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I first heard of his Impala when I was old enough to drive, he used to wax poetic about how much he loved that car. He wished he had kept it. Considering that '58 Impalas are worth upwards of $42,000 it might have been a good idea. When I went shopping for my first new car I was looking for something just as special. My own American-made convertible.

When I test-drove the LeBaron I eventually bought, I went to my parent's house to show my Dad. He said "What the hell are you going to do with that when you have kids". He was unconvincing, I could see in his eyes; "Go for it kid!"

I decided on the LeBaron Convertible after I had driven one on a business trip to LA, what a nice ride. I was never really fond of the sharp edges of the boxy Chrysler K-bodies. However, in 1986 Chrysler's designers rounded all the corners. Subtle tweaks sometimes make all the difference.

I saw some press on the next-generation LeBarons and I didn't like the new Ford Thunderbird inspired design (sorry all you '87 up LeBaron owners). I began touring the Chrysler dealerships for an '86. It had to have the Chrysler 2.2 Turbo engine of course. When I saw the black one with the cordovan interior I fell in love. All black and chrome gleaming in the sun. The deal was made and I was the proud owner of my first NEW car.

We owned a 1976 Plymouth Sport Fury that I bought in college. I married into my wife's '79 Toyota Celica GT. I sold the Plymouth and we kept the Celica as a Winter Rat. We wanted to keep the LeBaron nice so it was going to be stored during the cruel Northeast Winters. When the Celica died in '92 I was forced to drive the LeBaron that Winter. Of course it was an unusually miserable one. That was the only time I ever didn't enjoy driving the car.

My wife Suzanne is an exceptional salesperson for IBM. In 1994 after selling a network to the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles she was given a free vanity plate. We spent about a month trying to figure out what the plate should say. The word "downtime" was a 90's buzzword for when busy people relax. It was also a word with relevance to Suzanne's profession as downtime was what computer users experience when a network is being installed. And hey, the car's top goes down! We found our plate. Since installing the plates the car has been known as DOWNTIME.

The car has always run great. It's got plenty of pep and a nice ride. No mechanical problems whatsoever. It has turned heads since I've been driving it, which is surprising for a K-car. It surprises people who see the car today that the car is original. I often hear; "How do you keep the paint so shiny?". The secret is to double-dry it after washing. Once with a synthetic chamois and once with a heavy piece of suede to remove the chamois haze. A good coat of carnuba wax keeps it gleaming.

The car is a part of many of our family functions. We drove it to Minnesota for my brother's wedding so he could drive to his reception in it. (What a bitch getting the rice out of the car!) The favor was asked again for my sister's wedding this year. We've taken the car on family vacations to Maine and Nantucket. And of course there's the annual Fall drive through the Green Mountains of Vermont.
My three boys love the car. Even better than my wife's '93 Saab 900 Turbo Convertible. Driving my wife's car has inspired me to do some performance modifications to Downtime. My oldest son Matt, 12, has been helping me do the performance work. He also is my usual sidekick at car shows and cruises.

The future for Downtime is a conversion from TurboI to Intercooled TurboII. As well as other appropriate modifications. See the mods page for details. Check back once in a while to see our progress. :-)

(update 7/2003) The Saab 900 has passed away. The automatic transmission went and I had to drive the car home in reverse. The car had recently developed too many other problems to warrant fixing it so I've been parting it out.
We have replaced it with a 1994 Saab 900 Turbo Commemorative Edition Convertible (only 500 made) with 62,000 miles. The car has been tweeked from its original 185hp to around 230hp with the edition of larger injectors, upgraded electronics and a Garret T3/T4 hybrid turbo. Other parts have been upgraded to support the added horsepower as well. It also has a short shifter of my own design. We have also purchased a 2002 Volvo V70 Cross Country Wagon with the 2.4L Turbo engine. I am waiting for ipd to develop the revised electronics for this car to increse its horsepower to match the Saab's. In the meantime I've done some other performance enhancements.