Thursday, April 11, 2024

1977 Dodge Monaco - Bad Then, Worse Now

Bet you never saw one of these before and, no, it's not what you might think it is. It's a 1977 Dodge Monaco that, yeah, looks a heck of a lot like a Chrysler Cordoba but more so like a Plymouth Fury of the same vintage. Not coincidentally, it does ride on the same chassis the 1975-1979 Cordoba did. A whole bunch of Chrysler cars did too in the 1970's. 

Prior to 1976, a Dodge Monaco was a full-size car. And I mean big. Nearly 19-feet long, 8-feet wide and 4,600-pounds big. This Monaco is still pretty big but it is about ten inches shorter, four inches less wide and about five or six hundred pounds lighter. These were simply called, "Monaco"; Dodge kept the old full-size Monaco around for 1977 that they called, Royal Monaco. 

As opposed to the Chrysler Cordoba that were only coupes, these cars were also available as four-door sedans and station wagons. They replaced the Coronet series in the Dodge lineup. 

Craziest thing about this one is the interior. Yes, kids. This was a thing back in the day. 

I was a wee little nipper, car interiors like this were all the rage. I hated them. I still do. Bad then, worse now as we say. 

Dodge discontinued these cars and their insane interiors after 1978.