K-Car

83 Plymouth Reliant

Summary

The K-cars, the Dodge Aries and Plymouth Reliant, were, quite literally, the cars that saved Chrysler. In 1979, as Chrysler CEO Lee Iacocca was asking Congress for loan guarantees that would save his company its first brush with bankruptcy, early test versions of these cars were provided as proof that the carmaker could compete, if given the chance.

The sales pitch worked, and so did the K-cars. Chrysler paid off its $1.5 billion in loans ahead of schedule.

The K-Car includes cars made on the K-Platform, but there were slight variations to that original FWD Platform, which were given the platform designations of E, G, H, J, C, A, and P. Some of these designations were used earlier in the 60s and 70s for RWD platforms, but have nothing in common with them. The FWD versions will be discussed here in the K-Car topic, rather than in the RWD Platform topics with those designations.

need some help on the below models to indicate the years in the various platforms

K-Platform

• Dodge Aries 81-89
• Dodge 400 82-84
• Plymouth Reliant 81-89
• Chrysler Le Baron
• Chrysler Town & Country

E-Platform

• Dodge 600
• Chrysler E-Class

G-Platform

• Chrysler New Yorker
• Chrysler Laser
• Dodge Daytona

H-Platform

• Plymouth Cavavelle
• Dodge Lancer
• Chrysler Le Baron GTS

J-Platform

• Chrysler Le Baron

C-Platform

• Dodge Dynasty

A-Platform

• Plymouth Acclaim
• Doge Spirit

P-Platform

• Plymouth Sundance
• Dodge Shadow

References

• Chrysler Heritage Body Chart

Links

• MoparStyle FWD Forums