The Chrysler Cordoba is famous for commercials featuring Ricardo Montalbán, crooning over “rich Corinthian leather”. That’s what most of us remember about the car. But the Cordoba was a stalwart entry in the personal luxury niche, credited with saving Chrysler (along with several other cars over the years, depending upon which of the many moments the company faced financial disasters) – thanks to 150k units sold in year one. The Cordoba is a handsome car with a square, upright radiator grille offset by graceful fuselage headlamp housings, flanked by those sharp-edged front fenders. Some might find these styling cues jarring, but I love the mix of shapes. Here at lowmilesnomiles (LMNM) is this survivor-quality 1977 Cordoba with only 5800 miles on the clock, aching for a new home. The car is located in Shenandoah, Iowa, and the seller is asking $21,000. Thanks, Mitchell G, for the great tip!
Herein lies a 400 cu. in. V8 from smack in the midst of the Malaise Era, by now generating 175 hp and equipped with Chrysler’s electronic lean-burn system. Two smaller V8s were on offer; all three were backed by a three-speed TorqueFlite automatic. Decent torque of 300 ft-lb rescued the performance. This example still retains all its original belts and hoses, with clear factory markings. The tires are new, however. The seller notes that he recently took the car on a 400-mile road trip with no problems. The window sticker, original registration paperwork, books, and manuals are still present.
The interior is pristine, but is somewhat disappointingly upholstered in velour rather than “fine Corinthian leather”. As befits a luxury car, this Cordoba has power steering, power brakes, air conditioning, and an optional AM/FM radio. The windows operate off a crank, however.
All Cordobas were two-door coupes. A vinyl roof was optional – either a landau or, like this one. a halo style. This color is Caramel Tan Metallic, one of eighteen available shades. The Cordoba was a “small” Chrysler on a 115″ wheelbase, but the overhangs were substantial at 100″ for a total length of 215″. Production ran from 1975 through 1983; over that period, more than 750,000 units were sold. The Cordoba is the classic “little old lady on Sundays” type of car, so while this example has travelled impressively few miles, it has plenty of competition. This 2700-mile ’75 sold for $20k a year ago, supporting our seller’s asking price. What do you think of this pristine Cordoba?
Trying to get through a Cordoba post without mentioning the “fine Corinthian leather’, is like a Corvair post and not mentioning,,,um, funny thing, there is no such thing, and the seat covers, while leather, came from New Jersey, not Corinth, Greece. Merely a marketing ploy for comparison. It worked. I tend to disagree, this was no little old ladies car. These cars were for the aging gearhead that got a good job, and the GTX went up for sale at the corner gas station. Riddled with issues complying with emission problems, but the car itself was probably the last of the great RWD Chrysler cars. While the 400 was choked off pretty much, it still was a 400, and had some clout. They are nice cars, comfy high speed cruisers, but tis’ not for an old lady. Not until the author gets old, that is. :)
Can you imagine if you sold a 1968-69 GTX to get a down payment for this? You would have post traumatic stress disorder and a lifetime of regret!!
Now I understand why “the wrath of khan”.
See the white resistor behind the air cleaner on the firewall. Make sure that you have a spare one with you. Fairly nice car’s.
Yep. I had a 75 Cordoba and the dealer told me to keep one handy. Beautiful car…I think mine was almost the same color. Mine had a 318 and NO catalytic converter. Apparently the 318 was exempt in 1975. Terrible gas mileage though.
Yup was a good idea to keep a spare or two… the part was called a ballast resistor and prevented the coil from burning up, and kicked on after starting the car… you knew it was a bad one when it would stall right after starting the car up when it was supposed to be doing its job…
Funny. I had a ’73 Barracuda that utilized a ballast resistor and I hadn’t heard of one until a few years ago when the subject comes up on almost every other post about ’70’s Mopars.
Was I lucky and never had an issue, or is the issue not all that common but overblown?
There is no such thing as Corinthian leather. It’s a word that Chrysler made up to enhance sales; it appears it worked, except for this Cordoba.
Try telling that to all of the Corinthian’s that gave up their hides in the name of luxury interiors.
When I took my ’77 Toyota pickup in for some warranty work
at the Toyota/Dodge dealer in Medford,Oregon that I bought it new
at,they gave me a White ’78 Cordoba loaner.
It was a comfortable car,had decent power,& I loved flooring it
& listening to the carbarator fully opening.
As I was driving up I5 towards Grants Pass,I passed Savage Rapids
State Park,& noticed the Oregon State Troopers on the side of the road,waiting for involuntary donations to the state.I figured that they
had me,but slowed down quickly anyway.Just then,a Bright Red Corvette
passed me at speed,& the Trooper immediately pulled them over!
I went to the Grants Pass area to find a girl that I used to work with
in Eureka,& felt like a hit man driving that thing.
When I took my ’77 Toyota pickup in for some warranty work
at the Toyota/Dodge dealer in Medford,Oregon that I bought it new
at,they gave me a White ’78 Cordoba loaner.
It was a comfortable car,had decent power,& I loved flooring it
& listening to the carbarator fully opening.
As I was driving up I5 towards Grants Pass,I passed Savage Rapids
State Park,& noticed the Oregon State Troopers on the side of the road,waiting for involuntary donations to the state.I figured that they
had me,but slowed down quickly anyway.Just then,a Bright Red Corvette
passed me at speed,& the Trooper immediately pulled them over!
I went to the Grants Pass area to find a girl that I used to work with
in Eureka,& felt like a hit man driving that thing.
Nice Cordoba. They were (and still are) credible and attractive cars, which fit perfectly into a market segment which was popular at the time. It’s not surprising that they sold well. I like this example’s period-correct colors. Its sticker price of $7,293 is $44,000 in today’s dollars. The recent 400-mile drive is a good piece of info.
Thanks Michelle.
For the record, as a 75 owner. Thats the Verdi velour interior!
I always wondered where velour came from! Verdi is located right next to Corinthia in parallel universe Moparland
You definitely want the velour or cloth interior over the horrendously cheap New Jersey made leather.Also referring to the description text,i too always liked the front end style,but only the round eyes,when they switched to square headlights it ruined the front completely.
Definitely, rectangular headlights never looked right on most cars of the mid to late 70s. The Monte Carlo suffered the same fate.
Wrong! The Monte looked so much better with the stacked squares. The round headlights looked bug eyed.
I agree. I always thought this car was originally designed with an homage to those early ‘50s special coupes designed in Italy. And those creases were the curved fenders modernized for 1970s tastes..
“Lean burn system”. Yes, because it wouldn’t run half the time and that’s as lean as you can get.. Those systems were removed by the thousands and replaced with a regular carb and ignition setup. That’s what I’d do with this car if I had intentions of driving it. It’s so nice though, I’d probably garage it just to look at it.
What the Hoovie’s Garage episodes about his Sinatra Imperial to get a good idea of how bad the Lean Burn system is.
I’m guessing that the 400 mile road trip was the trip back home from buying this gem from the widow of the original owner for a fraction of its true value.
You mentioned the hoses had factory markings. Just to be on the safe side, I would replace all belts, hoses, filters, and fluids.
Excellent write up on a truly wonderful car. I had to head over to YouTube to watch the Ricardo Montalbán piece about the leather; pure nostalgia if nothing else! I can’t help but think there can’t be many of these cars left especially with such low miles.
Did Chrysler cause the Corinthians extinction?
LMAO! That’s a question for the Discovery Channel!
I thought was the Nagas that caused the Corinthians extinction.
I owned the ’75 just like this one from ’75 until about 1981. I loved that car. Moved to Denver with it in 1976 so put different carb jets in it. I traded my ugly blue Pinto in on the Cordoba. I felt like a Rockefeller. Never had a bit of trouble with that beast. I would buy this one but am too old now.
Beautiful Chrysler. The color is fantastic. The interior is very nice. I like cloth seats. Although it should have power windows, it does have a tilt wheel. That’s nice. The condition is unbelievable. The miles are very low though. These were smaller Chryslers but my 1977 was smaller yet. I bought a LeBaron! Lean burn was a fiasco !
This is beautiful: if you want to preserve it in a museum, perhaps. But my late father bought one of these as one of the last vehicles he ever owned. His also had the 400. Constant problems. Terrible gas-mileage — a real guzzler. Early rust issues. He said it was the worst car he ever owned These (and the similar Dodge Magnum) vanished early from the roads, for a reason. If you want to simply admire it, then buy it. But if you expect to DRIVE it, then save yourself a lot of grief — go and look for something ELSE.
Paid $8,000 for a new ‘78 Cordoba, black, like the one in Ricardo’s commercial. Ran it until the headliner fell on my head. Sold to gardeners for $500. Ran a little rough, and they laughed on test drive. Bought it anyway. One fine freeway cruiser. It did have the very soft “ Corinthian Laather”, in red.
Black over red. Sexy!
Had a 76, it was a great car and we had a lot of fun with it, My son was practicing driving on ice in a old parking lot and hit a concrete parking stop and cracked the block. Was a 360, think it still would be running if not for that.
But the winters in Canada are very icy and cold out west here, So he needed to know what to do in spin-outs etc, so I wasn’t to upset about it. There was a lot of snow and the stop was well hidden in an unexpected place. The car still ran for about a week before we saw water in the oil. Same colour as this one, I am not going to show this post to my son he can’t afford it I don’t think. Trunk was hugh and could put four guys worth of hockey bags and sticks in it.
My 1st BRAND NEW car was a 76 Cordoba. Didn’t want the lean burn, but always 400 cid police option with dual exhaust was an option with a 3;23 rear end.
Nice car terrible gas mileage, but wish I still had it
I prepped Chryslers when these gas hogs were new. The paint was awful enamel, no clear coat. Orange peel beyond belief. Lean Burm a total disaster.
So I take it you loved the car? Ha ha, just kidding…. I read that most owners removed the lean burn system.
What ever became of the black paint in the “L” of “CHRYSLER” on the grille? With so few miles, how could it already be gone?
I completely understand the nostalgia aspect, but in reality these were awful cars.
The build quality compared to Ford, and especially GM, wasn’t even close…
My sister in law had the Cordoba and my father in law had the Magnum. They were okay. Father in law kept up with the maintenance on both of them. They both lost the ballast resistors at least 2 times. I am not sure why they got rid of them. They were okay, not a Monte Carlo but they were decent.