After I was done beating on the new Subaru XV Crosstrek Hybrid like a cheap rental car in Iceland, I headed for the industrial areas of Reykjavik, in search of wrecking yards. You can tell a lot about a region's automotive proclivities by what you see in its junkyards, and I was in for an unexpected discovery here: Chryslers!
While Toyotas and Volkswagens seem very popular in Iceland, you'll see a wide cross-section of vehicles from all over Asia, Europe, and Detroit on the streets of this island nation of 300,000 souls. Apparently the selection of new and used cars for sale varies according to momentary fluctuations in currency value, or by what happens to get loaded on the latest container ship steaming from Savannah, Incheon, or Bremerhaven.
A strange mix of European, American, and Asian vehicles in Iceland.
At some point, a batch of Dodge Stratuses arrived, spent their lives battling volcanic ash and rust, then ended up here, on the Icelandic Crusher's doorstep.
This one appears too solid to get scrapped.
For some reason, the Stratus just doesn't seem, well, heroic enough to serve as daily driver for the victors of the Cod Wars. These cars are badged as Dodges, which makes it likely that they were shipped to Iceland from the United States as new cars; the Stratus was sold as a Chrysler in Europe.
Outside the USA, the Neon was badged as a Chrysler.
The Neon, badged in the USA as a Plymouth or Dodge and elsewhere as a Chrysler, was cheaper and more powerful than the Civic and Corolla, a fact that at least one Icelandic car shopper recognized. I didn't see any Neons on the roads of Iceland, so this one may get fed straight into the global steel-recycling system without donating any parts to surviving cars.
What strange journey took this 3000GT to Iceland?
The most unlikely 1990s Chrysler that I spotted in a Reykjavik wrecking yard wasn't really a Chrysler at all: this Dodge Stealth aka Mitsubishi GTO aka Mitsubishi 3000GT.
Ground clearance might have been an issue when the North Atlantic snow got deep.
Yes, this may be about the least practical car you could have in the boonies of Iceland, and therefore one of the most fun. Still, this one got used up and now faces The Crusher.
