Hello! Up for Your Consideration (BIN or Bidding) is This Beautiful Nightwatch Blue 1981 Chrysler Cordoba LS Coupe. It has 21,938 original, documented miles on it currently. It runs and drives Beautifully!
A little history of its creation and ownership:
This Cordoba LS, was produced by Chrysler on November 11th, 1980 and shipped to Brandenberry Chrysler-Plymouth in Urbana, Ohio as a floorplan car to be sold to the public at large.
Enter owner #1, who purchased the Cordoba LS on March 10th, 1981 and traded in a 1974 Chevrolet Impala, valued at $154.36 towards the purchase! The first owner drove it sparingly over the many years of ownership, amassing a grand total of 4,993 miles, before passing it on to the proverbial nephew in the Family in March of 1998.
Nephew Owner #2, continued the Loving Care of this Cordoba LS for the next 16 years and brought the mileage up to a blistering 8,015 miles driven, before owner #3 took over. Apparently not driving the Cordoba LS very far and keeping it in good condition was a staple standard that ran in the Family! Throughout these early years, the car remained in Ohio, never far from the originating dealership.
Owner #3 finally took the Cordoba LS out of Ohio and brought it to the state of Illinois, where it still currently resides under my ownership. Owner #3 continued to carry on the great preservation and care of the Cordoba, but this owner also made additional “improvements” that owner #3 felt “refreshed” the Cordoba in a meaningful way. While the Cordoba has always been stored inside a garage throughout its entire life, owner 3 felt that the original paint had a dull quality to it. After careful consideration, owner #3 decided to repaint the Cordoba in its original NightWatch Blue color. This was no overnight job, as the paperwork that I have states over $4,000 went into the paint job alone! Subsequent extensive care and paint correction, has kept it looking absolutely Beautiful as the pictures illustrate. In addition to the cosmetics, owner #3 upgraded the original factory radio to a newer Chrysler OEM spec unit. It performs just as admirably if not better than the original and it sounds great in the car. Regular and preventive maintenance has been continuous and extensive based on all the paperwork that I have, so that has contributed to it’s wonderful preservation to this day. Owner #3 added the most mileage to the vehicle, and it left his posession at 21,692 miles. Much credit should be given to this owner for not only using it and enjoying it, but also keeping up with it and making it look really great as you see in the pictures today! In fact, it was so nice, that this past summer, it Won a trophy at Radwood Chicago 2021 for being “Raddest in Show”!(see picture) Not bad for an early 80s Chrysler to Win the Top Spot at that show! Well Deserved!
I am the 4th owner and have had it but for a short while. I have racked up 300+ plus enoyable miles of cruising and I have to say it lives up to it’s low miles status. You hear Nary a rattle or a shake and the frameless doors and their soft seals, do not make any wind noise at highway speed which is really a pleasant surprise.
In 1981, Chrysler updated the slant 6 engine and utilized hydraulic lifters instead of solid lifters that had been the staple of slant sixes has since their inception. Runs quiet and for what it is, while no Hemi, handles itself with aplomb. All the original equipment is present in the vehicle and all of it functions perfectly. From all the vacuum hoses, to the emissions equipment, to the solenoids connected to the carburetor; even the factory heat shield under the carburetor is still there and that usually goes missing from these cars. The Torquefite transmission shifts smoothly and there are no strange noises to be heard. This Cordoba LS escaped the factory with a Non Sure-Grip 8 1/4″ axle with 2.94 axle ratio. Oddly enough, it has the big drum brakes and a sway bar as well… Quite unusual for a slant 6, but that’s exactly how it was equipped according to the mint condition build sheet included. The factory air conditioning was serviced with owner #3 and other than replacement condenser, drier digital temperature setting device and a R-134a Freon conversion, this thing blows nice and COLD!!! A very light tint added to the Windows certainly helps the cooling capacity of the system now.
The paperwork included with this Cordoba LS is comprehensive. From the warranty card, to the car rental and credit policies of the originating dealer, to the limited warranty with the original owners information written in, to the original window sticker, the original build sheet, the original sales contract, a Cordoba LS brochure, the factry owners manual and all the supporting receipts throughout the years, really round out Cordobas history in a most Excellent fashion. I have two full sets of keys.
The 10-spoke 15″x7″ FORGED alloy Wheels are an added bonus and add a real sporty look to the LS Package.
The interior is nearly perfect with nice seats, nice upholstery, nice door panels (no cracks) and a real nice soft dashpad. Headliner is mint, as is the trunk area and carpet and even contains the original space saver spare that appears to have never been down on the ground! I have a full bodied car cover to go with the Cordoba!
Underneath the car is really something to appreciate. Other than some general oxidation of the nuts and bolts and the leaf spring shackles, there is nothing to complain about. I did note a couple of small drops of oil coming from the engine to transmission bellhousing area, but it is so minor it only leaves two or three drops on occasion and given that it’s a 40 year old car, that’s not too bad.
This Cordoba would probably be best appreciated and enjoyed “as is”, but it could be easily modified with it remaining a Slant Six or you could go the old V8 swap route if you wanted to. While I initially had that in mind when I purchased it, I realized it’s just too much of a timepiece to do that to and thus I have decided to part ways and find something that I can modify without the guilt of knowing that I tampered with a real nice original car. If you have the vision to modify or if you desire an original that is truly something to behold, then this is your Cordoba LS.
Production on these “J-bodied” MoPars, was very low and this was truly the last of the rear wheel drive 2 door Coupe ” Old Chrysler Corporation” MoPars to be made. This body style was a downsized version of the Big Cordobas and Magnums of the late 70s. From 1980-1983, these held Chryslers place amongst the last of the good ones. This is a chance to own a piece of History and it’s Looks/Design have aged well over time.
Price: $13,000
More info: Listing has ended. Click to search on eBay for similar 1981 Chrysler Cordoba (Affiliate link)
Seller's other items: trigger7070
Location: Homewood, Illinois, United States
