The Humble K-Car That Saved Chrysler. I Owned Two Of Them. 1985 Dodge Aires Wagon, 1982 Plymouth Reliant Sedan

February 14, 2020

#357

Gentle reader,

Since I found out I could stream YouTube on the big screen, I watch it a lot. This morning, there was a Retro Review from Motorweek about a car I was given and would still have today had I been able to figure out why it wouldn't pass the emissions test. 

(7) MotorWeek | Retro Review: '85 Chrysler K Wagon - YouTube  

Here is how the car came to be ours. My wife had retired friends who were our parent's age, they were animal rescuers and just the nicest, most giving people ever. We miss them.

I would stop by sometimes on the way home from work and one day, the car above was sitting in their driveway. 

Having owned an earlier model, (1982 Plymouth Reliant sedan, top image above) and had been a Chrysler/Plymouth dealer mechanic, I inquired about it. Jim told me that it was a neighbor's car, they could not fix it and he was going to donate it. Instead, he donated it to me.

1985 Dodge Aries Dealer Brochure.

Three images above are from an article I wrote about all of the cars I have owned since 1973. I collected dealer brochures for almost all of them.

A Journey through time, via Automobile Sales Brochures 

Whatever problem those people had with it, it never came up again. The car did have a problem or two, nothing I couldn't handle, though.

I started working at the aforementioned dealer in 1981. There soon came a recession and people were not bringing their cars in for work. Which is how I ended up going to work on subway train cars instead. Best employment choice I could ever made.

This car had the optional 14 inch aluminum wheels mentioned in the Motorweek review.

For only the second time in my life, I had a car repainted. Maaco did a great job.

Both cars I had were equipped with Chrysler's venerable 2.2 liter four cylinder engine, not the Mitsubishi "Hemi" 2.6 in the Motorweek video.

I found a chrome plated cam cover for it and liked the way it brightened up the engine.

One of the things I loved about the car was it's red interior. I always wanted a car with a red interior.

Bucket seats, console, floor shifter, and "wood" dashboard definitely "loaded" above the standard car. 

I created an armrest/cup holder for it. It looks like crap but did the job. Cup holders were unheard of in 1985.

Had it the manual transmission, it would have been perfect. But, unlike the transmission in the Reliant, this one never failed.

The flash "burned" out the red of the armrest I made in this photo. No cup holders, but the ashtray was standard.

I liked the simple yet elegant design of the dash and wheel. Cruise control, was optional as were many things the car had.

I upgraded the stereo to a much later model so I could play cassettes.

While it had A/C, it used R-22 refrigerant which was outlawed by the time we had the car, which was in 2005.

My daughter asked if the A/C worked, "Yes, like this." my wife said as she rolled down the window.

See? I even made sure my console had cup holders for the kids in roomy backseat. Even the seat belts were red.

In the video on Motorweek, they said that the inside was so roomy that one could go into the moving business.

If you want a red interior today, forget about it. Cars have become so boring looking inside with black or gray. Plus, so many look just like their competition.

In fact, a car magazine was doing a test of all of certain type of cars, all brands. They stopped for the night and all of them were lined up outside the hotel. The clerk saw them and asked, "What kind of car are those?" "They are all different!" "They all look the same to me."

As you know, I am a wagon guy. I drive a 2005 Volvo V50 T5 M66. I bought it used, specifically because it has the ultra-rare six speed manual transmission and turbocharged five cylinder engine.

I had no choice of color, it is gray inside and out. Lighter gray inside than most cars have, and many shades to make it attractive. Not fifty shade of gray, though.

Six, count 'em, six speeds, one must shift themselves. I'd have it no other way.

Three pedals as God intended.

Subtle dual exhausts which almost every car has nowadays. But unless one had the T5, they were not there.

You may be thinking, "That car is fifteen years old, why don't you get a newer one?" One cannot get a Volvo with a manual transmission in North America. That's why.

Even this 2020 V60 Polestar, their performance model, has an automatic transmission in North America.

My Volvo is my forever car. Like I said in the beginning, had I been able to figure out why it wouldn't pass emissions, I would still have Gigi. That's the name the kids gave the Aries. For Grocery Getter. But I couldn't figure it out. She was twenty years old when I sold her.

Seeing that Motorweek video inspired me to write this article. I greatly appreciate your taking the time to read it. Your kind words and comments are what keep me writing.

Scott
February 14, 2020
#357