Junkyard Find: 1980 Chrysler Cordoba

Murilee Martin
by Murilee Martin

It seems strange, but sufficient Chrysler Cordobas still exist to provide a sporadic flow of fresh examples to self-serve wrecking yards. In this series, we’ve seen this ’78, another ’78, this ’79, and now today’s personally luxurious blue ’80.

The downsized second-gen 1980-83 Cordobas, which were based on the Volare/Diplomat platform and didn’t differ much from their Dodge Mirada siblings, sold very poorly. You aren’t going to find many of these things today, either on the street or lined up before the Crusher’s jaws.

Soft Corinthian Leather was still an option— Ricardo Montalban would have quit in disgust otherwise— but this car has the more affordable soft Corinthian Velour.

With a smog-o-lated 318 under the hood, chopping a few hundred extra pounds out of the Cordoba for the ’80 model year made this car a much livelier performer.

The landau roof and touch-o-plastic-class grille treatment were properly Cordoba-ish, but where did the “gold” medallions go?


Not to worry, Ricardo liked what they did to his car!









Murilee Martin
Murilee Martin

Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.

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  • Big_gms Big_gms on Feb 03, 2014

    Looks like Chrysler designers "borrowed" some styling cues from other automakers. The front end somewhat resembles a 1978-80 Mercury Monarch, while the taillights look a bit like those on a 1977 Buick Electra 225. This car is a reminder of why GM absolutely dominated the personal luxury segment in the early Eighties. With this mediocre redesign of the Cordoba and the introduction of it's Dodge Mirada sibling, and with Ford's poorly received 1980 redesign of the Thunderbird and Cougar, both automakers pretty much handed the personal luxury segment over to GM on a silver platter.

    • Jcaesar Jcaesar on Apr 14, 2016

      If I remember correctly, the Cordoba was never really a personal luxury car...more of a mid-size, like a Monte Carlo, Regal or Grand Prix. Imperial was the only real personal luxury car Chrysler built ('81-'83) that competed w/the Caddy Eldorado, Olds Toronado, Buick Riveria, and Lincoln Mark in price and luxury. The T-bird was relegated to the mid-size class w/it's '77 make-over.

  • Jcaesar Jcaesar on Apr 14, 2016

    It's sad when you see a car like this. You can tell it was lovingly cared for during it's lifetime and when it's owner passed on or was no longer able to drive, it went to a family member or friend who drove it into the ground. This happened to my great uncle's '71 Riv. It sat pampered 44 years in a garage and meticulously maintained the entire time. When he and my great aunt passed, his daughter destroyed it within a year and it went to a junk yard.

  • TCowner We've had a 64.5 Mustang in the family for the past 40 years. It is all original, Rangoon Red coupe with 289 (one of the first instead of the 260), Rally Pac, 4-speed, factory air, every option. Always gets smiles and thumbs ups.
  • ToolGuy This might be a good option for my spouse when it becomes available -- thought about reserving one but the $500 deposit is a little too serious. Oh sorry, that was the Volvo EX30, not the Mustang. Is Volvo part of Ford? Is the Mustang an EV? I'm so confused.
  • Mikey My late wife loved Mustangs ..We alway rented one while travelling . GM blood vetoed me purchasing one . 3 years after retirement bought an 08 rag top, followed by a 15 EB Hard top, In 18 i bought a low low mileage 05 GT rag with a stick.. The car had not been properly stored. That led to rodent issues !! Electrical nightmare. Lots of bucks !! The stick wasn't kind to my aging knees.. The 05 went to a long term dedicated Mustang guy. He loves it .. Today my garage tenant is a sweet 19 Camaro RS rag 6yl Auto. I just might take it out of hibernation this weekend. The Mustang will always hold a place in my heart.. Kudos to Ford for keeping it alive . I refuse to refer to the fake one by that storied name .
  • Ajla On the Mach-E, I still don't like it but my understanding is that it helps allow Ford to continue offering a V8 in the Mustang and F-150. Considering Dodge and Ram jumped off a cliff into 6-cylinder land there's probably some credibility to that story.
  • Ajla If I was Ford I would just troll Stellantis at all times.
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