When you're a broke, touring musician in the late 80's...these cars, especially the wagon I had, were the best thing out there. You can PACK these with everything, they got great gas mileage even when you did (unlike a van) and were reliable and cheap to operate. The 2.2 engine was a non interference unit. Which means if the timing belt goes, it doesn't take out the valve train. With just a set of hand tools, the spare tire jack to hold up the engine and $28 for the part, you can change out THE TIMING BELT in the parking lot of the club you played at the night before!!!No other car can claim that. Mine had 147,000 miles on it when this happened. I drove it another 3 years until some idiot ran a red light and T-boned it. I walked away from that too.... These were great little cars. Run for ever.

It's amazing seeing all these older cars in mint condition when I'm used to seeing them absolutely rusted to hell.

Someone, somewhere, at this very moment is working feverishly in their garage, painstakingly restoring a K-Car to showroom condition.

I loved seeing the crash helmet when he was unleashing the monster through the quarter mile.

First experience with the concept of understeer...threw Mom's 82 Reliant K wagon into an off-ramp at 50 mph, age 16. Guardrail still has marks 30 yrs later. Dad laughed, Mom not so much.

My father used to produce wood paneling tape at 3M.

I miss the day when cars were that simple. You look under the hood and you can see where everything is. Not over-engineered. It was also a time when drivers drove - not distracted.

"Ah, the throaty roar of a K-car" (Mike on Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode: Timechasers)

I haven't driven a car with bench seats since the early 90's. Those were like driving your sofa down the highway.

I really like the front of this little wagon! It's clean and practical.

I sold these when they were new, in KY. They were nice, but just couldn't beat the Volare/Aspen wagon. When they were received as a trade-in, they were never on the lot for more than 3 days. I was taking some prospective buyers, in a fully loaded K wagon, on a test drive. It went well. But, when we got back to the dealership, and the driver went to pull out the key, the entire ignition assembly came out onto his lap. He gave me this crazy look, and I said " Oh WOW ! That's a theft deterrent option ! He bought the car. Could I sell cars or what ??

RIP Lee Iacocca

I would cherish the heck outta this thing- just with the 2.2 or 2.5.

That steering wheel is a thing of pure beauty

The car that made you wonder what cars A through J were like. ;)

There's something about this wagon that I find cool in a quirky way. Thanks for sharing these retro episodes, Motorweek!

The K cars were good reliable transportation, everybody i know who owned one or had one of their variants were very happy with them. The Chrysler minivans were basically K car wagons and spawned the minivan revolution back in 1984.

One of the best family cars EVER made.

Standard 13 in wheels with 14 inch standard..... 2.6 rated at 101 HP with a 0 - 60 time of 12 seconds and the 1/4 mile at 181/2 seconds .....Those were the days!!

Biggest positive of the K wagon: Many of them are still around, and fairly clean due to being "adult owned". You can get one for cheap, and then start bolting in parts from its platform mate, the Daytona. Some of them even came with the Turbo engine stock, making half the job already done. :D

I loved my Kcar that old peice of shit would alway's start.Minus 30 nobody else in the family's car's would run.I was like ya what ever mine prob won't run either.Low and behold she fired right up.All the part's were dirt cheep for that car.She would only do about 150kh but would always get there.And it was awsome on gas.My buddy gave me the car cause he thought it was past repair.I threw $250 into the car and she lasted me about 7yr's of hard life.Great little car

My mom had one, it had almost 300,000 miles on it. Best junky car ever 👍

These cars are the biggest reason Honda and Toyota are the kings of the industry.

I love Chrysler interior of that era

I had a Sedan style at 18. It was a 83. I loved that car.

I miss my Reliant k I drove as a taxi in the early 90s, such good days. I moved myself twice in it and I even moved someone's standard size refrigerator in it, I wished I had it back today.

I had an '81 Aries wagon and loved that little car. Miss it to be honest.

My parents had a Dodge Aries wagon. My mom loved that car.

When I was in college my next door neighbors had two of these. I could never figure out if these were "new" cars or "old" cars. They always looked old to me.

I've owned a Dodge Aries 2 door and a 4 door. Those front seats are seriously comfortable.

These were great cars. Comfortable, smooth-riding, reliable as all get-out. Simple, humble cars that got the job done. They were never impressive, but they were never meant to be. I liked my K-coupe, it weirdly got 28mpg no matter how I drove it.

A 1980 K-car wagon was the first car I drove when I learned to drive in 1985. The only option was an automatic. Even though it is crap by today's standard, it really was a good car for its time.

Excuse me whilst I squeal like a little girl... Eee!!!! Long live the Pentastar!! K-car FOR LIFE!!!! We always love our first car. Mine was an 87 Plymouth Reliant LE coupé. He had the 2.2L, painted light blue and had a periwinkle & navy houndstooth velour bucket seats. That car took me everywhere as a teen. I retired it my senior year of high school and restored it. Old Byron is still sitting in storage only coming out during the summer for local car shows. K-cars always put a smile on my face. One of the best damn cars my family has ever had. Bought for an older sister of mine in 1992 for her to learn how to drive, then went to another sister, the briefly my mom, and then when I turned 14 he was mine. 13 years of near flawless service for my family, and he still turns over every spring to go gallivanting. Near perfect car.

5:18 the look on the driver's face says only one thing DA BEARS

neighbor had a blue aries wagon up until the mid 2000s. had a friend who had a plymouth caravelle up until two years ago when the transmission went out

I still love these boxes on wheels. Id take one over a cavalier or escort from the same era

"Times to shorter distances were even better..." Um, yeah.

I had an Aries as a company car. It was one that had the 2.5L engine which they offered that year as an option over the anemic 2.2L. The little wagon could actually get out of it's own way and handled well. Prior to that one, we had an Aries wagon but with the horrible 2.2L engine. That engine was pretty much DOA at 40K miles. Still, both cars had very comfortable seats and rode very smooth.

I owned two, both 1982, loved them both.

Remember those cars with the wood-grained trim? That was the 80s and 90s. It was also there in the with the Chrysler minivans...

I have always had a very special love for the K-Car. Sure, it was never the most beautiful car in the world, but how could you hate a car that saved an entire company from oblivion?!!!! The K-Car was responsible for my mentality that Chrysler was just the s*** in the 1980's, because that platform filled quite a few niches in the American car market that other manufacturers were ignoring. Plus, without the K-Car, we wouldn't have the minivan.........think about it!!!!

My parents took us from Kentucky to New England and back with this exact model. Parents up front and me and my niece in back. No seat belts. We were on the floor, seat, cargo area...making faces at other cars, playing travel board games. Simpler and better times. Anyway, the muffler fell off driving back through Pennsylvania on their wonderful shitty roads. Other than that, the car was awesome.

What's interesting about this 1985 Aries wagon is that it has power windows while most Aries models had roll-up windows.

A friend of mine's mother had the Chrysler version of the K Car wagon: a 1985 Lebaron Town & Country with the turbo engine. Those Turbo K Cars were quick back in the day. I love the 80's.

Ahh a Mitsubishi grenade under the hood, that's why I don't see these anymore. lol

My grandma had one of these and our first minivan was an 85 Caravan with the 2.6L 4 from Mitsubishi. Mitsu tends to get bad raps for burning oil and timing belts that snap bending valves and rendering the motors useless. If I remember correctly our minivan actually had a timing chain so we never worried about the engine. Towards the end of its life it leaked oil but it made it to 141,000 without much maintainence. My grandma's was hardly used and only has 35k on it when my uncle sold it. It looked to be in showroom condition

I owned a 1988 Reliant wagon. I never really liked the K models. Well my reliant changed my mind real fast. That car was great. The 2.2 Chrysler 4 cylinder had plenty of power. I miss it.

Still see these occasionally

I love this retro series!

I'd buy one of these in a heartbeat and what a good little car back in the day. My parents owmed a k car wagon staying in the family for many years.

We really liked our 1988 Aries wagon.

Once in a while I still see these cars around and they're in good condition.

that was a hard transition time for the American car industry, from large cars to these and morphing into what we have today ...it's been a weird trip

A wagon that size, with today's engines and electronics, would be a big seller. Wait, isn't that what a Subaru Outback does?

My family had an 85 Horizon and an 87 Le Baron. The Horizon went to 1997 and the LeBaron went to 1999. The Horizon was scrapped only because I didn't want to repair the exhaust manifold and we had air pollution testing, the LeBaron was totaled by another driver hitting it. So neither really broke down. If only domestic made cars were that relaible today.

I drove a k-car that had been rolled (physically) through college. I paid $200 for it. I learned that cranking the wheel while going fast in reverse will break half shafts. I learned that twice I’m a slow learner.

That fake Merc front end :D Doesnt look too bad though, it is a soothing MB style.

I drove this wagon several times with no oil. To the point where the engine would putter out and seize. Wait about 15 minutes and pour some oil in and voila it's ready to drive again. This thing was bullet proof and easy to fix and maintain.

My brother had an 88 or 89 Daytona turbo and got rear ended, bought 86 k wagon brown with the woodgrain "wall paper" in mint condition. Drivetrain swapped along with the suspension and brakes. Turned up the boost and fuel pressure and had the perfect sleeper.13.50 all day.hahahaha

These throwbacks are fun to watch during this covid lockdown.

I Out ran an Eclipse from dead stop in an Aries. Sleeper.

To think the K-series that saved Chrysler was based on a French design. K-series was a slightly bigger version of the L-series platform (Dodge Omni/Plymouth Horizon) which in turn was designed by French car maker SIMCA as the C2 global platform. Also the Dodge Omni/Horizon, aka Chrysler/SIMCA Horizon in Europe was styled by British designer Roy Axe who was brought over from Chrysler-owned Hillman (later worked with Rover, Honda and Bentley).

Wow, I've never seen one of these with power windows before. That's awesome. Can you post up the 82 K car review as well? I've owned (and own still) a lot of these and they've always been great to me.

my best friend had one passed down from grandparents.... when I tell you this car was the true bucket that did everything. multiple moves.... rolling deep wit friends to the beach.... camping..... grocery and mall shopping.... old school for real... .....but so comfortable ..... not a head turning but we would turn heads in the pull up . ...lol....... we literally put this wagon through everything.... We actually called it The Wagon.... ...lol..... once we grew out of it they actually took it as a trade in even with the permanent dipped back driver seat..... so many memories in the wagon. I still laugh about pulling up on people in it. but when people got in they would b like it's so comfortable...... same color with that one dent in the door.

my dad bought one despite my strong recommendation of honda accord. he still regrets his decision. he is 80.

The beauty of simplicity !

4:40 "For those times when you are caught driving in the wrong lane" Oh ok...I'm sure Lindsey Lohan will find this feature handy the next time she is driving in the wrong lane on the freeway.

My 88 Reliant had a 2.5 litre with a torque converter lockup transmission. When I stepped on it to pass someone on the highway, it actually moved. It rode like a Cadillac and the velour seats were super comfortable.

In 1988, with my blushing bride, we bought our first new car; a deep painted burgundy on burgundy interior Chrysler K station wagon, with every bell & whistle Chrysler offered. We needed it to haul our bouncing new baby boy around and a medical modality, a HUGE and very heavy [322-lbs] medical modality (an extremely effective pulsed-electromagnetic device) known as "Diapulse", I was a sales-rep for them at the time. But with the (IMO) the very weak and poorly designed Chrysler 4-cylinder. It was such a poor design that when it was low of just 1/3 of a quart of motor oil, the engine seized! I had to have it completely rebuilt! Other than the poor engine design, it really was a good automobile. we used it for three years then, after having it carefully tuned and detailed, gave it to my grandmother. She drove the boxy little wagon for over eleven years, granted she only used it to go grocery shopping and to church, but it still served her quite well. All-in-all, and other than the engine design defect, it was a good vehicle. RIP Chrysler, you deserved better than Fiat.

The pivoting light in the visor is cool.

The front-end could never be mistaken as a Mercedes-Benz at any angle to me

Great work Sir thank you

It doesn't look bad for a mid 80's car and you have to remember the national speed limit was 55mph.

I like how the tail lights are pretty similar to that of the 80's Rams tail lights. Just a little smaller.

My first car, which I received during my senior year of high school back in 1995, was a 1988 Dodge Aries LE, which was a K car. It was overall a very good economy vehicle for me.

I thought the 0-60mph and 0-500 feet times were adequate for a mid 80's compact wagon.

Can't....stop....watching....these....

I love the K Car!!!! Perfect Street Sleeper and excellent for Pro Touring and even Pro Street!!! I would use a Roadster Shop Chassis with a Hellcat Motor and T56 transmission. I would have a lot of fun on the Hot Rod Power Tour and Good guys Autocross!!!

The 2.6 Mitsubishi engine was useless. Chrysler's 2.2 and 2.5 were actually much more reliable, and that's saying something.

My parents had a 1988 K sedan and gave it to me when they go new. We go lucky. That thing would not die. Sold it with 180,000 miles for $2000 in 2005.

How can sound and video be this good??? I don't think movies looked this good in 1985.

I still see one of these still driving around!!

Drove a new 1987 K car wagon in drivers education.

I worked on a lot of k cars, luckily most had the 2.2 or 2.5 engines.

Although I would never own one, those rental K-cars could hold their own. I still remember being able to keep up with a BMW 5-series in the late 80's, when I was running late to a flight from EWR. We were limited by traffic flow, but I still got that bee-atch over 90, based on the speedometer that didnt have a peg at 85.

I just love those more 'boring' somewhat "bread and butter"kind of 1980's American cars. So overlooked and underestimated...Reliable,smooth'n creamy, not noisy, increadible mileage, spacey, I guess in some more remoted areas of the US, these might be sold for pocket money (with a Mitsubishi 2600cc), Wow!!

I would love to see the '82 Reliant test. Also, a little bit of trivia........1985 was the only year of the redesign that offered the 2.6 engine. It would be replaced by the Chrysler-built 2.5 for '86.

I kind of like it, I don't WANT one, especially with that engine and a three speed automatic, but I kind of like it.

One of my first cars was a K car, so I can't say I miss them, but it filled an essential need. A car just good enough for its time, and it offered midsized sedans and wagons at bargain basement prices. There doesn't seem to be an option for that niche anymore.

My grandmother had an Aries sedanWhite with dark red interior. It was comfy.

I'll Take One Of These Over Any POS SUV Any Day Of The Week!

I would LOVE to find a decent Aries/Reliant wagon with woodgrain trim and a manual transmission, just sounds like FUN

My dad had an 1987, it lasted until 2001.

That's not a Mercedes-styled grill -- it's historic Chrysler. That crosshair design showed up in the 1962 New Yorker, the '79 300, and many, many times since then.

My uncle rolled a k car station wagon in the winter. It's a miracle he survived!

grandpa had one of these and it was garbage, I'm honestly a Mopar guy, but i gotta say the 1980's was Chrysler's darkest era, that K wagon reminds me of the Chevy chevette, looks nice but in reality it's horrible

I've always abhorred the K- car, but considering it's competition at the time it's quite impressive.

That wagon, either had a manual transmission, or the test driver did the infamous neutral drop 😂

♫ If I had a million dollars...♪

This car was definitely underrated. I like small turning circles.