This is what first caught my eye as I drove past at 30 mph. I guess a compulsive eye for detail isn't always a bad thing. The grille says "SPIRIT", as it did on all Mexican-market Chrysler Spirits from 1990 (their first year there) to 1992 (in 1993 a new grille was used that didn't have a nameplate). In North America, this grille badge would say "DODGE". In Europe, this grille badge would say "CHRYSLER". Notice the Washington license plate — It's current. This car is here for real. It's easy enough to figure out how it got into the US — a Mexican drove it in, which is perfectly allowable, just as Americans can drive their cars into Canada and vice versa. The bigger question is how it managed to get a US title. The car bears no certification that it complies with US safety or emissions regulations. The most likely scenario is that when it was first registered, Washington did not check VINs to see if they show up on the master list of US-market vehicles. Other states — Michigan, for instance — do check, and if the VIN isn't on the list, they require US Customs clearance papers before they'll issue a title. So, if someone tries to take this vehicle to another state, he may encounter problems.

This badge is bizarre, in that "liter" is a spelling used only in the US. Elsewhere in English and French it's litre, and in Spanish it's litro. What makes this a particularly strange badge is that it was never placed on non-Mexico cars, for the engine it refers to was never installed outside Mexico. The 1990 Spirit used a carbureted(!) 2.5 litre engine that came standard with a tubular exhaust header and ran on leaded gasoline. In 1991, Mexico decided auto emission control is a good idea and immediately ramped their standards up to near-US levels of stringency. That year, the Spirit's standard engine became a multipoint-injected version of the 2.5, with a full North American type emissions control package. Meanwhile, North American and European market versions of the same car were saddled with a wheezy, lower-power, less-efficient and dirtier-running TBI version of the same engine. How's that for a raw deal?

The engine referred to by the badge. Lots to see in this particular engine bay. The intake manifold and fuel rail are not entirely unfamiliar in North America; these were used on turbocharged versions of the K-derivative Chrysler FWD cars and on the US-market Flexible Fuel Spirits and Acclaims of '93-'95, which also used the air cleaner arrangement shown in this photo. This car has had a surprisingly complete and expensive R134a changeover done, which apparently included the installation of a Sanden compressor to replace the original Chrysler/Nippondenso C171 and a new set of hoses. Plenty of other engine bay components are quite familiar, as they are similar or identical to their North American counterparts.

The vehicle data plate on the radiator support panel shows us several things: The VIN is clearly not a US VIN, because US AA-bodies were designated by an "A" in the 5th position, while Mexican AA-bodies got a "1". The VIN decodes thusly:
3: Mexican assembly
C:"Chrysler" branded
3: Passenger car
B: Driver and front passenger manual seat belts, no air bags
1: AA-body (in Mexico)
4: "High Line" (standard trim level)
6: 4-door sedan
W: 2.5 litre MPFI engine without balance shafts
0: [VIN check digit]
N: 1992 model year
T: built at Toluca assembly plant
323827: Vehicle sequence (serial) number

Immediately to the left of the VIN, we see the character "M", which indicates this is a Mexican-market vehicle. (U = USA, C = Canada, B = International Export, M = Mexico).

Here's the Vehicle Emission Control Information (VECI) label. It's very similar in format to those affixed to US and Canadian vehicles. We can see several interesting things about the vehicle from this label.

• CATALYST Same as everywhere else in the world except the Middle East, the vehicle is equipped with a catalytic converter.

• This vehicle complies with the standards in effect, applicable to 1992 model vehicles, [and this compliance is] certified at the altitude of Mexico City. Mexico City has unique pollution problems and is at very high altitude, so cars intended for sale there must be emissions certified at that altitude.

• Basic [ignition] timing and the air/fuel mixture have been preset at the factory. Refer to the service manual for adjustment procedures and all other information. Any adjustments not in the service manual are considered unauthorized. Caution: apply parking brake when servicing [vehicle]. This is practically a direct translation of the language found on a US or California VECI.

• Spark plug type: Mopar M48, Champion N12Y. Gap: 0.035" Now this is interesting. N12Y is the Champion number for a non-resistor spark plug without a copper core. Outside Mexico, the spec is RN12YC — same heat range and configuration, but with a resistor and copper core. Champion discontinued non-copper-core spark plugs in this line ages ago in North America. I can only guess that they were still available in the more price-conscious Mexican market. Nevertheless, the lack of a plug resistor is interesting. Theoretically, this would generate EMI and RFI and interfere with radio reception. I would say the same about operation of the engine control computer, but Chrysler did install EMI/RFI-shielded ECMs in some vehicles in some markets. Perhaps that's what was done here, in recognition that people would install cheap non-resistor spark plugs.

• [Ignition] Timing: 6°BTDC , no other adjustments required. Outside Mexico, the nonturbo 2.5 litre engine's basic timing spec is 12° BTDC. Clearly, the W-code engine has different advance curves in the engine control computer.

• This engine uses a barometric pressure read solenoid in conjunction with its MAP sensor. This was not implemented on North American vehicles except in turbocharged applications, and the US 1992 Factory Service Manual says "The baro read solenoid is tied into the MAP sensor vacuum hose. It switches the pressure supply to the MAP sensor between atmospheric pressure and manifold vacuum. The engine controller operates the solenoid. Atmospheric pressure is periodically supplied to the MAP sensor to measure barometric pressure. This occurs at closed throttle, once per throttle closure but no more often than once every 3 minutes and within a specified RPM band. Barometric information is used primarily for boost control." My guess is that it is used on the W-code engine, at least in its Mexico City Altitude form, to enable more precise fuel-air mixture (and possibly ignition timing) compensation for changing altitude.

• No pressure relief/rollover valve is shown at the line between the [vapor] canister and the "Tanque de combustible" (fuel tank). Such a valve prevents fuel leakage in the event of a vehicle rollover, and is present on all North American 1992 VECI labels. Whether it was left off the diagram or not installed on the car is unknown, but the VECI label from a 1994 model vehicle with the same W-code engine shows the valve as "valvula antivuelco" ("Anti-upset valve"), and also calls for Champion RN12YC spark plugs, and also doesn't indicate certification for Mexico City altitude.

  More Mexican Chrysler Spirits

  The 1990 models came equipped with a 2.5 litre carbureted leaded-fuel engine. Engine management was essentially a 4-cylinder version of the Electronic Lean Burn system introduced in the US and Australia in 1976. Obviously, no catalytic converter was used. Isn't it strange to see a mix of '70s and '90s technology like this?

  

  

  

  
  And the fender tag from the '90:

  

  ---

  Next, under the hood of a '94 non-turbo Spirit. These cars came equipped with a 2.5 litre MPFI engine with full US-type emission control. It's as baffling to me now as it was when I spotted the '92 described above why North American and European-delivery Chrysler products got the much more primitive, less powerful and dirtier TBI induction on this same engine (oh yeah: TBI is perhaps $3 cheaper per car at production volumes, and if Chrysler know how to do one thing, it's cut costs...):

  

  

  

  
  And the fender tag from the '94:

  

  ---

  Most Mexican-market Chrysler products got US-spec lighting systems and other safety equipment, not the European/rest-of-world ECE equipment and systems. If you want to see ECE-compliant AA-bodies, go take a look at Peter Wendt's Saratoga Common Technical Pages.