VIDEO: Two Words: Corinthian Leather
You wish you were this cool. Click to enlarge
But is it....rich? Sadly, no. Not yet.
In this particular Chrysler ad starring Ricardo Montalban (of course), the pimptacular brown '76 Cordoba he rolls in is equipped with the super-fly velourish interior, and the Corinthian leather we all know and love is merely given lip service as being "smooth." No matter. We know how it all turns out. In Cordoba, the "new small Chrysler" (cough -- 17.9 feet -- cough), Ricardo has what he needs.
Watch it after the jump, and then practice rolling your "R's" so that you too can be as suave as The Montalban.
Chrysler Cordoba/Ricardo Montalban photo via The Old Car Manual Project.
[Source: YouTube]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Anne Gillock 3:01PM (1/16/2009)
I actually don't recall the ad, but I had a 1976 Chrysler Cordoba. At the time I thought it was a great car . . . certainly a heavy car. It finally started to "decay" for lack of attention, and then sat in my driveway for several years and then went "bye-bye." I now own a 2006 Saturn Relay and have never been happier. To me my Saturn has style, is economical to drive, very comfortable and reliable, and very functional. The Saturn I have now is a great car! No comparison to my old Chrysler Cordoba.
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BOB 7:54PM (10/21/2006)
THE CAR SUITED THE TIMES, AND WAS NOT PIMPISH, JUST A BIT AUDACIOUS. EVERY DOMESTIC CAR EXEC SHOULD WATCH THIS, TO SEE A SUCCESSFULLY PROMOTED, VERY AMERICAN PRODUCT THAT SOMEONE 27 OR 70 COULD DRIVE.
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cordobaman 8:11PM (10/21/2006)
I love my 1975 Cordoba. Original 63k miles, not a spec of rust, paint still shines. Have alway owned one (or two). Got my first when I was 20...a used 1975. My Grandfather had a 77 at the same time, we worked on them together...very fond memories.
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piglet 8:25PM (10/21/2006)
Small????? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Except for the crappy Lean Burn system, Mopar made some decent cars in the 70's. An old girlfriend had a mildly tuned Cordoba as her first car & she put many a spoiled H.S. boy in his place!
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GhostDoggy 7:59AM (10/22/2006)
I am not ashamed to admit I owned three Cordobas. The one I got with a RB engine (big block) was sweet!
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Gardiner Westbound 9:26PM (10/21/2006)
They were a magnificent looking car, with a good engine and transmission. Straight line performance was good. Gasoline mileage was terrible, but nobody much cared because the early 70s gasoline crisis had faded from memory. The fit and finish was atrocious. Within two or three years the very long, heavy doors were sagging on their hinges and you couldn't hear the radio for squeaks and rattles.
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That One Person 9:46PM (10/21/2006)
I still cant get the damn image of him being Kahn out of my head. Damn Star Trek!
Anyways, those were one of my favorite Chryslers of all time. There was a 1977 Cordoba in my neighborhood a guy was trying to sell...it was on my list of possible cars to purchase. But I didnt want to pay for the crappy mileage.
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Edsel 9:57PM (10/21/2006)
Ricardo and Cordoba make the perfect pimp companion to the "Outrageous C6 Corvette" by Mid America Motorworks. We all laughed at the car and marketing in 1975, a time when the best Corvette only had 165 hp. The 1970's sucked.
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Jon 10:13PM (10/21/2006)
Ah Kirk,my old friend...Have you ever heard the old klingon proverb, "revenge is a dish best served cold".It is...very cold ...in space.
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laserwizard 9:44AM (10/22/2006)
I wanted one of those but they wouldn't deliver mine with a midget lodged on the hood ornament. I was all excited about getting De Plane Model. Had to settle for something else.
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big jim 11:40AM (10/22/2006)
the odd couple khan and a chrysler
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Emil Rensing 11:04PM (10/21/2006)
Quien es mas macho? Lorenzo Lamas o Ricardo Montalban?
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Ryan 11:03PM (10/21/2006)
LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My sister had a 1995 Honda Civic, EX spoiler, sunroof, power everything, v-tec, etc... Her and her boyfriend were expecting, sooooo go figure there Civic BLEW UP at no joke: 199,980 miles on the odo. Because they were expecting they went from that cute, pretty fast, kinda cool looking civic to this sick Cordoba. My sister, cried, and cried and cried. Luckly (she said) the Cordoba blew up within weeks so they just "bit it" and purchased a brand new 2002 Honda Civic EX, she is once again happy, BUT has since moved onto a 2006 Honda Civic EX and now has 2 kids. She refuses to give up (in her words) her "cute cars" for some sick big car.
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Dave M. 11:21PM (10/21/2006)
Laugh all you want - it WAS the small Chrysler in '75! These (personal luxury cars) were all the shit back in college, along with the Monte Carlo, Gran Prix, Buick Regal, Olds Cutlass, Ford T-Bird, and Gran Torino Elite (a specialty model for 2 years).
Then came the Trans Am, Camaro, and Mustang II Cobra years.....LMAO. I even remember a Volare-based Road Runner for a year.....
I remember the first time I saw that peculiar new car that came out....the, uh, what was it....oh yeah, the Honda Accord hatchback.
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Brian W 11:30PM (10/21/2006)
My sister had a 1995 Honda Civic, EX spoiler, sunroof, power everything, v-tec, they went from that cute, pretty fast, kinda cool looking civic to this sick Cordoba.
Now that's funny. Cool looking!
Oh the difference in generations.
I love the old 80s Caprices, no one whats them, they run good, easy, cheap to keep and work on. One repair won't force you to junk them like a foreign car.
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Tab 11:53PM (10/21/2006)
I've owned 2 'dobas and a 1975 Dodge Charger along the way. They were great cars. Not small by any stretch, yet they handled very well for their size. They were the last of the "B" bodies, so parts could be swapped from other older B bodies...such as Chargers, Coronets and Satellites.
I haven't had one in over 15 years now, but they remain high on my list as my favorite cars. Perfect sleeper vehicles.
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Flo 12:13AM (10/22/2006)
Wow... that thing is hideous... I'm sure that is just a generational thing, but geez. I don't imagine that any pimp would want to be seen in such a creation. It makes me think of John Candy as Uncle Buck driving his backfiring, ruined-shock jalopy:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/nl/6/61/De_auto_van_Buck.jpg
" Laugh all you want - it WAS the small Chrysler in '75!" Yes, we know. That is why Japanese lightweights like Honda and Toyota were laughing all the way to the bank within 10 years, while Chrysler was bleeding red ink like an Enron retirement account.
I have a good friend with a mid-80's Cutlass... That Cordoba looks just as useless. Spongy suspension, nasty recirculating ball steering with more slop than a hog farm, unsupportive seats (note the lack of bolstering so that far old ladies can sit comfortably), and horrid space utilization. It's acceptable for two, miserable if you're in the back seat, and a pain to get out if you're parked anywhere other than the 50 yardline of an empty football stadium; the doors have huge swinging arcs and invariably sag over time. For all the downsides, there really is no upside... it's not sporty to drive, the V8 has such tall gearing that it can't get out of its own way, and it leans in corners like an intoxicated unicyclist. It's basically worthless, and thus the entire genre has ceased to exist.
Rich Corinthian leather? Why not put seats in the damn thing that will hold you in place?
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Jim 12:06AM (10/22/2006)
This has always been one of the commercials I've loved for all time. I always get a laugh out of "Corinthian leather" - which Chrysler made up for marketing purposes.
James
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Jason 12:26AM (10/22/2006)
LOL! That totally made my day. I remember those commercials and that car when it was the shiznit. My neighbor always had one and he was Mr. Suave. I can't believe I remember the 70's!!!
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Steve2 12:30AM (10/22/2006)
"Look what they've done to my car."
Wow, I don't even remember this ad, I only remember the later one.
Flo:
The BMW 5 series, at least until 1999, had recirculating ball steeering. And people liked it. There's nothing wrong with it as a technology.
It's silly to compare a 1975 car to a 1985. American cars were a lot smaller in 1985 than 1975 too.
The doors on those cars do definitely sag over time, and not even all that long a time. Did that ever stop happening on 2 door cars? I haven't seen it happen in a while, but then again I moved to a state they don't put salt on roads and people generally stopped buying 2 door cars.
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