1986 Chrysler LeBaron Town & Country Convertible 'Gran-Detroit Farm & Country Turbo' [KCP27]

1986 Chrysler LeBaron Town & Country Convertible [KCP27] in Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Movie, 1987

Class: Cars, Convertible — Model origin:

1986 Chrysler LeBaron Town & Country Convertible 'Gran-Detroit Farm & Country Turbo' [KCP27]

00:51:12 Vehicle used a lot by a main character or for a long time

Comments about this vehicle

Author	Message
Sunbar ◊ 2006-04-26 19:17
DIEHARD ◊ 2006-04-26 19:20	It is a Chrysler, but the type?? LeBaron?
Sunbar ◊ 2006-04-26 19:26	DIEHARD wrote It is a Chrysler, but the type?? LeBaron? Could be...I saw it was listed but was not sure if it was this vehicle.
DT ◊ 2006-04-26 19:51	1986 Chrysler LeBaron. I believe they showed the owners manual in one sceen, and thats how I know the year.
G-MANN ◊ 2006-04-26 20:16	What does that badge next to the wheel arch say? Grand-something or other.
wrenchhead ◊ 2006-04-26 21:04	I think all the convertibles were LeBaron. I believe they called the wooden ones LeBaron Town and Country. There was a Mark Cross edition but I don't know anything else about it.
modell ◊ 2006-04-26 21:04	DT wrote 1986 Chrysler LeBaron. I believe they showed the owners manual in one sceen, and thats how I know the year. When Neal is putting his wallet in the glove compartment, you can clearly see a red book that says "1988". So I guess it's really a 1988 model, not 1986.
DIEHARD ◊ 2006-04-26 21:42	G-MANN wrote What does that badge next to the wheel arch say? Grand-something or other. It is indeed Grand Something And the type is a Turbo, seeing the badge underneath, the badge underneath that says 'Intercooler' I think..
antp ◊ 2006-04-26 21:57	DIEHARD wrote It is indeed Grand Something Grand Baron ?
Rocker B. J. ◊ 2006-04-26 22:08	Actually the LeBaron started to have doors on the headlights in 1987. -- Last edit: 2006-04-27 01:23:32
Rocker B. J. ◊ 2006-04-26 22:09	Actually it is a Modified 1986 Chrysler LeBaron.
modell ◊ 2006-04-26 23:42	Ok, then I guess the owners manual was actually an atlas or hotel directory or something like that.
Sunbar ◊ 2006-04-27 00:32	You can just see that its 1986 definitely not an '8' ....but what it is I'm not sure? Could be a manual or handbook.
modell ◊ 2006-04-27 00:46	It happened so fast that it looked like 1988 to me. I did a google image search on '86 and '88 LeBarons- yeah, it's definetely an '86.
qwerty_86 ◊ 2006-04-27 05:52	It is basically a LeBaron the same way the Family Truckster is a LTD Wagon. This is actually a customized made-for-movie car. The hood ornament and badges are different than a stock LeBaron. I believe it's a reference to the Family Truckster (same color and trim).
qwerty_86 ◊ 2006-04-28 04:05	'86 alright: Funny, it has Dodge 600 taillights: Check out the hood ornament: Weird badge on the side:
Jules ◊ 2006-06-09 22:15	It is a reference to Wagon Queen Family Truckster from Vacation, both movies are John Hughes films.
Hecubus ◊ 2007-02-24 02:43	Gran-Detroit?
Steve228 ◊ 2007-02-28 13:49	This car is actually the LeBarons twin, the Dodge 600. The Chrysler grill was modification for the movie. the scene when the steering wheel melts in John Candys hands, that is a Dodge steering wheel where the Chryslers had the crystal pentistar on the steering wheel. It also explains the back tail lights
nubby ◊ 2007-07-31 08:36	I hate those hubcaps.
chicomarx ◊ 2007-09-15 01:42	Imdb says something else: "The green convertible is a 1986 Dodge 600 ES Turbo, with a 2.2 Turbo engine, it was modified for the film. The manual can be seen in the glove compartment when Neil puts his wallet in there."
truck man ◊ 2007-12-06 01:16	I knew it was a 1986 Dodge 600 ES Turbo all this time.
no1Uno ◊ 2008-02-25 01:33	steve228 wrote This car is actually the LeBarons twin, the Dodge 600. The Chrysler grill was modification for the movie. the scene when the steering wheel melts in John Candys hands, that is a Dodge steering wheel where the Chryslers had the crystal pentistar on the steering wheel. It also explains the back tail lights its a LeBaron Town and Country; the wood side trim was only offerd on the LeBaron Town and Country (the Town and Country badge can be seen several times) they probably added the tail lights/steering from a 600 so it wouldn't look exactly like LeBaron. Also the trunk couldn't be from an '86 because of the luggage rack (the '86s third brakelight got in the way) The rest of the body is an '86 without question -- Last edit: 2013-04-08 08:55:50
nubby ◊ 2008-04-14 23:08	I agree with no1Uno. It's a 1986 Chrysler LeBaron Town&Country. A Dodge 600 was probably used as a double in the interior shots, because of the steering wheel that John Candy bends, and the owner's manual as chicomarx said. Mainly this car is supposed to be a Chrysler LeBaron Town&Country. -- Last edit: 2008-04-20 08:43:44
taxiguy ◊ 2008-08-17 07:03	Yes I agree, as said about 50 times before, this is a 1985 Chrysler Lebaron Town & Country, not a Dodge. The wood trim and crystal hood ornament are dead giveaways.
carguy837 ◊ 2008-10-29 05:33	This is a 1986 Chrysler LeBaron Town and Country Convertible. The 86 was the only year to have that grill and the wrap around parking lamps/turn signals. For whatever reason, it has been slightly customized(perhaps to make it appear tackier?) and it also has the steering wheel and taillights from the Dodge 600 as previously mentioned. I don't believe that paint is factory either. Definitely an 86 though. The 85 and under had a much more squared off nose and tail. Look it up, you'll see.
carguy837 ◊ 2008-10-29 05:42	Just to add a bit more proof, the reason I know it's a Chrysler with the Dodge parts and not a Dodge with the Chrysler grill and wood package is that if you watch the movie, in one of the shots taken of the passenger side of the car while it's driving, towards the tail of the car, you can see the "Town and Country" badge.
Driver1970 ◊ 2010-06-28 01:26	The convertibles( 6 in all) were made from scratch,using BOTH the Chrysler and Dodge models for parts. Chrysler insisted that ALL references to their actual product be removed,due to the disasters that befall the two actors while in the car;hence the badges make no sense. At one time,during the building of these cars,the studio owned ALL the woodsiding that Chrysler had in their parts inventory. Almost all of the parts were purchased from Claude Short Dodge in Santa Monica,Ca. The color of the cars was picked by John Hughes,personally. John was a very talented man,and he was wonderful to work with! As a side note,only one of the cars survived,and was repainted a cream color and is still being driven in Los Angeles as of 2009-( last sighting)
modell ◊ 2010-07-13 05:39	Interestingly, it says "Farm & Country" on the left side, near the rear- an obvious play on the name of the car it was customized from. So, the full fictional name of this car would appear to be "Gran-Detriot Farm & Country Turbo". -- Last edit: 2010-07-14 00:20:55
no1Uno ◊ 2010-10-29 23:04	I had an '86 600 convetable from about two years with the same color interior (though different outside color: silver with a black top) thats a 600 owner's manual, also the steering wheel and taillights. from what I can tell the rest of the parts are from a LeBaron. as Driver1970 said they used parts from both cars. this movie show how strong K-cars generally are, they just keep going
Stevil101 ◊ 2011-03-05 21:19	qwerty_86 wrote It is basically a LeBaron the same way the Family Truckster is a LTD Wagon. This is actually a customized made-for-movie car. The hood ornament and badges are different than a stock LeBaron. I believe it's a reference to the Family Truckster (same color and trim). They said it was a 1986 Chrysler Le Baron Town & Country.
Oshkonoggin ◊ 2011-09-01 00:31	Driver1970 wrote The convertibles( 6 in all) were made from scratch,using BOTH the Chrysler and Dodge models for parts. Chrysler insisted that ALL references to their actual product be removed,due to the disasters that befall the two actors while in the car;hence the badges make no sense. At one time,during the building of these cars,the studio owned ALL the woodsiding that Chrysler had in their parts inventory. Almost all of the parts were purchased from Claude Short Dodge in Santa Monica,Ca. The color of the cars was picked by John Hughes,personally. John was a very talented man,and he was wonderful to work with! As a side note,only one of the cars survived,and was repainted a cream color and is still being driven in Los Angeles as of 2009-( last sighting) I'm wondering about the interior scenes in this vehicle. Did these vehicles actually have adjustable seats that could adjust anything like what the passenger seat was doing in the film? I'm guessing "no" here. Also, did the driver seat have either the knob or handle that so hilariously-trapped John Candy's parka sleeves? Again, I'm guessing "no," but it was inspired comedy business, anyway.
Q-Ball ◊ 2011-10-14 19:13	In the original script, the rental car was said to be "...a massive green Lincoln", probably intended to be a Mark VI or VII, with an annoying Electronic Voice Alert system. The Chrysler works just as well, though.
spaceace77 ◊ 2012-08-26 09:47	it clearly says on the side of the car, GRAN DETROIT. you people need to get some glasses. ^^;
spaceace77 ◊ 2012-08-26 09:48	the car is obviously a distant cousin of the family truckster. XD it's so freakin awesome. john huges did a good job on this movie.
no1Uno ◊ 2012-11-22 18:10	Oshkonoggin wrote I'm wondering about the interior scenes in this vehicle. Did these vehicles actually have adjustable seats that could adjust anything like what the passenger seat was doing in the film? I'm guessing "no" here. Also, did the driver seat have either the knob or handle that so hilariously-trapped John Candy's parka sleeves? Again, I'm guessing "no," but it was inspired comedy business, anyway. No, in fact you couldn't even get a power passenger seat, manual recliners on both sides came standard, though a 6-way power adjuster was available on the driver's side but the recliner was still manual. As for your questions about the driver's seat: no the sliver lever look like it came off a Cordoba: where that lever is there's just a screw holding the trim piece in place on factory models (as the seats fold forward without any release unless the the brakes are hit hard or theres a sudden impact then they lock) and the other knob, no it wouldn't be there either as the center armrest would've gotten in the way. Owning one of these for two years I learned a few things about them. On another note the sound of the power seat motor sounds exactly like the motor for the convertible top! -- Last edit: 2013-04-08 08:48:26
convwoody ◊ 2013-05-14 21:48	The interior doesn`t match my 86 mark cross package. I do have a lumbar adjustment on the right side that is manual. Everything else is power. The seats looked like the ones I had in an 86 dodge 600 that were not power. I have seen the large chrome knobs on some earlier models of the Chrysler. I may be mistaken but I thought the 85 Lebaron had the turbo vents on the side. The 86 is the only water and oil cooled turbo system. I`ll have to look at the original sales bro. to see if they offered the car with a luggage rack. They did key in one one thing. If you toss a butt out it most likely will end up in the back seat.
mercury man 01 ◊ 2013-05-27 13:33	Does anyone know what they did with this car after the movie.
george1998 ◊ 2013-10-13 04:00	After the police confiscated the car what do you think they did to it?
mercury man 01 ◊ 2013-10-18 07:48	george1998 wrote After the police confiscated the car what do you think they did to it? I meant in real life not in the movie itself
george1998 ◊ 2013-10-31 00:56	I was referring to the movie. Not in real life. In the movie what did they do to the car after it was confiscated?
Richard Davies ◊ 2020-12-29 13:59	A nice homage to the Family Truckster in National Lampoon's Vacation also directed by John Hughes. Being able to drive the car after the fire is a big use of the rule of comedy. As mentioned above not many real transport companies wanted their names used in it, which is why Marathon is the car hire firm, and the train is operated by a fictional company.
kudos ◊ 2021-12-30 23:24	1984 or ‘85 Jeep Wagoneer [XJ] in the background of the main pic.