“Soft Corinthian Leather” — an advertising phrase so famous that people who were not yet born when the advertisement was on TV know it and can attribute it to the car and the actor. Ricardo Montalban’s elegant accent made the Chrysler Cordoba (mispronounced cor-DOH!-ba instead of COR-do-ba) and its soft Corinthian leather into household names, permanently linked together. What happens when an example of this Chrysler Greatest Hit is sin cuero corintio, though? Is it a Deadly Sin? Let’s take a look at one and decide.
This 1977 Cordoba brochure shows the Cordoba interior that we all know and love, upholstered in “genuine Corinthian leather,” as if such a thing can genuinely be said to exist. “A magnificent option” it was, but in our memories, it was a Cordoba standard feature.
Houndstooth cloth in a Cordoba? Indeed, it covers the two front and two rear passenger locations in this well preserved Cordoba, with decorative simulated straps for each. Is this heresy, deserving of the Spanish Inquisition? The Dominicans who carried out part of the Spanish Inquisition were named “Dogs of the Lord” (Domini canes), so calling them in to investigate an apparent sin involving houndstooth would be appropriate in multiple ways. Perhaps they could flog this Cordoba’s owner with the simulated straps.
The houndstooth pattern actually looks quite sharp and very nicely integrates the exterior/dashboard/carpet and interior colors of this car, so visually at least, it is a treat.
The same 1977 Cordoba brochure shows that the houndstooth cloth was part of a mid-tier interior option that you were encouraged, with flowery language, to pass over in favor of Corinthian leather. The standard seat was a split bench with “Verdi velour” cloth and vinyl. With a 60/40 split bench with reclining seatbacks, you could choose either Verdi velour or “Checkmate cloth with vinyl accents.” “The incredible richness of optional Corinthian leather bucket seats” was the peak seating option, complemented by “an optional hand-stitched Corinthian leather-covered rim Tilt Steering Wheel. Marvelous.”
In my opinion, however, if you chose the Checkmate option, you would really deserve the famous words of another Latin American star, played by Billy Crystal: “You look marvelous!” With the bucket seats quite flat and un-bucket-like, with an unnecessary center console between them, the reclining bench seat and houndstooth upholstery pattern offered a better combination of comfort and style than the Corinthian leather bucket seats, in my opinion. The vinyl on the center armrest and the headrests would not put a luxurious material against your skin, but as Fernando said, “It is better to look good than to feel good.”
Even if you saved a few doubloons by ordering Checkmate cloth instead of Corinthian leather, your Cordoba would have a full complement of doubloons on the outside. So if a Cordoba being sin Corinthian leather is a sin, you might be able to buy an indulgence from the church to get you off the hook.
It is no sin for this Chrysler Cordoba to be sin Corinthian leather, then; this car’s outstanding condition, together with the lesser-known but interesting interior, make it a fine example of Chrysler’s hit “small” luxury coupe of the 1970s. To make a last groan-worthy Latin American TV star quip, it could, in my opinion, be The Most Interesting Cordoba In The World. Any Cordoba fan should be proud to own it, as long as he or she can laugh along with the many people who would ask, repeating Ricardo Montalban’s own words in an ESPN commercial for Formula 1, “But where is the rrrrrrrich Corinthian leather?”
Related Reading:
1976 Chrysler Cordoba — Fine Corinthian Brougham
CC Capsule: 1976 Chrysler Cordoba — The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of
1978 Chrysler Cordoba — The Fine Little Chrysler
Why Does Everyone Think Ricardo Montalban Says “Rich” or “Fine” Corinthian Leather?
Okay, no soft Corinthian Leather, but in the plus column, there’s no soft Corinthian Sheet Metal, either. I don’t see any rust at all on that car. Nice find! A buddy of mine had a 1977 or so Cordoba, with the standard interior. He didn’t have it long, because he messed up the engine. He wasn’t very mechanical, and was unfamiliar with the importance of “oil.”
Definitely not a Deadly Sin. Some aspects of Chrysler’s execution that I’ve read about (reliability, quality of interior finishes) may have left a bit to be desired, but I’m unashamed to say the first (1975 – ’77) Cordoba is one of my dream cars. With no trace of irony. This example is a peach with that houndstooth interior – so very ’77. I think my dad had a sportcoat that looked like that.
About that interior quality: With my friend’s family Cordoba, I recall some interior door trim starting to peel off, an impression which stayed with me a long time. Later Chryslers did little to disabuse me of this prejudice.
Ancient Corinth was famous for its wealthy merchants & notorious for its hookers. It later got a nice canal, worth seeing if you ever travel in Greece.
Truth in advertising: “That soft Newark Leather.”
Nice ‘Doba! I had completely forgotten about the “Checkmate” cloth for the seats. I don’t think you will get the Dominicans bent out of shape about this, as they continue to wear the black and white habits. And being an Order that eschews worldly luxury, this more basic trim might be just what the Friar ordered. Any other color, well your guess would be as good as mine. 🙂
As wonderfully delicious of a 70s interior as this one is, you missed the other noteworthy feature of this car – the “frenched” quarter windows in the vinyl roof. Note in your lead picture how the shape of the opera window is odd, and the lower edge of the vinyl on the C pillar has a pronounced upward slant from the door towards the back fender. This roof treatment was optional starting in 1977, but it was not seen all that often. Actually, I never liked the looks of this roof treatment, as I thought it messed with the cars clean basic lines. Thinking about it, I wonder why it is “frenched” and not “spanished”.
This is as nice of a Cordoba as I have seen in many moons. A wonderful period piece.
That roof treatment was actually called, “The Crown Roof”. It was made out of Elk Grain vinyl, had unique opera windows and rear window treatment, and the “Distinctive Over The Top” illuminated roof band.
One of my neighbors had a 77 Cordoba with this Crown Roof Option. It was a sight to see at night with that band lite up. It was truly unique for its time.
I felt the look of this roof treatment did not flow as well with the body design as the regular landau roof treatment, which was altered for 1977 to include a vinyl “belt” if you will, which the opera lamp was set into. Also, this “belt” was mounted right against the chrome molding that was next to the front door windows. This didn’t allow for any body color to show between the Landau roof and the front door windows. I actually liked the original Landau roof style of the 75 and 76 model which allowed that bit of body to show, and flowed better with the body contours and the pinstripe.
The strangest roof option was the full Halo roof. This roof looked kind of awkward on the car, as full vinyl roofs were out of style on 2 door cars in the 70’s, but it did allow that small space between the front door windows and the vinyl to show.
That light bar is neat, if perhaps a bit tacky, I didn’t realize it lit up. I’ve tried to find pictures of it at night but came up empty.
That vinyl roof definitely doesn’t look right. The main problem is how the bottom horizontal trim doesn’t even come close to lining up with the line of the door. It might be factory, but it looks b-a-d (and that’s not the ‘good’ bad, either).
And I suppose Elk-grain vinyl isn’t actually grained like the hide of an elk, either?
The second to the last picture made me realize something- these were factory produced pimp-mobiles! I’ve always liked them, now I like them even more. He he he!
The Córdoba never reached our shores in Australia but even here the Corinthian tag is well known. There was a time when some used car dealers would freely use the term to describe any leather interior! Indeed, the often omitted the word leather!
That houndstooth looks rather nice and in an excellent state on the example shown. I like that entire car!
Pretty ironic, that marketers in a country renowned for ranching would dare to think of such products from anywhere else. I guess even Australian Leather just doesn’t sound good enough, though from what we’ve seen, Chrysler’s Corinth has nothing on suede from Down Unda.
Hey, I got it: maybe Chrysler was really thinking of Corinth, Mississippi! Important enough for attention from Civil War generals, anyway.
This car is so nicely equipped, I’m wondering if it was a “special value” or a seasonal package. The car appears to have power windows and door locks, the “mid-level” interior, road wheels, and the special landau top with brushed chrome across the top and opera lights. (This top was the most expensive top option–priced far above the full vinyl roof (standard?) or the optional “landau” roof. This roof is padded and shaped differently from the other roof decors.
A nice find!
Sweet looking car. I remember when I first saw a Cordoba. I had to have been 6 yrs old. I thought that it looked so big, that there was no way anyone could drive it. By the time I was 10 yrs old, I thought it was the ugliest looking car I had ever seen. Now that I’m 41 yrs old, I think it’s a beautiful looking car. One of the better looking cars in the Chrysler barn of the mid to late 70s.
Corintian leather or not, that is one fine looking Cordoba.
I like the Cordoba better than the Monte Carlo (until the 1978 downsizing of the Monte Carlo) so sue me!
A great picture as a commentary on the 70s would be a Cordoba with bull horns on the hood parked next to a Matador.
Rather than suing you, I wholeheartedly agree with you. The ‘Carlo of these years was a caricature of itself.
I love that rare Halo Landau roof option. I believe it was a somewhat expensive option back in the day so you didn’t see it all that much. I also love the Chrysler Road Wheels and the Checkmate interior. I think this car was probably a special customer order at the time.
In 1979 my parents were looking to replace Mom’s ’72 Toronado, and my Mom expressed that she liked the looks of both the Chrysler Cordoba and the Buick Riviera. We went to the local Chrysler dealer first and lo and behold, in the showroom, they had the exact Cordoba she was looking for. I even remember her saying, “I can see myself driving this!” It was chocolate brown with a brown landau top and beige “Corinthian Leather”. Well, when Dad opened the driver’s door and the window shook because it was loose, I knew something was wrong. Then, the salesman came over to us, started his typical 70’s new car salesman lingo and proceeded to slam the door. When the window glass fell down in the track with a large boom, I knew it was over. We couldn’t get out of there fast enough. We headed right over to the Buick dealer to order the Riviera my Dad really wanted to get in the first place!
An all too common occurrence in the late 70s.
Note, the Cordoba was a midsize car sharing it’s body with the Charger. My parents owned a 77 1/2 LeBaron which was the “Small Chrysler” to its Midsize Cordoba sibling. Both the Cordoba and LeBaron proved that Chrysler could built smaller cars and keep them desirable too. Unfortunately, quality was really suffering at that point.
Beautiful cars, still.
Nooooobody expects the Spanish Inquisition! Fetch…the comfy chair!
Check this out !!!
I just noticed something strange about the feature car. The door panels do not have the beautiful “Checkmate” cloth on them !!!! They are covered in vinyl !!!
If you look at the pictures from the brochure, it shows the tops of the doors upholstered with the Checkmate cloth, in a slightly different design then the door with the Verdi cloth seats (the Verdi Cloth interior shows more of a pillow design on the door panel, with the Cordoba coin medallion in the center). The cars with the soft Corinthian leather feature this door panel design as well.
But for some reason, the doors panels in the feature car feature vinyl !! What happened? Did Chrysler run out of Checkmate Cloth when this car was manufactured??
Either way, the feature car is beautiful, even though I’m still not a fan of the optional Crown Roof.
Possibly it was late in the year and they were out of the door panels with the Checkmate cloth on them so they substituted the white vinyl door panels instead. I had an Uncle that sold Pontiacs forever and he would tell us stories of the factory late in the year substituting many different things that the customer might not notice. If it was something the customer might notice, the factory would notify the dealers to let the customers know. I remember specifically a customer of his ordered a Bonneville 2-dr. with the rare Valencia interior and the factory could not accomodate for some reason because it was late in the year, so the customer had to change the order. IIRC they were so mad that they cancelled the order but the car was still built with the standard interior instead. It was a weirdly optioned car so it sat around well into the next year until someone finally bought it.
The brochure pics would’ve been of pre-production cars. It’s possible that Chrysler decided to not offer the unique door panels with the checkmate cloth inserts, but didn’t update the brochure picture.
The author even mentioned >>> ” The vinyl on the center armrest and the headrests would not put a luxurious material against your skin .” And this too reveals a deviation from the pic. W/ the headrests also done in white vinyl.
That Checkmate interior is fantastic. I’d rather have it than the Corinthian leather.
Very nice Cordoba. The last one I saw had been planted on a jacked up 4×4 chassis – go figure.
The interior is the cat’s meow. However, I’m not sure if that is from the overall condition or the sheer novelty of the checkmate fabric. Either way, what a great catch!
I’m not crazy about this “Crown Roof”, but still a nice example of an automotive cultural icon of the ’70s. I think the houndstooth upholstery would have clashed with Herb Tarlek’s wardrobe, though. The interior does look quite comfy to me; it’s like a very dressed up version of the interior I had in my ’77 Plymouth Fury Salon.
this is exactly the sort of car that I sorely miss today. a hotter earlier or later V8 and a few well chosen Charger suspension parts would make it a wonderful, stylish highway commuter.
It could, it did!
Please read my “take” on my Parent’s strangely optioned Cordoba below.
Great find Robert. Even at the time, I wasn’t a Cordoba fan. I thought they were too big and heavy looking. Compared to the ‘Doba, I thought the ’77 LeBaron/Diplomat coupe was a revelation in terms of better packaging, crisper styling, and a size more appropriate for the times. At least amongst personal luxury coupes.
Small visual point. But as a styling crazy kid in the 70s, I used to wish Chrysler used a full rear fender liner on all their cars. I never found the highly visible and exposed leaf springs and spring shackles very attractive. Especially on stylish coupes like the Dusters, Cordoba or Aspen/Volare in particular. But this applied to all of their cars. As they virtually all had rear leaf springs. Always thought a rear fender liner would have helped hide this eyesore, and would significantly clean up their look somewhat.
I also felt that traditional push button door handles would have better suited the Cordoba’s styling. Rather than the Chrysler corporate pull up door handles they shared with the lowliest of models.
You shouldn’t blame Ricardo for mispronouncing Cordoba. IIRC, he pronounced it correctly in the first takes of the ads and the Chrysler marketing flacks “corrected” him and made him pronounce it with the accent on the second syllable. Apparently, it had to do with what Mr. & Mrs. America thought the proper pronunciation of Cordoba. At least he was allowed to pronounce “Corinthian” correctly.
But how many takes did it take before he could get “…the new small Chrysler” out without cracking up?
Or did he lay down the audio track before he got to see the car?
you kids….it WAS small, compared to the other Chryslers, it was a midsize. to also blow your mind, if you were “enviromentally conscious “, or frugal, at the time you were encouraged to buy a Dart, because they got 21 MPG. or the same as my Grand Marquis. 🙂
As for pronounciation, I think it’s completely appropriate to say “cor-DOH!-ba” when referring to the Chrysler car (since everybody has probably been pronouncing it that way), but to say “COR-do-ba” when referring to the city of Córdoba, Spain (or one of the cities in Latin AMerica also named Córdoba).
I love the smell of Corinthian Leather in the morning. Smells like Mopar. Actually this is a nice Cordobab even though it has houndstooth upholstery.BTW, the “Cordoba” was a trim option on ,I believe the `70 Newport . It was sort of a Spanish-Moorish trim option on the door panels and seats.Saw one at a car show, it was pretty cool. Nobody said “Corinthian Leather” like Ricardo Montalban.
Exactly, it was a 1970½ offering for the Newport line-up. http://www.fuselage.de/chr70/cordoba.html
I always wondered why US cars all had headrests so tiny, they would not have been able to sustain your head / neck in case of a collision anyway?
The same B body chassis as the “Good Ol Boys” Charger, but dressed for Downtown Atlanta. But the same body called ‘Charger SE’ flopped, leading to Magnum.
If ChryCo had stuck with ‘Plymouth Cordoba’, I think it wouldn’t have sold as well.
Khan!!!!!!!!!!!!
Was the build quality on these beasts better than the C-body New Yorkers or M-body LeBarons?
Cordobas were made exclusively in Windsor, ON which was and still is considered one of Chrysler’s best plants for quality control. Chrysler’s press releases at the time even stated that Windsor was specifically chosen for the Cordoba (as opposed to Lynch Road in Detroit, which also built B-bodies) because of its quality reputation.
Of course, in the ’70s what was considered good quality for Chrysler was what was average for GM and Ford – still pretty bad.
Neither GM or Ford could win any accolades for their quality control of this period either.
One of the many reasons Americans started buying more and Toyotas and Hondas.
🙁
I was, and still am, out of step with fashion trends so I’d like to know: who the heck thought houndstooth checks were a great alternative to….anything in the mid/late 70s?
Ford used a black, red, grey check in a lot of it’s cars and wasn’t content to stop there as the same pattern was used on vinyl roofs. I always assumed Ford/Mercury were the only ones that committed this sin against good taste, now I see Chrysler did too. At least the Chrysler version looks acceptable to the point of being good looking….NEVER saw this ad and never saw a Cordoba equipped like the one pictured. Did GM use houndstooth checks in any car? The Chevette, perhaps?
Check the interior options for the 1967-68 Eldorado, they had houndstooth…..not attractive in my estimation. But it looks nice enough in this case.
1979-80 base model trucks had a houndstooth pattern printed on the vinyl, if that counts.
Holdens had a houndstooth check available around ’69-’70. I remember reading a road test of a car so equipped (either a Monaro or a Torana, can’t remember), and even the road testers found it a bit off. Can’t say I ever saw a car with this upholstery though.
Had em in a HQ panel van not stock obviously thank gawd for seat covers
beautiful find but i’ll still take mine with the corinthian leather!
The Cordoba introduction struck me at the time as a one more pleasant, derivatively-styled personal luxury coupe that would find immense popularity. Comparisons with the AMC Matador coupe were instructive how dare-to-be-different could be terribly costly.
One wonder what Dick Teague thought as he watched Matador coupe sales tank while the Cordoba burgeoned. There must have been many uncomfortable product meetings where those who saw the Matador design for the disaster it was, berate Teague for championing such a dud. Somewhere in the AMC styling files a very Cordoba-like sketch was stamped “rejected”……..
The fun thing about cars from this era was that they were sort of like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates, you never knew what you were going to get.
With lots of options and colors, there were a million variants, so unless you ponied up top dollar early in the model year for a special order, you usually had to settle in some area.
If this were a year-end clearance price car, I’d take it happily. The black, the road wheels, the apparently loaded status (power windows and locks were probably on 50% of them), and frankly I really liked the 60/40 split seats and miss them. Things felt a lot more spacious without a center console. I would not have been a fan of the Checkmate (hounds tooth) interior and the vinyl top treatment, but would have probably grown to appreciate them, much like the yellow paint and busy broughamtastic pillow seats in my ’76 Cutlass Supreme Brougham.
With a red exterior, this would have been the Alabama / Bear Bryant special edition!
I don’t think you can call any Cordoba a Mopar Deadly Sin. If you take one of their few bona fide hits away from them, you don’t have a lot left to work with at late ’70s Chrysler.
“… you usually had to settle in some area.”
Only difference now is, everyone has to settle for the same thing. Black vinyl-like leather if you pony up for it, almost-black backpack cloth if you don’t. Maybe there’s one car with a light greige interior and the options you want in the dealer’s computer system, two states over…
For some reason every time I see a Chrysler Cordoba/Dodge Charger of this vintage I always keep thinking I’m seeing a Chevy Monte Carlo of the same vintage, I thought the Cordoba looked a lot better with the rounded headlights than the stacked headlights like most cars of the era except for the Chevy Monte Carlo, as for me I prefer the Corinthian leather seats.
Beautiful car. Regardless of the interior option (although that checkered pattern looks quite nice), the condition of the car is stunning, and it being pre-’78 with the round headlights is even better! The 1975-77s were absolute stunners with that front fascia. The square headlights on the 1978-79s were a big mistake in terms of loss of distinctiveness.
I’ll take the Verdi velour, in baby blue please.
All I can say is that the Cordoba was a beautiful car back then, and still is, no matter what kind of upholstery it has (leopard skin being an exception) The Cordoba has actually aged more gracefully than the Monte Carlo/Grand Prix of that era.
I quite agree!
The only thing uglier than the stacked headlights on the 1978 and 79 Cordoba’s was when it was ordered with the Special Appearance Package which featured a unique two tone paint job. The front portion of the roof, and only the middle part of the hood was painted with an accent color. There was no vinyl roof when this package was ordered.
The car looked good without the vinyl top, but that paint design was just plain weird. If the entire hood was painted with the accent color, it would have looked better.
Give me a 75 or 76 with a regular landau roof, soft corinthian leather, and spoke hub caps anyday.
Me brother had one of these Cordobas when he went cruising your west coast bought in Seattle sold in LA one crash inbetween, the only thing that interested me was it was the same colour as the Centura and VJ Regal I owned in Aussie Sienna with bone vinyl top.
Interesting! That car looks like a cross between a 69-71 C-body and a 75-78 Plymouth Fury.
My parents owned one of the 17 (I’m guessing?) ’76 Chrysler Cordobas made without a vinyl top. A rich, deep, almost royal looking darker metallic blue exterior, slightly lighter colored blue “Verdi Velour” cloth seats, wire wheel covers on Goodyear “Polysteel” white wall radial tires. The material quality and comfort of those seats reminded me of pre-war Packards I had the pleasure to sit in.
It was a strangely optioned car. It has the 400 4 barrel, dual exhaust, non catalytic converter engine, 3.23 posti-traction rear end, Mopar’s indestructible and legendary 727 TorqueFlite automatic transmission, no power windows or power seat, but power door locks and cruise control, tilt steering wheel, freezing c-c-cold air conditioning, one non-inside adjustable door mirror, no radio.
Mom & Dad instantly separately decided on this car, then told the other they wanted it. They literally bought it off the showroom floor; an unaccountable act of spontaneity and indulgence for my Depression baby parents.
Compared to same year swoopy fendered and baroque Monte Carlos and pimped out Ford Torino Elites, the Cordoba was quite restrained looking, classy and not at all ostentatious. For the time period, a quite handsome car. Mom & Dad basked and glowed in the compliments it received from surprised, admiring Ford & Chevy drivers. It was (with apologies to Buick) a regal looking and classy car.
That quiet Chrysler ran like a scalded cat! In a time of primitive emissions controlled, strangled engines, that deep breathing engine seemed like a throwback to 1970. I enjoyed embarrassing, destroying and out running many Mustangs, Camaros and new Trans-Ams at impromptu stop light drag races. The factory dual exhaust quietly rumbled like a late sixty’s Charger….until you stomped it and the secondaries on that HUGE Thermoquad carburetor opened up, roared to life and sucked birds out of the trees as it hurtled down the street.
Originally intended as my Father’s car; my Mother quickly succumbed to it’s quiet good looks, cushy interior and acceleration. Dad didn’t stand a chance in keeping THAT one.
Mom loved it, I borrowed it every chance I could, my brother bought it from them and amused himself and enraged his “muscle car” friends with it, then sold it to my problem child youngest brother who slowly beat the hell out of it. Even he couldn’t kill that car!
Seven years later (a longevity record for our car loving family!) after finally tiring of the Cordoba’s charms; Mom bought a new 1983 Mazda RX-7 for her driver. Her car, her choice. Two weeks after this purchase, she told my Father that her new car was “slow, noisy, steered hard and was rough riding” and that she wanted “her” Cordoba back NOW. My Father slowly lowered his head to the top of the kitchen table and quietly banged his forehead several times
Sounds like it might have been a sales bank car given the oddball combination of options. Even the big sellers like the A-bodies and the early Cordobas were stockpiled at times during the Townsend/Riccardo years.
Yes, my thoughts also (today).
There’s a chance that this car is powered by an LA engine, which would have freed it from Lean Burn in 1977. Considering the cloth interior, I’d say there’s a strong chance it has a 360, which helps explain why its still on the road.
It’s a 360
Wow…this is one clean ‘Doba. Wonder if its a resto or just preserved?
I wouldn’t kick one of these outta my driveway. Id prefer a slicktop bucket seat/floor shifted version. A pre-lean burn model would be easy to hotrod and with its B-body bones you could stuff it with all kinds of goodies to get it to stick in the curves. Might just surprise a few unsuspecting naysayers that would write it off as a luxo barge….
It has not been restored. It has the original paint, interior, etc. A “survivor”!
It is sad, but never we will see tailights as good looking on a car as these ones are.
Agreed. This car’s best angle is rear 3/4 view–those tails and the whole shape of the rear of the car are quite nice. It’s not bad from the front either, though the neoclassicism there is just a touch heavy-handed.
This is my car! It’s a survivor–original paint, interior, etc. No rust nor has it been restored. It’s in great condition. I’m the second owner. Here’s another picture of it at a local car show.
Thanks for posting another picture of your beautiful Cordoba! It’s a phenomenal example of an already great-looking car.
I’ve had several of these over the years – I found this one http://www.functionbox.org/doba.htm while on vacation in Florida. I’m sorry that I don’t have a better picture, but if you scroll down to the last picture, you can see what the “Castilian” interior looks like.
adam p
is there any way i can contact you via pm… i am restoring a car like yours and could use some interior pics ?? thats a 1975 cordoba correct
In 1987, my friend got a ’77 Cordoba for his first car. It had a 400 4-barrel and something like a 2.62 rear end. It was pretty slow. He got it dual exhausts. no cats and glass packs. Air shocks to raise the back. General Xp2000s. New gas shocks. It could beat the newer Mustang 5.0s if it was already going at least 25. He could hold it in first until about 50 because of the gearing. Still a dog from a dead stop. but top speed improved massively. The speedometer would circle back to zero and uo to about 20 again before it became ready to take flight. Shaped for that it was not. So believe it or not there existed a fast Cordoba, and I got to ride in it. It was kind of ridiculous but quite cool for the time.