Random idea generator has been busy...

[Bryan M.]

Ok, bear with me...a couple nights ago was pretty dead at work as Seattle was quite literally beating a dead horse..

Three J-cars existed: Mirada, Imperial, and 2nd Gen Cordoba.

It was known at first that originally, Mirada was supposed to be Magnum before someone in corporate thought the car did a disservice to the name. Cordoba was supposed to be a Plymouth, and Imperial was considered as a new Chrysler called "LaScala" (glad they ducked that bullet.)

Picturing this isn't too hard. Give the Mirada the hideaway headlights from the Mirada Magnum concept and keep most of the vinyl tops off of it. The Imperial would just need "CHRYSLER" across the bridge of the grill and a name change. But the Plymouth, I have a difficult time looking at the Cordoba and going "That's it!".

So I think a little bit, and two images come to mind:

1. Eliminate any Chrysler badging. Use this roofline, sans vinyl and opera lights:
View attachment 4982
Upgrade the running gear to LRE/KitCar specs. Congratulations, you have your 1980 Plymouth Fury.

Now...the fun...

2. Using a nose design based on the upcoming 1982 Dodge Daytona..:
View attachment 4983
...the Imperial's roofline and quarter windows, and you can call it whatever you like.

The sad part is that I have lists like this for pretty much every car I come across. Builds, "what-if"s, potential next-generation ideas, etc.

1. Eliminate "CHRYSLER" off the Cordoba grille. Use the roofline pictured below, just no vinyl top or opera lights:

 

[My imp]

Can't open these attachments. Please tell me you're not talking about that Omni POS with a Saturn front end, tacked on to a Prius rear end! And you're calling the LeBaron convertibles ugly? While not exactly the fastest things out there, the '87 & up with the hidden headlight ones were nice looking cars. I loved my little Turbo car. Matter of fact, it was my favorite car, until I got my Imp. Cattleshack liked them enough to copy them & release an entire generation of look alike cars, only bigger & no vert!

 

[My imp]

'75 is when the wheels came off at Chrysler. Calling that thing a Charger should've earned someone a death sentence! lol They should've called that the Magnum or Mirada, rather than bastardize the name. No wonder King Richard's eye started to wander...

 

[Bryan M.]

No, no...Think that LeBaron nose but with the open headlights. Kinda like a ...what am I thinking of, 600 sedan? As far as the Charger, there were two in '75...the Fury/Roadrunner body and the Charger S.E., the more familiar one. I think had they kept 360/400 as engines they had a chance, but somewhere in Auburn Hills there was one hell of a fight going on..the model names reflect it.

 

[My imp]

The Dodge Cordoba, the other was a Dodge Coronet. I had one. The only cars that got by in '75 w/o a cat. con. & didn't require unleaded fuel. The fuel gauge didn't have the "Unleaded Fuel Only" printed on it, nor did it have the restriction in the fill pipe either.

 

[jasperjacko]

I wish chrysler never used the mexican / spanish sounding names to begin with. Nothing against latinos, I just think the whole ricardo, corinthian, "Coorrrlldobaaahhh" really tainted the cars as much as the build quality.

 

[tim berry]

jasper thats all true but we still own them despite all those problems.

 

[My imp]

I wish chrysler never used the mexican / spanish sounding names to begin with. Nothing against latinos, I just think the whole ricardo, corinthian, "Coorrrlldobaaahhh" really tainted the cars as much as the build quality.

At least they had a little imagination back then! Now, just pick a few no related, non descript letters & numbers, then glue em on! The new XFGXQWR-33.5 comin' to dealer near you!

 

[Force28x]

New poster here, and this article on AllPar gives a little history on the Charger's life cycle from Burton Bouwkamp's POV. He was "chief engineer' which was basically a project manager with no formal engineering training. That site has several articles based on speeches Burt made. Of course, you guys probably already knew about that site, but as an 'engineer' in a similar position (albeit in boats) I related to much of his anecdotal but realistic stories.

http://www.allpar.com/cars/dodge/charger-history.html