1970 Chrysler Cordoba de Oro

Inside the Chrysler exhibit space, a large crowd surrounds the raised revolving platform with the Chrysler Cordoba de Oro as center of attention. A female model is speaking to the crowd, with the driver’s door opened. A design exercise by Elwood Engel, Chrysler’s styling chief, the Cordoba de Oro has a strong wedge profile. Its cantilever roof had no A-pillars and the rear spoiler raised automatically.

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At the July club meeting, one of Chrysler’s more unusual show cars was mentioned, the Cordoba de Oro.

Chrysler has displayed quite a number of show cars over the years. In 1970 Chrysler showed a very wedge shaped car, the Cordoba de Oro. It was styled by Elwood Engel and featured a cantilevered roof with no A pillars. In this fashion it harked back to the Norseman of 1956, which also featured a cantilevered roof. The Norseman was a Virgil Exner creation, Engel’s predecessor as styling chief at Chrysler.

The Cordoba de Oro had some unusual features with a thermostatically controlled air intake and experimental headlights. It was built on the standard Chrysler wheelbase of 124 inches. The production 1975 Chrysler Cordoba was quite a different car, being an intermediate with a 115 inch wheelbase.

The Norseman was built by Ghia in Italy, who had a long association with Chrysler that was only terminated when Ford purchased Ghia. Exner had wanted to do rollover tests on the car, but it suffered a much more dramatic fate. Unfortunately the Norseman never made it across the Atlantic. It was shipped on the Italian liner, Andria Doria. That liner collided with a freighter off the coast of Long Island and took the Norseman to the floor of the Atlantic. This must be one of the most bizarre ends for an experimental car.

I don’t believe that the elimination of the A pillar has been attempted in any production motor car since.

John G Huntington - www.cavoa.com