A 1977 Chrysler Cordoba converted into a convertible by Emess Coach Builders is for sale in St. Petersburg, Florida, for $38,500. The car combines dark red paint with a white interior, and the seller says the odometer shows just 13,000 original miles, or about 20,900 kilometers. Its rarity goes back to when the car was new, because Chrysler never offered this body style in its factory lineup.
Rare 1977 Chrysler Cordoba Ragtop has traveled less than 1,000 miles since 2003
A Clearwater-based company led by Mark Doyne carried out the conversion and worked only on newly purchased cars. The company called the package Cordoba Classic II and charged $4,995 on top of the price of the car. Using the roughly $7,700 price of the coupe as a reference, the total climbed to nearly $12,700, a substantial amount in 1977.
The conversion required workers to remove the interior before cutting away the roof so they could protect the upholstery and trim during the body modifications. Emess then added tubular steel reinforcements to the structure and strengthened the A-pillars and upper windshield frame to compensate for the loss of the fixed roof. During the company’s early years, the largely hand-built process took about 14 to 18 days per car.
A specialist in New York supplied the convertible top, which used an electrohydraulic mechanism controlled from the dashboard. The weatherproof fabric included a clear vinyl rear window, while the small side windows used glass. On the car now for sale, the white top folds behind the rear seat into a carpeted compartment hidden beneath a dedicated cover.
Under the hood sits a 400-cubic-inch V8, or about 6.6 liters, and the seller reports several recent maintenance items. The car received new spark plugs, a fuel pump and a fuel tank, while the carburetor underwent a rebuild. Inside, the equipment list includes air conditioning, cruise control, a tilt steering wheel and an AM/FM cassette radio. The transmission selector sits on the steering column.
According to the history included with the listing, Emess converted only seven Cordobas for 1977, and five reportedly remain known today. That makes this version exceptionally rare compared with the standard coupe, which gained widespread recognition in part through Chrysler’s advertising campaigns featuring Ricardo Montalbán.
The red example shows some cracking in the paint and has lost a few accessories that appeared on the car in the past, including a rear Continental Kit. Records from 2003 already showed around 12,000 miles, only about 1,000 fewer than the mileage the seller claims today.
