First Formal

[goodneighbour]

Found this today and I could not resist,`78 Newport Coupe! Needs a little TLC but I can deal with that, plane jane with manual A.C.,power steering and power brakes. That`s it.

 

[polara71]

ccasion14: ....................... Congratulations

 

[Mr C]

Congratulations. I hope you enjoy the "Formal experience". Those seats are one of the most comfortable ever.

 

[furyfinn]

Nothing wrong with the plain janes, IMHO. On the contrary, you'll have the same magnificent ride on the road and everything works! I have had my share of loaded c-bodies and only in 1 or 2 of them every electrical gismo actually were functional without me (or someone with better understanding of electrics) tinkering with it.

Enjoy the ride!

 

[C Body Bob]

Nice! These where very good cars. You"ll enjoy it

 

[70NPORT]

Nice.....congratulations.....Plans?

 

[goodneighbour]

Going to do the leanburn conversion,patch the floors and the bottoms of the quarters,buff up the paint and drive! Where`s the thread on that um wiper cam thingie?

 

[commando1]

Lol.

Posted via Topify on Android

 

[67-Fury]

my uncle has one of these cars very nice purchase

 

[1978 NYB]

Not so plain jane. Coupe with upgrade interior and fender skirts with a 400. Nice!

 

[fc7_plumcrazy]

enjoy it a s a driver !

Carsten

 

[kmccabe56]

Not so plain jane. Coupe with upgrade interior and fender skirts with a 400. Nice!

I was thoroughly disappointed when fender skirts became optional in '78. When I asked, I was told that because the formals were such big, heavy looking cars, they wanted to try and make the car appear somewhat lighter and put wheel opening mouldings on, and make the skirts optional. It was considered a `place-holder' type move until the "real" smaller Newport/NY came out in '79. All because GM was their role model in the industry and GM had had their `full size' downsized "B" body cars out since '77 and caught Chrysler napping. Another reason the "R" body cars were such questionable quality. It was like 1957 all over again. Rushed the cars and brought them out a year too soon.

 

[1978 NYB]

I was thoroughly disappointed when fender skirts became optional in '78. When I asked, I was told that because the formals were such big, heavy looking cars, they wanted to try and make the car appear somewhat lighter and put wheel opening mouldings on, and make the skirts optional. It was considered a `place-holder' type move until the "real" smaller Newport/NY came out in '79. All because GM was their role model in the industry and GM had had their `full size' downsized "B" body cars out since '77 and caught Chrysler napping. Another reason the "R" body cars were such questionable quality. It was like 1957 all over again. Rushed the cars and brought them out a year too soon.

Was there any talk ever about making a Formal convertible?

 

[kmccabe56]

Was there any talk ever about making a Formal convertible?

None that I ever heard, but there's no reason somebody couldn't cobble one up. Years ago I meet a guy who was just finishing up a '79 300 convert.

I think the GM scissor fold top would be the way to go. That would allow you to keep the full width rear seat. Biggest problem I can see is that the formal C-pillars are pretty thick. Can't recall if an Eldo top has enough to cover that expanse.

 

[patrick66]

Years ago, I saw a '73 Imperial four-door in Incirlik, Turkey, that had the roof cut off and a new Carson-style top made for it in its place. It had a beautiful custom leather interior made in Turkey, at one of the shops close to the base. An American airman owned the car. I don't remember if he brought the car from the US, or if he found the car there. Either way, it was a cool cruiser.

 

[Mr C]

Was there any talk ever about making a Formal convertible?

Nope...not from the factory...remember convertibles were in disfavour at the time and they had been dead in the C body since 70 and for the Corporation since 71.

Convertibles were left to the coach builders of the time. I know of only one C body conversion and the low production Cordobas. Here's an article about them from 1977 and a pic of the best of the survivors (apparently 7 were made in 77). I have also seen 79 300 verts.

One day I hope to make my own Formal convertible, because I think it'd be beautiful.

 

[goodneighbour]

I was thoroughly disappointed when fender skirts became optional in '78. When I asked, I was told that because the formals were such big, heavy looking cars, they wanted to try and make the car appear somewhat lighter and put wheel opening mouldings on, and make the skirts optional. It was considered a `place-holder' type move until the "real" smaller Newport/NY came out in '79. All because GM was their role model in the industry and GM had had their `full size' downsized "B" body cars out since '77 and caught Chrysler napping. Another reason the "R" body cars were such questionable quality. It was like 1957 all over again. Rushed the cars and brought them out a year too soon.

Didn`t know skirts were an option in `78. That`s what I love about this site, you learn something new everyday!:sSig_thanks:

 

[bajajoaquin]

Nope...not from the factory...remember convertibles were in disfavour at the time and they had been dead in the C body since 70 and for the Corporation since 71.

Convertibles were left to the coach builders of the time. I know of only one C body conversion and the low production Cordobas. Here's an article about them from 1977 and a pic of the best of the survivors (apparently 7 were made in 77). I have also seen 79 300 verts.

One day I hope to make my own Formal convertible, because I think it'd be beautiful.

Man, I wish those wheels were 5 on 5.

 

[kmccabe56]

Nope...not from the factory...remember convertibles were in disfavour at the time and they had been dead in the C body since 70 and for the Corporation since 71.

Convertibles were left to the coach builders of the time. I know of only one C body conversion and the low production Cordobas. Here's an article about them from 1977 and a pic of the best of the survivors (apparently 7 were made in 77). I have also seen 79 300 verts.

One day I hope to make my own Formal convertible, because I think it'd be beautiful.

I'll have to look and see if I have that issue to read the article. I stumbled across the guy who was behind these conversions. Somewhere in lower central Michigan IIRC. What made me stop in was the shop in Mi. having a W500 wrecker. Not something I was used to seeing. These first gen Cordobas didn't lend themselves very well to a convertible conversion. Even with the reinforcements that this guy was adding, the car had some fairly substantial cowl shake, a sure sign of a compromised unibody. While the cars didn't look "too" bad with the top down, there was a very pronounced "home made" look to the cars with the top up. Evidently the market didn't have a much better reaction to them than I did, hence the project expired after the 7 cars were converted. There was talk of doing a ChargerSE/Magnum conversion, but I don't believe it ever happened.

The actual conversions were, I believe, done by a company in Florida.