Somewhere, a lesser known law of physics states that an identical reaction is produced by the discovery of either an intact Dodge Magnum or a lottery scratcher worth more than a replay: Stunned silence.
Actually, I consider this 1978 Magnum to be one of the better looking cars of the late 70’s. OK, so that bar isn’t exactly high and yes, those ludicrously large rear wheels are the automotive version of a mullet; let’s just call them part of the Magnum-era aura .
Built only in 1978 and 1979, the Magnum was based on Chrysler’s tried-and-true B-body. It was closely related to the new-for-1975 Dodge Charger SE and – surprise – the Chrysler Cordoba. Despite its close similarity to the Charger, both models were offered in 1978.
Like its opera-windowed brethren, the Magnum was a unibody personal luxury coupe based on the Mopar B-body with gigantic doors and available bucket seats, console and T-Tops.
Despite using the same instrument panel, the Magnum had an attractive engine-turned applique in lieu of fake wood.
One interesting feature of the Magnum was clear hidden headlights. Like the upcoming 1979 Dodge St. Regis (by the way, seen one of THOSE lately?) they retracted below the headlights when turned on. Whether it improved aerodynamics is questionable. Most likely they just did it for looks.
Nineteen seventy-eight was the only year in which you could buy a Magnum powered by a 400 cu. in.V8; a police-spec 360 V8 became the top performance option in ’79. Two and four barrel versions of the 318 and 360 engines were also available both years. Transmission choices for the entire two-year run numbered exactly one, the Torqueflite automatic.
The parents of one of my junior-high school classmates had a silver ’78 XE; it was one of the first cars I ached to possess, and my desire was crushed, very cruelly, when they traded it for an ’86 Buick Somerset. I had almost forgotten about my longing for that Magnum (and for Magnums in general) when I discovered The Junkman, which is a companion piece to (the vastly superior) Gone in 60 Seconds and features a Magnum. Here’s a clip:
Although the clip would indicate otherwise, the Magnum actually gets a fair amount of screen time.
Finding this example triggered long forgotten memories, and while circumstances don’t permit closer inspection, I do have the comfort of knowing where to find her, parked outside for all to admire…but I think she waits only for me.
I love the way the stripe “integrates” with the opera window, seriously. I’ve never seen one of these striped like this.
Agreed. Always liked these, but it was a tough time for cars…
Watching time trials for NASCAR at Riverside in ’85, some privateer came howling up to the hairpin and I was mesmerized…
Dad has one
Vaguely remember these as hot rod Cordobas. Also a previous post mentioned that the headlight covers were for aerodynamics, since they were there for the NASCAR body, like the fastback rear windows on some late G body Monte Carlos. Given its malaise era power plant the Magnum probably needed all the help it could get. Of course covered headlights are not necessarily more aerodynamic, and the 3rd generation GM F body shows, since the 82 Camaro with exposed headlights actually had a lower Cd than the Firebird with pop up headlights.
Would love one of these with a 360 or 400. Rare cars and my Dad’s cousin Bruce got to restore a 300 from this era in his body shop for a customer. I like these better than the other faux luxury/muscle cars from this era. I think the Magnum’s design is cleaner.
I’m surprised the writer did not mention that the front end styling mimics the old Cord coffin nose. Body color headlight doors would have improved the car’s overall look. Of course, I’m partial to hidden headlights.
The Dodge 600 (K car) had a very similar front end styling to the Magnum. Overall, not a bad look.
See, now, I always thought the headlights were wicked cool, but the protruding grille wicked uncool.
The text of the ad with the black Magnum specifically mentions that it has a Cord-style grille.
“I’m surprised the writer did not mention that the front end styling mimics the old Cord coffin nose. ”
Which was deliberate – I remember reading a press release saying flat out that the front end was done as a homage to the Cord.
The example Magnum has the common 70’s Hot Rodder’s trick, jacking up the rear suspension.
That forward tilt may simply be the result of differing tire and wheel sizes.
I’ve seen lotsa Magnums (well, relatively), but the stripe on this one is new to me also. I like it.
It used to be that I always had an interesting Mopar car around the place that I could drive up in when I wanted to talk to the owner of such a car, but alas that’s no longer the case.
That stance was courtesy of the famous (infamous?) Gabriel Hijacker Air Shock. Everybody who was anybody had ’em in the 70’s
“Despite its close similarity to the Charger, both models were offered in 1978.”
I’ve always assumed that they started off the 1978 model year with the Charger, then phased it out at some point and replaced it with the Magnum; while there may have been some overlap, it was always the intention that one would replace the other. Does anyone know the chronology for certain?
I’ve always found it surprising that Chrysler sprang for a refresh of the Dodge version of this design — but only the Dodge version, to better differentiate it from its Chrysler couterpart — so late in the life of the design. Sure, the refresh was purely cosmetic, but at this point in its history Chrysler was chronically strapped for cash and the cars built by its three brands were becoming more and more alike. It seems odd that they’d deviate from that here, if they were going to deviate from that at all. Maybe the thinking was that the mid-size personal luxury market was hot enough to justify some special attention, and that a more unique Dodge offering would be a stronger seller than the “Corboda without the prestige” 1975 Charger design had been.
At least part of the reason for the late-cycle refresh to create the Magnum was probably NASCAR. Richard Petty complained that the new Mopars weren’t competitive due to poor aerodynamics, so he ran a 1973 Charger body right through 1977. He started the 1978 season in a Dodge Magnum but wasn’t happy with it, and defected to a Monte Carlo part-way through the season.
Allpar claims that there were about 3k Chargers sold in 1978 compared with 48K Magnums. I would suspect that either the 78’s were leftovers from the infamous sales bank that got re-titled, or were very early production units made either to use up parts or to augment production while the Magnum ramped up.
The 78 Magnum is what the 75 Charger should have been. And you are right – that 2 year only restyle was strange, although it was probably in reaction to abysmal sales after the 1975 launch. The 75 Charger sold about 31k units, while the Cordoba sold about 150K. The trend stayed pretty constant through better industry sales years in 76 and 77. Unfortunately, the Magnum didn’t sell any better than the Charger did – about 48K in 78 and 25K in 79.
“I’ve always found it surprising that Chrysler sprang for a refresh ”
The refresh was not done ‘overnight’, they probably planned it in spring 1975 when the Cordoba outsold the look alike Charger SE. And maybe they meant for the Charger name to stay. Also, they had no idea they’d end up dropping the Magnum in only 2 years.
Remember, restyles are not done over a summer, they take some planning and locked in place nearly a year plus before unveiling.
But then again, Chrysler started losing money after 1976, when Volare recalls and quality issues appeared. Also, their big cars were dying off, and with them, profits. They planned the Magnum not knowing in two-three years they’d be near bankrupt.
When these came out, I really, really wanted one. Despite the fact that they were made during Chrysler’s worst-ever quality era, and are saddled with the dreaded Lean Burn, I still want one of these. Even with the structural deficiencies of the late B body, I still want one.
Maybe it’s because I like my big cars with a little more sport than brougham, but these cars really appealed to me. This has to be my favorite of that breed of vastly oversized “mid size” cars of the 70s. If only Chrysler could have built them with any quality. Sigh.
jpcananaugh, it wasn’t the worst era for quality, the 57’s and up were, I had several. The leanburn was lightyears ahead, but was just put in the wrong place, they used that computer till things went OBD2. I bought one new, and the quality was on-par (no pun intended) with the era. I think that due to slow sales might’ve helped that, by a slower assembly line?
You raise an interesting debate – what was Chrysler’s worst quality era – late 50s or late 70s? Although some wags would say that Chrysler’s worst quality era was from 1957 to 2012, I am a mopar guy and believe that they had some pretty good runs in there.
I have owned cars of both eras too, but none of them new. Most representative would be a 59 Fury and a 77 New Yorker. I agree that the late 50s models were disastrous. But mechanically, the cars’ reputation was pretty good. If you could get past the body woes, you had a good running and driving car. But the late 70s was a whole different thing.
I was a huge mopar fan in the late 70s, but kept getting beat over the head by peoples’ stories about how shitty the cars ran and all of the problems folks had with them. While the bodies were OK and the interiors were probably better than OK, the things had wildly variable assembly quality, and often ran like crap. Reports of stalling, hard starting, and general rough running. My 77 New Yorker was a 5 year old 1 owner car with 34K on the odo when my family bought it, and the damned thing NEVER ran right. By the time it had 60K, the heads had to come off because of burned valves. Even after, it could never be made to run right, whether by independent mechanic or by dealer. I loved the car like I have loved few others, but driving the damned thing was just maddening.
Personally, I would rather have a good running and driving car with a weak body (like my 59 Fury) than a car with an ok (at best) body that runs or drives badly. So, I still think that the Riccardo-Cafiero era at Chrysler was worse than the Colbert-Newberg era.
And I still want a Magnum. I cannot figure it, but the allure of that car makes me overlook my awful earlier experience.
My grandad and my dad missed both of those eras of spotty/poor quality, owning Mopars from the years 1950-56, a 1962 Chrysler (by which time they had most of the bugs worked out), and 1965-68. When my grandad bought a new car in the late 70’s, he defected to Oldsmobile.
yeah, I agree and disagree. Same drivetrain from the 60’s/70’s except for 2 new “technologies”. Leanburn (again, way ahead of it’s time, but alas, hurt the quality as many of those LB equipped cars (probably 95% or better) were either hit or miss driveability-wise. Another 1st year intro which was good but bad was the infamous lockup covertor. Lockup up too early, low line pressure caused the convertor clutch to not “lockup” tightly enough, thus shredding the veins. Now, in ’79, the lockup speed was upped to 45 or so from the 30 mph setting. I remember talking with numerous late 70’s Mopar owners who said, “after the leanburn was replaced or removed, their cars never ran better”!!! Many reverted back to the simpler points distributor with a real vacuum advance. 🙂
I had an ’83 Ram 1500 4×2 8′ bed with a slant six and lean burn. Upon delivery, I too had stalling problems. This was corrected by the dealer by advancing the timing, which worked out just fine, but required the use of 89 or higher octane gas. Had the 4 speed overdrive and I would see up to 21 mpg on it. I had a tire replacement at a Firestone dealer and I saw a box of discared “lean burn computers.” Dealer mechanic would take them off and said the same thing – “Now all those Mopars run much better.” He offered to remove mine; I declined afraid of voiding my warranty.
The Magnum was a neat-looking car for its day. I usually see one or two at the all-Mopar car show that I attend every summer.
I want a set of those factory aluminum wheels from the blue Magnum, 5th picture down. They were only available for 1978-79 Mopars.
Always liked those wheels myself. Mercury had a similar offering on its full-sized Marquis line somewhere in the ’75-’78 model year. The Merc’s center cap is a little busier.
The weird deep dish wheelcovers some Magnums had never seemed to last long.
Yes, they do look very similar. There are Lincoln wheels that looks the same as those Mercury ones. I found a set of the Linc wheels for sale. However, Lincolns in that era used a larger bolt circle so they would not fit the Mopar hubs with 4.5″ bolt circle. The Mercs are probably the same.
The CC Graveyard ’78 Magnum (a shame that Paul never photographed it) has one of those deep-dish on the left rear wheel IIRC. The “XE” applique in the center has probably peeled off by now, it was barely hanging on in 2009.
To answer the reader who mentioned a CC Magnum full feature, I HOPE I can get the CC Graveyard ’78 bought, running and driving around Eugene, hopefully it’ll end up gracing these glorious halls someday.
If there ever was a car that needed a 70’s detective show to go along with it, it was the Magnum.
I can see it now fishtailing around corners in a semi sloppy grace while chasing the bad guys Nimitz Class Lincoln Town Car or Fleetwood 75 Limo, while they fire snub nose .38’s out the windows at our mustachioed Magnum driving hero, losing hubcaps all along the way, the chase would end of course, in a construction site, where our hero would get trapped by the bad guys, but he would escape at the last minute with a reverse 180(aka The Rockford) with lots of tire squealing on dirt of course, the chase would continue with the bad guys going over a ravine in a car several model years older than the one that was used in the chase and the camera would zoom in on our hero looking down and the burning wreckage(remember everything exploded when it went off a clif in the 70’s) and freeze frame.
A Quinn Martin Production
Copywright MCMCXMXVIII
Was Quinn Martin the largest customer of the Ford Motor Company? It sure seemed like it from watching tv in the 1970s.
No Ford was just the best/most aggressive at product placement and loaning cars to TV production companies.
FoMoCo –
still close my eyes and see Lt. Grier’s or Lt. Briggs’ ugly, bloated LTD wallowing down the street.
Ford pulled off a fabulous placement in Men in Black III. Agents cruise in blacked-out Taurus SHOs, perfectly matching the MIB persona. Best of all, Agent K’s back-in-time cruiser is a black ’64 Galaxie.
PS: MIB III gets four stars from me. Better than the original, much better than the usual action flick. Josh Brolin is incredible and the story and characters are very good. Plus all the 1960s CCs.
Best placement of the SHO goes to the 1st Gen Taurus in Robocop.
Actually, Chrsyler Corporation had the honor of being the largest supplier to motion picture and television production, although Mopar’s participation DID begin to wane in the 1970s . . . and where FoMoCo most likely stepped in (late 1970s). Chrysler definitely had a tie in with Universal Pictures and MCA TV productions.
Aaron Spelling shows also got Fords too. Who can forget Starky Torino and Charle’s Angels Stang II’s and Pinto?
didn’t Houston drive a Magnum?
oh, alas, he didn’t drive one, but an Excalibur! ugh.
Quinn Martin, my son’s latest and first production, is Riley Paul Martin (RPM!) born 1 Apr 2012, coincident with my mother’s birthday.
My wife and I did not watch TV in the’60s and ’70s, so we were not aware of the FBI and other “Quinn Martin Productions”. Quinn is a surname in our family and we were looking for a distinctive Irish name for our first son, hence, Quinn.
With cars over a cliff on TV, one time on “Angels” Kate Jackson was chased by a 74 Cougar in her 77 Pinto, and she managed to turn a corner and the Cougar changed into a beat up 63 T-Bird and went off a cliff, boom!
That always would happen!
I kinda like the ad with the Magnum and the AAR Cuda, Pontiac did a similar add when the Grand Am came out in 1973, with the 64 GTO, 68 GTO and 70 Trans Am all in the back ground, it had only been a few years into the 70’s and already some manufacturers were reaching back to the “golden days”
When I saw that ad, my first thoughts were that you could read a lot into it about what happened to the muscle car era and the people that grew up in it, then about how powerful nostalgia can be as a marketing tool. Reminds me of the Superbowl commercial where Ferris Bueller is hocking Honda CR-Vs.
To tell you the truth, I’m not sure which I enjoy more. Curbside classics or Carmines responses. You, sir, are quite the entertainer and for that I thank you.
Wow, that looks pretty good! Considering it’s setting out. Having 15-20 of them over the years, starting w/a new on in ’78 (and currently 4), I’m quite fond of them. Keep posting pictures!! And Magnum fans, join me on FaceBook @ 78-79 Magnum Owners Group
Magnum Owners Group site is also linked to….
mustacheenthusiasts.com
tanleathersportcoat.com
goldchain.org
jk of course.
This would have been one of my dream cars when I was 15, which when this car was new. The Appliance mags and the jacked up rear would have been right up my alley.
Now, I would want the one in the ad. Bone stock original.
Times change…
I was also 15 in ’78, and yes, I badly wanted one of these when they were new. But I don’t remember ever seeing one with the stripes like this one has.
If I must have a Chrysler of similar vintage, make mine the Mirada. This is nice, but the Mirada simply appeals to me with its boxy styling, it looks racier even though it really wasn’t.
As a kid, I always wanted a Mirada because of the wildly slanted instrument panel. I still think these are good-looking cars except for the boxed, generic rear end styling.
I hope one of the CC Knights captures one of these & does a writeup.
Hmmm…Not a fan of Chrysler in the 1970’s except for the 340 Dusters. These? Nope, just another bloated gas-hog. I was into smaller cars like Novas, Gremlins, Dusters and later, Fairmonts.
The first time I ran my ’78 Rabbit at the drag strip, with its 1456 cc mountain motor, I got paired up with a 340 Duster in time trials. I got to know, up close and personal, what a 13.4 quarter looked like from the perspective of my 17.3 Rabbit. I probably could have broken the elusive 17 second barrier had my fuse panel not decided to take a dump on that run. Common problem with that era Rabbit. I replaced the fuse panel, and a ton of other crap, and I had no trouble redlining the Rab at 7000 rpm. Before I could get back to the strip, the transmission blew. But that’s another story.
The last of the B bodies.
Make mine a GT in Black with Porno Red interior, a T roof, a swapped in “Magnum” 360 and 46re(I know the trans tunnel needs to be modded to fit the 46re), a set of 78 Aspen “Super Coupe” wheels and a green tree hanging from the rear view mirror.
Sean, that pretty much describes mine to a T. By the way, no Aspen Super Coupe wheels are necessary, these are the stock wheels on the GT model
http://s84.photobucket.com/albums/k6/eldodave/1979%20Dodge%20Magnum%20XE%20GT/
Nice reference with The Junkman! I thought I was the only one who sat through that movie lol
I remember really liking the Magnum when I was a kid looking at brochures from swap meets and such. Once I saw one in person though I realized it was really just a pretty face on the Cordoba body, the rear was especially lackluster. I do love the front end though. The Coffin nose, the quad rectangular headlights under the “flush” clear headlight covers(a crude execution of the headlights we know today), it just looked much better than the Cordoba/charger SEs to me.
I remember watching it and thinking what is that car? The car the other bad guy drove was also a mystery from memory, I did however recognise HB Halicki’s Cadillac Eldorado.
The red headed bad guy drove the Magnum. The female bad guy drove a similar black ’77 to ’79 Thunderbird.
Both had similar fates, but the Magnum outlasted the T-Bird in the movie.
I remember the Junkman, Halicki really drives the crap out of that Eldorado too, which is funny cause its not a car you ever see driven aggressively.
Including jumping it over a plane which was the signature stunt of, and possibly the whole reason for, the film!
Thanks Jack, being used to the 50s-mid 60’s T-birds you can imagine I didn’t associate that barge as one.
Mullet is exactly what comes into my mind when I saw that magnum with jacked up rear.
As I get ready for work I realized there is a Johnny Dangerously angle here.
It’s an 88 Magnum..
There are 2 of these (actually a ’78 and a ’79) in identical Tootsie Roll brown paint jobs at the Official CC Graveyard.
When I was a kid(circa 1982) my neighbor had 2 Dodges in his driveway just like that ad- a Challenger and a Magnum. The Challenger didnt run anymore, and I swear the Magnum went kaput by 1985- but it was a pretty sweet ride- maroon with the t-top, I remember how cool those headlight screens were.
Darnell, where is said “CC Graveyard”?
Scott & Sons Towing on Airport Road in Eugene. The ’78 is very restorable, at least 95% complete and started for me in 2004 or so, it is a bench-seat car with a chronometer clock, window louvers and aero mirrors, and the ’79 is a junker originating from Hawaii that’s only good for body panels & exterior trim.
Late September, 1978, deep behind the Disco Curtain. I would be purchasing my first ever brand new car. My dad worked at Montgomery Wards and had a special executive discount, which helped me, but I ordered what I thought was the best looking car of the 1970’s, except for the C1 version of the Challenger.
Yep, I was MOPAR guy thought and through.
But back then, pre-Iacocca, The Pendtestar Pushers were on life support. I ordered a tribute car to Kowalski’s Vanishing Point Challenger, Eggshell White but I could not order a black interior and had to settle with a dark blue on. Meh.
A lot of people blame Disco for a lot of things During that period, MOPAR pushed those Lean Burn engines. They were blamed for a lot too. Same time period. I had a 318 and when I stood on the gas to pass a truck, the mill flipped me off and I ended up fighting the now non-existent power steering to the shoulder, to let the mill cool off so it would run again.
The engines were supposed to be built mainly by robots, but it still came in from the factory with a missing head bolt that necessitated a new head gasket and top overall before it had 5 miles on it. Every week, my college room mate would pick me up at the Dodge dealer because the car would be in for warranty service. The Eggshell White paint was as fragile as an eggshell, and it had to be resprayed (ON THE ROOF!). The Rear defroster (a heated rear window) would shatter because the timer failed on the defrost switch and was replaced TWICE!.
Thank God Iacocca rescued MOPAR. They needed it.