Tuesday 19th March 2013

Chrysler Cordoba: PH Ad Break

There's a significant lack of wrath as a young Khan takes you through his land yacht of choice

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It’s 1975, and America is just emerging from the oil crisis. Downsizing is the name of the game in the industry, and the giants are launching smaller, more economical cars which aim to sell based on fuel economy rather than performance.

Of course, this being America in the 70s, downsizing was a relative term. Take the Chrysler Cordoba, for example: a ‘personal luxury’ vehicle that Chrysler marketed as a small car without any of the sacrifice. Of course, the Cordoba was still a barge: five-and-a-half metres long, two metres wide and weighing in at 1,800kg.

Khan grabs the keys to his Chrysler

Which is why the reference to the Cordoba as a “small Chrysler” in this ad raised a giggle. But it wasn’t the only thing we enjoyed. First and foremost, the ad’s hosted by Ricardo Montalban, later to go on and become one of science fiction’s most famous villains by playing Khan in the second Star Trek feature film (and eliciting an oft-parodied spot of overacting by William Shatner in the process). Montalban, the face of Chrysler for much of the 70s and 80s, and the picture of Hispanic suavity here, tells us of the Cordoba’s “soft Corinthian leather” (despite the fact the one he’s driving being equipped with the standard fabric trim) before taking to the “highway” to demonstrate how the Cordoba “best answers [his] demands”. That is to say, if the ad’s anything to go by, some relaxed perambulation on a selection of gently curving mountain roads. It’s classic American automotive hyperbole at its best, and if the sight of Montalban dressed in a cream suit with an enormous shirt collar, driving a brown land yacht with a brown interior – and doing so in all seriousness – isn’t retro enough to raise a smile, then frankly you’ve no fun left in your soul and you should probably just head off and buy yourself a Kia Mentor right now. Old car ads don’t come much more overblown than this. Oh, and keep an eye out for the hilariously ornate end plate.

 

[W124]

"and doing so in all seriousness" - ahh, a world without irony! Come back the 70's - all is forgiven.

[LuS1fer]

At least he could fit 3 hos in the back.

[J4CKO]

I like that ad, though with his accent and saying Cordoba all the time, it reminded me of Beavis saying "I am Cornholio".

[LotusOmega375D]

They couldn't make them too small. Otherwise they'd be nowhere to hide all the cocaine.

[morebhpplease]

[astra la vista]

"the ad’s hosted by Ricardo Montalban, later to go on and become one of science fiction’s most famous villains by playing Khan in the second Star Trek feature film..."

in between the ad and star trek he was in fantasy island. come on PH keep up.

[Carnnoisseur]

LuS1fer said:

At least he could fit 3 hos in the back.

Too funny lol.

"Soft Corinthian leather", wow, what an era.........

[TobesH]

'you managed to kill just about everyone else, but like a bad marksman you keep on missing the target!' ...

[TobesH]

'buried alive... buried alive... buried alive....!'

Please stop, back to work

[Dimsum]

“To the last, I grapple with thee; From Hell's heart, I stab at thee; For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee”

[MarJay]

Buy a Chrysler Cordoba, and then jump off a cliff.

[BurblingBrownOne]

Got to love a bit of retro 70's brown!

[jamespink]

Redefines compact saloon!

[Sulphur Man]

Love the way the Cordoba come to a halt on the clifftop and rocks back and forth on those oh-so-American shocks.

A suitable destination for a Cordoba owner too, no doubt

[canucklehead]

ah yes, Khan and the Chrysler Corrrrrrdooooobaaaaaa - how well I remember it. Great ad that was cheesy even at the time I used to see it as a kid growing up in Canada.

'course, as someone else mentioned, he went on to Fannnntasssi Island - "Boss! Boss! Ze plane! Ze plane! - Herve Villechaise how we miss you.

both the cordoba ad and fantasy island were memorably 'having ze piss taken of' by SCTV - i'm sure you can youtube it.

the Cordoba - "It tasks me. It tasks me and I shall have it."

[Gorbyrev]

Ok - stick in an LS3 and tighten things up with a bit of Hotchkis suspension and we have a great opener for Big Muscle. So Mr Musto - is there Cordoba with 450hp lurking out there somewhere?

[KIG1971]

Did Kid Creole take styling tips from Ricardo then?

[vsonix]

Sulphur Man said:

Love the way the Cordoba come to a halt on the clifftop and rocks back and forth on those oh-so-American shocks.

I was just thinking the same thing, the vehicle keeps moving for a full two seconds after the driver has brought it to a halt! Presumably it was going flat out round those bends, too, hahaha!

[Goofnik]

This "small Chrysler" is 215.3 inches (5469mm) in length. It's 5.2L V8 (318 was the base engine) makes a whopping 215HP, or a specific output of 41.3HP/L.

That's quite a bit longer than an extended wheelbase Audi A8, BMW 7-series, or Mercedes S-Class.

It's even 2.3 inches (about 5.8 centimeters) longer than a Bentley Brooklands. I think the only bigger coupe on the market is the Rolls-Royce Phantom, which is 220.8 inches in length (5609mm).

Edited by Goofnik on Tuesday 19th March 16:14

[Ved]

A missed opportunity on that cliff top. Utter crap, even by 70s American standards!