Yet another derivative of the ubiquitous K-car platform, the J-bodies were used to underpin the third generation of the Chrysler LeBaron, now a sportily-styled coupe and convertible, for 1987.
It was initially offered with the gutless normally-aspirated 2.2L and 2.5L inline fours, or turbocharged variants of each, which required driving in a fashion unbecoming of a Chrysler customer in order to keep the motor on boost and derive any benefit from the turbo.
For the 1990 model year the 3.0L Mitsubishi 6G72 SOHC V-6 was added to the powerplant roster. While giving up a few horsepower to the turbo fours, the Mitsu six produced comparable torque and, more importantly, delivered it without having to rev it like a banshee, which was important given the buying demographic and the fact that the vast majority of LeBarons were sold with automatic transmissions.
By 1990, the vast majority of LeBarons were also convertibles. The J-platform had been designed from the jump-off to be sold as both a coupe and a convertible and, while in that first model year of '87 Chrysler sold 75,000 hardtops to 8,000 ragtops, by 1991 the convertible was outselling the coupe by a three-to-one margin.
The 1991 GTC convertible in the photo, in the eye-catching Radiant Fire color, has the 141 horsepower Mitsubishi V-6. Figure a zero-to-sixty time somewhere in the eights if you were willing to brake-torque it away from a traffic light.
It was photographed in October of 2024 using a Nikon D300S and an 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR II zoom lens.
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