26K Miles! 1977 Chrysler Cordoba
“Don’t tell them that we’re out of fish!” Wait, what does that have to do with a 1977 Chrysler Cordoba? The seller has this Cordoba listed here on eBay in Flora, Illinois, in the triangle between St. Louis, Louisville, and Indianapolis. Speaking of fish, they have a whopping $15,000 buy-it-now price listed or you can make an offer. Let’s check it out.
If you think about what the most well-known feature of a Cordoba is, it’s probably better to not tell you that this one doesn’t have it right away so you’ll keep reading. By now you know that I’m referring to the “Rich/Soft/Fine Corinthian Leather.” The somewhat short version of the opening line about fish is, I owned a commercial janitorial service after high school and operated it for years. One client, a restaurant, had a little chalkboard by the reception/hostess area that they would write the daily specials on. One night when we got there the manager was telling the staff not to write “We’re out of fish” because once people are shown to a table and then find out that there’s no fish, 9 times out of 10 they’ll stay and order something else. But, if they see the “no fish” sign right at the door, they’ll most likely walk out if they had their heart set on fish. It’s similar to saying that a Cordoba doesn’t have Corinthian leather right away because that’s what most people want to see in these cars.
Did that make any sense at all? Even without that famous leather, this car looks outstanding. I wonder if the front and rear bumper filler material has been changed, it appears to be a different shade. Maybe it just faded at a different rate?
The Cordoba was made for the 1975 through 1983 model years other than a one-year stint as a top trim level hardtop Chrysler Newport in 1970. For me, it has to be a 1975, 1976, or 1977 Cordoba with round headlights. I think that Chrysler had a hit on their hands but oddly enough, another Chrysler hit started digging into sales of this big rear-wheel-drive personal luxury car: the new front-drive LeBaron. It got much better mileage and offered somewhat similar luxury.
Here are the famous Corinthian Velour seats from rare Spanish velour cows… The seats do look great no matter what they’re covered with and the backseat looks perfect, too. The first thing I notice in a luxury car is whether it has power windows or not and this one doesn’t have the unique Chrysler paddle-type switches. The trunk looks basically like new as does the interior from what I can see.
The engine looks as clean as a whistle which is something that nobody under 50 says anymore. It’s a B-Series Chrysler 400 cubic-inch V8 with a four-barrel carburetor which had 190 horsepower and 305 lb-ft of torque. This car has only 26,913 miles on it which is amazing, that explains why it looks so great. Are there any Cordoba fans or owners out there?
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Comments
A very nice looking car priced and reasonable. I never care for the electronic power box. They road really nice and had good power. Also these bumper filler that was put on different makes at the time. Was junk.After a few years,. They,d crack and break and is not cheap to replace,but now days you can get SUPPOSEDLY better built one. Good luck and have it personally checked out . Its alot better built car and your moneys worth. Then todays cheap built –over price junk. Plus its shiney and has alot better looks and comfortable to ride in.
I was lucky enough to drive some brand new Chrysler cordoba’s back in ’78. It was white with red leather interior those seats were amazing. Soft comfortable you could drive for miles and never get tired. It had every option could think of including a t-top. And with the aluminum wheels I remember the price was very expensive for those cars top of the line. Some of the problems the tail lights used to pop out the lens or water would fill up in them.. And the lean burn never seemed to work properly. Otherwise it was like driving a cloud. I wouldn’t mind having this vehicle since it has a 400-4 bbl Good luck to the next owner. 🐻🇺🇸
No leather but something better, that gloriously ’70s baby-blue velour! And it looks to be in really great condition too.
The 400 V8? Run the other way as fast as you can. Worst engine to ever roll (or be pushed) out of Detroit.
Beauty Cordoba w big motor and 4 barrel. 👍
ik a guy and he had one for his high school car, still has it to, his had the buckets and consul, and the rich Corinthian leather, he raced every cop in town and they couldn’t quit beat him. (this was the 90’s when they had crown vics)(small town and he knew em all)
What were the police driving? YUGO’S
Is it 1 original owner? I had a 76 cordoba. Drove like a dream. Smooth ride.
Most people know the lean burn system was done for emissions reasons and in far too many cases had negative effects on both drivability and reliability. Could it be this one never ran good enough to drive it and put some miles on it, or was it an elderly owner that used it sparingly.
In either case nice car and I actually prefer the velour over the leather, rich Corinthian or not. I’m still not sure why so many people seem to prefer leather. Velour is warm, cozy, and welcoming when it’s cold out and doesn’t burn your skin when it’s hot out.
Velour just looks cheap…like a bawdy house. And leather can survive coffee spills with aplomb!
My first car was a ‘76 cordoba, black on white interior. My friends and I had a lot of fun in that thing.
Had a black ‘78, red corinthian “Lather”. Put 200,000 miles on it. Only trouble was the ignition module, on the upper left firewall. Kept going out. Bought for $8000, sold for $500.
I bought a ’75 new. with all the problems I had with the “lean burn” I had to dump it after 5k, I wouldn’t touch this unless I had an extra $$ set aside to swap another, different Chrysler engine. And, to a collector, there would be a $4-5000 swing since there is no Corinthian leather.
I might be wrong, but I thought Lean Burn didn’t come out until 1976. Again, I might be wrong.
But either way, you don’t have to replace the engine to eliminate Lean Burn. Just a couple components. Great engines otherwise.
I like this car (always wanted a Cordoba) & if I had the money for this, I would be all over it!
Nice car, but 7k overpriced to me. Scott it has manual windows, the crank handles are clearly visible. The “Tap to Test” lean burn has got to go, put a distributor in and you are good to go. Many (most) were converted. Guy in town has a black, red leather/console car that’s gorgeous and he put in a rompin, stompin 440 and a Dana in. Beautiful and it hauls the mail.
Terry, I agree about the price and I mentioned that it doesn’t have power windows in the paragraph below the interior photo. That Chrysler red leather would be my first choice, heck, even in a light blue car.
I see the lean burn computer on the air cleaner I wonder if it is even connected as there is a electronic control box on the firewall ???
I can remember as if it was yesterday, I made a purchase of one of the first Cordoba’s that came off of the Assembly line. 1975 dealership demonstrator, it was totally loaded with all the bells and whistle‘s except for leather seats, very plush Burgundy interior, Silver-ish bluish paint with Landale roof plus moon. Out the door for $7,900 that was a lot of money back in 1975. Great car but wasn’t able to work on it because of all the electronic ignition systems! I would do it all over again!!
That brings back memories, i had a 400 in mine and it was black with black leather inferior. Was a verry nice driving and riding car
I just logged on to see what chrlsful has to say today.
:)
My in-laws had an early model Cordoba with a hideous ‘American Indian’ looking interior.
From Hemmings: “the so-called “Indian blanket” interior really draws attention. Officially known as the “Castilian” cloth-and-vinyl option, the distinctive look cost Cordoba buyers just $17.05 in 1975.” They should have opted for Corinthian leather.
https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/conquistador-1975-chrysler-cordoba
Auction update: “This listing was ended by the seller because the item is no longer available”