Cordoba1
Well-Known Member
Hey guys:
I don't recall sharing this with the rest of the group, so here goes: After searching for years, I finally found a Cordoba LS I couldn't pass up. I have literally been on Craigslist, eBay, and multiple classic car websites searching each week for 4 years. There are a few out there: There's a pretty decent one in PA (red, 60K miles), and various mildew infested copies in FL, and one a stoner tried to sell me down in SC. At any given time, I was able to find one or two, but I wasn't interested in a basket case that needed a ton of attention.
Last September, an exceptional example came up in my Craigslist search. It was located in Ohio, I'm in Illinois. I took a day-trip to Ohio to have a look.. It was spectacular, having only 8,150 miles on the clock. I was pretty skeptical at the millage claim, but after hearing the story, seeing the documentation, and more importantly -- the story -- I believed it.
The story is this: The car belonged to the owner's nephew. She bought her first new car in 1980 after her husband passed away, the example you see below. Not long after purchasing the car, she came down with agoraphobia, and rarely left the house. She left the Cordoba to her nephew in her will, she passed away in 1995. The car had 4,950 miles on it at that time. The new owner drove the car roughly three or four times per year: Once each spring to the Chrysler dealership to keep things serviced, and an occasional trip to Columbus Ohio for dinner. The former owner tells me his friends enjoyed an evening in "The Cordoba." The first owner's name was "Darlene." I don't typically give my cars names, but with affection, I call this Midnight Blue 81, "Darlene."
The CL ad specified an asking price of $9,999.00. Even in spectacular shape, I just didn't want to part with that much money for a non-collectable car. I think I told the former owner more information about J bodies than he'd ever heard before (having owned several before), and he knew I liked the car, but I couldn't get him to budge on the price. We didn't come to deal, but I asked him to contact me before selling to anyone else -- that I wanted first-right-of-refusal.
About 3 weeks after that first visit, I got a call from the owner. He told me that he had a bunch of brokers who were willing to give him his price sight-unseen, but he really wanted to sell the car to someone who would cherish it as much as he did. We came to an agreement, and I rented a U-Haul truck to go get it. It was difficult for the owner to part with his Cordoba, but he needed the space for other projects. He wasn't a "car guy", but he was a collector of antiques -- and there was the fact that this was his aunt's car.
The car is really quite spectacular, it's about as "NOS" as I think you'll find in a J-Body. The only think lacking is V8 power, but the leaning tower-of-power starts right up, and idles /WAY/ smoother than any other I've had (...meaning, the valve-seats are barely broken in). She's not without flaws, but easy fixes: Leaks oil like sieve (rear main), and the seals on the AC compressor are bad.
I'm so pleased to own her. I was intent on changing the car radically: paint, v8, etc -- but the car is in spectacularly-original condition, I intend on fixing the various leaks and leaving the car as is. The only changes I've made is adding a set of polished 10-spoke wheels, and updating the radio to a CD player from a 90s Mopar.
Pictures:
I don't recall sharing this with the rest of the group, so here goes: After searching for years, I finally found a Cordoba LS I couldn't pass up. I have literally been on Craigslist, eBay, and multiple classic car websites searching each week for 4 years. There are a few out there: There's a pretty decent one in PA (red, 60K miles), and various mildew infested copies in FL, and one a stoner tried to sell me down in SC. At any given time, I was able to find one or two, but I wasn't interested in a basket case that needed a ton of attention.
Last September, an exceptional example came up in my Craigslist search. It was located in Ohio, I'm in Illinois. I took a day-trip to Ohio to have a look.. It was spectacular, having only 8,150 miles on the clock. I was pretty skeptical at the millage claim, but after hearing the story, seeing the documentation, and more importantly -- the story -- I believed it.
The story is this: The car belonged to the owner's nephew. She bought her first new car in 1980 after her husband passed away, the example you see below. Not long after purchasing the car, she came down with agoraphobia, and rarely left the house. She left the Cordoba to her nephew in her will, she passed away in 1995. The car had 4,950 miles on it at that time. The new owner drove the car roughly three or four times per year: Once each spring to the Chrysler dealership to keep things serviced, and an occasional trip to Columbus Ohio for dinner. The former owner tells me his friends enjoyed an evening in "The Cordoba." The first owner's name was "Darlene." I don't typically give my cars names, but with affection, I call this Midnight Blue 81, "Darlene."
The CL ad specified an asking price of $9,999.00. Even in spectacular shape, I just didn't want to part with that much money for a non-collectable car. I think I told the former owner more information about J bodies than he'd ever heard before (having owned several before), and he knew I liked the car, but I couldn't get him to budge on the price. We didn't come to deal, but I asked him to contact me before selling to anyone else -- that I wanted first-right-of-refusal.
About 3 weeks after that first visit, I got a call from the owner. He told me that he had a bunch of brokers who were willing to give him his price sight-unseen, but he really wanted to sell the car to someone who would cherish it as much as he did. We came to an agreement, and I rented a U-Haul truck to go get it. It was difficult for the owner to part with his Cordoba, but he needed the space for other projects. He wasn't a "car guy", but he was a collector of antiques -- and there was the fact that this was his aunt's car.
The car is really quite spectacular, it's about as "NOS" as I think you'll find in a J-Body. The only think lacking is V8 power, but the leaning tower-of-power starts right up, and idles /WAY/ smoother than any other I've had (...meaning, the valve-seats are barely broken in). She's not without flaws, but easy fixes: Leaks oil like sieve (rear main), and the seals on the AC compressor are bad.
I'm so pleased to own her. I was intent on changing the car radically: paint, v8, etc -- but the car is in spectacularly-original condition, I intend on fixing the various leaks and leaving the car as is. The only changes I've made is adding a set of polished 10-spoke wheels, and updating the radio to a CD player from a 90s Mopar.
Pictures:
