by 88AriesLEwagon » Sat Dec 25, 2010 12:32 am
I find it ironic that when something is "IN",everybody is on board.
Once time passes and "todays story" is "yesterdays news",its forgotten,its supporters are long gone and its relegated to the history books.
Time capsule back to 1980.
The K car was Chrysler's last hope.It had to sell.Its promotion was off the charts.
It was to save America from the imports.It was all by itself to save America from OPEC oil imports.
It was the answer to the former full size cars,with 6 passenger room,large trunk,"front wheel drive" traction,outrageous EPA economy numbers,3 body styles (with no wagon over at GM's X cars),classic styling,its quality was to raise the bar for American cars and steal sales from Honda/Toyota.
Lee Iacocca was said to be obsessed with the K car,and its platform that could be used for all future models to be based on,lessening development costs and speeding introductions into new markets.
The G car (Daytona/Laser) was an Iacocca idea.The convertible Ks (400/LeBaron) was an Iacocca idea.The woody convertible was an Iacocca idea.The C body (Dynasty/New Yorker) blocky styling with old fashioned dash cluster was an Iacocca idea (engineers wanted a more Taurus like roofline and nose).The Vinyl roofs were an Iacocca idea.
Now forward to a time when Chrysler paid off the government guaranteed loans,brought out all these new models based on the K platform,sales downturn in the early 90s,Iacocca retires,plans for all new vehicles (the cloud cars,Neon,LH cars,minivans),sales success and new ownership (Daimler),and the gutting of Chrysler,sale to Cerberus,massive sales declines and bankruptcy.....and where does the K stand? Nowhere.Its forgotten.The once darling of Chrysler Corporation,the saviour of America and its parent company itself,whats supposed to be vs Evil (the Japanese) became just another old,worn out,used car.
For all the attention given to the car by Iacocca,Sperlich,the government (for the loans),every car magazine going,millions of American car buyers,today there is little to no support of the car.
Parts are being discontinued right and left.Old NOS parts are drying up fast.Junkyards are being purged of their stock.
Old Chrysler mechanics are dying off.
The once almighty,holy grail "icon" to the Chrysler faithful is slowly going away.
Truth be known,"true" Mopar faithful never cottoned to the small FWD 4 cylinder jobs with official Chrysler division names applied (Daytona must have really killed them...).The days of 440s,383s and Hemis didnt translate well to them into these low hp models that many couldnt even chirp the tires.They never supported Iacoccas efforts,and treat that breed with disdain to this very day.
Those who did support Chrysler's comeback were very vocal about it.Chrysler was lucky,a lot of people bought Ks and various other products due to Iacocca's struggle to save the once great company,and wanted to lend a hand in whatever way they could.Buying a car or two was their way to help the American icon.That is where their responsibility ended.Either their K served them well and they moved on to future company products or got a lemon and vowed never to go back.How many of these people own one today? How many are Chrysler supporters still? How many have bought imports and never looked back? Do we think these people care at all? Do they look fondly back at their past purchase but are unwilling or unable to do anything about it?
In a perfect world,some rich people who owned these cars would get into a vintage mindset and do their part to assure support for these would continue into the future.The owners of large automotive parts companies would reinstate discontinued parts and develop long since dropped items by Ma Mopar.But we all know this isnt going to happen.Support is where one can get it.With a small percentage of the millions still around,the numbers just arent enough for aftermarket companies to gear up and make parts for a few hundred sales a year.As time goes by it will get worse.
Like the Edsel that came before...it was much ballyhooed and then shunned by its maker.
The K and its offshoots saved Chrysler however,and in the end they have gotten the same treatment.
Those who buy a new Volt or Cruze may think its a car of today and tomorrow,but remember history,what WAS hot at one time,loses its luster and is forgotten tommorow.If in 10 years a new Volt owner thinks he's going to get full parts and service support,he's crazy.And it will only go downhill from there.Time moves on...