I’ll say it right now: between the end of the Musclecar era and the arrival of the Dodge Viper, the United States got shafted and Mexico got spoiled. Proof: We got the Dodge Dart Sport, the neutered and re-named Dodge Demon. In Mexico, that’s the Valiant Super Bee, and it was certainly NOT castrated. We got the Dodge Aspen R/T, they got Valiant Super Bee, Round Two. We got the Dodge Diplomat coupe, which would be going away because nobody bought a 118-horsepower two-door Diplomat, and they got the Magnum 5.9, a 360-powered unit that could be optioned with a four-speed manual and wheels that look strikingly like 1970s Corvette pieces. And insult to injury….We got the Dodge Spirit R/T. Now, we didn’t exactly lose with that car. It was a 224-horse four-door sleeper hit that could kick well above it’s pay grade. But in Mexico, that engine was put into the body you know better as the later 1980s Chrysler LeBaron coupe and was dubbed Phantom R/T.
First off, “Phantom” is a badass name. I don’t care if it is on a front-drive K-based machine. Second, since this is a Chrysler, you got the extra stuffing that the brand demanded…cushy front buckets really mesh well with a Lotus-headed screamer of a turbo four and a five-speed. This particular car was one-owner until 2012 and has been kept up very well over the years, with an aftermarket Alpine deck and Kicker speakers being the biggest modification to the coupe. Chrysler might have ditched their pony cars way too soon when the Barracuda and the Challenger went away in 1974, and they certainly didn’t offer anything really tantalizing until the Viper except for a couple of late-1970s disco muscle pieces, but for a daily driver kind of car, this thing is so worthy it isn’t funny. So long as the border crossing goes without a hitch, we’d be all over this car.
Be careful with this one. Mexican cars in the past did not have the same safety standards as US cars. Glass for example, bumpers etc. You’d also have to import this car & it would be subject to certain rules & regulations.
Owned a VW Thing made in Pueblo…when the windshield cracked we found out it was not laminated safety glass. They fixed it with a piece of flat glass from a Peterbilt. This and other faults led to the Feds. stopping importation.
My mom has the Chrysler T/C BY Maserati. Lift off hard top…I think its a 91 or 92?
Wow – this is a Mopar oddity that I’d never heard of before it came up on Bangshift. I had a ’89 LeBaron coupe with the 2.5 Turbo when I was in college.
I had the 87 Lebanon and the 84 New Yorker (fancy version of the K car) the Lebanon was the 2.5 supercharged four speed car VERY RARE it was turbo blue black hand stitched leather interior the only car at the time to have a message center..
They make em, they get em.
The side view in the ad looks like from the b-pillar back its of fox body mustang and from the b-pillar forward it’s a Beretta. Pretty cool. Probably would have been a cool competitor for the berettas and Grand Ams.
As a past owner of a 89 Lebaron GTC with the Intercooled 2.2 ,174hp engine. I heard rumors about these things in Mexico in the early 90\’s. But couldn\’t confirm. That car must be he\’ll on wheels. I would of snapped one up in a second if they offered it in the states
If it\’s 25 years or older, you can import it!
But where is that magnum with the 5.9? What\’s it look like?
RWD Mexican Dodge Magnum: https://bangshift.com/general-news/car-features/random-car-review-dodge-magnums-mexico/
basically an 81 2 door diplomat with a mid 70s musclecar vibe… and a 300 horse 360
Looks like…
https://www.google.com/search?q=chrysler+mágnum+v8&client=ms-android-huawei-rev1&prmd=isvn&sxsrf=ALeKk03-tj9i8-0Rfr2sXI9WFt2zDVS3ZA:1583538191269&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjiy4O7g4foAhUQXKwKHbvpA8kQ_AUoAXoECAoQAQ&biw=360&bih=660#imgrc=3qB1nezMdrYwRM
That era LeBaron were really sweet cars. Mopar missed the mark with the “Sebring”. Shame.
south africa got a hq holden with a 400 cu in small block, good combo and still handle