My old man is a 40+ year Chrysler mechanic, right on the cusp or retirement, he has a Black 1999 Intrepid R/T, with nearly 500 thousand km, driven daily in rust belt southern Ontario, and it’s essentially in showroom condition, I’ve never seen a car driven so much, yet in still such good shape, partially because of who owns it, but it’s also a testament to the platform.

People who say Chrysler bought AMC just to get Jeep are forgetting François Castaing's brilliant engineering and how it made so many of Chrysler's vehicles possible.

I worked for Holley Automotive and was on the Launch Team for the LH Platform. As I recall an interesting feature of this car's manufacture was the use of 2nd party sub-assemblies. I was the Production Engineer for the active Intake manifold sub-assembly. Two throttle bodies and linkage, and a number of sensors and and other devices as well, were included. It was produced in Water Valley, MS.

youre absolutely right with your close, chrysler died when diamler took over. I share the same fondness. I still have our 94 grand cherokee my parents got new!

Bob Lutz spoke a great deal about this in one of his books. He cited how Chrysler wound up retaining more AMC engineers than Chrysler engineers post-merger, and that their ability to think outside the box and do more with less led to some of their best designs and innovations. If it wasn’t for Lee Iacocca’s pride, Lutz should have become CEO of Chrysler, IMO, and very well might have averted the disastrous Daimler merger.

The Concorde still looks good. Amazing.

I had a love/hate relationship with my '93 LHS. Black. Wife called it my mafia town car. I loved how it handled and it was a dream as an interstate cruiser. Everybody commented on rear legroom and huge trunk space.. Downsides were an AC system that never really worked right and front suspension issues. I kept it until 2002 and got a Cad Deville which was also a great road car.

The LH cars were ahead of its time. The market was not quite ready for them yet. The 300m looks like it's a more modern car than the 300c that came after it! I think you've just nailed it. Thank you for this video!!!

Huge Crysler Corp. fan here. I agree with your fondness of the LH cars. Those, the cloud cars, 2nd gen Ram and 1st gen Grand Cherokee represent the end of the independent Chrysler and are the most recent/modern vehicles built by them when they were still independent. For this reason I really like these cars and have a nostalgic fondness for them. Chrysler has never been the same since the Daimler take over, if Iacocca did what he later admitted he should have and chose Lutz over Eaton as his successor as CEO, I'm sure Chrysler would still be independent and the last 25 years of their history would have been more successful. Great video as always.

I wish we could've seen the RWD LH platform at least tested. I had a mechanic that actually converted his intrepid.

What an awesome video. Finally a fan of the LH cars besides myself. I still have my 2001 Dodge Intrepid R/T. It is my baby and my Saturday morning car. It is in remarkable condition because for 22 years it has been pampered. It is white with sun roof, rear wing. The same year, my wife and I bought the Concorde too. But it is gone now. It was the family wagon. I have no intentions of parting with the Intrepid. It drives like a dream and the engine runs so smooth. At idle you can't even tell it's running. Thanks for this awesome video.

i have a huge soft spot for LH cars. my dad had a LHS, thanks for making this video!

I loved my '95 Eagle Vision Tsi. Threw the timing belt in' 99, but no problems otherwise. Quartz metallic color made it a very sharp looking car

Great video with a great story on how these fantastic cars came about. I recall the very first time seeing an LH car and I was floored by just how wild and advanced it looked. Literally I thought it was a space ship hovering over the road. I remember thinking it looked as if it was 10 years into the future. I was SHOCKED when I finally got close enough to see that it was a Chrysler! WOW.

I remember when these things came out and they were a revelation. Something to give the Taurus a run for its money, especially with the 3.5 liter. The Vision TSi really called to me, but I even enjoyed the early Concord a VP atthe small firm I was working at had. Very taut, super roomy, glassy inside - pretty cool. Closest I came was severl years later with a 300M, and arguably I should have bought it. Went with a Bonneville SSEi instead which in retrospect was probably less of a driver's car, but at the time the HUD and gazillion way power seats spoke to me. (God, looking back, I even opted for the chromoe wheels!) Always thought the 2nd gen LHS had a touch of Jag in the roofline, but I preferred the 300M's chunkier, more aggressive look.

I had a 1st gen intrepid. Loved that car, super roomy and comfortable. Handling and ride were very nice. Good performance and easy on gas. Reliability was so-so.

I owned a 2nd gen Concorde. GOBS of space inside!! I could sit behind myself comfortably at 6'4" and the trunk was HUGE! I had the 2.7 engine and...it didn't die on me. The transmission did me in. (after not changing the fluid for almost 100, 000 miles *facepalm*)

Another good vid Jon. I worked for an automotive supplier (to virtually every global OEM) and had a good friend who worked in product planning at Chrysler. Got to drive many new Chrysler products, and many cars from their comparison fleet. I remember the 1st gen LHS and was very impressed. Also remember driving a new for '98 Honda Accord from the comparison fleet... Chrysler folks were embarrassed that it drove so much better than their "cloud cars". Fifteen years and three generations later, I bought a '13 Accord V6 that I am still driving ten years later... best car I have ever owned, but that is another story. The space utilization of the LH cars was indeed amazing, thanks in large part to the "cab forward" proportions of the design. Those proportions worked well on an FWD platform, but flew in the face of traditional long hood / short deck proportions that many (most?) people prefer for a sedan. You commented about the transmission for LH being based on the powertrain layout of the Premier. Yes, that layout was retained, but the transmission was 100% Chrysler. Originally called A606 (later the 42LE) , it was derived from their A604 (later the 41TE) that debutted around 1990 in minivans and other vehicles with the more common transverse FWD powertrain layout. The 4-speed overdrive gearing, clutches and electronic controls were essentially identical, repackaged to mate with the longitudinal (aka north-south) engine layout. The A606 employed a "silent" chain drive to turn the powerflow 180 degrees toward the final drive powering the front wheels... The same concept GM developed for the orignal Oldsmobile Toronado. The trans functioned well when everything worked correctly. Unfortunately, the early electronic controls were not quite ready for primetime, and were trouble prone, at least in the early years of both 41TE and 42LE.

i recently bought my mothers arizona garage kept 99 chrysler 300 M 3.5 liter with only 77,000 miles on the clock. i absolutely love this machine. And it has most of the options that chrysler offered at the time. these cars are aerodynamic bullets. i think the 300 M is by far the best looking of the LH cars. On the downside these cars do have quality issues mainly pertaining to the body.

The 1999-2004 Chrysler 300M was my personal favorite when it comes to the LH cars. It was sporty yet comfortable and the interior was beautiful with tasteful wood trim, chrome, and leather instead of the cheap plastic that came on some of the later Chryslers.

I loved these cars, but I'm actually more partial to the 1st generation. I prefer the less bulbous look. Really great video, glad to hear the full history!

A friend of mine had one. I was impressed with how big it was on the inside.

I had a 99 300M. Dumped it due to electrical gremlins that kept knocking out the cooling fan at between 150k and 175K miles. My boss bought it for his son who eventually sold it to his girlfriend who totaled it. But that was years and many miles later.

When Chrysler was owned by Mercedes (DaimlerChrysler), they had less resources to make cars. Mercedes gave them a tight budget and so the interiors were made of cheap plastics and other materials. Also, Mercedes gave Chrysler their old platforms

Had a 95 intrepid with the 3.5 engine. It was surprisingly fast. Had alot of fun with it.

So, I've personally owned two Chrysler brand cars. A 1997 Eagle Vision TSi, and a 2002 Dodge Stratus SE. Although my family had several Chrysler brand cars growing up (which consisted of an '89 Plymouth Grand Voyager EX, '92 Plymouth Grand Voyager LE AWD

My 97 Intrepid 3.3 has 27x k miles, just sat all winter. It hadn't run in at least 3 months and cranked right up the other day. Some of the plastics like center vents are broken but everything works. I'm thinking about trying to bore it to 3.8 with a minivan rotating assembly. But it still doesn't really need a rebuild yet.

I remember when the LH cars came out in May of 1993. I really liked and still like the LHS and New Yorker. I test drove those two cars as well as The Dodge Monaco, which is the Dodge version of the original Eagle Medallion. Those cars drove extremely well and were very comfortable. Funny story. Back in 2002, a friend's sister was looking for a new car. She loved the Chrysler Concorde, and the husband wanted a Pontiac Bonneville. His reasoning was resale value. She asked him why would it matter? She said we keep our cars for so long it won't matter. They purchased their new Concorde in August of 2002, and in 2023, they are still driving that same car.

We had a first generation Dodge Intrepid. It road well, was very comfortable on long trips. It had the push rod v6 which was very reliable, drove it over 130,000 miles and never used oil. The transmission was another story, had it rebuilt twice! I wonder if it was a hold over from Renault. I finally traded it for a Toyota Camry which we drove for over ten years. Until then, we drove a number of Chrysler products, including a Neon and a K-car. The Neon did not hold up well, traded after 60,000 miles. The K-Car was indestructible, had the 4 cylinder engine. It survived the first daughter though college and grad school, only major repair was the timing belt. Our middle daughter was fixing to take it to college when her younger sister was driving it the day before she was to leave for school, wrecked it and totaled it. The middle daughter was furious, but no one was hurt. We have driving Toyotas ever since!

My first car was a Neon. We rallied the hell out of that thing! That was the best 45k miles of my life!

I bought a 98 Intrepid that was 3 years old w 80k miles. Loved that car, but unfortunately it had the 2.7L 6. But, I took good care of it until it bit the dust at 180k miles. I bought it for $8,000 and got 100,000 miles out of it, so I got my monies worth. It was one of my favorite cars and had a sleek look that would still look good today. These days I’m driving a 300C, which I love.

To be hinest I forgot about them, but yes, they are truly beautiful! And still looking quite modern thirty years later!

Me having a 97 (Eagle) Chrysler Vision 3.5 TSI at 189 tkm has really impressed me. Being a Honda guy all my life the reliability at (her) age is awesome. Cadillacs I have at the same age range are basically for scrayard, but I’ll revive them. Thanks for a thoroug review of the matter. BW: daily driver of a Renault Captur SUv

Another great segment as usual Jon, thank you! In a Fall 1996 family sedan road test, Popular Mechanics matched the now five model year old Intrepid against the brand new Taurus. As well as the Sable, and Lumina. Statistically, the Intrepid was very competitive. They picked the Intrepid as their favourite, mostly because it had character the others lacked. Impressive for a 6 year old design.

Renault Encore and Alliance were decent little cars. I drove both buying and selling cars. My Dad took the Alliance and had it for years. Parked outside here in the NE

I owned 3 LH cars and 1 LX car. All were very good cars. I literally wore a 2000 300m out. 246000 on the odometer before it needed a new transmission. But then it had lots of little quirks. Not many serious mechanical problems. Switched to a cadillac CTS because I couldn't find a red Charger with leather seats.

The Eagle Vision and the second gen Intrepid are still among the most beautiful full size cars built after the oil crisis of the '70s Aesthetically lovely cars

I actually got to see the Portofino concept car at the 1989 Auto Expo in Cincinnati OH.

I had a 01 LHS, which is just a 2 yr car in that 2nd gen body. That car was special ordered by my uncle with every option except the handling package. Was it a great car? No. Was it better than any K car I ever owned? YES. The only reason I sold it ( to my neighbor's kid who is doing a great job of taking car of it) was because it was way more car in terms of size, than I need. The trunk is huge. The interior is so comfy ( they don't make seats like that anymore), pretty quiet and just a highway mile eater with the 3.5L. I'm actually looking for a nice 300M Special.

Our local county police bough 28 new 1998 Dodge Intrepid cars and made them into police cars, with in 3 years they were all torn up and traded in on new Crown Vics. They still had 10 year old Crown Vics going strong.... Chuck Norris used them(Dodge intrepids) in his shows as police cars, so everyone thought they were tough...

François Castaing is such an incredibly talented man.

This was a wonderful video. I've had a '97 intrepid '02 intrepid ES and a '99 LHS, all with the 3.5 and all served me great each reaching at least 150,000 miles before I decided to retire them as I don't like holding on to cars for very high miles. I've loved all three of them. I just flush the transmission fluid every 30k with ATF plus 4 and it's done just fine, I do the water pumps and timing belts around every 80k to give it some wiggle room given the interference engine design, and I do regular oil changes. Most of the problems are with tie rod ends as others have listed, and lots of other little problems. The 97 had the most little things go wrong the paint died after 10 years the second gen ones have much better paint. Nothing else compares to The balance of price, performance, size, handling, interior and exterior styling. I think these were fairly successful but they weren't the second coming of the minivan in terms of success. I've often wondered why they weren't more successful as I found them much more enjoyable than the 96 through 99 Taurus or the 2000 through 07 Taurus or the w cars or the LeSabre or Ford panther cars. I think the main thing that held it back was the bad reputation that the four-speed transmission earned during its introduction into the minivan. I know my dad's dynasty having transmission problems scared him away from even considering and intrepid much to my disappointment as a kid. I think the integration from AMC was a dual edge sword. They made some really great drivers cars but I don't think they relied enough on the quality requirements Chrysler had before this as they sped up the release cycle and test cycle which seemed to result in more problems in the early years of the vehicles. I also heard that Bobby had cost-cutted things an awful lot and the head gasket problems on the neon was largely due to his cost cutting to use a composite head gasket versus a multi-layer steel, so maybe it was just him that was the problem. Another disadvantage is when you consider working on a k-car compared to the LH or cloud cars, the k cars were so much easier to work on The LH and cloud cars you could pretty much do a national lampoons Clark Griswold skit of him trying to work on a car in a similar fashion to the Christmas vacation skit of Clark trying to make the Christmas lights work of how nuts it'll make you when you work on them. At least that was my experience on trying to change the headlight, I finally lost my temper, pulled out the headlight housing breaking it and crammed in the lightbulb, shoved it back in place, slammed the hood, and declared it done.

Just saw an intrepid yesterday coming down the highway with about 20 cars being held up behind it 😂. My uncle had a purple\plum one. I use to always ask are we riding in the long neck dinosaur, every time we were going out 😂

Now that you mention it, I don't see survivors of these vehicles anywhere. I can point out a few early 90;s Taurus, Cadillacs or Buicks, but no LH cars. Weird. They were functionally very good, though like all Chryslers a bit behind in technology and materials.

Brilliant move by Chrysler adopting the 1987 Chrysler Lamborghini Portofino concept car as the design template for the LH cars. A refreshingly clean design, and remarkable how close the production cars were to their show car inspiration.

Jon, thank you very much. New to your channel, like it. Also liked my 95 Eagle Vision TSI. Don’t remember proper name of its color, something light purple metallic if you will.) Thank you again for the amazing story!

Jon the best looking LH was the Eagle Vision. Tom Gale had a lot to do with cab forward design.

late 80s and early 90s Chrysler cars had the most comfortable interiors, even the Jeep grand Cherokee could be had with crazy soft and comfortable seats..

Don’t worry about never having own a Unit from this series… saved a lot of $$$ and anguish

Im living in Greece. The LH series where sold here for some years. Not a lot of them sold in Greece. Its a rare sight but when one passes by you just look at it and you can't take your eyes off of it. Beautiful looking cars and probably reliable considering that some of them might have 270.000 miles on them.

I just came upon your Chrysler LH cars video. Back in 2003 / 2004 my employer, a police agency in MD, purchased 64 Intrepids with the 3.5 HO v6. 50 marked Intrepids went to the road in patrol and worked 8 hours a day, while the remaining 14 were unmarked detective vehicles. I had one of the unmarked detective Intrepids in deep lava red. The Intrepids absolutely fell apart almost immediately. They ate front rotors and pads every 5k miles, water leaks, and electric issues were everywhere. They destroyed the crank shaft possession sensors on a monthly basis. General maintenance on these cars was very difficult due to the design of the engine compartment. They were definitely good-looking cars. However, the reliability was just awful. You are correct, seeing a functioning LH vehicle these days is extremely rare.

I worked at the dealership as my first job as a technician from 08-18. In my opinion, Chrysler ended when Fiat influenced cars started coming out staring with the Jeep Cherokee and Dodge Dart. They were like working on a whole new brand, frustrating as hell to work on compared to the older models which were the easiest cars to work on for me. Quality was awful, they seemed like such cheap tinker toys. In 2011 they redesigned almost all of the lineup and I thought they were on the right track but that was short lived. The minivan was a great vehicle and money maker which accounted for a great majority of the vehicles I worked on. Unfortunately at the end I barely saw any minivans.

The richest Lady in the world had one(1994 New Yorker?), Sam Walton's wife, Helen. She crashed it into a dump truck and then she got a 2002 Town Car Executive and had it till she died..

I have almost exclusively driven chrysler since the late 80s I drove a 1st gen Concorde for a couple of yrs it was not a good car cheap materials inside had to have the front end rebuilt several times and replace the transmission ..The second gen I had was a was an 01 Concorde lxi it was like night and day ..I loved that car drove it till I bought my first 300c It never gave me a problem was sleek quick quite large and comfortable still was great when I sold it with 150000 miles on it

Out of all the LH cars the second gen Eagle Vision TSi (aka 99-04 Chrysler 300M) is the one to get 👌👌

Bar none, these were one of my favorite Dodge/Chrysler vehicles.

I was a huge fan of the Intrepid R/T, 300 M, and the cloud cars.

I had a 2004 concord it was a marvel of aerodynamics, but was noisy, wind and road. I sold it and purchased a 2010 300c. I joked that the 300c had the aerodynamics of a brick, They are still on the road and quite reliable.

along with Francois Castaing was a team of French engineers (his lieutenant ) to run engineering.

I always wondered why Chrysler did not give the Plymouth brand the LH sedan? To me, that Eagle Vision was the best looking LH car

My son and I both called them swoopy. As I'm writing this John calls them swoopy..

Really interesting history - thank you.

Bob Eaton was to blame. Bob Lutz would have put Chrysler in a great position. So much potential with the leadership once Iacocca left. Those LH cars had life left in them. So absolutely sad….

You don't see intrepids otr because of their repair costs. They are absolute nightmares to work on. In every way I might add. Even the batteries located in the fender are expensive to fix. They were not unreliable if maintained but die to being twice as expensive to maintain They rarely were. I usually agree with you on styling but I don't like any of them. I had two customers back in the day that owned them and they both told me I was the only guy in town they could find to fix them affordably. Every time they came in a feeling of dread filled me.

I purchased a brand new Dodge/Chrysler Intrepid ES in 1993. Nice ride plenty of leg room for rear passengers, climate control. It had practically all the options one could buy, except leather seats and the 3.5 V6. First year no problems, second year, air con wouldn't the evaporator would rust over the winter months. As each year came and went Chrysler would install a new evaporator so I could use my A/C. There were other problems to many to list! In the 3rd year, the front end had to be replaced and evaporator (agian) which; I had to fight with Chrysler for a replacement. I was on the phone with their head office, practically pleading with them to replace the evaporator. Including the front end at only 60000 miles. Chrysler said; your car is no longer under warranty and is old with high mileage??? WTF 60000, miles is nothing on a vehicle. I ended up trading it in and losing a lot of money.

Every Chrysler Product I've ever Owned has been an electrical/Electronics nightmare my 1999 Dodge Intrepid being the worst of the bunch. I wont even consider a Chrysler Product when I look for another car because of my experiences with that Intrepid.

I've been enjoying some of your videos and appreciate your point of view. That said, there's a bit too much presentation, not enough car shots.

I always wanted a cab forward design... Like for myself.

I own a second generation Intrepid with 90k miles and I have no complaint everything in this car still working and like you said this cars were under appreciated badly. What the people doesn’t realize besides been a very comfortable and spacious they are super easy to work on everything simple not this new over engineering non sense computer / tablets on wheels.

It's a shame that after 2004, Chrysler's top models(300M,etc.) went back to boxy! Jon explained that well. I envsion the LX body to have been a slightly taller take on the LH class. I'm only 5' 7", and an inch shorter than I was in the eighties, in high school, and even I still bump the top of my head getting into things like the 2015 Elantra and even my 2010 Accord. People in general are taller now than they were even in the 1990s, when the LC debuted.

Interesting video

Had a 96 Intrepid SE and 04 300M. Both lasted close to 200K miles, were relatively reliable, and the only problems I remember were multiple water pump leaks/replacements, and replacement of inner tie rod bushings (something I got real good at doing), and of course, the dash crack near the passenger air bag in the 300M, which seemed to be the norm.

The two biggest problems with the LH cars, IMI, were bad clear coating on the 1st generation and the terrible 2.7 liter entry level engine.

did you say the Renault 25 and the Chrysler large cars looked the same?

Chrysler made a deal with AMC, to build Diplomats Caravells to keep up with sales, at the AMC plant before the purchase of AMC

The LHS used brass speed sensors. But not after Daimler took over. Poly encased Hall sensors get pinholes. Has anyone tried to fit the brass LH sensor in the AT604TE in newer models? In regards to the TCM, each coil should measure out to 1.3 ohm with multimeter. Sadly I did the cat delete and the extra 20 Ponies blew out the planetary. 3.3 V6. So yes, Mopar software can up the ante on free flowing exhaust. The 3.3 is strong @5,000 rpm. The gearbox? Nope.

While my Eagle Premier was in the shop for bodywork after an accident, the insurance company provided me with a Dodge Intrepid. I was glad to get the Premier back. It felt so much more substantial..

my dad rented an AMC Eagle for a weekend in 1979-1980 and didn't like it at all he owned a 79 Toyota Corolla station wagon at the time which he had until 1986

The Chrysler Concorde & Dodge Interprid will only made for 2 generations. At the time, Lee Iacocca was retiring from Chrysler

AMC originally was supposed to be a combination of Nash, Hudson, Packard, and Studebaker! Unfortunately, Packard and Studebaker were left out and their merger was a nightmare! If AMC had been bought by Honda instead of Renault, it might still be alive today! Jeep probably would have still been bought by Chrysler, though!

Bought a Neon .It was ok.

Second gen Intrepid is still a sweet looking ride that looks very sporty for a sedan and comfortable as well. Heck it was so well liked it was included in the GTA game series lol

Chrysler dropped AMC's Eagle Brand only a few years after buying them.

Btw the intrepid hybrid, by their own engineer's admissions was smoke and mirrors.

Beautiful cars, but overheated alot.

I would never own another Chrysler product

You should leave your pictures up longer and talk over them more. I had to pause the video to get a look at them.

One of the worst engines was planted in the 2nd generation LH cars and that was sludge-o-matic 2.7 liter engine I had one and I yanked that engine out and put in a junk yard 3.5 Liter in it and ran it for 100K miles before a neighbor kid bought it off me and proceeded to smash it into a telephone pole

So reliablity..... yeah no.... they had good engineering I think, but the build quality was pretty terrible, and i think thats what was their downfall. our 94 LHS fell apart.. though no small part to my dad's deferred maintenence.

I bought a 1993 Eagle Vision TSI new and then a 1998 Dodge Intrepid ES. Both were good cars. I’m not going to say they outlasted my 2008 Accord but they were dependable and nice to own.

Sadly, they all had Chrysler transmissions -- bring money.

I have owned 30 chrysler vehicles including the AMC/Monaco. Had it for 18 months piece of junk. The LH cars used a lot of the underpinnings of the Monaco. LH Great looking cars very unreliable. I have been in the automotive repair business since 1977. LH cars and Taurus dominated the repair shops in those days.

They Stole the Styling from Lamborghini 4 Door Family Car they sell in other countries outside the US. And the ViaRetro from Lamborghini.

Chrysler is the least reliable of the Big 3 as they suffer from poor quality

Junkiest cars I ever worked on

You don't see these cars at all anymore. And Chevy killed the Camaro trying to copy the Concordes looks. Catfish Camaro 🤮

Chrysler suks unless it's a 1960 or 70s car.

Dude, grow your hair longer. You could be Dilberts Boss. Ha ha. Bald too.

In about 07 I had my family take a cross country vacation in our 03 Chrysler minivan. I wS on top of the world. Stopped at a hotel next day key would not turn in ignition. All the sudden tt became the family truckster. Never bought another Never will. Probably not the only person out there that got left high and dry by that sad sac of a company.

I've owned one of these shitboxes. They're anything but beautiful.