If this looks like a Chrysler Cordoba to you, you’re not alone. This is the darned-near identical 1975 Dodge Charger SE.
Here’s how to tell if you’re a dedicated Chrysler enthusiast: If you can actually tell the difference between a 1975 Chrysler Cordoba and its corporate twin, the Dodge Charger SE. (See our feature on the Cordoba here.) They’re very nearly the same car. The Charger sports a different grille and tail lamps, a slatted quarter-window treatment, and a slightly more subdued standard interior. And that’s just about the extent of it. The base price was nearly the same, too: $4,903, just $169 less than the Cordoba.
It was a blatant case of inter-divisional badge engineering, though it’s not like the Chrysler Corporation had a ton of options. And anyway, badge engineering was becoming commonplace in the Motor City, and not just at Chrysler. The previous-generation 1971-74 Charger was due for a makeover, but the automaker was once again struggling for resources. (In 1974, model year production fell 25 percent and the company reported a $52 million loss, for example.) So the Chrysler Cordoba, which originated in the Plymouth studio, was given a modest onceover and rebadged as the Dodge Charger SE. The initials stood for Special Edition, but since there was a single model and body style, it’s difficult to say what was special about it.
The Cordoba was a major success for Chrysler, racking up 150,000 sales in its first year and very likely saving the Chrysler brand. But the Dodge Charger SE—same car, different emblems—managed only 30,000 units in ’75. The prestige of the premium Chrysler name no doubt gave the Cordoba a push, as did the popular TV campaign starring Ricardo Montalban with his memorable Corinthian Leather pitch.
Meanwhile, the Charger went nowhere. At mid-season, a Charger Daytona option package was introduced (above) with two-tone paint and sport mirrors for $132, but it’s unclear how much it helped sales, if at all, The compact Dart carried the Dodge brand that year, accounting for 55 percent of the division’s volume.
For 1976, the Charger story got more complicated, as the downmarket Coronet coupe was rebadged as the Charger Sport and sold alongside the Charger SE. With its attractively low list price of $3,736, the Sport gave Charger sales a boost, while subtracting a roughly equal amount from the Coronet total. For 1978, the B-Body Dodge Charger SE was restyled by Carl Cameron and repackaged as a personal luxury coupe called the Magnum, and you can read about it here.
The rabbit hole under this car is immense. The corporation was heading to death’s door when these came out. The bean counters did what they had to in order to survive, that meant rebadging the cancelled Plymouth Sebring as a Dodge Charger SE and the first ever junior Chrysler (Cordoba). After posting a $55,000,000.00 loss in ’74 ($366 million in today’s dollars), Chryco lost another $259,000,000.00 in ’75 ($1.5 billion today), didn’t pay a dividend for the first time in it’s history, and over 300 dealers went out of business…
Chrysler has been going out of business since 1957. They’ve had some great cars but always find a way to screw the pooch.
One of the more interesting, at least to me, sidebars to the whole 1975 Cordoba/Charger SE story is the assembly plant chosen to built it – Windsor Assembly. Windsor Assembly earned its chops as the sole source for almost all Chrysler product vehicles prior to the North American Auto Pact, which meant it built everything. Chrysler, Plymouth, Dodge AND DeSoto cars, in all body styles, in all trim levels with all options. The logistical nightmare that was that plant and the ability of the plant to turn out cars that had the parts they were supposed to as a skill unto itself. So back to Windsor Assembly. The product planning (at Chrysler there are too many times when that’s an oxymoron) determined that the market for Cordoba/Charger SE was about 50k units, with the rest of the plant occupied with Dart and Valiant production. Except the product planning people got it wrong (surprise!!!). The first leap in production was to 80k units, then into the low 100s and ultimately by the time 1976 rolled around it was nearly 200k units. Talk about a virtual overnight success story. And as much of the success of those cars was due to their design, their style and the image they portrayed, it was also due to the fact that Windsor Assembly was able to turn on a dime and step up production dramatically. History repeated itself with the introduction of the PTCruiser. Except this time it wasn’t launched at Windsor Assembly. And the initial planning volume of 50k units was even more off than Cordoba/Charger SE. PTCruiser volume increased to 80k, then to 110k then to about 150k, then to 180k. A success story? Well, yes and no. Production eventually got to almost 400% of the original volume, but in reality PTCruiser should have launched with an annual volume of 300k. Chrysler had a lot of really angry customers who couldn’t buy a PTCruiser, dealers who didn’t have cars to sell, and by the time production volumes began to approach what they should have been at launch, the market had shifted and the buying public had moved on. Chrysler Corporation. All the wrong decisions for all the right reasons. R.I.P.
Walter Chrysler was a genius that automotive historians have basically overlooked completely today. All the focus is on Henry Ford ! Walter was a tool and die guy from his earliest years at ELCO. Henry would not have been given anything but a broom to sweep. The Dodge brothers also are also not given enough credit for their efforts in developing the industry.