"Nile Livesey" (scolirk)
08/15/2020 at 21:47 • Filed to: None
3
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"Nile Livesey" (scolirk)
08/15/2020 at 21:47 • Filed to: None | 3
| 12 |
Months ago I made a terrible financial decision to buy a 1997 Chrysler Intrepid 3.5L essentially sight unseen for a dirt cheap price of $500. After it almost killed me on my maiden voyage home I ended up scrapping it for what I paid for, but in the process I met the owner of a car I never thought I’d want to drive: a barn find 1993 Chrysler LeBaron LX convertible.
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I live in Québec, Canada, but I’m not fully bilingual. In fact I decided to move to a pretty French area as an English-speaking Canadian, which requires a certain level of skill when I try to track down mint classic cars to feature on my YouTube Channel. The owner of this 1993 Chrysler LeBaron LX convertible had it sitting in a shed behind his shop and said it hadn’t been driven in a long time. He let me poke around and showed me under the hood, what I found was an engine bay cleaner than any press car I’ve ever driven.
I came back at least 4 times over the next 2 months asking him if I could film it, every time was a new adventure as I tried to explain to the owner what the Internet was, why I make videos on cars, and why he would want to give me the keys to a 67,000km car. Finally after basically explaining what I wanted to do like it was the first time he heard it he agreed to let me film it.
I hadn’t been this excited to drive a car in a very long time, and I was actually spending a week with the 2020 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk that week. I had about 3 hours to do everything I needed to with this car, which is what I need to film anything, but it just didn’t feel like enough time to do this car justice. What you’re looking at is a 67,000km 1993 Chrysler LeBaron LX convertible, sold in Drummondville Québec in 1993 on a trade for a 1989 Dodge Caravan. Sale price was $22,900.00 CAD, trade in value on the Caravan was $10,000. Looks like the buyer also went with the anti-rust and some gold plan Chrysler was offering, a whopping 3 year 50,000km warranty. This dealer that sold the car still exists today in the same location it was back in 1993.
I go into the whole history of the LeBaron Carrossiers Inc. during the video linked above, but basically they were an independent coachbuilder in the 1920s, bought by the Briggs Manufacturing Company early in their life, and then sold to Chrysler Corp. after Walter Briggs died in 1952. Since then the LeBaron name has been used on a number of different vehicles, but most commonly on the coupes, convertibles, and sedans sold in the later half of the decade. I didn’t expect there to be a tonne of interest on this car, let’s face it, it’s a LeBaron, but I wanted to feature this car more for the story and the fact that it’s such an excellent example of this generation.
The first thing I noticed was how different the interior felt compared to other 90s cars I’ve driven. Chrysler was looking towards the future with the LCD gauge cluster, driver-focused centre-stack, and the strange button placements around the cockpit. The headlights and wipers were actual buttons along either side of the cluster, and the turn signals felt like they were common problems due to how brittle they were. At least you could flick them from the steering wheel easy enough. A/C was ice cold on this, convertible top worked great, and the radio even picked up decent sound, it was an Infinity unit after all.
The exterior design of the LeBaron hasn’t aged all that great, I’d say the flush mount headlights helped to modernize the design over the pop up ones, but that amber rear taillight just doesn’t look right on all this blue. While it isn’t as sexy as the Chrysler TC by Maserati, the LeBaron’s coke bottle shape is pretty cool as far as I’m concerned.
Driving this car was incredible. It’s not like these cars are unheard of here in Québec, in fact I spotted two other LeBaron convertibles of this generation on my short drive filming this. The body flex with the roof down was nuts, it’s not a car I would want to take on a rough road or over major bumps. The suspension wasn’t as soft as some of the other recent American cars I’ve driven from the 80s, and 90s, but overall felt solid, right for this kind of cruising car. The 3.0L Mitsubishi V6 engine didn’t do much to excite, but was quiet enough while cursing around town.
It definitely isn’t the car for everyone. Even hardcore Mopar enthusiasts will likely skip this one on their list, but finding an example like this in Canada is pretty tough. The underside and engine bay on this car were truly spectacular, and the car honestly felt like it was brand new. I was shocked that it had travelled 67,000+ kms considering the condition this car is in.
While this post isn’t meant to be an ad for the car, it is for sale though you’ll never find it online. According to the owner he doesn’t have the Internet, and given how tough it was for me to get him to agree to film it I believe him. He’s asking about $7,500.00 CAD for this car in the condition that it’s in, and I’ve offered to help the buyer get in touch with the owner if they’re serious about it, although you’re going to have to speak better Québecois French than I do in order to get the deal done.
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Beefchips
> Nile Livesey
08/15/2020 at 22:41 |
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R ad soundtrack and a really interesting vid, thanks! T hat car’s a powerful hit of nostalgia. I feel like i’m going back to grade school.
bshappy
> Nile Livesey
08/15/2020 at 22:55 |
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Did it once belong to Jon Voight?
pip bip - choose Corrour
> Nile Livesey
08/15/2020 at 23:30 |
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more junk we in Australia were lucky not to get
BaconSandwich is tasty.
> Nile Livesey
08/15/2020 at 23:50 |
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That’s impressive - for any car of that age to have such low mileage.
When I see a LeBaron, I think of my home town. A local dentist had one. He eventually left his family and shackled up with someone in Peru, from what I heard. Odd memories...
someassemblyrequired
> Nile Livesey
08/16/2020 at 00:12 |
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Given how brutal Quebec roads are it’s amazing how many survivor cars there are like this one. Actually a shockingly good car scene.
Dead_Elvis, Inc.
> Nile Livesey
08/16/2020 at 00:40 |
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was quiet enough while cursing around town
I suppose if you have the top up , passers-by won’t hear most of it.
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Nile Livesey
> Beefchips
08/16/2020 at 22:33 |
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Thanks! I’ve been adding the music into the videos recently to help with pacing and the ambiance. I think it paired well for this car!
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Nile Livesey
> bshappy
08/16/2020 at 22:33 |
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Why does the owner’s manual say John on it. I’m sure Jon Voight forgot how to spell his own name!
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Nile Livesey
> BaconSandwich is tasty.
08/16/2020 at 22:34 |
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Haha! I was impressed with the condition of this and the mileage. I can’t see there being many LeBarons out there that were garage kept, most people bought them to drive them, and then resold them for Sebrings a few years later.
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Nile Livesey
> someassemblyrequired
08/16/2020 at 22:35 |
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I’m always impressed when I find a car like this out here. I filmed a 94 Town Car a few days before this and it was solid, no real rust issues that I could tell but the car also came from St. Catharines, Ontario and made it’s way out here.
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Nile Livesey
> pip bip - choose Corrour
08/16/2020 at 22:36 |
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One man’s junk is another man’s LeBaron!
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BaconSandwich is tasty.
> Nile Livesey
08/17/2020 at 09:27 |
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Do they salt the roads in Quebec as badly as they do in Ontario? If so, that would make this extra special. When I was in Ontario back in the early 2000s it wasn't uncommon to see cars only a few years old with big chunks of rust.