Those "junk" K-cars and minivans are what saved Chrysler from going belly-up.

I rather liked our Reliant. Toward the end of its life, it had a bad habit of letting rain water get into the trunk and swish around, until the drain plugs were pulled.

That is so true. The K-car platform is what saved Chysler. Looking back on them now they don't seem like much and I don't get urge to go out and find a "vintage" Chrysler LeBaron woody convertible but if it hadn't been for those cars we may not even be having this discucssion now. Who knows who would of ended up with Jeep, if anybody? I feel like Chrysler adopted Jeep a few years ago when nobody else would and now we need to support the parents when they (Chyrsler Corp.) are in a time of need.
As far as the pentastar logo, I say update it and use it as a corporate logo but leave it off the exterior of the products.

I understand all this, I've read the history of the k-car and how these cars save Chrysler. But that doesn't change the fact that they were the butt-end of oh so many jokes. They were god-awful pieces of characterlessness. People bought them because they were cheap and provided a fair amount of reliability for the price. Nobody *wanted* a k-car. I and so many my age (late 20s to mid-thirties) will always think of these cars when we see the pentastar. Why would I want to see an emblem on the new Chryslers as the company "moves forward" that reminds me of the cars that once served the role that Hyundai serves today?

For no one "wanting a K Car", they sold a lot of those babies. You're right in that they provided relative inexpensive transportation and reliability. That's the type of car Chrysler needs today, in this age of high gas prices. Prices just jumped to $3.65/gal. in northwest Indiana (LaPorte County) today.

I think that is why the various different models being built off the Caliber platform will sell well--IMHO. Even the Compass.

Heh. With gas at almost $5/gal in Vancouver, I'm ready to buy a used K-Car LOL

The Pentastar logo was used on nearly every Chrysler Corporation vehicle from 1963 onwards. Call it junk, them's fighting words.

"Personally, the pentastar logo symbolizes junk to me. When i see it, I think of 1980s Chryslers - K-cars, dusters, dynasties, etc."

Yes, and the K-cars were the best in class just about the entire time they were made, if you wanted a good, solid, comfortable car that didn't cost an arm and a leg and got good mileage. Pretty well made for the time. Yes, cars have gotten better. Dusters were pretty darned good too - solid and with the V6 or turbo pretty quick. No, they weren't Maseratis or Hemi Chargers, but they weren't in that price class, either.

K-car with a stick-shift and 2.2 engine was not a bad mover. Automatic slowed it down but it was good for the time - and didn't need to be revved much. Consider what else was being sold at the time... and lots of those K-cars and EEKs are still around.

(My take on the Cerberus buyout of Chrysler)