Chrysler’s Cordoba (’75-’83) was quite the hit when first introduced – it was the right car at the right time as personal luxury coupes like the Monte Carlo, Thunderbird, Grand Prix et al were hot properties and it made sense for ChryCo’s top division to throw their chassis into that automotive marketing ring. And, it didn’t hurt having actor Ricardo Montalban as Cordoba’s pitchman. The year 1980 saw a revised, and smaller Cordoba emerge, but the two-door coupe’s fortunes seem to reverse. Why? Well, let’s examine this 1982 example and see if we can figure out what happened. This sorta runner is located in Halfmoon, New York and is available, here on craigslist for $2,350. PRA4SNW gets a tip of the hat for this discovery!
Right out of the gate, the Cordoba was a sales success, knocking out 150K units in 1975. As the years progressed, the single-body style model’s volume halved to 73K copies by 1979, the final year of the first generation’s production run. Enter the second-gen edition, introduced in the autumn of 1979 as an ’80 model. With two and a half inches removed from the wheelbase, five inches chopped from the length, and over 500 pounds slimmed away, the “new” Cordoba was keeping up with the downsizing trend that was blazing through the domestic auto industry. Ricardo stayed on as the Cordoba’s primary cheerleader and was quoted as saying, ” I like what they’ve done to my car“. Too bad the consuming public didn’t. Only 46K ’80 Cordobas saw the light of day, and by the time our ’82 subject car rolled off of the Windsor, ON assembly line, just 14K takers could be found.
Typical for the times, power was not the order of the day in ’82 as ChryCo’s tried and true 318 CI V8, Cordoba’s only available V8, was down to 130 net HP. The seller states, “*Needs some work to be road drivable* Starts and drives but is touchy and runs rough……needs TLC!“. The mileage recording is pegged at 115K miles but there’s no statement as to its authenticity.
The exterior, with its brown finish and white vinyl landau top, presents surprisingly well. While the finish may be a bit faded, there is no indication of corrosion or crash damage – even the top still seems to be glued in place and not degraded. The rear plastic bumper filler, however, is typically cracked and missing pieces. Wire wheel covers? Of course, it’s an ’82 what else did you expect, right?
The interior image isn’t very revealing but from what can be seen, the split bench seat’s upholstery seems OK – ditto the backseat. The seller mentions that the windshield wipers don’t work and the rearview mirror is now residing in the back seat – that’s it for inside particulars.
OK, it’s cheap, $2,350 will take it away and it wouldn’t surprise me if that number could be wiggled down a bit. I imagine someone will definitely buy this car. It’s not one of Chrysler’s bigger hits, and ’82 was a pretty dismal year for the domestic auto biz in general, but then maybe that nadir, coupled with the fact that this is a bygone two-door coupe, will generate enough interest to close a deal, right?
The Dodge version of this was the Mirada.
The Miradas were much better looking. I saw a restored blue one on an only Mopar site once that took my breath away. Would have sold better if they had better running engines and Chrysler wasn’t on its (almost) death bed at the time. Chrysler is basically no more at this time, I wish it would just quietly go.
The engines ran fine – you’re complaining about a 225, 318 or 360 ? The lean burn was a failure , and most were changed out years ago. The reason they didnt sell is because this is a big 2 door car by 1982 standards , and their time had passed .People wanted front drive economical cars That why GM downsized their mid size offerings in 78. Compare a 78 Monte to a 78 Cordoba. Chrysler was putting out the right cars at the wrong time
This car has the “lean burn” system, which, when running right gives good fuel economy. When not working correctly, gives even better fuel economy as it won’t run. If the buyer wants to, they can pull all of the “lean burn” setup out and replace it. There are kits you can get.
Lol good comment Terry 👌
Or they could just circumvent ripping out the lean burn system by buying a Hyundai.
Does it have rich Cor……….. ok I won’t go there.
I was in the Army and a dealer had a used one in silver with a silver vinyl roof and of course the wire wheel cover. The wife (now ex) would not let me buy it, we could have paid cash. She loaned the $ to her brother, never saw the cash again. Should have gotten the divorce over the car, would have been better all around.
Overall its a nice car that can be bought cheap, fixed by someone who knows what they’re doing and have a nice cruiser. Biggest problem I see with it are the missing rear fender extensions and the bumper filler pieces. Good lucky trying to find replacements, they are made of unobtanium.
Yeah, at one time there were fiberglass repro replacements available (at least for the extensions). Maybe you can still get them, but either way, they didn’t fit well and looked awful.
I had one of these. Overall pretty junky cars, but would make an interesting cruiser now if it could be picked up cheap, just because you don’t see them anymore.
Replacement pieces for the rear bumper fillers are available in fiberglass kits.
I’ve always like this body style. I’ve owned a 1980 Cordoba, a 1982 Cordoba LS, a 1983 Mirada, and currently own a 1981 Cordoba LS. They’ve all had the 318 engine and all ran well with the lean burn. However, I am actually thinking about fuel injecting my current one and putting on the air cleaner lid from an Imperial from this era which reads “fuel injection”.
The first car I ever rented was a Cordoba at the West Palm Beach airport. I felt like a king driving that thing. Times change.
Probably sold the the first hour it came up for sale at that price, a 40 year old car in that good of shape, ya right…
Compared to the previous models, this one is just not that great looking, IMO.
But, an opportunity for someone to pick one up, do a little work, and have a nice cruiser for credit card money.