 rollout, three body styles were offered: a formal coupe and a four-door sedan in two trim levels, base and Medallion, and a station wagon. The wagon was badged as a Town and Country, Chrysler’s historical designation for a woody, receiving a generous application of simulated woodgrain trim. Then in January of 1982 a convertible was launched—the first ragtop from the Motor City since the 1976 Cadillac Eldorado. In the following year the convertible got the Town and Country woodgrain treatment, too.

While the Reliant K and Aries K were identically priced at $5,990 for the coupe and $6,130 for the sedan in base form, the LeBaron’s added features placed it in another class. Here prices started at $8,143, then jumped to $9,425 for the Town and Country wagon and $11,698 for the convertible. A special Mark Cross edition of the convertible with an over-the-top leather cockpit listed at $13,998—well more than twice the price of a Dodge or Plymouth K-car.

Despite its unpretentious K-car origins, Chrysler CEO Lee Iacocca wasn’t shy about pitching the LeBaron as a premium, luxury car. In national TV spots he declared, “I challenge you to compare them to anything that comes out of Germany or Japan.” (See and hear his delivery here.) While some may scoff at even the notion of a deluxe K-car, it was a hit. More than 90,000 were sold in ’82, doubling the volume of the previous Aspen/Volare-based LeBaron. Chrysler division would soon follow with more K-derived premium models, including the E-Class, the New Yorker, and even an Executive stretch limousine.