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.
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.