Mundane Monday – It’s Blue, It Says GTS on the Trunk
A Chrysler GTS. Not many of those around here
Despite these breathtaking credentials, today’s Seen Hanging Around in a Parking Garage Sighting is not a Dodge Viper GTS, but a humble K-Car derivative.
I have no idea why there are some here; LeBarons and Saratogas sold fairly well in Finland in their day and were actually considered upmarket for a short while. But the 5-door GTS (as the Dodge Lancer was badged in Europe) is a weird thing to behold here today.
The plasti-chrome on the Chrysler badge is running, but the Pentastars in both ends of the car stand proud.
The GTS’s owner was fully utilizing its transport abilities, as the rear seat was stocked full of cheap lager beer. Hauling that beer around is either a 2.2-litre or 2.5-litre version of the probably non-turbo Chrysler four; there were turbos available but this one is unlikely to be blown (except maybe for the headgasket, hur hur). Sales for the GTS were “extremely moderate”, and despite having only been introduced to the European market in 1988 it was out and replaced by the Saratoga by the end of ’89. Must’ve been those Talbot genes.
To be honest, the GTS pictured here does look like it’s in useable shape – it’s not really that rusty at all unlike most ’80s Chryslers you see here. Saratogas are often beaten to near-death and their doorbottoms bubble just like you would imagine after 20 years of road salt; LeBarons usually have it easier due to being either pampered convertibles or nearly-rust free Swiss imports. But for a cheap (this hasn’t commanded four figures for a while) Euro K-Car it’s not falling apart just yet.
What really galls me is that there’s an Aveo sitting next to the GTS. Despite all its various shortcomings, I’d really rather drive around town in the boxy blue Chrysler.
Disclaimer: This post and various Vehicles I Saw In Traffic posts like it are in a way sponsored by my gf; she can contain her annoyment with just a mere hint of facepalmy roll-eyes when I tell her “Hold on, there’s is a weird sh*tbox over there and I really have to grab a few pics of it.” Post-Disclaimer: The previous disclaimer was not made at gunpoint.
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I kinda like the quad inset headlamps. And from that rear 3/4 view I suddenly got all charitable and thought "It looks a bit like a Maserati Biturbo".
But then reality suddenly kicked in and I thought Fox Mustang, then Chevy Corsica Hatch.
Then Escort.
I like the gradual return to reality there.
Biturbo isn't probably that far; I have in my mind a GTS with Maserati TC crap festooned on it. Chrysler Penta(star)porte by Maserati?
Yeah! The Maserati Whatsthepointe!
You should do something nice for your girlfriend because she's clearly a keeper. Buy her some shoes maybe? That's what girls like, right? Shoes?
I could see that backfiring: "But honey, they're flame retardant!"
I'm a bit of a nerd when it comes to automotive lights (I can usually identify the car that the lights on an RV originally came from), and I always get a kick out of seeing overseas spec lights on American cars. I've never seen the amber turn signals on the rear of this model before. If I owned one, I'd try to find those lights just to be weird.
Yeah, I like those too. I saw a first-gen Chysler minivan (diesel-powered!) in our town a few years ago, wearing Dutch license plates. It had the repeater lamps on the fenders, and the amber turn signals out back. Talk about a WTH? moment.
Also notice on that GTS how they blanked out the front side marker lights. Weird.
Yeah, here in Europe we hate side markers! Well, not really, they are just not needed and/or against the law depending in which euro -country you are living. I don't like them because I like clean look, less is more (in design) and all that.
Also, in some cases they were added to otherwise mostly good looking cars in the past in a way that destroyed the look of the car and made them look like afterthought they actually were. Some Jaguars, MGs and Volvos for example….
And of course, because of this clean look preference I like more American tail lights as there is 1 color less and end result is somewhat better. Fortunately europeans got tired of the ugly-ish orange color also and it's now gone, not sure if I could even find new car with the orange turn signals anymore. Maybe some very basic model have them.
Bizarrely my Citroen C6 here in UK has US spec side marker lights – looks like a bl**dy christmas tree at night – which is odd because its never been sold anywhere where they would be mandatory (its never been sold anywhere much…).
Also it has orange turn signals at the back and will do until its dying day…
But that's why we love Citroen!
Volvo S40/V40:s can also be identified on the road by the side markers, especially in the dark.
It amuses me that the farther-forward side markers had to be blanked out, just to be replaced by a new set of side markers mounted between the wheelhouse and the front doors. I never have understood why Euro lights aren't 'good enough' for North America, or vice versa. (But I'm still heretical enough to not be particularly supportive of separated, amber rear turn signals… I'd rather have combined brake/signal lights, since people around here don't care about maintenance until they get the dreaded overly-fast/slow turn signal, and otherwise would let their brake lamps degrade till only the CHMSL remains functioning.)
These are turn signals between wheelhouse and door i.e. they are on (blinking) only when you turn them on before turning to that direction, otherwise, even in the middle of the night there's nothing going on with that small light so they are not side markers in American meaning.
You should see some european VW forums about people trying to get the American style side markers on their cars….
Yep, different things to different people. Many US cars have blacked out side markers too (advertised as "European style") so it seems that grass is always greener on the other side of the ocean.
I saw a Euro-spec 3rd gen (96-00) Dodge Caravan in L.A. last year, then a month or so later I saw it at the Hoover Dam. Made me do a double take both times. Small world.
No shit!?!? I thought I was the only one who did that with high-end RV's!!! I make it a game when I am driving on the freeway. I especially like the motor homes that use the three stacked 73-87 Chevy truck taillights…only difference is that one is solid red, one is solid clear, and the other is solid amber.
Until today, I thought that I was the only car geek to notice stuff like that.
Also, am I the only one who has noticed that UPS is using Olds Alero headlights on their latest bastard creation delivery trucks?
<img src="http://monomania.ca/car/ups.JPG" width="600">
/nerd
No, you're not the only one at all. A good friend of mine is the same way. In fact, just last week we had a discussion online about the solid red/amber/clear Chevy truck lights on RVs, and he pointed out that they've done the same thing with the flat faced tail lights from late 80s GM Full Size vans as well.
I too have noticed the horrible Alero lights on the UPS trucks. I thought the newest UPS trucks with standard sealed beam lights were weird looking until I saw one of these.
What's a little odd is that the Chrysler GTS uses the Dodge Lancer grille but has the LeBaron GTS taillights. The US Lancer had different lenses for the rear lights. The Lancer/LeBaron GTS sold pretty well after being introduced for 1985, but sales dropped off dramatically and never recovered once Ford introduced the Taurus in 1986.
<img src="http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/1/2857/1/7140000008_large.jpg" width="400/">
We had a 1985 Dodge Lancer ES Turbo. The design was attractive and the hatchback combined with split folding seats was functional. The only design trick they missed was the high liftover height of the trunk opening. The dashboard was about as good as it got in Detroit too, at least until the digital instruments went black around 25,000 miles. The first head gasket had been replaced at 17,000 miles, the second at 24,000 miles. The hood vent was very functional, as the foul smelling smoke emanating from it was the first clue that another head gasket had run its course. By the time the dashboard died we'd given up on buying new plastic hub caps for the alloy wheels. They tabs that were supposed to retain them weren't up to the heat generated by the brakes, so they relinquished their hold on the wheels pretty often. It wasn't until we started looking at imports that we noticed how nothing on the car lined up with its neighbors. The interior window trim had little relation to the exterior window trim, so you saw exposed trim from the outside in some areas and exposed trim from the inside in others. The roof panel didn't align with the C pillars, so their were creases, dents, and pooled paint where they met. We took it for granted until my mom parked her new German car next to it. Then it looked worse than second rate. It was the only car we ever kept for less than 9 years, 6 and a half years less.
I knew a guy that owned a Le Baron GTS, back when they were still new. Sure, it was kinda crude, but with the turbo, it was pretty quick.
When I was a kid I always kinda liked these, and looking back, I see that my opinions were skewed by the fact that my father was a mechanic at a Chrysler dealership. He was never short of work.
One of the dealership's customers was the mother of a friend of mine, who named the cars she bought. Was hanging out with my friend one time when she asked to borrow one of mom's cars. "Which one do you want?" mom replied. "Daron LeBaron or Lancer The Dancer?" She wouldn't hand over the keys until my friend, beet red in the face, addressed the car by its given name.
Her dad, by the way, drove Chuck The Truck.
Came for the minivan, idled off disappointed.