Automotive Playback: Ricardo Montalban and the "New Small Chrysler"

Ah, the 1975 Chrysler Cordoba as pitched by Suaveness, himself. Passionate. Expressive. Soft Corinthian Leather. Ricardo Montalban was the perfect pitchman for Chrysler's "New Small" car. Measuring just under 18' long (if built today, it'd be longer than the Lincoln Town Car), the new personal luxury coupe debuted at the perfect time.

It was such a sharp contrast to the year before, when Chrysler had introduced the wrong vehicles at the worst possible time. Just a month before the Energy Crisis began in October 1973, Chrysler unveiled its all-new full-size '74 models. Models that turned out to be the biggest cars Chrysler would ever offer - a full 200lbs heavier than their "fuselage style" '73s were. They therefore burned more gas than ever before, just as fuel prices doubled overnight and began to be rationed. While the '73 models had sold an impressive 234,229 units, the longer, lower, wider star-crossed '74s saw sales drop a ghastly 50% to 117,373 deliveries.

To their credit, Chrysler reacted quickly by taking its evergreen B-body midsize car platform and reworking it to produce the Cordoba for the fall of '74. It was the smallest Chrysler since 1964 and had all the chic luxury touches of the day. A chrome stand-up Rolls-Royce-type grille was flanked by Jaguar-like round tunneled headlights and parking lights. At the side, a Landau half-vinyl roof featuring opera windows and coach lamps recalled the classic luxury cars of the '20s. And inside, deeply cushioned seats, offered in velour or that famous "Corinthian Leather" were there to ensure serene cruising, or lots of sliding around on those steep mountain switchbacks.

If all of it sounds silly to you, you have to understand the times. Midsized 2-door "personal luxury cars" were all the rage in the 1970s. Monte Carlos, Torino Elites, and Cutlass Supremes sold in the hundreds of thousands to members of the "Me Generation" who had grown out of their late '60s muscle cars and into higher-paying jobs with better salaries.

Farrah Fawcett had just begun shilling newly declawed Mercury Cougars. So Chrysler took a decidedly more masculine approach and tapped Ricardo Montalban and his illustrious accent to do the work for Chrysler's new car.

And it worked far better than Chrysler had expected. Alone, Cordoba sales in '75 outsold the entire '74 Chrysler line, finding 150,105 homes that model year. It was a good thing, too, as big Chrysler sales fell again, to 101,444 '75s sold. The Cordoba would go on to continued success, selling more than 660,000 examples through 1979. By '80, Chrysler was in downsizing mode, and while Ricardo (fresh from his recent success on ABC's Fantasy Island) was called in to do the pitchwork for the new Jenny Craig'd car, the Cordoba's bloom had worn off and sales fell into the doldrums. Chrysler would quietly drop the nameplate after 1983.

So it back, relax, and experience the Mariachi guitar as it accompanies the mellifluous telling of the tale of a man and his Chrysler in 1975.

AP Spotlight: 1981-82 AMC Eagle Kammback

The car in the spotlight this time is a rare car, indeed: the 1981-82 AMC Eagle Kammback. If you're under 30, you've probably never seen one in person.

On April Fools Day of 1970, AMC - America's (distantly) fourth largest automaker - stole a march on giants GM and Ford by being the first American manufacturer to offer an import-fighting subcompact car. The truncated AMC Gremlin was basically an AMC Hornet with its tail bobbed and the rear wheels brought forward a foot. And its love-it-or-hate-it styling and tongue-in-cheek name got people's attention quickly. The Gremlin's range of big, smooth, powerful (for the day) inline-six cylinder engines was attractive to Americans who weren't convinced that the imports' inline-4s could provide the power, smoothness, and reliability they'd expected from the bigger American cars they were used to. Six months later, the competing '71 Chevy Vega and Ford Pinto (Chrysler took the easy way out and imported Dodge-badged Mitsubishis, and Plymouth-badged Hillmans instead of making their own American subcompacts), debuted with only 4-cylinder engines, which would prove to be a bit more economical than the Gremlin's big sixes, but far less reliable and responsive. And compared to the - by then ubiquitous - VW Beetle, the Gremlin had similar fuel mileage, with more than double the horsepower, and far more interior space. Despite all of its big-car advantages, it debuted as the lowest-priced American-made car. And sales were good.

In '72, AMC ratcheted up their quality and introduced the Buyer Protection Plan, the first bumper-to-bumper warranty offered on the American car market. It came standard on the Gremlin, too, which also picked up a V8 engine option to catch muscle car buyers turned away by soaring insurance rates. AMC even included denim seats as an option on the Gremlin, as a way to reach out to the youth culture of the day. In ads, they called it "the car that wears the pants". The fun shape, practical design, trusty, powerful engines, and lighthearted advertising worked, and sales were brisk through the first 5 years of the car's run. More than 171,000 were sold in 1974 alone.

But then AMC spent a ton of money on cars that were distinctively styled like the Gremlin, but not as well thought-out - the '74 Matador Coupe and '75 Pacer, specifically. And when those cars didn't make the money AMC needed to keep the rest of its product line up-to-date, the little car company soon found itself in big trouble.

By '78, Gremlin sales were poor having to compete with minimal changes with an onslaught of new Japanese small cars. Only 22,000 Gremlins were sold that year. And so AMC took a little out of their dwindling cash reserves and facelifted it, adding a fastback coupe version to accompany its existing chopped-tail bodystyle, and called them both the Spirit for '79. What resulted was a car that looked much more modern, was well-equipped, and sold better than it had in years. For a time. But it wasn't quite enough to move the needle for the company, so AMC decided to sell a 5% stake to French carmaker Renault that same year to generate some cash.

NAIAS Report: Ford and Chrysler

The 2010 North American International Auto Show was a watershed moment in time for Ford. Riding high on American pride and optimism, the one major American manufacturer that didn't need a bailout or bankruptcy protection in '09 started the show in Detroit by sweeping the North American Car and Truck of the Year awards. The 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid beat out the VW Golf Mk6 and Buick LaCrosse for the car award, while the 2010 Ford Transit Connect compact commercial van beat the Chevrolet Equinox and Subaru Outback in the truck category. It was only the third time in the award's history that a single manufacturer has taken both honors. To note, Honda did so in 2006 with the Civic and Ridgeline and GM did it in 2007 with the Saturn Aura and Chevy Silverado.

One look at Ford's massive, enclosed display said it all. The thing bathed the showgoer in a softly glowing shade of Ford pride blue. Henry's surname was to be found on every wall, in every corner of what looked like you had entered into a totally different, if not entirely well-organized, building. Ford's display was by far the most impressive among all the manufacturers and it exuded confidence.

Taking the "Crisis" Out of "Chrysler" (Part 2 of 2)

Chrysler has been drowning. It's not a big secret.

In 1999 - the first full year they were part of DaimlerChrysler - 2.6 million Chryslers, Dodges, Jeeps, and Plymouths were sold in America. For 2009, they may sell 900,000. If they're lucky. In the last 3 years alone, sales have dropped a staggering 58%.

As has been discussed before, this cliff dive is due to a variety of factors. The biggest among them is that, with few exceptions, their current product line is woefully behind the competition in nearly every measurable way. Quality isn't there. Reliability has been at the bottom of the barrel. Design execution has been subpar. Fuel economy is no great shakes. And for the 4 months between their emergence from a quick-rinse bankruptcy, and last month's release of their "5-year plan", they hadn't spent money to advertise their rag-tag group of misfits.

All the while, reports of angry, jettisoned dealers and Obama officials admitting shock at how far-gone Chrysler was when they stepped in has filled the void in airtime and column inches that their advertising would have otherwise occupied.

The rank ineptitude of the Daimler management at Chrysler was hugely responsible for the bad product decisions that pushed Chrysler to the brink. And when Cerberus took the company over in 2007, they brought in their own group of incompetent managers that only cut employees, plants, future vehicle development, and other costs to the bone.

So, since the year began, the bankruptcy court has decoupled Chrysler from Cerberus. The Feds have thrown them a multi-billion dollar life preserver. And Fiat has pulled America's third-biggest car company, floating listless in a heavy sea of fierce competition, aboard its own recently-mended ship.

CEO Sergio Marchionne's plans are certainly ambitious. He has acted fast, ending engineering alliances with Renault-Nissan, Mitsubishi, and Hyundai, and starting Chrysler on a path of better integration with Fiat AG.

But will the company once known as "Fix It Again, Tony" be any better for Chrysler than Daimler was? In a word: Yes.

Who Put the "Crisis" In "Chrysler"? (Part 1 of 2)

The Chrysler Corporation is an 84 year-old with Bipolar Disorder. There is no better way to describe the company.

Their history reads like a giant roller-coaster ride of manically high highs and depressively low lows. In the last 30 years alone, Chrysler has been at death's door 3 separate times (1979-81, 1990-92, 2007-present), and taken US Government bailout money twice (in 1980 and 2008/9).

They were on the ropes in the early 1960s because they downsized their cars when everyone wanted them bigger and more powerful; the early '50s because they'd restyled the entire line way too conservatively for the first "Age of American Excess"; the mid-'30s because they'd practically bet the farm on odd-looking aerodynamic "Airflow" cars that were too far ahead of their time for people's tastes; and were founded by Walter P. Chrysler in the midst of the collapse of Maxwell-Chalmers in the mid-1920s.

But their highs have been incredible. After being saddled for half a decade with stodgy designs, Chrysler debuted new "Forward Look" cars in 1955 and '57 that sent GM and Ford scrambling to compete. Chrysler's longer, lower, wider designs, advanced engineering, and pioneering features pushed Plymouth, Dodge, DeSoto, Chrysler, and Imperial sales through the long, sweeping roof and set trends the industry would follow for years.

The late '60s and early '70s were kind to Chrysler, as well. Their big and midsize cars got slick "fuselage" styling. Their muscle cars were hot and there were plenty of them (Duster 340, Barracuda, GTX, Road Runner, Superbird, Challenger, Charger, Charger Daytona, Coronet Super Bee, and Sport Fury GT). Their all-new trucks and vans were winning people over. And their compact Darts and Valiants were selling out to the bare walls.

With Lee Iaccoca at the helm in the '80s, Chrysler climbed out of the grave by introducing the popular, economical K-Cars, the reintroding the convertible, and inventing the minivan. Chrysler came back quickly enough in the '80s to repay their government bailout loans ahead of schedule. They were doing so well, in fact, they went on to purchase American Motors, the fourth volume American vehicle manufacturer, in 1987, and picked up AMC's hugely profitable Jeep division for $1.1 billion in the process.

And as recently as 1998, the smallest of the Detroit Three was the most profitable among them. Chrysler had been totally turned around from its early '90s slump by offering swoopy "cab-forward" sedans (e.g., Dodge Intrepid, Chrysler Cirrus, Plymouth Neon), "rule-changing" Ram pickups, minivans for which they'd "thought of everything", and wild concept cars like the Viper and Prowler that were brought to production largely unchanged from their show car forebears.

So, what happened this time? Why is Chrysler once again swirling the drain, taking bailout money, and producing lousy, unimaginative products? Hadn't they learned their many lessons from the past?They probably had, actually.