By Antti Kautonen
Like I mentioned in the Southeast Finland Roadtrip article, I’m originally from that region. I spent my formative years in Myllykoski, today only known for its soccer team as the paper mill was shut down last year. That town is nowadays part of a larger municipality amalgamation, as the neighbouring towns got usurped into the bigger town, called Kouvola. Kouvola’s known as a railroad hotspot, and some of the surrounding towns still live off forest and paper industry. The Russian border is only a couple hours’ drive away, so commercial influx from there is also a significant point of note.
In the nucleus of car dealerships centered in the small-to-midsize-business part of Kouvola, there used to be neighbouring Volvo and Saab dealerships. Neither of them operate off these premises anymore, as both dealers built larger, newer showrooms on the other side of the railroad tracks, and the one selling Saab is now a Mazda/Land Rover/Subaru/Opel dealer. The old Saab dealership is now a run-down ruin, and on its backyard I spotted this ruined Chrysler LeBaron sitting on busted tires. It was a sad sight.
Save for its headlights and taillights, the late-’80s, K-car derived LeBaron was curiously complete. The windshield had been smashed and its remains sagged on the dashboard, but I do think it was due to the same vandalism that caved in the roof.
None of the glass was present anymore, for the same obvious reasons. The grille and the bumpers, along with the nose metal were good to go.
The interior was a mess, and had been in this state for some time now. A couple of winters’ snow had probably piled in and melted in there. Still, not a lot of pilfered parts.
I didn’t catch the mileage on the Chrysler, and it’s difficult to guesstimate it.
I’m thinking the car was originally abandoned due to crash damage on the trunk, not considered viable to fix. The bumper was intact, so perhaps the LeBaron was rammed by a commercial vehicle.
Someone had tried to pry off the badging, and succeeded only partially. The vinyl on the roof was completely wrecked by now.
Not knowing the car’s story, I don’t know what it does there, languishing on the building’s back yard. It could yield some parts for someone maintaining a similar K-car derivative, but those are far and few between here – I can’t remember seeing too many sedans like this. The newer coupes and Saratogas are far more common.
[Images: Copyright 2013 Hooniverse/Antti Kautonen]
Southeast Finland looks a lot like Southeast Maine : )
I lived in Stratham, NH for a few months and I totally agree.
This POS would fit in perfectly, as is, just about anywhere in rural New England/upstate NY. This is pretty much what I picture anytime I hear/read LeBaron.
I grew up in NH and live in MA right now. The Chrysler's not rusty enough.
"Junkyard" condition?!
You kidding?! That right there is the definition of "ran when parked" here in the good 'ol US of A!
Not one of our better automotive eras, the early-80's….
That's a shame. The body looks in pretty good shape, vandalism aside.
That LeBaron isn't a K-Car derivative. It IS a K-car. Same body as an Aries. The old joke was that the lower end cars and the higher end cars had the same parts – the higher end cars just had more of them. See the stainless steel rocker panel trim, the chrome mirrors, the vinyl roof (under the vinyl quarter window blankout panel there resides that same glass pane – it's just a cover) – all things that were never bolted on an Aries but could easily be.
As LeBarons go, that's not a high-option car. Crank windows, column shifted automatic with bench seats, AM/FM only radio (no tape deck), but it does have cruise control, tilt wheel and A/C.
The LeBaron used a unique (for the K bodies) quad-headlight fiberglass fascia panel shared with the E bodies (Dodge 600, Plymouth Caravelle, Chrysler New Yorker).
Lastly, I've owned several K-cars in that same color. Chrysler code PB1, Ice Blue. It's an absolute bastard of a paint color to match to a spray can, as the touch up paint is matched to brand new paint chips, as opposed to an evenly faded car.
Yeah, at first I thought it was a Dodge 600 when I saw it. I did a double-take, driving.
It's also not a turbo car (no badging, or residue).
Is it a Euro market car, or an imported US spec car?
The back axel make a good trailer axel for a.light duty trailer. A friend of mine built a 18' car hauler using two axels from a caravan.