Dodge Aries
Even though the Omni helped Dodge survive the first big oil crisis, the second one came in 1979. Honestly, the Aries, or Plymouth Reliant as it’s also known, wasn’t developed exclusively thanks to Chrysler’s engineers. To be able to finance the development of the new K-Platform, Chrysler asked for a massive loan for $1.5 billion. Thanks to Lee Iacocca, who was Chrysler’s chairman at the time, the Carter administration granted the loan, and development was successfully finished (via Curb Side Classics).
The Dodge Aries and Plymouth Reliant were introduced in 1981. The cars weren’t much more than downsized mid-size cars that a Mitsubishi engine could also power. But in a struggling economy, these cars were exactly what Chrysler needed to stay afloat. Both cars sold more than 150,000 copies in their first year of production. During their nine-year production, they sold more than a million units sold. This was an impressive number, especially with the state of the industry and taking into consideration Japanese competition. Despite their flaws, the Aries and Reliant were exactly the right cars at the right moment. The car saved Chrysler from canceling operations at the dawn of the ’80s.