chicagotribune.com's view

The long-awaited replacement for the old Chrysler Cordoba, last sold in the 1983 model year, has appeared.

But rather than go back to the Cordoba name, Chrysler has tagged its compact J-body sports coupe the LeBaron. Just what Chrysler needed, another car named LeBaron. It`s now up to four models on three body platforms–H, J, and K–with that nameplate, three more than it needs.

Chrysler markets a two-door LeBaron coupe, four-door LeBaron sedan, four- door LeBaron GTS hatchback and later this spring a two-door LeBaron convertible. All are built on the same 100.3-inch wheelbase, yet all differ in length, from 179 inches on the four-door K-body sedan to 185 inches on the J- body coupe.

Cordoba, you may recall, was a mediocrity boasting sloppy ride, miserable handling, and atrocious fuel economy.

But its spokesman was the popular actor Ricardo Montalban, who hawked Corinthian leather with such verve people bought the car just for the right to rest upon those mysterious skins.

To this day, no one at Chrysler can explain what Corinthian leather was, but Montalban and that leather kept the car alive for eight model years.

The `87 LeBaron J-body coupe is a welcome addition to the Chrysler line- up. But the name confusion is going to take time for consumers to get used to. Meanwhile, the car isn`t selling very well. One Chrysler wag blames a midyear introduction, a sorry excuse for the fact that there simply are too many LeBarons.

Chrysler`s new compact LeBaron two-door coupe will compete against the likes of General Motors compact N-body Pontiac Grand Am, Buick Somerset and Olds Calais, as well as the Ford Thunderbird or Mercury Cougar, Chrysler says. LeBaron is offered in two versions, Highline starting at $11,295 and Premium at $12,288.

Standard equipment in both includes mini trip computer, intermittent washer/wiper, remote trunk and gas tank releases, power brakes and steering and reclining front seats.

For the extra money, Premium is decked out with carpeted trunk, electric instrumentation, cornering lights, leatherette steering wheel, fancier seat trim, two-tone paint, and a 60/40 split rear seat with backs that fold down to provide access to the trunk.

Air conditioning is a hefty $925 option in either car.

The car`s major strength is in the styling: a clean, crisp, no-nonsense body that captures attention from the vertical bar grille up front flanked by the retractable concealed headlamps.

The major weakness of the car, at least the one we drove, is under the hood. Chrysler`s 2.5-liter, 4-cylinder fuel-injected engine is standard, a very good power plant with noticeably more pep than Chrysler`s 2.2-liter four. No complaints for now with the 2.5, because the model we test drove was equipped instead with the optional 2.2 with turbo boost ($678). A 5-speed manual is standard, automatic a $529 option.

As we`ve often said, a turbo is brought in when the engine hasn`t got the pep to propel the car without help. LeBaron`s curb weight is a hefty 3,125 pounds and the 2.2 alone wouldn`t do the car justice.

The LeBaron coupe was no screamer, even with a turbo. It needs a V-6 under the hood. The Pontiac Grand Am, one of its rivals, is relatively tame with a 2.5-liter four, a nifty machine with optional 3-liter V-6.

Chrysler is starving for engines. A couple of its own V-6s under development are still a year or two away. With a V-6, LeBaron will come of age. For now it is wrestling with growing pains, a personal luxury car with the look of performance without being able to live up to the image. Because it has a turbo, some compare it with the Thunderbird turbo, a comparison about 40 horsepower shy, in Ford`s favor.

LeBaron features a strut-type front suspension with dual isolators, gas- charged front shocks and a front sway bar, to reduce road noise and ride arshness. The rear suspension features a sway bar, coil springs and gas shocks. Steel-belted radials round out the package. Overall, LeBaron is a decent ride with very little road wander or body roll.

Detracting from the effect, however, is overly stiff power steering.

LeBaron has some nice touches, from the handy two-place cup holder that slips out of the dash to the spring-held hood that opens up to a neatly laid out compartment with oil filter and plugs within sight and easy reach.

There are some annoyances, however, which can be easily corrected. One is the optional leather (no, not Corinthian) seats). Leather has a tendancy to flex and stretch and make noise when it does.

Standard cloth seats are cooler in summer, warmer in winter, quieter in all seasons–and preferred.

LeBaron locates the button for the rear window defroster in the center console, but the position is so close to the driver that it can accidentally be activated at any time and juice pulled from the battery needlessly.

The power window controls also are in the center console and tricky to reach. Yet, the power seat and mirror controls are in the door arm rest. It would be easier if power seat and mirror controls were put in the console, window controls in the arm rest and window defroster controls on the dash.

Another problem a tall driver may encounter is with up-front visibility, because the wipers seem to fall about 2 inches too low when sweeping across the sharply raked windshield. And with all that rake, the fluid keeps running down the glass well after the wiper has stopped.

Tall or short, don`t expect much in the way of leg, head or arm room in the back seat. Chrysler says LeBaron is a five-passenger car. True, if two adults are up front and three kids are in back.

Trunk space is good, but it could use another inch of depth to stand up grocery bags as well as lay down luggage.