Is this a joke? I often ask myself this here at The Autopian, since many of my posts are made with tongue firmly in cheek, and yet the final results end up looking like something a lot of you knuckleheads seem to want to buy. What at first seems absurd sometimes becomes a machine that, for whatever reason, works.
I was reminded of this again when our Australian coworker and Project Cactus keeper Lawrence Rodgers presented me with a tweet that revealed homologation papers for what was surely the last car anyone would expect (or want) to take racing; the Chrysler LeBaron. What would a LeBaron actually look like if prepped for competition? How would it be configured? At this point, both he and I saw it as a rather hilarious proposition – but was it really?
Race What You Got
Here’s how this whole thing started. Late one night (well, late on American time) Lawrence uncovered this odd case of K-car-family homologation through a recent tweet by JERACERX:
A quick ten-second search of historic FISA documents reveals that this isn’t a fabrication, and here’s the link to the full document if you want to read it.
I hate to admit it, but I’m not really a big fan of auto racing. I’ll also say that some of the most unlikely types of motorsports are far more entertaining to watch than the top professional series. Honestly, which of the choices below would you rather watch?
1.) A Lemons teams patching together some odd concoction like a Mazda pickup body on a BMW E30 to stay in the game while wearing Wookie costumes.
2.) Some overpaid guys in hundred-million-dollar race teams going around in circles, can’t pass. and you often know who’s going to win right at the start.
I can tell you what I’d rather observe. In the same manner, some of the most unlikely machines to be turned into race cars have proved quite successful and massively amusing to watch.
For example, would you think that an adorable little front wheel drive near-micro car could be a solid challenger on the punishing Monte Carlo rally? You wouldn’t, but the BMC Mini proved to be an ideal racing machine on this fabled course.
We know that some “shooting brakes” and the famous Ferrari “breadvan” were formidable competition cars, but how about a full-on station wagon like your mom would drive? That happened in the British Touring Car Championship series in the eighties and nineties with various Volvo station wagons going up against BMWs and other seemingly more fitting competitors. Hell, the Volvos probably had better weight distribution than the sedan equivalents.
So, while your first reaction to the homologation of a Lee Iacocca-supervised personal luxury coupe might be to chuckle, perhaps we should see what a racing version of the LeBaron coupe might have looked like before we laugh.
Was Mark Cross Related To Christopher Cross?
First of all, there are LeBaron coupes and there are LeBaron coupes. Originally, the name was used on top-level versions of the Imperial, Chrysler’s Cadillac competitor though the early seventies. The more commonly known placement of the badge was on gussied-up versions of Mopar’s lesser cars, starting with the Chrysler-branded edition of the ill-fated Dart replacement: the Dodge Aspen and Plymouth Volare. This rear-drive, Slant Six- or 318 V8-powered LeBaron eventually got elevated to “Chrysler Fifth Avenue” status when Chrysler killed off its “real” full-sized cars.
A better-known example of the LeBaron might be the successor to the Volare-based car that debuted in 1982. These front-drive, K-Car-based coupes, sedans, and convertibles arrived with stuck-on padded vinyl landau roofs, “Mark Cross leather” in the cabin, and semi-realistic-looking dimensional plastic woodgrain on the sides – yes, even on the convertible. The drop-top version is quite possibly the one that gets the most scorn (sorry, Riccardo).
A competition version of this particular LeBaron would indeed be a joke regardless of what I did to it, but the LeBaron in question for FISA certification is actually a totally different ball of wax: the 1987-95 GTC Coupe.
This particular bodystyle actually ranks as one of the nicest-looking Chrysler products of the whole decade. I can’t find a record of it, but I seem to remember when Giorgetto Giugiaro visited Detroit during my time at school there in the late eighties, he specifically called out the GTC as what he considered one of the bright spots in American car design. It’s certainly a far cry from an Aries.
I truly believe that it would have been better received had Chrysler ditched the idea of putting this coupe under the LeBaron sub-brand. They even tried selling it overseas:
Under the rather sublime skin, the GTC did indeed have a K-car derived chassis, but Chrysler installed the rather powerful Turbo II four-cylinder motor and managed to massage the chassis enough that it wasn’t the handling embarrassment you’d expect. I remember driving a rental convertible in period and was rather impressed until I hit a railroad track and the steering wheel’s vertical bouncing movement indicated that maybe I would have been better off in the version with the steel roof still in place.
Overall, it’s a better pick than most Iacocca-era Mopars, but a race car? That sounds like a stretch, but there are plenty of other unlikely cars out there that turned their wheels in anger. If I told you they were going to make competition machines out of the decent-but-dull Lancia Delta hatchback, the somewhat disappointing Mini successor Austin Metro, or even the dime-a-dozen Renault 5/ Le Car what would you say?
You’d probably laugh. You certainly wouldn’t think that these creations would a good basis for rally legends like the Delta Integrale, the MG Metro, or the R5 Turbo, but here we are worshiping these fearsome beasts:
Before we write off that LeBaron racer, let’s see how we can make one ready to challenge the best the world has to offer on the most difficult stages of world rallies.
Le White Baron Rally Attack
I’m unsure how many changes FISA allows you to legally make on a production car and still have it acceptable to race as a homologation special. I do know that there’s a minimum number of units you’d have to make, and I am sure that Chrysler could easily spit out a few hundred or whatever is needed of LeBaron GTC-WRC editions for the public to buy.
How much would we actually change? That’s a good question, but I can see about three different ways to go.
Front Drive: Here we’d just tune the shit out of the 2.2 (or 2.5 liter) K-Car turbo four, maybe even adding twin cam heads as was done for certain versions of the Chrysler Maserati TC. I’ve heard of people getting well over 300 horsepower out of these mills, and outside of the realm of street-legal use, God only knows how much we could squeeze from the poor Aries-based motor that likely started life as an 84-horsepower weakling.
All Wheel Drive: Let’s say that somehow Audi’s famously cantankerous Ferdinand Piech was publicly quoted as saying “Plymouth Reliant? Zis ess more like ‘unreliant’ wagen, jah?” Well, Lee Iacocca reads this and now his blood is boiling. Taking a lesson from an earlier boss that fired him (Henry Ford II), he decides the best way to get back at your automotive enemies is on the racecourse. Lido instructs his engineers to whip up a LeBaron that spins all four wheels to be a total bone in the throat of that Quattro.
Now, Chrysler eventually put an all-wheel-drive system into the also-K-based minivans, but I don’t know if it would handle the power of our racing LeBaron. Not only that, but we’d need to add rear independent suspension to be competitive – much more work, but not impossible with an unlimited budget.
Two Motors: Maybe things got worse for AMC-owning Chrysler, and Piech decided to get his buddies on the German government to put like 200 percent tariffs on Jeeps that Lee imports into the country. Now Iacocca is gonna open the total can of whoop ass on Dr. Porsche’s grandson like Hank Ford did with the GT40 on Enzo Ferrari. Front and rear drive? How about front and rear motors, asshole?
Oh, yeah! Maybe we don’t put turbos on the K-Car motors at all, but we add a motor front AND back to make a V8-powered monster machine. Getting a gear shift linkage to work reliably here on both transmissions simultaneously would be a major challenge. This monster would likely only work as one of the “killer” Group B cars in the class that disappeared after literally too many spectators died.
Visually, the LeBaron rally car will get the typical modifications of the era. Fenders are flared to accommodate the big tires, lower body trim pieces and mudflaps are added, and a giant rear wing housing cooling for either the rear differential or motor would be installed on the trunk lid. Chrome is blacked out, and the retractable covers for the headlights are gone; somehow the LeBaron is one of those cars that looks as good if not better with the lights exposed.
In back, we use the European LeBaron taillights with amber indicators, a central license plate, and place the rear fog light in one of the backup light slots.
Unless you resort to pure brand snobbery, there’s no way you can look at this thing and not say that it makes a pretty damn nice-looking race car, especially compared to something like the ultra-boxy Audi Quattro.
A detuned homologation version of the LeBaron GTC-WRC for the street would be, well, I have no idea what it would be, but I’d like to see it.
We’re Gonna Do What They Say Can’t Be Done
Now the questions looms once again: Why would we – or those who instigated those FISA papers – do this in the first place? Audi sings the praises of the Quattro system’s rally wins on all of their cars to this day, and Lancia traded on racing cred for years. What the hell would a world rally victory mean to Americans interested in buying a personal luxury car?
My guess is that it would have meant nothing, but what about to enthusiast buyers? Could this have been a major image improvement machine for Iacocca’s brands? Maybe it would have proven that the K-Car wasn’t worthy of being the punchline of jokes or song lyrics?
I’m really not sure, but this is The Autopian. Just because something doesn’t make sense doesn’t mean that we won’t do it, right?
‘Are You Telling Me You Built A WRC Rally Car … Out Of A Chevette?’ – The Autopian
Does The New Dodge Charger Mean That A Revived Chrysler Cordoba Won’t Be Far Behind? – The Autopian
I’d forgotten how fetching the coupe version of the LeBaron looked – thanks Bishop for reminding me!
That rear glass must have been one of the larger ones at the time, perhaps right after the Camaro/Firebird’s (which I believe was the largest?)
For those who weren’t around back then, it may shock you to know these cars were everywhere in the late ’80s – people couldn’t get enough of them. And this car is largely why the successor Sebring is so reviled; we couldn’t believe it was how Chrysler replaced the final LeBaron.
Holy fucking shit. Bishop. You’ve designed the ONLY K-CAR that I’ve ever looked at and went ‘I like it.’
EVER.
I did driver’s ed in a K-car. My best friend in high school had a K-car. I hated them. I’ve always hated them. If given a choice I’d rather ride a pogo stick after eating Taco Bell than drive a K-Car.
BUT I LIKE THIS.
What the hell.
I like it. I wish they Chrysler had made something to race but they were still digging themselves out of debt back then.
That one Seinfeld episode would have been very different if John Voight owned a LeBaron WRC.
I like this a lot more than I should
I always appreciate a reference to Cake (the band).
I’d change my name to drive this.
Ok, that render is fuckin sweet.
“Maybe we don’t put turbos on the K-Car motors at all, but we add a motor front AND back to make a V8-powered monster machine”
Sorry friend, 2 x I4 =/= V8
Otherwise I like it. I might even go so far as to say it looks even better than the Audi.
Just slant the 4 cylinder engines in opposite directions…
Yes! My mistake- typing fast and either wanted to say “eight cylinder powered” or “as much power as V8” but you got this mess.
That makes it a “\ ____/”, not a V
/s
Bingo.
If you’re correct in your speculation that there could’ve been both FWD and AWD LeBaron rally cars, that would mean that there were two coupes for racin’ in the package of Chrysler’s racin’ plans.
Took me awhile, too smart for this crew????
Or too old a reference.
You went Group B on a Group A homologated car. You know what else was Group A? The E30 M3, 190E Cosworths, Sierra Cosworth, Escort Cosworth, and several others along with the 1989 Dodge Shelby Daytona Z
And the Plymouth Sundance
The Sundance would’ve made more sense, since it was smaller and lighter than the LeBaron. Even moreso if twin-engined since it was a hatchback (even though it didn’t look like one) and was made as a 4-door, both of which would greatly ease access to the aft engine.
I’ve seen a Sundance in Group A mockup guise via 3D models and it’s made me want to make it a real car ever since. There’s something genuine behind laughing at how stupid it is. The big bar counter spoiler in the back and snowplow front bumper are just screaming to be let loose.
Chrysler later made a joke car real (and made it a rather vicious joke) with the Dodge Stratus Super Touring car in 1995. I’ve wanted to make on of those, too.
The Stratus Super Touring car was AWD after all. https://historicdb.fia.com/car/chrysler-dodgechrysler-stratus-ja
So B it.
As I mentioned, we’d likely have to make a limited run homologation street WRC version of the car to be able to race it like this, and I’m quite interested in seeing what that would look like
This is going to occupy the exact same space in my brain as the racing version of the vaguely GM A-Body based Bruckell LeGran from BeamNG.drive:
(picture)
Hold on, now I need to check if someone has taken a Ciera racing.
I know there was a team that raced the Olds Achieve SCX which won a championship three times.
Neat! Always had a soft spot for those N-bodies too – will never forgive myself for not picking up an absolutely mint Grand Am (yes, that’s an oxymoron) that I saw for sale a few years back. Saw it again not even 6 months later – this time at a BHPH lot, with a salvage title… heartbreaking.
Speaking of the N platform, it also bears mentioning that the Achieva’s predecessor, the Calais, was the 1985 Indy Pace Car (the Ciera was a Festival car that same year).
On a similar wavelength, my first thought was “well, now I think I’ll take a Soliad Wendover rallying!”
The racing LeGran has me imagining a universe in which Dodge did Spirit R/Ts up for NATCC years before the success of the Stratus.
As someone with a major soft spot for this model of LeBaron, I can say that white GTC coupe is a bucket list car for me. It is definitely one of the best-looking cars of the decade. My father’s red ’88 2.5L coupe was the first car I ever drove, around the parking lot of an abandoned mall in WNY when I was 14.
I will be forever salty about the fact that Chrysler offered this car with the 224-hp DOHC Turbo III engine from the Spirit R/T – but only in Mexico as the Chrysler Phantom! Why, Lee, why?!?
Having owned and raced an MG Metro 1300, which is very close to being just a rebadged Austin Metro, I feel an obligation to emphasize that there’s not a lot in common between these and the MG Metro 6R4 of Group B fame shown above.
All of those cars shown were very, very heavily modified; this LeBaron would need to be as well.
The homologation papers are only for Group A, so modifications are really limited.
LeBaron WRC Message Board: Carroll Shelby has entered the chat…
That rally spec is cool enough to nearly inspire me to go find one to build. Good on ya!
Wasn’t this when Chrysler and Mitsubishi were working together or whatever that DSM thing was?
They should have had easy access to an AWD system capable of taking some power. I’m not sure how helpful Mitsubishi would be if they ended up in the same rally class.
It was just as the Starion was winding down and before the Galant VR4 came into being, so who knows?
I love the Starion / Chrysler Conquest, but not enough to restore one. IMHO, it’s one of the most 80’s cars ever made.
My family owned 3 over the years, I grew up in the back of a Conquest, learned to drive in one, my first car was one, and then another one was my 3rd car. I really really love the Starion/Conquest but have never bothered to buy one of the few I’ve seen come up for sale from time to time. When they were running you simply couldn’t have a better time on 4 wheels but you could never count on them to get you to work every day, and these days it’s even worse with parts availability. Still, simply a beautiful car.
The VR4 would have been the answer, that was released in ’87, this paperwork is from ’89.
The Starion/Conquest ran until ’89 which is the same year the first DSMs hit the streets. Encountering a 4G63 Lebaron at a stoplight would be a bit unexpected.
Diamond Star Motors was around, the LeBaron wasn’t part of it, but Chrysler and Mitsubishi had been allies since the ’70s
Let us not overlook that the homologation was valid as of April Fool’s day.
Not an April Fool’s joke: FIA’s database shows an effective date on 2 April 1989 for the LeBaron. https://historicdb.fia.com/cars/list?search=chrysler&page=3
I know it’s actually in the database, but my guess is that this was some sort of inside joke at Chrysler.
Chrysler had an actual presence in rally with the Avenger back in the 1970’s, and then F1 with Lamborghini, along with racing in Australia with the Chargers, along with many other series and cars around the world.
Thanks for getting the Cake song in my head, Now to go watch my favorite episode of Chuck again.
I’m just gonna say it. It looks better in Rally spec than the Audi Quattro.