Motor City Malaise: Ladies and Gentlemen, Give It Up For...The 1979 Chrysler 300!

It is entirely appropriate that I dedicate my first 'car' post to the 1979 Chrysler 300. It is bar-none my favorite Malaise-Era Detroit vehicle, and one of my all-time favorite cars to boot. If someone offered me any car in the world, I would take a low-mileage example of one of these in a heartbeat. It is a truly "Limited Edition" vehicle in every sense of the term, and one that deserves just as much respect as the more commonly celebrated vehicles in the classic MOPAR lexicon. Before we get into the nitty-gritty of this incredible car, let's start with a nice introduction in Chrysler's own words- mind you, this is the only piece of advertising that Chrysler ever officially put out on the car. Without further ado:

BEHOLD THE GLORY!

After a cursory glance at this ad, you've probably got a burning question right about now: Isn't that just a Cordoba with some body stripes and a zany crosshair grille? Like most things in life, the answer isn't so black and white. Chrysler 300 Letter enthusiasts (read: purists) have thumbed their noses at the 1979 version since it's very introduction. In fact, there is ZERO mention of the car on the Chrysler 300 International Club, Inc. website. The (unrelated) Chrysler 300 Club, Inc. has officially recognized the 1979 model as a legitimate 300 since 1980, but the decision was very controversial at the time. Here's my take on it:

I'll be the first to admit that this advertisement is a sad and meager introduction to the car. In 1979, Chrysler was fast approaching insolvency, and the cash and resource-strapped company had put nearly all their eggs (as well as the federal government's "eggs-on-loan") into the K Car basket. Meanwhile, they still had their traditional B-body, Rear Wheel Drive, V8-powered relics to deal with (R Bodies are a fascinating topic for a different post!). The Cordoba was no longer lighting up the sales charts as it did back in the mid-70s. In 1976 and '77, Chrysler moved over 160,000 Cordobas per year, respectively. By 1979, that number had dropped by more than half to under 80,000 units. The buying public was thinking small and efficient, and cars like the popular Front Wheel Drive Dodge Omni/Plymouth Horizon were selling like gangbusters. To incentivize potential buyers to continue looking at the bigger, thirstier options, Chrysler decided to go for the nostalgia angle. They took the existing 1979 Cordoba, made some surprisingly substantial cosmetic and drivetrain alterations to the platform, and sold it as the limited edition "Chrysler 300" for 1979. Here are the hard (and frankly, impressive) facts:

Drive Train:

360 CI (5.9L) 4-Barrel High Performance V8 rated at 195 net horsepower and 280 ft/lbs torque. Note, this is not the 360 4-V engine that someone would get as an option on a regular Cordoba. This is the version taken directly from Dodge police pursuit vehicles from the period, as well as the famous Little Red Express Truck...hence the 'High Output', or 'High Performance' nomenclature used frequently in documentation about the car.
True Dual Exhausts with dual catalytic converters. Not the pseudo-dual exhausts found on many faux-muscle cars of the period, like the Camaro and Trans Am.
8.0:1 Compression Ratio
3.21 Sure Grip Rear Axle Ratio
Power steering with Heavy Duty "handling" suspension and anti-sway bars
Heavy Duty version of the venerable 3-Speed Torqueflite transmission with lock-up torque converter.
Heavy Duty police-spec power brakes; discs up front, drums in rear.

Exterior Trim:

Spinnaker White exterior paint with plain metal roof (no vinyl top). A small number of Canadian-only models were painted in Red, but all US cars were strictly white.
"300" emblems on the taillight lenses and wheel centers. Also a "300" etched into the rear quarter windows
Crosshair chrome frame over a blacked-out eggcrate grille with the "300" emblem in the center.
Front fender louvers
Red & blue stripe package atop the white paint and a red/white/blue reflective bar under each rear quarter window.

Interior Trim:

Red leather bucket seats
Console shifter
Metallic 'engine-turned' dash applique
Factory tachometer
Notable options included: power locks/windows, cruise control, AC, AM/FM stereo with 8-track player, power antenna, power sunroof, T-Tops

As you can see, we've got a pretty capable and beautiful car here. In stock form (with Chrysler's Lean Burn computer and other emissions equipment attached), it would still do 0-60 mph in nine seconds flat, and that's with a 3800 lb curb weight! When tuned and allowed to breathe, expect better results accordingly. Furthermore, with less than 5,000 total vehicles produced (approximately 3,900 for the USA, the remainder to Canada), it's about as rare and exclusive as it gets.

And so, you have it...the 1979 Chrysler 300. Is it really a 300, or just a really fast Cordoba? Doesn't matter to me...the Cordoba is already a beautiful car; what you have here is the elegance and style of the Cordoba matched with the engineering and drivetrain of a proper touring car. Does it really get any better than that?!