The Chrysler marque only sold full-size Mopars in the U.S. during the postwar years. While Dodge and Plymouth offered a full range of compact, mid-, and full-size autos, the flagship label only peddled 300s, Newports, New Yorkers and other big C-body cars.
After the first fuel crisis of the Seventies, and with the burgeoning popularity of the personal luxury coupe, however, it was decided to bolster the lineup at Chrysler dealerships with something smaller and more modern. For the 1975 model year the full-size behemoths on the lot were joined by a B-body coupe, kin to the Dodge Charger.
The new luxury two-door was marketed a compact Chrysler, and by the marque's standards it was, riding on its 115" wheelbase and with an overall length about a foot shorter than a Newport coupe. It debuted with a standard 400 cubic inch big block V-8 with a two-barrel carb and single exhaust, rated at 165 SAE net horsepower. There were a variety of optional 2- and 4-barrel small block 318 and 360 V-8s on offer, and a top option of a four-barrel 400 with a dual exhaust making 185 ponies.
The interior could be had with either a 60/40 split bench seat or buckets and a console up front and the dash came with a full set of gauges, with only the tach being optional. The dash trim was baroque, with lots of faux Brazilian rosewood burl plastic wood and weird faux-Aztec motif edging, and of course the ad campaign is famous to this day for Cordoba pitchman Ricardo Montalbán extolling its optional "rich Corinthian leather", a term made up by an ad copywriter out of whole... er, cloth.
The 1978 models, like the Caramel Tan Metallic one in the photo, had a heavily-restyled front end, with stacked quad rectangular headlamps that did nothing for the car's looks. By this time, the 2-barrel 400 had left the lineup and the base motor everywhere but California was a single-exhaust 400 4-bbl making 190 horsepower with an optional 200hp Heavy Duty version at the top of the range.
Sales had been strong, but the homelier snout and the availability of a new, svelter LeBaron coupe on Chrysler lots caused the big B-body Cordoba to get a downsizing after the '79 model year.
This one was snapped in November of 2016 using a Sony NEX-5T and a 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom lens.
It's a Cordoba...err, Charger...umm, Grand Fury...zzz.
ReplyDeleteI thought the early round-headlight Cordobas were good-looking cars, at least on the outside (they looked like a Marseille cathouse on the inside). The market must have, too, because Chrysler sold a blue million of the things the first few years.
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