1992 Chrysler Spirit

I found this car parked in the driveway of a low-rent apartment in the University District of Seattle, Washington, around the corner from the Enterprise office I used.


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.


Looking at the vacuum diagram, several more interesting things become apparent: