NEW! Award 83: 1993 Chrysler LeBaron Convertible 8K Survivor- Sold?

October 14, 2021 Update – We just confirmed the listing for this “Classifind” expired, so with no replacement found we’re assuming this ride “Sold?” While this one got away, please reach out either by email or call us directly if you’d like to be informed when we come across something similar.

As far as car interiors go, nothing in our book is more stunning than white leather seats contrasted by a different color dashboard, door cards, and carpet. As good as it looks, however, it’s very difficult to maintain as simply looking at white leather seats, especially in a convertible, can get them dirty quickly without fastidious care. Another way to keep such seats looking like new is to simply not drive the car, as that is what appears to be the case with this 1993 Chrysler LeBaron LX convertible originally listed in September 2021 on Craigslist in Shaker Heights, Ohio (Cleveland) with only 8,042 original miles.

Not yet considered a classic car by our usual pricing sources, the J.D. Power NADA Guides Online Valuation Tool reveals the current “Low”, “Average”, and “High” retail valuations to be only $1,292, $2,585, and $3,822, respectively. Bring A Trailer auctioned these three examples over the past year with not one coming close to the $10K threshold. Finally, Classic.com confirms the average selling price for these to be just under five large with the top sale in the past five years only hitting $9,500. Since the asking price is well above any recent past sale, we have no choice but to give the seller our latest “NEW!” (short for “No Effin Way!”) Award for setting a price completely oblivious to current market conditions.  We get the low mileage and stunning interior warrant a premium for this car, but anything over $10,000 in our humble opinion would be well sold.

While Chrysler rebuilt the American convertible (albeit in a much smaller form) converting K-Car coupes into drop-tops starting in 1982, the novelty of the cars quickly started to fade as cowl shake set in as consumers added miles.  Not resting on its laurels, Chrysler released a new LeBaron for 1987 in coupe and convertible form. Unlike its predecessor, Chrysler engineered the car to be a convertible from the outset and thus was able to transfer production back onto its main assembly line.  The all-new LeBaron looked modern and aerodynamic compared to its boxy predecessor and was quite stylish for its day, featuring headlights hidden behind retractable metal covers and a waterfall grille, steeply raked windshield, full-width taillight lenses though only the edges actually lit up, and curved (Coke bottle) style rocker panels. The LeBaron was equipped with a trip & fuel economy computer and full instrumentation. In Mexico, these models were marketed as the Chrysler Phantom. The available engines were the stock 2.2-liter and 2.5-liter, naturally aspirated or turbocharged, and for the 1990 model year, a 3.0-liter Mitsubishi V6 became available.

Here’s a 1987 commercial we came across from the year Chrysler launched the redesigned LeBaron convertible:

As much as we love the low-mileage and stunning interior of this LeBaron, we were never big fans of the non-hidden headlight, V6-powered version.  Candidly we prefer either an earlier turbocharged, hidden headlight example or even a later model Sebring that replaced this car.

Here’s the seller’s description:

“8,000 MILES … Striking Red Metallic … Flawless White Leather … 3.0 liter V-6 … White power top … Ice cold A/C … Unrestored gem …“

Show or go: what would you do with this survivor LeBaron Convertible?  Comment below and let us know!