Chrysler Cordoba Chrysler Cordoba was the name of an intermediate personal luxury coupe sold by Chrysler Corporation in North America from 1975 to 1983. It was the company's first model produced specifically for the personal luxury market and the first Chrysler-branded vehicle that was less than full-size. In the early 1960s, when other upmarket brands were expanding into smaller cars with such models as the Mercury Comet and Buick Skylark, the company had very publicly declared that there would "never" be a smaller Chrysler. Historians of the marque noted later that "never" on the Chrysler timeline had equaled not quite fifteen years.
History
Although Córdoba is the name of a city in Spain, the car's emblem was actually a stylized version of the Argentine cordoba coin. Either way, the implication was Hispanic, and this theme was carried out with somewhat baroque trim inside and by having Mexican movie star Ricardo Montalban as the car's advertising spokesman. Many remember his eloquent praise of its "soft Corinthian leather" interior..
The Cordoba became one of Chrysler's few genuine hits of the 1970s, at a time when Chrysler was teetering on bankruptcy. Built in Windsor, Ontario, demand actually exceeded supply for its first couple of years, when production was over 150,000 annually. Half of Chrysler division production during this period (and occasionally more) was composed of Cordobas.
At the time of its introduction, the personal luxury market overall was large and growing. The Cordoba's debut styling, well proportioned and graceful, is considered one of Chrysler's better efforts. Perhaps most importantly, it carried the Chrysler name, then associated exclusively with large luxury models like the Imperial, but it was priced to compete with relatively plebeian rivals such as the Chevrolet Monte Carlo and Ford Elite. The Cordoba was originally intended to be a Plymouth (the names Mirada, Premier and Grand Era were associated with the project) but the losses from the newly introduced full-size C-body in 1974 (at the onset of the energy crisis) encouraged Chrysler executives to seek higher profits by marketing the model as a Chrysler, a name that still had an upscale appeal at the time. The success of this strategy is well illustrated by the fact that its similar and somewhat cheaper corporate cousin, the Dodge Charger SE, only sold about a quarter as well.
The original design endured with only very small changes for three years before a variety of factors contributed to a decline in sales. For 1978, there was a modest restyling with the then de rigueur rectangular headlights in a stacked configuration that had the unfortunate effect of making the Cordoba look much like the 1976 to 1977 Monte Carlo from the front. A Chrysler designer, Jeffrey Godshall, wrote in his article on the Cordoba in Collectible Automobile magazine that this restyling was viewed as "somewhat tacky" and eliminated much of the visual appeal that the 1975 to 1977 Cordobas had been known for.
At the same time, Chrysler's financial position and quality reputation was in steady decline, and rising gas prices and tightening fuel economy standards made the Cordoba's nearly 4000 lb weight and 360 and 400 in³ V8 engines obsolete.
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