I’m sure there are a lot of you readers that are thinking that I just relapsed back into the realm of weird Mopars…I know I’ve earned it, but trust me, this is a find worth mentioning. You see that sad, rather unloved 1979 Chrysler 300? Yeah, sure, it’s a gussied-up Cordoba, but in 1979 it netted you the E-58 360ci small-block, floor-shifted TorqueFlite, a gauge cluster that had a tachometer in it, and a red/white/blue motif over white paint. As one of Chrysler’s very, very few hits of the 1970s, it’s not a bad place to start with a project. That it shares it’s underpinnings with the 1971 Charger doesn’t hurt anything, either. But there’s always been a bit of a split over the 1970s B-body Mopars: the early ones are loved for their horsepower but the interiors weren’t plush unless you checked every box on the options list, and the later cars, the Cordoba especially, could be very comfortable, but horsepower was certainly a distant memory.
So let’s just get down to it and meet in the middle. Once you give this poor 300 a good scrubbing, you will be rewarded with a 200-mile old 1979 Chrysler that has never been titled, still has it’s Maroney sticker and MSO, still looks great inside, and comes with two engines: the original 360, which hasn’t seen any action at all, and what’s sitting in that engine bay, only barely hidden by the stock air cleaner and air conditioning hoses: a 472 cubic inch Hemi. I don’t know who dreamt up this combination, nor do I care…this is genius. And it’s a crime that the car has been sitting since 2009, doing little to nothing except growing algae and collecting leaves. Buy this, scrub it down, get the Hemi fired off, and find any other wheels and tires for it. It’s not a museum piece…this Cordoba deserves to be driven everywhere. Look at it, and tell me you can’t hear Ricardo Montalban’s purring voice talking about it’s power instead of it’s Corinthian Leather.
eBay Link: 1979 Chrysler Cordoba 300
(Courtesy: Bring A Trailer)
Genius. Except for the part posted on Ebay mentioning it’s been stored outside for years and not driven. I don’t get it…
I dont get it either. The other thing is even stock at least it had a 360 right? Maybe a better set of heads and carburation and ignition should wake it up nicely. Dont shun these or Magnums or Cordobas.
I’d get it running and skip the part about scrubbing it down. With it looking that neglected, who on earth would suspect what’s under the hood?
I suspect it was driven once with stock brakes and suspension and the owner/builder took so long to clean the brown and smelly out of the interior he left it on his driveway to rot.
I totally agree with leaving it the way it is and I’d tune that Hemi to the max and upgrade everything else to handle the power. The sleeper of the century or what?
Stock brakes on that car are surprisingly good – it would have been 11.75″ discs up front and probably 11″ drums on the rear. I know because I’m using them as an upgrade on my Dart. Stock suspension would be a bit scarier, but you can fix that with a call to Firm Feel and a grand or so.
damn…just damn…sooooo much potential there….
Have to fix that turn signal to keep the cops off my butt. Other than that upgrade the suspension and brakes, tune the Hemi to within an inch of it’s life, and have fun.
Convenient how the MSO was lost, so no title. Doors look rotted out. Imagine what underneath is like. Shame.
If I went to loook at this it would have caused any excitment until opening the hood. OMFG!!! HEMI!!!
I’d love to know why, who and when.
I mean, while it looks like a factory transplant, why would Chrysler bother? If it wasn’t a factory job, then why make it look like it? And when people do those :factory but not” type builds there’s usually something that gives the game away.
Weird.
Holy $#1+!!! I built this car! Came into a shop I worked at with 72 miles on it. Sad to see it in this condition, it was almost perfect. Ran like a monster, hope someone gets it roadworthy and beats it properly.
John, please tell us more! This car deserves a feature.
All of my pictures are on my shop computer. I’ll pull them up on Monday. It went to a guy in Long Island. It was bought brand new and stored with the hope it would be valuable some day. It had 73 miles on it, it was in fair shape, I don’t know all of the details other than the build itself.
Props to you and your work, John. It’s a shame it appears to have gone to waste.