For Sale 1988 Plymouth Caravelle Classic K-Car - $1200 (alameda)

[Samplingman]

I can only speak from my personal experience on the 1988 Lebaron "woody" wagon, the 1989 Caravan and the 1980 Omni. The Mitsu"shitty" components Chrysler outsourced (2.4 6cyl, 3.0 6 cyl and whatever crap they put in that Omni) were designed to fail within 3 years, and all three did. I won't even get into the paper thin body panels. There is no surprise that 99% of these things ended up as Chinese scrap metal. The 2.2 is a totally different story, a buddy of mine had a Rampage for years and my brother-in-law loved his Shelby Charger. Besides that, the 1980's was a travesty for the US auto makers and the POS K-Kart led the way.

 

[tbm3fan]

So what you are saying is that the cars with the 2.2L engine were good cars. Even better with a 4 speed. Paper thin body panels pretty much describes all Civics, Accords, Corollas, Tercels and Camrys back in those days but that never deterred anyone from buying those cars in huge numbers. People bought them because they were better put together than compact American cars and they had a reputation for the drive train to last. A Kcar with the 2.2 and a manual could run as long as one of the Japanese cars, rust no faster, and the only downfall being somewhat less stylish and having to work against the perception created by Chrysler in the late 70's of ineptitude. I had a 1986 Mazda 626 with the 2.0L and 5 speed that went 350,000 miles and tinny panels. Why? Because the reputation of small US cars in that time period was bad and the styling too boxy for me. I took a flyer on the 626 and scored big with it for 21 years.

 

[furyus 67]

K-cars and Cadillacs , only buy with a warranty!!