Good morning, Autopians! I’m back once again to show you two cars you don’t want, but must choose between anyway. Today’s search takes us down to the Big Easy, but before we go, let’s see what you made of yesterday’s small-town heroes:
Looks like a comfortable win for the Impala. I think that’s the right call. I do love a good pickup truck, but that GMC is just too damn rusty.
New Orleans is a city unlike any other. I haven’t been there since I was small, but even then I could tell the place was something special. New Orleans holds a special place in the collective unconscious and popular culture; it’s a place steeped in folklore, history, and even a little magic. It has withstood wars, hurricanes, floods, and throngs of invading Mardi Gras tourists. From voodoo to jazz, from cradle-robbing vampires to Ignatius J. Reilly, [Editor’s Note: I should mention my valve – JT] there’s no place quite like it. Such a special place demands a special mode of transport; you can’t just roll up to the House of the Rising Sun in a Sonata or something. So, as is our custom, we’re going to check out two rides, in this case thirty years apart in age, both just a little out of the ordinary, and see which one you would choose to get around this strange city.
1956 Nash Rambler plus parts car – $5,500
Engine/drivetrain: 195.6 cubic inch overhead valve inline 6, three-speed manual, RWD
Location: Franklinton, LA
Odometer reading: 11,000 miles (no really!)
Runs/drives? Yes, but needs brake work
The early days of America’s fourth-largest automaker were a mishmash of nameplates and badge engineering. Before everything wore an AMC badge, Nashes and Hudsons rolled off the same assembly line. The all-new-for-1956 Rambler came with either badge, and was bigger than the previous Nash Rambler, but still a lot smaller than most cars of the era. No more two-doors were offered; you could only get a Rambler as a four-door sedan, four-door hardtop, or station wagon.
This four-door sedan Rambler is reported to have only 11,000 miles on it, and have mostly original paint, with one front fender in primer. Oddly, the interior does not match the exterior at all. Could you order a car with salmon-pink paint outside and a turquoise interior? I know some weird color combinations existed in the ’50s, but my guess is that the interior parts were replaced in anticipation of a repaint. But I kinda like the mismatch, personally.
The seller says this car runs and drives, but the brakes need some attention before putting it into regular service. It’s a three-on-the-tree, of course, with a simple pushrod inline six in front of it. All nice, simple stuff to repair, and while replacement parts aren’t as easy to source as for a Ford or a Chevy, they’re not impossible to find. And with this one, to find some parts, you need only turn your head:
Yep. Another ’56 Rambler is included, though the slight differences in trim tell me that the parts car might be a Hudson. The parts car has a complete engine that has reportedly been rebuilt, but we have no idea when; it could have been decades ago.
1986 Chrysler LeBaron convertible – $7,000
Engine/drivetrain: 2.2 liter overhead cam inline 4, three-speed automatic, FWD
Location: New Orleans, LA
Odometer reading: 62,000 miles
Runs/drives? Perfectly
Fifties style too old for you? Fancy a little open-air experience? I’ve got you covered. I know that very few of you share my strange affinity for K-cars, but that’s fine. You have the right to be wrong.
What we’re looking at here is a post-facelift first-generation LeBaron convertible, after Chrysler softened the sharp edges a bit all across the K-car range. It has a fuel-injected 2.2 liter four under the hood, powering the front wheels through a three-speed Torqueflite automatic. It’s not going to be fast, but it’s a reasonably reliable and efficient drivetrain, and how fast do you want to go in a LeBaron anyway?
It’s in fantastic shape, with only 62,000 miles, and the seller says it runs great, and everything works. It’s got new tires, a new top, new brakes, and a long list of other stuff. I do have a feeling that the left rear quarter window won’t roll down; in every top-down photo in the ad it’s sticking up like a glass fin. But if one dead power window is the only problem, then it’s still probably one of the nicest K-cars left.
Oh, all right. It’s a dorky old car with zero sex appeal, lousy performance, and a lot of cultural baggage stuffed into its trunk. You almost certainly can find a better car, and you probably should buy it, but I don’t care. I like it. And yeah, it’s a little expensive, but it isn’t like first-generation LeBaron convertibles are in every used car lot anymore. You want a good one, this is what they cost now.
You can choose to drive a boring car instead of one of these, of course, but why would you, especially in a colorful and vibrant city like New Orleans? Why not instead drive a bona-fide ’50s classic, or an ’80s icon?
(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)
Ugh… I have a weird affection for K-cars as well, but a couple of signs in that LeBaron are really making me give it some major side-eye.
Look carefully at the windshield shade band, which the photographer appears to have carefully angled the shots to hide as much as possible. It’s not green any more — it’s significantly faded. The only cars I’ve ever seen faded “real” (that is, applied at manufacture of the glass, not tint-shop addons) shade bands are ones that have been smoked in — a lot. If that’s the case, then the headliner of the convertible top might also be genuinely nasty.
There looks to be some sun fading of the various interior surfaces and carpet; it’s probably had the top down with the interior baking in parking lots over its life — and that means that a lot of plastic and rubber bits are getting brittle. This car could nickel-and-dime you to death.
So, Ramblers it is, I guess. Can’t complain about the engine. The looks have always left me cold, but given a cheap car plus a parts car, and the opportunity for getting one drivable and a little further down the road to semi-restoration and then flipping the lot to a collector might be worthwhile — Take the money and go find something else weirder and more ill-advised to attempt to resurrect… ;P
When I was a kid there was a Nash station wagon of this color with black coves on my street. It was owned by an older guy, and it sat confidently in a showgirl curb-line of gunsight Imperials, cocktail-dress Bonnevilles, Sun-blind-you Buicks, and a neighbor with two Johnny-Cash black Sedan devilles (58 & 62) which only came out of the garage on Sundays to have their immaculate finish polished and buffed yet again.
Somehow the Rambler effected a “girl-next-door” feeling upon this 6-7 year old, and I guess it kind of stayed with me.
Rambler to The Big Easy
The answer is never K-Car.
I would only take the LeBaron over the Nash if it was Jon Voight’s car
The K-car might be in better than new condition!
I’ll take the Rambler.
No contest- Rambler/Hudson! (Especially since 2 for 1 deal) It’s so hard not to judge because in the car enthusiast/hobby scene everyone should be able to like what they like, but HAD to comment today to say how anyone can choose a LEBANON over a RAMBLER (& HUDSON) is beyond me…the only + is it’s a convertible…so even if Jon Voight was previous owner & his bitten pencil is in glovebox, still no contest (I LOVE Seinfeld!)
I’ll go with the project Rambler. Brakes are easy even if you have to replace the hard lines. As nice as that LeBaron is, the price takes it down. You’d have to really love the LeBaron to make the price worth it. Also, I already own 2 convertibles and that car has nothing on them.
Sorry, I love me some AMCs, but that Nash is just plain ol fugly. Add to that, it’s gonna require some amount of work to make it reliable/ driveable, everything is mismatched and dingy/gross inside, parts gonna be hard to come by, and somehow I have to arrange transport for not one but two shitheaps.
Nahh, the Nash makes the somewhat overpriced LeBaron look like a bargain. It’s a drop-top, the 4-banger is the newer fuel injected model, and both interior and exterior appear minty fresh.
Gimme a late 60s Rebel or American and I’d probably change my choice, but today, LeBaron gets my vote
Ugly-beautiful. Are you actually suggesting a LeBaron is more attractive? I’d rather take a Fiat Multipla over one of these things.
normally I would take the nash. But for 1500 extra I will get a better running car I don’t really like.
As someone who keeps hitting the sharp corners of windows, whether they be framed, as with my Mk4 Golf, or frameless, as with Subarus of the 80s through the 00s, ouch, I wonder how easy it’d be to retrofit ’62 doors on that ’56 Rambler:
http://californiastreets.blogspot.com/2014/07/berkeley-street-sighting-1962-rambler.html?m=0
So, we’ve got the “Yay Car” versus the “K Car.” I know which one I’m choosing. I remember a while back on Facebook Marketplace, someone listed a LeBaron as a LeBron and I can’t ever see it any other way.
AMC-ya later.
The answer is never a k car. Gott be the rambler.
Put the Playmates on the radio and cruise NOLA in the Nash looking for Cadillacs to scorn. You could scorn K car Lebarons, too, but that’s just a Big Easy.
I voted for the Rambler, but I kinda regret it. The K car has AC, and as I get older, that has become a real priority to me…
Nash, duh
$7000 for a fucking K-car lolwut
No clue why you folk are voting for the LeBaron.
Compared to a modern car, the two of those basically have the same level of options, its just one is a convertible with AC. Might as well cruise around in some style.
If the LeBaron was white, I’d trade my MG for it.
You also going to change your name from Kitty to Karen? (See song reference elsewhere in thread)
Unfortuantely, there are ZERO cupholders. Armrest or otherwise.
i’m getting some aloe for that burn. the last time to nola, we rolled in with a rental sonata (insert sad trombone sound).
Last time I was in NOLA, I rolled in with a 1990 Fleetwood Brougham. Black with grey mouse fur.
much better, lol.
I’ll ramble around the Big Easy in the Rambler. That K-car may be a convertible. But it’s still a K-car. Maybe a Gen Z person finds it interesting. But as an Xennial I can still smell the cigarette smoke and remember getting burned on the seat belt buckles of an elder family member’s K-car wagon. That also had the most annoying open door buzzer of any car ever and very close in tone to a cicada. When it bothered to run, that is.
Cultural references time: Barenaked Ladies directly referred to a K-car in their 1992 song “If I Had A Million Dollars” while Cake refers to a LeBaron in their 2001 song “Short Skirt/Long Jacket”.
the convertible would be a theft liability in that town. the Manual three on the tree would be the most effective theft deterrent known to LA.
I wanna be a Rablin’ Man, not Freddy Got Fingered
There’s no denying that Nash (Hudson?) is pretty cool — but I’ll take the one I can drive right now. It’s the LeBaron for me, and we’ll start looking for OE alloys to replace the Walmart wire wheel covers.
Pretty sure my Grandfather’s New Yorker of that era had the same wheel covers. Not sure they aren’t OEM.
Yeah, pretty sure that they are OEM. The key there is to make sure that the key itself is somewhere in the glove box. Yes kids, these things actually had a theft deterrence factor in the form of a T-shaped tool that mated to a strangely shaped nut found under the cap in the middle. Stealing a wire hubcap is laughable now, but was enough to demand this kind of attention once upon a time.
And they rattled like crazy!
Extra credit for the Confederacy of Dunces reference! Nice.
Have you read his other book, The Neon Bible? It is totally different in every way, more in the theme of Steinbeck, only grimmer and more heartbreaking. It is goddamn brilliant, and he wrote it when he was *sixteen*. It’s such a shame his life was so short, because he was a brilliant, brilliant writer.
Also, 2-tone Nash aaaaaalll day. GTFO with that 7 grand K car. Just, no.
I am surprised anyone can vote for an overpriced convertible K Car. The Nash would honestly be basically free as I feel like the parts car could be flipped for that price alone.
the spare is a 57 BTW, it was just Rambler at that point I believe, Nash was out of the picture.
Hey, uhh, I hate to bug you… but were is New Orelans?
Thinkb it’s where John Voight lives.
Aw crap! Lemme see if someone can fix that.
“….where is New Orelans?”
Probably in Indiana, along with Paris, Kocomo, Albany, Warsaw, Frankfort, Yorktown, Brazil, Delphi, Milan, Frankfort, Bristol, Paris, Rome, Mexico, Morocco, English, Palestine, Dublin, Lebanon, and other creatively named cities. Looking at city names while driving through Indiana is an international experience. The spelling is an affectation.
(Edit) Whoops! There IS already an Orleans in Indiana! The joke is on me!
Unless there’s solid documentation proving otherwise, I just assume any car with a 5-digit odometer showing a low number has been around the clock at least once.
For me, claims of low mileage on a car that old don’t matter much. Lots of things — brakes, weather sealing, tires, belt(s), hoses, engine parts — will have to be dealt with, and it doesn’t much matter if they have 11,000 or 211,000 miles on them. It’s an Old Car thing.
Still, the Rumbler grabs me. Never drove one, but have heard they will go on and one long after the last touchscreen fades to black.
On the other hand, I have driven K-cars. Which is enough reason to go with whatever else Mark puts up against it.