The seller of this Claret Red 1977 Chrysler Cordoba lists the mileage as being 57,391 miles, and any car or truck with fewer than 100,000 miles always gets the stink eye, as far as the comments go. It’s impossible to tell things like the wear on the brake pedal in the photos, but you can check them out here on craigslist. It’s located in one of my favorite cities: Albuquerque, New Mexico. The seller is asking $5,500, here is the original listing, and thanks to Jack M. for the tip!
This ’77 Cordoba jumps off the page, or it will here at Barn Finds once this goes live. We’ve seen 12 1977 Cordobas here at Barn Finds, and here’s the color breakdown: five have been white, four have been brown, and there has been one blue car, one green car, and one gray car. This lipstick red, I mean, Claret Red car will stand out for sure. Here’s a brochure.
This car appears to be in really nice condition, although I’m a bit worried about the sunny climate in Albuquerque and that rear bumper filler material. It appears to be faded, and if it’s brittle, it won’t last long. Chrysler offered its well-dressed customers the Cordoba (as its own model) from 1975 through 1983, and the first-generation cars were made from ’75 until 1979. After that, Chrysler used the sharp-edged J-body cars until the end of the run. They were similar to the Dodge Mirada and the Imperial, which our own Todd Fitch drives regularly.
No power windows! I’m always surprised and bummed to not see power windows in a luxury car, but it was still the 1970s, and they weren’t standard as they are now in almost every vehicle. A friend of mine just bought a new Honda Gold Wing (not cheap!), and it has a power “windscreen,” which is crazy. The white “Corinthian leather” (direct from New Jersey) seats in this car look good, but are showing wrinkles (direct from my face), and the driver’s side is basically toast. The back seat looks fantastic.
The engine (kudos to the seller for including an engine photo) is Chrysler’s 360-cu.in. OHV V8, which, with the four-barrel carb, had 170 horsepower and 270 lb-ft of torque when new. It passes through a three-speed TorqueFlite as expected, and power goes to the rear wheels. They say it’s a great-running car and it sure looks good to me. Do you want your Cordoba in red, white, brown, green, or blue?
Wow!! A RED Cordoba?? I know that many mid 70’s car brochures from all the makes had at least one of their cars in a red like this with a white interior. And those colors work together too. Not all the cars from the 70’s were Brown or Green ( although it sure seems like it some days). I think the wheel covers are from a newer Chrysler Fifth Ave, and they really look right at home here. I don’t see them in the ’77 Cordoba sales brochure. The front end designs on these are beautifully done, the grill, headlights, and turn signals just work together very nicely. Given how nice the outside looks, I would definitely do something about the front seat, or seats, I think it would be worth it. And it has a 360? Even better. Jack M. Is on a roll with tips!!! I enjoyed your write up too Scotty, thank you.
This was a very popular color combination on the personal luxury cars of this era. I particularly remember seeing it quite often on the 1977-79 T-Birds and the 1976-77 Monte Carlos for some reason. This was from a time when people really wanted to pamper themselves in cushy coupe luxury.
About 7 years ago, I drove my little BMW 2002 to a car show over near St. Pete. There was an almost identical Cordoba at the show, and it really impressed me. I resolved right then to switch from the little Euro 4-speed/4-cylinder cars to full-sized Detroit iron with V8s. Soon thereafter I bought the ’63 Riviera and sold the BMW. Thanks Cordoba!
Its nice looking, for a fair amount could be made into a nice daily.. Just because i’m old i wonder if Bugs Bunny ever turned left at Albuquerque. ;)
I was thinking of mentioning that.
Bugs, I believe is standing on a corner in Winslow.
“Stink eye,” great comment Scotty. I think most Barn Find commenters are programmed to assume any car with claimed less than 100,000 miles is a lie.
This is a nice looking Cordoba, but in addition to the driver’s seat wear and faded bumper fillers, one should also take notice of the deterioration of the vinyl top at the bottom right corner, and of the custom pinstriping. Personally, I would prefer a set of Chrysler Road Wheels, rather than those (IMO) horrid wire covers! GLWTS!! :-)
If the bumper fillers are getting brittle you can save them by reinforcing them on the back side with a thin layer of fiberglass. Match the paint and hit the road.
I had those wheel covers on a Diplomat and always thought they were really gaudy. The road wheels would really make this one. Even a set of the original wire wheel covers that it probably had would be an improvement.
General consensus was always these were a knock off Monte Carlo. But they really are better looking and have aged better. Just a cleaner, tighter design.
your would probably put black walls on it also. sorry the wire covers belong.
The most interesting thing about this particular Cordoba is that 360 4 barrel, which was, for the most part, unobtainable in a 1977 Cordoba. I’d be surprised if this car wasn’t ordered as a “sold car” in order to get around that restriction.
Cordobas could be ordered with a 360, but if a dealer really expected to receive the car it had to be ordered with a 400, as that is what the factory was pushing, even though a 360-powered B-body was a far better car than it was with a malaise era Lean Burn big block engine under the hood.
I live here in Albuquerque (kudos to the author who said it’s one of his favorite cities). Haven’t seen it driving around – and among all of the SUVs and oversize jacked up pickup trucks we’ve got tooling around – that car would stand out.
Have to agree, given the condition of the leather, it’s hard to imagine it’s not 150K, not 50K. Owners/Sellers really kill their own creditability when they make claims that are hard (impossible) to believe. I could make a claim that the true mileage is 250K and that would even be believable.
Nice car! I’ve owned a few ‘Dobas’ , red ones rarely seen. This one may not have power windows, but it does appear to have AC, cruise, tilt wheel, and rear window defroster. Well worth the asking price IMO…
Yes, it sure resembles Ford Lipstick red. My ’76 Volare was a similar color but not a similar car.
I was living in Brooklyn in 1977 and somehow my roommates brother snagged a job delivering a new Cordoba to an out of state customer. It was brown & I don’t remember the trim level but he didn’t have to deliver it until the next day so we cruised it on 5th avenue all evening. Fun times.
I do find it interesting that they would opt for a leather interior yet pass on power windows???
Listing update: someone must have grabbed this Cordoba; the seller has removed the listing.