We’ve only seen four 1978 Dodge Monacos here on Barn Finds over the years; that’s hard to believe. Even harder to believe, only one of them was a two-door like this example shown here on craigslist in the East Fairfield, Vermont area. The seller is asking $9,000 for this car, and here is the original listing. Thanks to Tony P. for sending in this tip!
They say to head over in person and check out this car, take it for a test drive, and then they may entertain reasonable offers. It looks like a nice one, and as a two-year-only (1977 and 1978) fourth-generation Monaco, they aren’t exactly seen every day. Maybe that’s why we’ve only seen four ’78s here on Barn Finds, and two of them were wagons. This era was a dark hole for convertibles in the U.S., but I wonder what one may have looked like…
The only area of concern I see in the photos is the bottom edge of the trunk lid, but we don’t get a good photo of that or any close-up photos. The seller does have a great range of photos, otherwise, including a trunk photo and four underside photos! It looks solid, and they say there is no body rust. It appears to have been repainted and debadged for the most part, so that’s a bummer, at least in my world.
I don’t see this interior in brochures, but it’s fantastic! Even better, it looks like it’s in really nice condition. This is a two-door hardtop bodystyle, but there was a Monaco Brougham two-door with a little opera window in the C-pillar, making sure you look great when you step out with your burnt orange leisure suit on, and “just the lobes showing” on your fresh haircut. The top-to-bottom tinted glasses are a nice touch, too! As expected, the back seats look perfect. I really like this interior, which I’m assuming is custom to this particular car.
The engine isn’t quite as nice-looking; this was the era of hoses running everywhere, but this is Dodge’s 360-cu.in. OHV V8, and I’m assuming that’s a two-barrel carb under that air cleaner. If so, it would have been rated at 155 horsepower and 270 lb-ft of torque when it was new. The TorqueFlite automatic sends power to the rear wheels and they’ve owned this Monaco for four or five years and have done some upgrades, as you can see. Any thoughts on this Monaco?
Hillarious pic of your convertible rendering SG. 👍
Ha, thanks, Stan! I couldn’t find a good base photo of a two-door to use. That one doesn’t show off too much of the drop-top for sure.
Most of the Dodge Monacos I remember usually had 4 doors…. And lights on the roof lol. This is definitely different, not something you saw everyday even in the late 70’s.
The carb is a Edelbrock 4bbl and the intake is a competition oriented single plane high rise, more at home on a light car with cam, compression, short gears.
The asking price is rather high for a mid-70’s car without much of a following. It will likely be a hard sell.
Steve R
I think those seats may have been available on 1977s Charger SE
A custom interior of this caliber would be an extravagant expense on a car like this. It’s hard to imagine someone splashing that much cash around the interior and leaving dirty, stained carpet.
Great looking Dodge. It was a 360-2 like Steve R said it was change to 360-4 and it is quicker than before. It’s a shame the AC was removed. The trunk lip has rust bubbles. The dual exhaust helps in performance. The 360 is a very good engine. The price is on the high side. I don’t know why the seller didnt get this Dodge professional detail it would of help the selling price. I wish it was closer to me to check out. Good luck to the next owner. 🐻🇺🇸
This is a really cool looking car! The price isn’t too bad, maybe a little on the high side, but definitely cheaper than the $30,000 1978 road Runner on this site.
As far as the switch from the two barrel to the four barrel intake and the air conditioning, I know when I had a 318 and I switched from a two barrel to a four barrel the AC compressor, where it was mounted would not fit anymore because the intake was too tall, and another bracket would have to be fabricated or bought. So at the time, when I was a teenager, I just left off the AC compressor. Wonder if that’s the case with this car?
My dad traded a 70 GTX 440 4 speed in on a heap just like this in blue. Im sure it was along the “happy wife happy life” line of thought. I was crushed i had been saving to buy the GTX. The fire wall rusted out in 2 years on the monaco.
Cordoba, in sheep’s clothing!
The 1978 Dodge Monaco does not have fender mounted name badges. The right side of the dash is the only location of a Monaco emblem. Dodge emblems are located in the grille and on the right side of the trunk lid. Great cars. New owner would do well to restore the intake and A/C back to original condition. A factory 4 barrel intake will allow for the A/C to be re-installed.