Chrysler K-Cars

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The Chrysler K-Cars were a model family of the American automobile manufacturers Chrysler , Dodge and Plymouth , which were based on the so-called K- platform with front-wheel drive of the group.

Chrysler's K platform from the 1980s is one of the most consistent and versatile modular systems in automotive history.

The K-cars in the narrow sense included with the published model year 1981 Dodge Aries , Plymouth Reliant and Chrysler LeBaron the successor models for the rear-drive Dodge Aspen , Plymouth Volare and the first Chrysler LeBaron. Due to the front-wheel drive, these models were extremely spacious and could therefore be regarded as competitors of the rear-wheel drive Chevrolet Malibu and Ford Fairmont and their sister models . The US authorities, which define the vehicle classes according to interior volume, actually counted the compact K-Cars among the mid-range models.

Subsequently, numerous other models from the Chrysler Group, which are listed below, were based on the sometimes slightly modified technology of these original K-Cars.

The last representative of the K platform models was the Chrysler LeBaron Cabriolet , which was discontinued in 1995 .

Common to all versions of the K and derived platforms was the basic design with a transverse front engine and front-wheel drive . The chassis had a rigid torsion crank axle at the rear and front wheels with rack and pinion steering that were individually suspended from MacPherson struts and wishbones . These models were powered by naturally aspirated and turbo versions of Chrysler's own 2.2 and 2.5-liter inline four -cylinder engines or by 2.6-liter four-cylinder and 3.0-liter V6 engines supplied by Mitsubishi . They were coupled with four or five-speed transmissions, but usually with Chrysler's three-speed TorqueFlite or the later Ultradrive four-speed automatic.

The K platform goes back to Lee Iacocca , who proposed such a modular system when he was Ford boss shortly before his dismissal, but was unable to establish himself with it.

List of K-Cars and related models (the years refer to the model year, not the calendar year):

  • Chrysler K-Cars and related vehicles

  • Plymouth Reliant 1987

  • First generation Dodge caravan with facelift

  • Dodge Daytona Shelby 1990

  • Chrysler New York 1993

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Lee Iacocca, William Novak: An American Career. Ullstein, 1985, ISBN 3-548-34388-0 .