I was working on a blog post on the 1981 Chrysler New Yorker, and I got to thinking about the nuts and bolts of Chrysler’s transition to front-wheel-drive in the United States. For this study, I looked at only non-imported cars (no Arrows, Colts, or Sapporos), and only at offerings from the Chrysler, Dodge, and Plymouth brands.
1977: the year before the Omni/Horizon hatchback sedan debuted, Chrysler Corporation had four platforms, all of them rear-wheel-drive. The F-body Aspen/Volaré compact was by far the sales leader—approximately 48% of Chrysler’s 1.2 million sales. The other offerings were the M-body premium mid-size (new for 1977, with the Dodge Diplomat sedan fated to make it all the way to 1989), the B-body mid-size, and the C-body full-size.
1978: the L-body Omni/Horizon hatchback sold well in its first year, with almost 167,000 exiting Dodge and Plymouth dealerships. These numbers comprised 15% of overall domestic production, with the Aspen/Volaré still being the sales leader. Chrysler Corporation sales declined by about 13%.
1979: a coupe version of the L-body made it to market, branded as Omni 024 and Horizon TC3. Overall Omni/Horizon sales were now 27% of total production, partly because Chrysler’s sales continued to collapse (off another 11%). Chrysler did bring the downsized rear-wheel-drive R-body full-size platform to market, replacing the C-body. 1979 was the last year that the Aspen/Volaré led Chrysler sales.
1980: Omni/Horizon sales increased by 2% to 264,000. They were now 41% of overall domestic production and by far the sales leader in another down year. The rear-wheel-drive J-body coupes (Cordoba and Mirada) replaced the B-body, but didn’t sell any better. 1980 was the final year for the Aspen/Volaré.
1981: a lot changed at your local Dodge or Plymouth showroom in 1981. The Aspen/Volaré was retired, putatively replaced by the heavily publicized Aries/Reliant K-body. Sales of the two front-wheel-drive platforms combined for 81% of overall production, and domestic Chrysler automobile production was up for the first time in many years.
1982: Chrysler added Super K models to the mix—really just slightly nicer versions of the Aries and Reliant. The Chrysler brand got its first front-wheel-drive offering with the LeBaron coupe, sedan, station wagon, and (late in the model year) convertible. The rear-wheel-drive C-body full-size was retired after only three years, with the New Yorker and Gran Fury marques transitioning to the rear-wheel-drive M-body mid-size platform. Despite the increased front-wheel-drive choices, their percentage of production increased only half a percent.
1983: Chrysler introduced the E-body—an extended version of the K-body with three more inches of wheelbase. Dodge got the 600 sedan, while Chrysler got two models—the E Class and the New Yorker (switching platforms yet again). Chrysler’s M-body offering was renamed to New Yorker Fifth Avenue, but I’m betting many potential buyers were still confused. 1983 was also the last year for the J-body coupes, with the Cordoba, Imperial, and Mirada going away.
1984: the sporty G-body Daytona and Laser hatchbacks were announced. Chrysler rebranded the rear-wheel-drive New Yorker Fifth Avenue as simply Fifth Avenue—probably a good idea. With only the M-body as a rear-wheel drive offering, the percentage of front-wheel-drive vehicles reached 88%.
1985: the Chrysler E Class vanished, but magically reappeared as the Plymouth Caravelle. The H-class mid-size sedan debuted in Lancer and LeBaron GTS forms. Dodge kept interest going in the aging L-body with increasingly quicker variants: 1985 had the Omni GLH and the Shelby Charger.
1986: unlike the previous five years, things were relatively quiet in 1986, with no model introductions or phase-outs. The K-body convertible was in its final year—there would be no Chrysler LeBarons (Mark Cross or Town & Country) or Dodge 600s after 1986.
1987: the Super K platform disappeared, and the P-body and front-wheel-drive J-body platforms debuted. The K-body offerings no longer included a LeBaron coupe or convertible, but the LeBaron sedan and station wagon and the Aries/Reliant twins were still good for a quarter of overall production. The percentage of front-wheel drive cars hit 90%, but Chrysler still sold over 100,000 of the M-body sedans, with the Chrysler Fifth Avenue being the leader.
1988: the front-wheel-drive C-body debuted, at that point the largest Chrysler front-wheel-drive offering—by an inch of wheelbase. It was seen in the Dodge Dynasty, and yet another version of the New Yorker—the end-of-the-line E-body based New Yorker was branded as New Yorker Turbo. Front-wheel-drive sales hit 93%.
1989: the E-body went away, with the A-body Dodge Spirit and Plymouth Acclaim sedans replacing it. For the first time since 1980, the K-body was not the best-selling platform—the C-body took over the sales crown in its second year, with 207,000 sold. Front-wheel-drive was now 97% of production.
1990: Chrysler Corporation discontinued three platforms in 1990. The K-body and H-body went away, but most important for this narrative is that the rear-wheel-drive M-body was gone. The transition was complete, but Chrysler would return to rear-wheel-drive in 1992 with the Dodge Viper.
Eighties Cars 