Story of a legand in our family (1986 Reliant SE)

[88 aries]

October 11 of 1995, I was only 4 years old, we had a 1985 buick Reviara that my dad wanted to trade and so in trade we got a black 1986 Plymouth reliant SE with red interior, 189,000 miles and a 2.2 Litre engine, the seats were ripped and it had deer damage, my dad fixed it all it looked really good for only being 9 years old, i loved the car at first sight i sat almost for 3 hours playing in it. Later on we had the seats and i think the headliner redone, i remember one trip the power loss light came on and we drove it home, we were up in north that time and i was upsessed with the key in the ignition,i had a love for keys back then, and we made keys for it all the time i loved the colored ones, which i still have, Then about 4 weeks later the headgasket went, easy fix. I loved to sit on my dads lap and steer the k-car down the road. 3 years later and about 210,000 miles, my mom, grandma and i went to Kansas, 65-75 miles per hour the little 2.2 hummed right along my grandma was scared it would fall apart. It didnt, then on the way to the hospital, i needed my tonsels taken out, the car would over charge i dont remember what we had to replace, still it got us there. Then in 2000 the cradle went we thought about junking it, but it was just to good of a car. at this time the car was Getting rusty and it didnt look its best, but it still drove good and the A/C still worked we replaced the control lever with a silver one from a dodge 600 and the wood grain from a newyorker, he still says it came that way with the chrome but he doesnt remember what he did. That year i remember so well because i kicked some rust off the half gone rocker panel, i still have that piece in my current reliants glove box. 2002 the headgasket went again, again easy fix i was just starting to learn about the 2.2 i didnt even know that a chrysler 2.5 existed at the time. 2003 while washing it both rear quarter panels colpased becuase of extensive rust . So we made new panels for both sides when we were done it looked just like a base model in the back . by this time the clock had 350,000 miles and it still ran great. Here comes the sad times, we had the car up on jack stands all day while fixing the almost no floors and a new exaust system, after that we took it for a ride ran great, And just as we were going out to eat we heard this big boom we thought a spring had broke so we still drove. the next day we inspected it we openned up the trunk and the rear spring had gone up through, it sat all winter while my (not show car in 2004-2005) 88 aries saw its first winter. then April came and one day we took a picture of it next to my aries, then the next day we took her to the Junkyard the 2.2 had 375,689 miles. Very sad day for me and my dad, and what will really make you guys cry is that, i paid my last respects, in the crushing yard there she was, a broken window and a smashed door, i started her up for the last time. RIP 1986-2005

IT stands as a legend in our k-car family, all that remains is the one piece of rust the keys, badges and one hubcap

LONG LIVE THE K-car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[89ARIES]

Beautiful story. You know, there is only one 1981 K car left in most of the San Fernando Valley where I live. It is a four door Aries used as a pizza delivery car. Has body damage. Transmission failed in the reverse. I saw it start up and drive yesterday. By pure chance, I have met the driver only twice while driving near the school, waved hands, and I recruited his car and made him $600 to enter his 81 K car into the TV show Cold Case. They wanted 12 81 K cars but they are practically non existent here. I managed to come up with an 81, two 82s, and the rest were 84-88. They decided to fool the audience by accepting all 80s K cars unconditionally into the shoot. The 86 LeBaron had 5,000 miles and was completely unaged in 22 years. It made a final shoot by being put in the showcase display room in the dealership back in 1981. I am really excited because this was the first time Warner Brothers found out about our club and realized we are now the ultimate source of K cars. I was able to provide the studio with more than enough cars and they will use computer technology to recreate a 1981 car dealership with hundreds of K cars for sale. We also had about 60 real 25-40 year old cars rented for the site. I will keep you guys posted about when the air date for this TV episode with our club cars will be. Check out the photo link on the main webpage and look for "Cold Case" and you will see the rarest K cars left in existence. They include a rare 1982 Dodge 400 sedan and 1984 Chrysler E-Class. We are having a K car show in three weeks. Long live the K car.

Here is the link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/chryslerkca ... 7069536130

[RichG]

Great story....Slideshow is great, lots of good looking K cars and classics..that Karmann Ghia, Datsun , and Vega are beauts. You guys in California have the weather; in the east, we usually have to start with totally weathered, salt damaged cancerous cancerous bodies.