live_tv
Livestream Starting Soon
00
Hours
:
00
Minutes
:
00
Seconds
Up next in 10
Almost forgotten now! Lightweight cars with European underpinnings that fought for attention and credibility - Lee Iacocca's try at recreating his Mustang magic.
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
welcome car enthusiasts today we're
0:02
exploring the story of the Dodge 024 and
0:05
Plymouth
0:06
TC3 let's delve into this chapter in
0:09
Automotive
0:10
History Lee aoka was the decisive leader
0:13
of Chrysler in the
0:15
1980s he came from Ford where he was
0:17
really known for the 1964 Ford Mustang
0:21
Lee was king of Chrysler in his prime he
0:24
fired off new car ideas one after the
0:26
other and some took off convertibles
0:29
while some failed luxury cars based on
0:32
the economy
0:33
Reliant after he took over at Chrysler
0:36
he returned to the same basic idea with
0:39
new coups based on the European
0:41
engineered Dodge Omni and Plymouth
0:43
Horizon small hatchbacks that earned the
0:46
title of car of the year on both sides
0:48
of the Atlantic these coups had sporty
0:51
looks but they were initially hampered
0:53
by underpowered engines sourced from
0:56
Volkswagen and PUO as Chrysler worked on
0:58
their own four cylinder
1:01
when Chrysler's own 2.2 L 4 cylinder
1:04
engine finally arrived in 1981 it
1:07
provided 84 horsepower and performance
1:10
started to match the looks of these very
1:12
light cars 2.2 power grew later and
1:16
these cars were much more attractive the
1:18
sporty coups really needed turbocharged
1:21
four cylinders that would not be
1:22
available for years to come and that was
1:25
likely their
1:26
downfall the one thing that bugged Lee
1:29
was the C pillar and backlight stylists
1:32
tried numerous appliques and even an
1:35
opera window but Lee was never happy
1:37
with it finally he chose a quarter
1:40
window
1:42
applique the original cars were the
1:44
Dodge 024 and Plymouth TC3 presumably
1:49
the 24 came from twodo 4cylinder while
1:52
TC3 was based on being a coupe three
1:55
door they handled quite well though they
1:57
were not especially refined by American
2:00
Standards they were meant for
2:01
inexpensive fun fuel economy was good
2:04
given the lightweight buyers could
2:06
expect 25 30 OA m g in mostly City
2:09
driving from the smaller four cylinders
2:12
the Pepe 2.2 dropped around 1 mile per
2:15
gallon the high performance 2.2 with 110
2:18
horsepower took away a bit more mileage
2:21
consumer guide said that 110 hor engine
2:24
had eye-opening pickup the cars were
2:27
quite small they were just 50 6 in wide
2:31
and around 173 in Long starting in late
2:35
1981 they brought out the Dodge Charger
2:38
and Plymouth Turismo names for sporty
2:40
versions with 2.2 L engines Car and
2:44
Driver laed the charger 2.2 calling it
2:48
one of this year's most pleasant
2:49
surprises and claiming that it easily
2:51
beat the Volkswagen shocco in
2:54
acceleration and was more aligned with
2:56
Audi in speed the 1983 Shelby charger
3:00
was mainly done at Chrysler engineering
3:03
and had a 107 horsepower version of the
3:05
2.2 engine sales were still low so
3:09
Chrysler spruced the cars up for 1984
3:12
adding full instrumentation to the
3:15
gauges the 1985 addition of the 2.2 L
3:19
turbo engine producing 146 horsepower
3:23
finally gave these cars the power they
3:25
needed for 1986 the Turismo had a new
3:29
option the duster package the first time
3:32
that name was used on a front drive Car
3:35
Duster had special seats wheels and
3:38
trim despite these improvements sales
3:41
remained disappointing the cars never
3:44
quite captured the Market's attention as
3:46
aoka had hoped on the lighter side over
3:49
half of the buyers were under 35 and
3:52
their median age was 29 the youngest
3:55
buyers of any Plymouth but it was really
3:57
an entrylevel car
4:00
the charger and Turismo born the 024 and
4:03
TC3 were dropped at the end of 1987 many
4:07
had loved them and many had laughed at
4:09
them but with the 2.2 L engines they
4:12
provided quite good performance for the
4:14
price they were fun
4:16
cars find more at mot tales.com the site
4:20
for Mopar methods people cars and
4:23
history
#Motor Vehicles (By Type)
#Custom & Performance Vehicles
#Chrysler
#Dodge
#Fiat
#Compact Cars
#Coupes
#Motor Vehicles (By Brand)