The last time I attempted this stunt, it was based off of one model: the Plymouth Duster, a car that had a special edition for every season of the year, it seemed. This time around I decided to try something a little more insane and depraved: a rundown of every car that was based upon the Chrysler K-car platform. I really must be losing my head…following Chrysler Corporation’s near-death in the late 1970s, the K-car appeared in 1981 and managed, through updates, wheelbase extensions, nameplate changes and about every visual trick in the book, to remain until 1995. In that time period the K-platform underpinned economy cars, station wagons, luxobarges, cop cars, limousines, minivans, sports cars, personal luxury coupes, and convertibles. Carroll Shelby would even tune a couple of them before it was all said and done. Regardless of the body code used for each model, the underpinning traces its roots to the 1981 Reliant/Aries. In whatever order I can manage, here’s the entire rundown:

K-car: Dodge Aries, Plymouth Reliant, Dodge 400, Chrysler Lebaron (small body), Dodge Dart K, Valiant Volare K, Dart by Chrysler, Volare by Chrysler, Plymouth Caravelle Coupe, Dodge 600 (coupe and convertible), Dodge Magnum 400/Turbo Magnum, 1985 Chrysler 600 Coupe

It was tiny, it was underpowered, but it was cheap and by a sheer stroke of luck, it was perfectly timed. The Aries and Reliant twins are credited with providing the initial boost of desperately-needed income to Chrysler, and they sold on the same principles that the Dodge Dart and Plymouth Valiant sold on: cheap and basic. The Dodge 400 and Chrysler LeBaron were simply the tarted-up versions. Outside of the United States the K-car was named practically everything under the sun. The Magnum 400 and Turbo Magnum were positioned as muscle cars in Mexico, taking over from the 360/4-speed M-body based Dodge Magnum.

E-body: Chrysler E-class, Chrysler New Yorker, Dodge 600 sedan, Plymouth Caravelle, Dart by Chrysler (Mexico/Latin America), Volare by Chrysler (Mexico/Latin America), 1988 New Yorker Turbo

The K-body’s 100.3″ wheelbase was stretched three inches for increased interior room and the cars got kicked upscale. The E-class was basically the 1980s New Yorker with half of the fluff removed…think of it as the front-wheel-drive Newport and it will make sense. The Dodge 600 was given the Euro Sedan tinge with the 600ES package, and the Caravelle (which was the Canadian nameplate for the Plymouth Gran Fury) existed simply because the E-class didn’t sell worth a damn and Chrysler had to move cars.

S and AS-body: The Minivans (first and second generation)

If the K-car was the winning Hail Mary, the minivans collectively were the Goose That Laid The Golden Egg. Chrysler hit a home run when they created a segment that really hadn’t been explored in 1984, and until 1994 the humble Reliant platform underpinned these breadboxes as well. Two interesting notes: you could get a manual transmission in these vans, and these were the only all-wheel-drive K-based vehicles.

G-body: Dodge Daytona, Chrysler Daytona (Canada) and Chrysler Laser

Not every K-car was pedestrian. The Dodge Daytona and Chrysler Laser twins were visually arresting K-cars that, with the right options checked off, would be a match for the contemporary Mustang, Camaro and Firebird. The Laser lasted four years, but the Daytona ran through 1993. The one to look for is the 224hp IROC R/T, with C/S models a very close second.

H-body: Dodge Lancer, Chrysler LeBaron GTS, Shelby Lancer

Close in size and dimensions to the E-body sedans, the H-cars are five-door hatchbacks. Shelby Lancers are good for 175hp/175tq out of the turbocharged 2.2L four, and five-speed manuals were available.

J-body: Chrysler LeBaron Coupe/Convertible, Chrysler Phantom (Mexico)

The coupe was handsome enough, and was being tested as a race car platform before ARCA put their foot down. The convertible you know well…especially in such period-correct colors as turquoise and purple. In Mexico it was called the Phantom…a pretty badass name for a four-cylinder coupe/convertible pair.

P-body: Dodge Shadow, Plymouth Sundance, Plymouth Duster, Shelby CSX

This was the stop-gap between the Dodge Omni/Plymouth Horizon and the Neon. Unless it’s a Shelby, you’re looking at severely basic transportation, nothing more.

AA-body: Dodge Spirit, Plymouth Acclaim, 1990-up Chrysler LeBaron, 1990-94 Chrysler New Yorker (Mexico only), Chrysler Saratoga (Europe only)

By 1988 the original K-cars were aged and Chrysler gave us these as replacements. The Dodge Spirit R/T received the 224hp turbo mill in 1991 and it turned the otherwise uninspiring brick into a stomper: a 14.5 quarter-mile out of a car that looks like this isn’t anything to sneeze at today, but back then this thing was a jaw-dropper.

C-body: 1988-93 Chrysler New Yorker, Dodge Dynasty, Chrysler Dynasty (Canada)

The C-body was historically the designation for the big car, but spiritually the New Yorker and Dynasty were taking the place of the soon-to-be-axed Dodge Diplomat and Chrysler Fifth Avenue. Size-wise they were very comparable, but the weak-link Ultradrive automatic transmission doomed these things from the start. Fun fact: this is the first “new car” I was ever around…

Y-body: Chrysler Imperial, 1990-1993 Chrysler New Yorker Fifth Avenue

With a wheelbase of 109.3″, size and trim were the only real differences between the “not again” Imperial/Fifth Avenue and the C-body New Yorker. In today’s money, it would take nearly $49,000 to take one of these home, and you’d be rewarded for all of your troubles with the temperamental and self-destructive Ultradrive. At least the Mark Cross leather would make sitting on the side of the road comfortable.

Q-body: Chrysler TC by Maserati

This is what happened when Alejandro De Tomaso and Lee Iacocca got drunk together one night and decided to combine forces. It was a overly-expensive Chrysler LeBaron convertible with enough tridents inside pentastars to make you sick. Somehow the TC by Maserati lasted three years, though nobody knows how.

Limousine: Chrysler Executive and Limousine

Far and wide the strangest adaptation of the K-car, the Executive series limousines started life as K-body Chrysler LeBaron two-doors with Chrysler E-class trimmings. Sent off to ASC, they were cut and stretched out into either the 124″ five-passenger Executive or the 131″ seven-passenger Limousine. The only two engine options were the Mitsubishi-sourced 2.6L four cylinder or the turbocharged 2.2L Chrysler mill. Rarely approaching 1,000 cars per year, these are rare to see in any condition.

A well-deserved tip of the hat to Curbside Classic and Jason Shafer for his work in compiling the main list. See his work HERE.