The Chrysler Cordoba was a two-door personal luxury car introduced for the 1975 model year. The first Chrysler built specifically for that market segment and the first Chrysler smaller than full-size, it was a genuine success at a time when the company was close to bankruptcy, with more than 150,000 sold in its first year.
Chrysler Cordoba at a glance
| Production | 1975–1983 model years, two generations |
|---|---|
| First shown as a name | 1970 Newport Cordoba |
| Class | intermediate two-door personal luxury car |
| Wheelbase | 115 in (2,921 mm) |
| Engines | smaller and more economical units than other Chryslers |
| Competitors | Oldsmobile Cutlass, Buick Regal, Mercury Cougar |
| 1975 sales | over 150,000 |
| 1977 sales | about 183,000, the best year |
| Name origin | Córdoba, Spain |
| Advertising | Ricardo Montalbán and “rich Corinthian leather” |
History of the Chrysler Cordoba
Before the Cordoba
In the early 1960s, when other upmarket American brands were moving into smaller cars with models such as the Mercury Comet and Buick Skylark, Chrysler publicly declared there would “never” be a smaller Chrysler, and its 1962 catalogue boasted that there was “not a jr. edition in the whole family”. The first car to carry the name was the Newport Cordoba of spring 1970, a specially trimmed full-size model in Cordoba Gold paint with an “Espanol” vinyl roof and an Aztec eagle hood ornament; 3,741 were built. Chrysler also showed the Cordoba de Oro concept at the 1970 Chicago show, a wedge-shaped car with a cantilevered roof and no A-pillars, designed by Elwood Engel.
Becoming a Chrysler
The 1975 Cordoba was originally designed to be the all-new Plymouth Sebring for 1975, sharing its body with the Dodge Charger SE. Losses on the new full-size C-body cars after the 1973 oil crisis persuaded executives to sell it as a more profitable Chrysler instead, and it became the brand’s first small model. It rode on a 115-inch wheelbase, nine inches less than its next largest sibling, and offered smaller, more economical engines than other Chryslers. Only the name was Spanish: the emblem was a stylised Argentine cordoba coin. The trim was deliberately baroque, and after an initial campaign with Richard Basehart, the actor Ricardo Montalbán became the car’s spokesman for its entire run, praising its “rich Corinthian leather” interior.
Success
The single-body coupé was one of Chrysler’s few genuine successes of the 1970s. Demand exceeded supply in the first years, with over 150,000 built for 1975, about 165,000 for 1976 and just under 140,000 for the mildly revised 1977, when the highest number, around 183,000, was produced. Half of the Chrysler division’s production in this period, and sometimes more, consisted of Cordobas, and the model helped revive the division. It competed with the Oldsmobile Cutlass, Buick Regal and Mercury Cougar, and it was replaced in the range by the second-generation car, production continuing to the 1983 model year.
Design and features
- Personal luxury formula: a two-door coupé with baroque trim, aimed at the Cutlass and Regal.
- Compact for a Chrysler: a 115-inch wheelbase, nine inches shorter than the next largest Chrysler.
- Economical engines: smaller units than the rest of the range, offered after the 1973 oil crisis.
- Distinctive marketing: Ricardo Montalbán and the “rich Corinthian leather” line.
- Commercial success: more than 150,000 sold in 1975 and around 183,000 at the peak.
Chrysler Cordoba versions
- Newport Cordoba (1970): a specially trimmed full-size Newport, 3,741 built.
- Cordoba de Oro concept (1970): Elwood Engel’s wedge-shaped show car.
- First generation (1975–1979): the intermediate personal luxury coupé.
- Second generation (1980–1983): the reskinned car that finished the run.
The Cordoba was smaller than the Chrysler Newport and New Yorker, and it was succeeded in Chrysler’s personal luxury role by the Fifth Avenue and later the 300. More cars are in the Chrysler collection.
Video: Chrysler Cordoba
Video by Miguel Caparros on YouTube.
Sources
- Chrysler Cordoba, English Wikipedia: origins, development, sales, marketing
- Chrysler Cordoba, Wikimedia Commons: photographs
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