I first saw the 1979 Chrysler LeBaron I would later name Patricia on a downtown street in Duluth about September 1998.  I was immediately impressed with her condition, very sharply maintained, clean body and sparkling chrome.  I was too busy to follow the car and get permission to take pictures later, but figured I'd eventually see it again.

Finally and sadly I did see this car again, sitting in the to-be-crushed section at Chesney Auto Salvage, North of Duluth.  She had been involved in a fairly serious front-left collision, and was beyond repair except to the most loving owner.   This car was in mint condition inside and out, only 51K miles showing on the odometer.  I was visiting the yard to get a few other parts for our cars, and also to pick up a used transmission for Farley.  They'd said they had one in stock, but then couldn't find it and asked me to come back the next day and they would have one pulled for me.  Initially it was Patricia's transmission that I would get, but after having problems with it (apparently it was tweaked in the collision) I ended up getting a transmission from another car.

I successfully petitioned Chesney to hold off sending the car away until I could come back and pull more parts.  They offered me the entire interior from headliner to carpet and seatbelts, dashboard and steering column to rear deck, for $150, and gave me until January 31st to do it.  This was accomplished on January 23, 1999, and the new interior is mostly completed - except for three door panels.   Photos will be posted when they are available.

It is extremely difficult to find a pre-1980 M body Mopar.  It is next to impossible to find one in such good condition like this.  Only the Diplomat gods made it possible for me to catch this car in the two week window of availability before it was crushed (and the maybe two-day window before something got stacked on it).   I left Patricia as a shell, no engine, transmission or interior whatsoever.  By the time of this writing she has been crushed long ago, as they were working on other cars even as we did the work.

While Patricia could never again grace the streets, a part of lives on in Farley.

Patricia Photo Gallery: