Collectors don’t give them much notice, but the 1981 Chrysler K-cars are among the most historically significant cars ever produced by the Motor City.
It’s no stretch at all to say that when the K-cars arrived in 1981, they saved the Chrysler Corporation. And while the carmaker’s flamboyant CEO Lee Iacocca is often described as the father of the K-car, in fact the vehicle was already in development when he arrived there in 1978. Instead, it might be more accurate to describe Iacocca as the champion of the K-car platform, along with his longtime associate Hal Sperlich, who had preceded Iaoccoa in moving from Ford to Chrysler one year earlier. They shrewdly saw the power of the K-car concept for the company, while Iacocca brought his considerable marketing talents to bear in selling the vehicle to the American public.
When they arrived at Chrysler, Sperlich and Iacocca found a company very close to bankruptcy. In Iacocca’s view, the product portfolio was a tangle of obsolete models with little parts interchangeability or profit potential. With the K-car, which was itself derived from the L-body Omni/Horizon, a front-drive subcompact, parts inventories were reduced and manufacturing was simplified. And better yet, the K platform proved to be remarkably elastic, spawning an endless variety of variants, including the groundbreaking minivans and even a petite stretch limousine.
There were three clean and simple body styles, all rolling on a 99-inch wheelbase: coupe, sedan, and wagon. The standard 2.2-liter four provided more than adequate power, and efficient interior packaging allowed room for six passengers (though four was more realistic.) Except for the grille, badging, and trim, the Plymouth Reliant K and Dodge Aries K versions were identical, and even their owners often referred to them generically as K-cars. In their 1992 song “If I had $1,000,000,” the Canadian pop group Bare Naked Ladies sang, “I’d buy you a K-car, a nice reliant automobile.” Somehow, despite its unglamorous aesthetic, the K-car had become a touchstone in pop culture.
The K-car’s popularity with the American public was due in no small part to Iacocca’s powerful sales pitch. In a series of memorable commercials, he gazed straight into the camera and growled, “If you can find a better car, buy it.” Chrysler even managed to make buying a K-car a patriotic mission with the import-baiting slogan, “America’s not going to be pushed around anymore.”
Was the K-car a great car? That’s tough to say. Owner reports are mixed, and in those days, quality was highly variable among all the manufacturers. We can say this: It was the right car for economically challenging times, and it was definitely the right car for Chrysler. Between 1981 and 1987, it consistently sold more than 300,000 units annually, restored the company to profitability, and helped to make Iacocca a household name.
My family went through a whole string of K cars, running them well into the 20th century. They were nothing fancy but they worked.
Having come to a Chrysler dealership as a mechanic in 1984 and staying on for 20 years I saw the lows and highs of the K car platforms. The 1981thru 1983 cars were very “tinny” sounding when closing doors and the drivability of the carbureted 2.2 was mixed, 1984 saw fuel injection (better than the carburetor) and some more refinements to the cars. 1986 brought a big change in the fuel injection setup that carried us through till the end of 2.2/2.5 production in 1995 and from 1986 till the end of K car production in 1989 these cars just got better and better and it was a great little car.
Were they the best you could get, better that some had to offer and maybe not as good as others but with some simple maintenance, and maybe a head gasket or two, they were a sound piece of transportation and would get you where you needed to go.
You almost match my timeframe. I entered a Dodge dealership in 1982 and made myself an ASE Master by 1984. It was a great time. Tech moved quickly. Carbs, single point EFI, Multipoint EFI, turbos, Turbo intercoolers, 2.5L, K-cars to C-bodies. Fun times
Omni/Horizons kept the carbs through ’87 so it’s interesting the basic K’s had it so much sooner. I remember because my mom had a carbed ’86 Horizon I learned to drive on. It would run on for upwards of a full minute after you shut it off.
When Regular Car Reviews got hold of a post-facelift EFI K wagon a couple years ago their biggest mechanical qualm was the transmission (“How much power does the torque converter eat? Let’s just say it comes back for seconds.”)
I took Iacocca’s advice and in 1982 I bought a 1978 Honda Accord hatchback with a HondaMatic transmission. I owned a VW Jetta (1985); a Izusu pickup (1989); 2 Honda Civics (1996 & 2005); a Honda CR-V 2001; a Honda Pilot (2009); a Subaru Forester (2015); and now a Toyota Sienna (2021) Thanks to Lee’s advice and my own research, I never owned a Chrysler product and never will.
I missed a part where you didn’t buy new.. so maybe you did take the pitch and bought used based off the challenge either way it is douchebag comment. And thank God for those cars so more Americans could keep their jobs.
I wish that they could bring it back out, I used to own a Plymouth reliant and I loved it. If anyone could bring out the Dodge Dart, then please think twice about this little guy. Everyone is looking for a reliable car/wagon also a affordable price. They probably fly out of the parking lot of car dealers.
They were a thoroughly updated Dodge Dart/Plymouth Valiant. Not too big, not too small, 6 passenger vehicle, easy to work on, cheap to repair but just not fancy. AND, they saved Chrysler from extinction.
You didn’t catch the double meaning of “America’s not going to be pushed around anymore”? Because it’s a front wheel drive car, so its’ owners were pulled around.
Looked at one of those back in the day, wasn’t impressed. Boxy with no styling, clunky driving, just couldn’t pull the trigger no matter how many good reviews they got. I did however purchase a couple of their offspring—the Plymouth Voyager mini van. First one was 4 cylinder Mitsubishi powered, impressive, but slow. Second was V6 Chrysler power, perfect amount of power to vehicle size and good fuel mileage. We kept ours for several years, but a friend bought a new one and kept it 24 years she loved it so much!
The 2.5L 4-cyl Turbo engine was an awesome engine in the minivan. It would easily roast the front tires and still got good mileage. Super easy to maintain and it was a non-interference engine so if someone went to long and the timing belt failed, you didn’t destroy the pistons or valves. Not to be confused with the 2.5L V6 that would grenade all if the belt broke.
I forget why, but I had to drive one of the year-1 cars that had a 4-speed manual, because nobody else there knew how. Wow, worse shift linkage ever, like stirring a pot of thick glue, and the carbed engine would diesel like mad after shutdown, but popping the clutch would take care of that.
Pretty sure the take rate for the 4-speed was an imaginary number and it went away pretty quickly, though I think the minivans had a manual as standard for the first couple years, I would hope with better linkage.
My first job out of college in the late 1980’s provided me a company vehicle. On the plus side, I had no vehicle related expenses; on the negative side, it was a K car. Not exactly an esteem booster for a single guy in his early 20’s.
It did allow me to do the ‘practical thing’ and purchase a 1969 Corvette since I was free from the expense of a daily driver, a vehicle which I still own today, so I have a soft spot for these little econoboxes. I always wonder why you simply never see them, anywhere, given the quantifies in which they were produced.