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]
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