Posted to the Cohort by John Lloyd
(first posted 1/16/2018) Everyone has their favorite places; Kansas City falls into that boat for me. Despite the crummy weather it sees in the winter, KC is a prime location for finding terrific cars still in use. Perhaps one could call it the Eugene of the Midwest.
A recent trip to Kansas City yielded a ’75 or ’76 Coronet percolating westbound on I-70 near downtown. Naturally I was headed the other way and missed the opportunity to photograph it.
Capturing pixels of that buttercream colored Coronet would have allowed me to talk about it being an iteration of the new Chrysler B-body that was introduced in 1971. Whether or not the update for 1975 was successful would have been fodder for great debate.
Both are appealing, but if having to choose I would pick one from 1975 or 1976 over one of the 1971 to 1973 models.
That said, the Coronet for 1974 is an intriguing critter given the one year only front end.
The 1975 and 1976 models just seem more cohesive despite what might be perceived as the retrograde move to single headlights. And 1970s Chrysler build quality be damned.
Had I actually been able to take pictures of that Coronet, I could have elaborated how there were three trim levels in 1975 but only two in 1976. Further verbiage could have showered everyone with the knowledge Dodge sold nearly 85,000 of these in 1975, a number which includes over 15,000 wagons, but the number of Coronets fell by just over half for 1976.
For 1975, Dodge sold approximately 75% as many Coronets as Plymouth did the nearly identical Fury.
Having pictures of that particular Coronet would have given me plenty of shots to spread throughout an entire full-length CC. Part of that article could have been dedicated to that black and white elephant in the room – a lot of these were sold to police fleets. While Dodge wasn’t as popular for this use as was Plymouth, the state of California took a real shine to the Dodge.
As an experiment the California Highway Patrol purchased 100 of these in 1975. Liking what they saw, they purchased 1,511 of them for 1976. This number equates to nearly 10% of all base model Coronets produced that year.
The Coronet cost the Patrol $150 per unit less than the C-body. Weighing 600 pounds less than a Monaco but with the same 250 horsepower 440 in California tune, its 350 ft-lbs of torque had to really amplify that fun to drive factor.
A full-length CC would have also allowed opportunity to poke fun at the Coronet’s competitors such as the porkulent Ford Torino. Just like it’s always fun to use any opportunity to poke fun at the miserable power output of Ford’s 300 cubic inch straight-six from its light truck line, it’s always fun to exploit opportunities to remind everyone of the Coronet’s corn-fed competition.
One has to take advantage of opportunities when they present themselves. The Coronet was much more attractive than any Torino (or related Mercury Montego) but that simply didn’t translate to the market taking the opportunity to purchase them. Chrysler was really starting to swirl the financial drain at this time.
In a sense, my missing an opportunity to capture a Coronet in Kansas City is much like what happened to it in the market. But since I didn’t find a Coronet, I have no material with which to tell you all about it.
What a missed opportunity.
“… the number of Coronets fell by just over half for 1976.”
One reason was that Dodge renamed the Coronet 2 doors back to Charger nameplate. Then, for ’77, all mid size Dodge 2 and 4 doors were plain Monacos. Royal Monacos were C bodies.
SE trim was then the only Charger, again.
Confusing? yes
The 71-74s were better differentiated between Plymouth and Dodge vs the 75s which are indistinguishable aside from grille textures. Ironically the Fury’s front end is really just a two headlight copy of the 74 Gran Torino, headlight bezels are similar, bumper arrangement is similar and the grille with it’s tall integral park lamps is a virtual clone, and I don’t think it pulls it off any better than the Ford.
They remind me of the 1998+ Crown Victoria’s and Grand Marquis. They were mechanically solid cars but with stale styling and poor brand differentiation, that found little love when new by anyone but Police departments.
“They remind me of the 1998+ Crown Victoria’s and Grand Marquis.”
An interesting comparison. The difference was that the mid 70s Fury/Coronet/Monaco had all the lack of retail appeal of the late Panther, but made up for it by building them badly.
Well it’s a good thing this is all theoretical. Speaking of theoretical, was there ever one single Fury or Coronet/Monaco sold at retail with vinyl roof/whitewalls/wheelcovers to a young upscale family in the suburbs – – – at any time after 1974? I sure never saw one. You would occasionally see an elderly couple in one (the man was always wearing a fedora) but never anyone under 65.
I have to disagree with you on the looks. The 71-73 at least had some cohesion. The 75 restyle tried to put square corners on a Coke bottle. It didn’t work any better than AMC when it tried the opposite trick with the Matador in 1970. By 1975 that shape was as welcome as Richard Nixon. Given a choice between one of these and the Gran Torino, it would come down to trim level, color and condition. A sad commentary indeed.
What a pair of cars. Fordman Shafer can’t take the 70s Torino sedans and MoparHomer JPC has no love for these. My mother’s 1974 choice of a Luxury Lemans is looking brilliant in hindsight.
I am now remembering that I, through some monumental sales ability, convinced my mother to drive into a ChryPly dealer when she was shopping for a new car in 1974. When I pointed out the Satellite sedans (which all seemed to be strippo trim cars in white, baby blue or yellow) she drove right back out again without even stopping the car. She was not wrong.
..was there ever one single Fury or Coronet/Monaco sold at retail with vinyl roof/whitewalls/wheelcovers to a young upscale family in the suburbs ..
was there ever one these cars that didnt´t start its life as a police car? 😉
Seriously, I only know them through all these 70s/80s cop shows on tv. In some episodes all traffic consisted only of these cars
Good point, while the Cordoba sold like hot cakes, the ‘small Fury’ models were lot poison. Never sold as well as Malibu, Torino, or base Cutlass.
“was there ever one single Fury or Coronet/Monaco sold at retail with vinyl roof/whitewalls/wheelcovers to a young upscale family in the suburbs”
yep! My brother had this ’75 Fury from about 1984-87.
It was base model with a 318, and it had your vinyl top and originally had WWs with dog dish caps until he put the Cyclone wheels on, which was popular on Mopars at the time thanks to the popularity of the DOH
Oh, Jim, I keenly felt that pain as a middle-schooler. My mother drove a 1971 Coronet wagon for five years: base model, electric blue, with a black vinyl taxicab interior (rubber floor mats, pegboard style cardboard headliner). No options except the 318 ci V8, Torquflite, and an AM radio. The car stalled often and was very difficult to start on a cold day. In summer 1976, a long vacation trip during a hellacious heat wave persuaded my father that it was time to trade.
A week later, without consulting their in-house car expert, my parents came home with a new Torino wagon: base model (no Gran Torinos for us), copper metallic, vinyl taxicab interior (but with carpet) and no options except the 351 V8, an AM radio and air conditioning. The car stalled at virtually every left turn and had to be cranked hard to start on a cold day.
Yes, it was very easy to go from bad to worse in the mid-70s.
A friend of mine’s 45 year old neighbor, and the worst driver I’ve ever seen in person, bought a ’76 4dr Fury, avacado green with white vinyl top. It had a 318 in it, and for the next 25 years, she proceeded to have fender bender after fender bender in it with endless repairs done on it, until it died in 2001, as she pulled it out of the driveway. She had just started it up and apparently a bearing wasn’t happy and spun. At that point, it had rusted to the point it groaned when it hit the curb cut at the end of the driveway. She went right back to the same dealership, that sold jus Dodge then, and bought a stripped “07 Charger, black with the ugly base wheels, 3.5L engine. It appeared to me to be some kind of rental cheapie or some kind of odd PD car config. She still has it, and it’s covered with dings all over it. She doesn’t fix it like she did the Fury, and tells everyone, “It’s my last car!”. I hope.
I agree with JP, I much prefer the early versions of the Coronet with the hoop bumpers. That was so Mopar, and the body was styled with that front end in mind. The 74-77 versions didn’t change the body at all, but put some bland bumper – law conforming front ends on. The only late version I like at all is one with stacked square quad lights. It seemed that every TV show from the late 70’s to mid 80’s used these for cop cars.
I’m biased because in high school in the late 80’s, I had a 72 Coronet. Baby blue, all vinyl interior with rubber floors, 318. It seemed like such a throwback at the time, even though it was only 15 years old. Today, I’d pay good money for a 71-73 woody wagon vesion of one of these.
“Today, I’d pay good money for a 71-73 woody wagon vesion of one of these.”
I could do that.
I suppose I could do one of those, too, but it must have air conditioning!
The “Brady Bunch” had Plymouth Satellite ‘woody’ as their family car in its last few seasons.
One episode had it in a parking lot accident.
Wasn’t that the car that they showed Mrs. Brady telling the kids to “buckle up” and then showed Bobby and Cindy clicking the belts on? I remember that episode, and apparently, that little hidden PSA was credited with increasing seal belt use by a large percentage.
The Brady Bunch never had a woody. They always had a beige base model with no wood. The fathers car seemed to change a lot but the wagon was always the current year with the same beige color.
+1, especially a 383. Those cars were the best kept secret in wagons back then. A foot shorter than the big cars, but only a few cubic feet less room.
heres your chance!
https://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/cto/d/1973-dodge-crestwood-wagon/6455373443.html
my mom had a ’75 in dark red for a couple of years. I’m sure it was a 2-door because it didn’t have the tail lights in the bumper. don’t remember what happened to it.
I remember our family purchasing a 71 Wagon (in brown, no less, but no manual!) new, and other than remembering that my mom got hit from behind in it (the tailgate panel was dented, but the Toyota that hit her was totalled), it has no other memory. Nothing special, nothing notable, and just another wagon in a stream of them for our family of six. It was different in that it was a Mopar, and my family had shied away from them for some reason, probably due to my dad being a mechanic and knowing the issues. I would assume it cost less than the comparables out the door, as our family was not known for extravagant purchases. All that said, it must have been an okay car, as it served its purpose for several years. I can remember the white Torino wagon that replaced it, white with a blue interior, but not this one. To me, that says a lot. When a car leaves a car guy cold, it must have been appliance level boring.
I’m told my maternal grandmother, by then a widow working full time with a few kids in college, drove a burnt orange 1973 or 1974 Coronet 4 door. I believe it was her second Coronet after a series of Studebakers in the late 50s/early 60s. The burnt orange Coronet would be her last domestic buy. The two oil crises, quality issues, retirement and an empty nest sent her next to a Renault LeCar, then a 1985 Mazda GLC hatchback, and finally a ’92 Honda Civic DX sedan, which she held onto for 16 years until she stopped driving.
Hahahaha, I almost referred to these Coronets as the Studebaker Lark of the 70s. The parallels are pretty strong: the cars were good (if outdated) as their basic mechanical systems went, they were ugly, they rusted like the dickens, and they did not have a lot of retail appeal in middle America, outside of a few diehard brand loyalists. Your grandmother makes my point!
My maternal grandmother’s last domestic buy was a 1973 or 1974 Dodge Coronet sedan in burnt orange. From there she went in the late 70s to Renault, Mazda in the 80s, and to Honda for her last car in the early 90s
Great find considering it’s a civilian model!
Put me into the 1971-1973 camp for preference. The 1975-1976s never looked right in my opinion. Chrysler was clearly trying to emulate the more formal looks of competitors that were in vogue, but only had the resources for modest updates. The squarer enhancements of the 1975-1978 didn’t mesh well with the curved lines of the fuselage body.
I also like the more cohesive 1971-73 body better.
Equipped with Mopar’s under-rated 318, Torgueflite, power steering & power front disc brakes, factory air conditioning and the 3.23 rear axle ratio, this was a comfortable, pleasing, under-stated people mover.
I always found the “period correct” dark green or gold metallic exterior paint quite pleasing on this body. The front fender mounted turn signal indicator lights always charmed me into a smile.
In my opinion this body’s power steering “road feel” was no better or no worse than Ford’s.
The Torino was smaller inside and bigger on the outside, much more porkier.
The Chevelle had a tiny back seat, when compared to the Satellite/Coronet 4 doors, and a laughably smaller trunk. And about that rust around the windshield and rear window…..
I would have no hesitation adding a clean, old-people maintained Satellite/Coronet 4 door, as I have described above, to my driveway.
I know the Torino is a favourite whipping boy of the car world, but it wasn’t substantially different from the Mopar competition in terms of size or interior space. In fact, if you want to get picky, it’s actually slightly larger in all interior dimensions except for headroom. See the attached specification chart for 1976 Intermediate sized sedans. The AMC was the only one that showed reasonable space efficiency. This chart doesn’t show weight, but the heaviest was actually the Malibu Classic.
And for the record, for mid 1970’s sedans specifically, I actually prefer a Coronet to a Torino (especially that vinyl top, fender skirt sedan).
I wonder if the reason I’ve never seen that 1974 Coronet sedan is I thought I was looking at an Ambassador, instead. The front ends look almost identical.
’71-’73 were the only cohesive ones for sure.
My folks replaced the ’65 Coronet wagon with a ’73. It was a decent driver; better than the ’65. Steering felt like 10-15% of the Novocaine had finally worn off. It felt a bit better at speed. And they got a good one; it was finally replaced by a ’81 or ’82 Escort wagon. Like so many folks, the energy crisis was responsible for that. But by that time the last kid was mostly gone, and my mom loved the smaller size.
Agreed.
I forgot about that ‘74 front end though, it’s very subtly aggressive and I like it.
The coupes after ‘75 were mostly nice but that’s because they had entirely new bodies
I’m now actually borderline-obsessed with the ’74 front-end sheet metal – completely forgot about it!
The 1974 sedans and wagons were a rare sight even when new.
The ’75-’76 Coronet merely looks bland, but I never quite got the front end look of the ’74 Coronet with its vertically-dropped center section. Not only does it look odd, but as Jason hinted, there’s no styling connection with any Dodges before and after. Maybe someone sat on the hood of the styling clay?
The front of the ’74 Coronet wreaks of 1974 AMC Ambassador, done better.
The front end of the ’74 Coronet reminds me of the old Custom 880 with the same sort of vague, mediocre styling that you couldn’t quite place. Ironically, some years of the Custom 880 reminded me of a Rambler, while the ’74 also looks like an AMC product.
Love that light blue Royal Monaco.
When the Coronet was renamed to Monaco in ’77, it was nominated for Motor Trend COTY. But, the ’75 ‘small Fury’ wasn’t.
The “all new, downsized” Monaco was just a name change and square lights, then 2 years later was the St. Regis. MT was placating Ma Mopar for ad money.
Something about how the headlights are shrouded on that 75 make it look drowsy.
They did wear the 5mph bumpers better than most.
Loop bumper for me, but I’m standing in the queue behind Jon7190 for a woody wagon. Never seen a 74 face before; seems very Mercury.
It is unfortunate that you couldn’t tell us about this car. I’m sure it would have been one of your usual excellent posts, and undoubtedly I would have made an insightful comment here. 🙂
Based on my experience with other Mopars, I assume that the drive train and suspension in these were solid and were the equal or better than the competition. As for styling, the loop bumper version is ok, but I’ll take a Cutlass or Skylark/Regal.
Not being able to tell you about the car is a real bummer. There’s so many things to say and, well, I can’t.
I still hold out hope of seeing it again. In fact, I’ve made another trip to KC since seeing said Coronet but that was a big, fat bust. Although a more recent trip to KC is referenced heavily in an article that is running Friday. Hmm….
I’m loving unofficial Chrysler Day at CC today.
My thing with these intermediates were that they still had the taillights set within the bumper – which immediately dated them. Granted, though these Chrysler products had bumpers that weren’t as graceless as those coming out of Dearborn, I always thought the rear styling of the ’74+ sedans was… (I’ll just say it) hideous. Putting the taillights in the “right” place (above the bumper) probably would have helped a lot.
I share your disdain for tail lights within the bumper. But, for whatever reason, I like these B-bodies with the inset tail lights. Inconsistent, yes, but there’s something about them I’ve always liked.
Speaking of the ’74 front in your earlier comment, I distinctly remember a dark green ’74 that floated around Cape Girardeau for years. It was much better equipped than most of these were and always gave a very dignified, all-business aura. A great looking car.
I like the ’71-73 Dodge best, but would take a ’77-78 over any of the midyear ones. For some reason the ’75-78 looks like it was meant for the quad square stacked lights all along, and the single round ones were just placeholders until they became legal.
I think Chrysler should had let the Fuselage C-body soldiered a bit longer instead of redesigning them for 1974 to focus on the mid-size Coronet/Satellite along with the Cordoba who should had been a Plymouth. Maybe they could had handled the first oil crisis more better.
The 25 gallon fuel tank, third photo, item #2.
This belongs in the Afterthought thread. LOL
Was that top bulge for real? I don’t recall ever seeing such a tank.
Obviously the floor pan would have needed a matching bulge.
If so, did all cars have a bulge in the pan for the jumbo tank?
Maybe it was a police/taxi specialty?
I believe ’76 Coronets were used by the Illinois State Police or some police agency in “Silver Streak”. I think Gene Wilder got out of one and began shooting at the train.
I was born in 1966, and don’t recall ever knowing anyone who owned one of these. I vaguely recall seeing a few but know I’ve never ridden in one. Just not a lot of MoPar products in the community where I lived.
I did however have a neighbor who had a blue Torino with skirts, and his wife had a red 2 door Torino with a white top. I don’t recall that hers had skirts. They eventually got divorced and moved away, and the people who moved in had an even stranger pair of cars…two tone rose and maroon Cadillac Seville and Lincoln Continental, both diesel. Something about that house and people with “matching” cars.
The 1971-73 models look much more cohesive, in my opinion. When I first saw the 1975 models, I wondered why Chrysler didn’t bother to restyle the rest of the car on the sedans and wagons. The mismatch between the front and rear was obvious.
I can only remember two “civilian” Dodge Coronets from this generation. Our neighbors, who were Mopar loyalists, had a 1971 sedan – light blue metallic with a black vinyl roof. The car was almost as noisy as our 1973 AMC Gremlin on the highway.
The second was a 1973 station wagon bought new by relatives. It was in that Mopar “mud green” color from 1973. My young self was quite surprised when I climbed into the back seat – and discovered that floor was not covered by carpeting, but by a rubber mat! For better or worse, it only reinforced my view that a Cutlass Supreme or Pontiac Grand Am should be the “dream car” for my family.
2 doors were the sweet spot of the mid size market in mid 70’s, even Ford and GM’s 4 doors were afterthoughts. AMC didn’t bother with a new Matador sedan.
1978 seemed to bring in more sales for mid size/compact sedans, such as Malibu and Fairmont.
One first glance of this model and I automatically thought “cop car”. Sure enough, there was a mention of that.
Well, that available (IIRC just to the cops) 440 4-bbl made it one of the hottest cars of the era, which shows just how much standards had deteriorated by that point…
Another missed opportunity: Satellite/Coronet-based Imperial as American answer to Mercedes. Unibody and decent styling were good staring points.
To be taken seriously would have also needed an independent rear suspension and fuel-injected V8, as much for emissions-controlled drivability as for performance.
Other elements: bucket seats upgraded for improved comfort, support and adjustability, floor shifter, full instrumentation and top quality materials. On the outside, large Imperial’s appearance front and rear including hidden headlamps behind grill with nice bright work. And clean sheet metal all around… no Brougham if Europe is the target!
Work-up adds 3 inches to axle-to-dash just as large Imperials did vs. Newport/New Yorker.
Given the looming competitive and regulatory storms on the horizon and Imperial’s inability to compete with Cadillac and Lincoln, where else did the brand have to go? Besides oblivion, that is.
Here’s a version with bumper/fascia/grill that extends lower to more closely resemble the large Imperials and fix what was arguably an appearance shortcoming of the Coronet.
Were good profits to have been generated on modest sales, the large Imperials would have been retired after 1973 and perhaps the ’74’s styling elements would have found their way into future updates of this car.
118 wb Coronet-based Imperial, 1973 model. Tried to remove the vinyl roof, nasty job.
As a poor college student living in a frat house in Boston’s exclusive Back Bay in the early ‘80s, my bright gold ‘71 Coronet rust bucket of a 9-passenger wagon provided stellar service. I miss that smell of exhaust and steering that barge with my pinky. Since it had the “disc brake option” I could never rotate the tires from front to back. It’s miserable city gas mileage and small gas tank often required filling up every 200 miles. Here it is during a road trip to Groton CT and posing in front of the Nautilus submarine
It looks depressed – it reminds me of the “sad blob” from Zoloft commercials many years ago.
The ’71 to ’78 Mopar B body 4 door cars were imomuch better in many respects than the GM Colonnade offerings of that time and the FoMoCo competition isn’t even worth mentioning. I’d submit the 318 is superior to any small block V8 save the Chevy’s, and even that legendary mill was beginning to suffer from Soft-cam-its by then, and the Mopar TF could not be bettered. Handling is excellent and the bodies are tight. The ’74 is to my eye better than it’s successor’s ’75 to ’78 styling. There’s a brown rust-free ’74 4 dr that I have my eye on in Colorado that’s very near to my daughter/s house… these are great practical drivers, and a good safe choice as a competent driver in a difficult era for US automobiles in general.
Drove more than a few of these as MP patrol cars. As the duty officer, I usually had a wagon instead of a sedan. Government specs meant the Torinos and Chevelles were no better trimmed. All had the rubber floor mats, minimal sound proofing and plain plastic interiors.
Not sure what suspension options these cars had, but our MP units all had base V8s. No big blocks. When new, I considered the Malibus better handlers, but that advantage didn’t last.
Malibu suspensions got pretty floaty as the mileage increased. The Plymouth/Dodges didn’t start as the best handlers, but they maintained their handling composure much better as the miles added up.
One bit advantage to the Plymouth/Dodge models was the power steering never suffered from what we called “pump catch”. Ford, GM and AMC all had that problem to a varying degree. Pump catch occurs when the steering pump can’t keep up with demand – such as when you’re whipping the steering wheel a lot to avoid obstacles. You still have steering, but momentarily loose power assist. It can present a real surprise during pursuit driving. I only experienced it during our closed course driving drills. Didn’t damage anything worse than a couple of orange cones. It was enough to make me try to avoid drawing a Malibu though.
Torinos or Matadors? I would hesitate to use the word handling in the same sentence with the 70s versions of either of those cars.
That ‘74 is vexing. Although I’m sure growing up they were around, I don’t recall ever seeing one. I like that front end.