Start with what the Chrysler LeBaron is: a 2-door coupe / 2-door convertible (roadster) / 4-door sedan / 4-door convertible with 385 CID Imperial 8 I8, built from 1930, when streamlining and independent suspension were arriving together. What it meant takes a little longer.
The story
The Chrysler LeBaron is a line of automobiles built by Chrysler from 1931 to 1941 and from 1977 to 1995. Chrysler also used the LeBaron name for the Imperial LeBaron from 1957 to 1975. The model was introduced in 1931, with a body manufactured by LeBaron, and competed with other luxury cars of the era, such as Lincoln and Packard. After purchasing LeBaron with its parent Briggs Manufacturing Company, Chrysler introduced the luxury make Imperial in 1955, and sold automobiles under the name Imperial LeBaron from 1957 until 1975. Chrysler discontinued the Imperial brand for 1976 and reintroduced the Chrysler LeBaron in 1977 to what was then Chrysler's lowest-priced model. Chrysler has used the LeBaron name across five cars:
1977–1981 M-body (mid-size) LeBaron sedan, coupe, and wagon 1982–1988 K-body (mid-size) LeBaron sedan, coupe, convertible, and wagon 1985–1989 H-body (mid-size) LeBaron GTS hatchback 1987–1995 J-body (personal luxury) LeBaron coupe and convertible 1990–1994 AA-body (mid-size) LeBaron sedan The last Chrysler LeBaron was manufactured in 1995, to be replaced with the Cirrus and Sebring. The LeBaron was one of Chrysler's longest-running brands.
What is underneath
The engine is 385 CID Imperial 8 I8; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. Drive goes through a 3-speed manual / 4-speed manual. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Its place in the line
In the Chrysler line-up the Chrysler LeBaron has a clear place: it handed the line to the Chrysler New Yorker Fifth Avenue for rear-drive M-body version (1982) / Chrysler Fifth Avenue for rear-drive M-body version (1983) / Chrysler Cirrus for front-drive sedan (1995) /; the factory was Detroit, Michigan, United States. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Bugatti Type 41 town car, the Hispano-Suiza type H6 B convertible coupé de ville, the Rolls-Royce Phantom II driver-coupé. Nearby in the Chrysler catalogue sit the Chrysler Falcon and the Chrysler Chronos.
Owning one today
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Chrysler LeBaron has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.