Back in 2019 I posed a Question Of The Day about what car(s) everyone would like to see in the wild. The top of my list was a fuselage Dodge Coronet from the 1971 to 1974 model years. As always a commenter delivered, Chas in this case, providing a picture of not just any ordinary fuselage Coronet, but this baby blue one-year wonder Coronet of 1974.
But this story quickly evolves.
Quickly after, in my Coronet longing-induced stupor, I did a quickie Craigslist search for “Dodge Coronet”. So what to my incredulous eyes should appear, but a ’74 Coronet with freakin’ big wheels!!!
Craig’s map showed it as being near East St. Louis. Close, but not too close.
Frankly, I had been so focused on finding any Coronet from that era, an example of car I haven’t seen since around the time Burt Reynolds divorced Loni Anderson, the thought of finding that ever so elusive 1974 model was simply wishful thinking atop weird hankerings. But here it was in all its Frosty Green Metallic glory – if this is indeed the original color, but Frosty Green was (shockingly) the only green available for the Coronet that year.
Here’s proof!
So what exactly is it about the 1974 Dodge Coronet that makes it so unique, so scintillating, allowing it to be catapulted into the stratosphere apart from all those other, ordinary boiler plate Coronets?
The beak. Changed from the loop bumpers of 1971 to 1973, the Coronet would sport a different schnoz again for the next two years. This is a one-year wonder. And it’s wonderful.
I’m uploading pictures as I write this love-filled online soliloquy and I have to admit to sitting here and staring at this front in a raptured amazement for about three hours now. It’s so familiar yet so exotic all at the same time. It looks like something Chrysler would have developed for the Australian market. It’s awesome! The only way this could be better is if this guy had two of them for sale!
Not that I’m interesting in buying. This whole fuselage Coronet fixation is strictly voyeuristic. Hmm; that sentence sounds rather creepy. Let’s just say I’m simply window shopping.
But if shopping, one needs to know what they are shopping for. So what exactly is a coronet?
The potential knee-jerk reaction would be to think of a musical instrument. Wrong; you are thinking cornet. We need a coronet. O, what a difference.
A coronet is defined by Merriam-Webster as:
1: a small or lesser crown usually signifying a rank below that of a sovereign
2: a wreath or band for the head usually for wear by women on formal occasions
3: the lower part of a horse’s pastern where the horn terminates in skin
Here’s a better visual thanks to the Encyclopedia Brittanica. There’s nothing quite like the instant gratification gained from a Duck-Duck-Go image search.
As for Dodge, they co-opted the name “Coronet” way back in 1949, the year the first VW Beetle was sold in the United States and the average price of a home was $7,450. At that time the Coronet was the top-of-the-line Dodge and Dodge made no bones about it either. Just compare the 1953 Coronet convertible in the lower left to the exciting as tap water 1953 Meadowbrook in the upper right. Which one has the tanned, smiling, shirtless alpha-male surrounded by bikini-clad babes, two of which appear to be going home with him? Which has the matronly looking woman ignoring the suited male driver? She’s probably spying on convertible guy and experiencing twinges of desire.
In the finest of Detroit customs, Dodge built a brand around the name Coronet. It held firm in its mission, occupying the top of the Dodge line for many years. It was so firmly established and branded, when anybody in North America said “Coronet” everybody knew exactly what was being talked about. It was the example Toyota and Honda mimicked decades later with the Corolla and Civic, respectively.
Yeah, right.
Rather, in true Detroit fashion, the Coronet was demoted to being mid-level, in favor of the Royal, for 1954. The Coronet was demoted a second time, to entry level, for 1955 as Royal and the new Custom Royal were above it. Is this the quickest a model name was ever dumped down the outhouse pit? If not, it’s likely a contender.
Of all the talents demonstrated by Detroit’s automotive executives, they were stunningly brilliant at name debasement.
To atone for their sin of squandering name recognition, Dodge gave the Coronet name a sabbatical from 1960 through 1964. The name reappeared as the midsize Dodge B-body in 1965, a place it kept until being kicked to the curb again at the end of 1976. The “Coronet” name is still moldering in the gutter.
Wheelbases for the reincarnated Coronet were 117″, a length it would maintain until 1971.
These midsize Coronets were darn good looking cars, too. My second Craigslist search for Coronets rewarded me with this amazing 42,000 mile 1968 Coronet which was also in the St. Louis area. It looked so good, in such a vibrant and a likely definitive color, I momentarily lost focus and had to ask myself what I had been looking for.
No, it wasn’t any sort of preview into a senior moment. Nor did the crack-pipe $21,000 asking price distract me. My distraction was a combination of this blue beauty combined with the surprise under that opened hood.
Drum roll, please….
When one sees 3/4 of what they anticipate, it surprises a person. Then I got to wondering how many slant six, two-door Coronets are still floating around. My wife expressed her affinity for this color, which is not something she typically does, which prompted me to daydream about having this Coronet parked downstairs in the garage instead of a certain old Ford. This would be a fine cruiser although that slant six would make for rather leisurely cruising.
The possibilities abounded….oh, wait. What was I writing about here? Oh yeah.
Dodge graciously provided the market with a new generation of Coronet for 1971. A loop bumpered beauty of epic good looks and seductive charm, its wheelbase grew an entire inch while weight was roughly the same.
There was also a lot of model cleanup as the 1970 Coronet had sub-models of Coronet Deluxe, Coronet 440, Coronet Super Bee, Coronet 500, and Coronet R/T. For 1971 it was base Coronet and Coronet Custom.
However, like many things in life, it wasn’t that simple. If you read the verbiage in the 1971 brochure (picture above the ’70 Coronet), it does a good job of summing the situation up by stating the Coronet was designed and built as a four-door, meaning there were no two-door Coronets for 1971.
Those were now the domain of the Charger line, meaning a taxi cab spec Charger that was as blah as unsweetened, room temperature Earl Grey tea was now on the roster. The fancier 500, Super Bee, and R/T models were still around but also wearing a Charger nameplate.
Any pretense of performance or sportiness was now gone from the Coronet. Or was it?
The 1972 Coronet brochure expresses the availability of a four-speed manual on a four-door Coronet equipped with the 400 cubic inch, 6.6 liter, V8 (a 4-4-400?). Given the Coronet and Charger were identical under the skin, offering this was no big whoopee.
Coronets remained physically unchanged for 1973 although brochures touted the abundance of sound deadening now being used, making it much more like the “Big Dodge”. While Chrysler had their issues, they weren’t completely tone deaf; Chrysler saw the writing on the wall about how isolation chambers would be all the rage in the far-out 1970s.
All of this leads us to 1974.
While I’ve been guilty of literary drooling about the front end, this wasn’t the only physical change to the Coronet for 1974.
The tail lights were also changed. Still inset in the bumper, as had been the case since 1971, the bumper itself was now meatier to meet federal regulations prompting the tail lights to be reshaped and more prominent.
These B-body Dodges would keep this basic rear-end treatment until the end in 1978. As one who typically finds bumper mounted tail lights to be off-putting, these are the sole exception. Dodge hit a home run with these; this tail light treatment is one of my favorite aspects of this entire car. If that sentiment puts me in the minority, so be it; I’m fine with that.
Chrysler did a relatively amazing job with bumper regulations during this time. These bumpers weren’t dainty little things but Chrysler did attempt to make them cohesive with the body. That wasn’t a universal thing, just ask Henry Ford II.
The seller had offered an abundance of really good pictures, so let’s explore his offering.
That chrome strip on the c-pillar make me think this Dodge was born with a vinyl toupee. Now gone, it’s easy to see what happens to a vinyl capped roof over the course of 45 years – or likely much less.
The headliner was gone, so making any repairs to the roof should be somewhat more straightforward. It still won’t be easy but everything is already accessible.
Straightforward would also describe what appears to be Chrysler’s effervescent 318. Did they ever make a more robust, benign to abuse V8?
On the off-chance it’s wearing out, a person could be quite creative with alternatives. A Magnum 5.2 or 5.9 from a 1994 to 2001 model pickup. A 5.7 Hemi from a late model Charger or Challenger. Or, just for giggles, a Pentastar 3.6.
We won’t talk about the ease of making it all work.
While the color does not facilitate anything other than depression, the condition of the interior doesn’t look horrible for its age. All it needs is a seat cover and better lumbar support. License plates bend rather easily.
Yes, I did entertain the idea of inquiring about this Dodge – for about 2.7 seconds. The timing just wasn’t there as my papoose had just gotten braces on her teeth.
Since I haven’t (yet) driven one, Youtube is there to help fill in the blanks, be it auto crossing or…
Simply cutting a few doughnuts.
Has this sated my Coronet hunger? No, this is the glass of water you drink to fill your stomach; that’s a reprieve and the need for sustenance is still there. The Great Coronet Hunt continues. But these have certainly helped hold me over until I can eat.
Related CC Reading:
Wow!! That lead (and final) photo brought back memories of high school driver training. I started the class in late summer of 1972 with a dour green full size Ford. Galaxie or LTD, I don’t recall but I’m pretty sure it had black wall tires. For the last session, we got a brand new 1973 Coronet in exactly that light blue with white vinyl top color combo. With whitewalls. If I remember right, it had bumper over-riders but not the full 5 mph accordion bumper inserts.
Must be something about naming car models for the headgear of royalty. The Chrysler Corporation not only offered the Dodge Coronet, but also the Imperial Crown. Toyota also offered a Crown (possibly they still do?) as well as the Corona.
Not only that, Corolla means “small crown” in Latin. And Camry is pronounced more or less like the Japanese word for crown.
Toyota in particular really likes naming cars after royal headwear.
Wasn’t a coronet a musical wind instrument? I’ve had a couple big four door cars lately to haul old ladies around in, but back in those days I only looked at 2 door cars, especially convertibles. As a teen, I did drive Mom’s 4 door ’56 Cadillac occasionally. She thought I looked good in it, but I had other ideas… LOL!
You are thinking of the cornet, a fuller-toned relative of the trumpet.
In 1974, before my tour of duty began, my police department bought Dodges. Patrol officers drove the C-body Monaco with a 440. The two administrative lieutenants had unmarked Dodge Coronets with a 318 and the full police package under their civilian paint. On weekends we would use them as undercover cars. Because they gathered up mileage slowly, they lasted several years before being traded in 1979. Their replacements were the Plymouth Volaré Custom with police package and 318.
One of the Coronets had a peculiar drumming sound from its roof when driven on rough gravel or dirt roads. It was as though the factory had omitted the gobs of body adhesive that was used between the roof panel and the ribs underneath. One officer remembered a 1972 Dodge Polara that did that.
And to think how close I came to adopting this car’s sibling, a 74 Satellite Custom sedan. I am kind of sorry I didn’t. https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-1974-plymouth-satellite-custom-almost-our-thanksgiving-turkey/
Interesting to note then the Coronet nameplate got a short third life in Colombia where the M-body Dodge Diplomat was renamed Coronet. There’s a Spanish site with some pictures.
https://www.elcarrocolombiano.com/clasicos/dodge-coronet-1978-1980-olvidado-hoy-este-fue-el-carro-mas-lujoso-jamas-producido-en-colombia/
They looked great as black and white police cars (not white). After 1974, they looked dumpy as civilian cars. Especially, with a vinyl roof. Acceptable in dark colours, with cop car hub caps. A whip antenna, wouldn’t hurt.
One of the better-looking modern police cars, In OPP livery.
Police & taxi duty is where a lot of these went, and to the entertainment industry where they were used and used up as police cars.
They have always been interesting to me, but I have had little experience with any. I know the quality control at Chrysler was horrible during this time period. I long ago worked with a guy who put in some time at a Dodge dealer and he had some stories. He said they generally ran well with the exception of carburetor problems due to the emission controls, but they had a lot of problems with wind noise and water leaks, and if you drove one through a car wash you better wear a rain coat.
I see it’s not just me that sometimes confused Coronet with Cornet. I had no idea what a Coronet was, though.
I doubt those two women in the Coronet convertible are going home with the driver. They’re not even looking at him, and he’s ignoring them too while talking to the third woman outside the car. I think the other two pretended to like the driver so he would drive them somewhere they wanted to go, like the (real life) girl in the song “Vehicle”, which coincidentally involved another Mopar product.
I never cared for the fuselage Coronet. I first remember it from when I was with my dad shopping for a new car in 1976, looking at an Aspen. The sales associate tried to upsell him on the next-size-larger Coronet in the showroom. I looked at it, a base model, and found it about the most boring car I’d ever seen. Even as an 11 year old I could tell it was out of style, with that 1971-ish coke bottle shape. Please don’t buy one of these, Dad! He didn’t, one reason being he was annoyed at the exposed pipe leading from the gas filler to the tank, bisecting the trunk in one area.
This is a good looking front end on these cars. Going to single headlights and the “Mercedes” grill in 1975 did it no favors.
Considering the one year, the 1974 model year, and rather weak sales of these cars in general, it is little wonder that this front end never comes to mind when I think of these cars. This is the needle in the haystack.
The base Charger “Coupe” is structurally a 2 door hardtop but with fixed rear quarter windows. Same thing they did with the Duster/Demon and the cheapest Colt. Small, medium and large – how big a cheapskate are you? I’m surprised they didn’t do a strippo Polara fixed-quarterlight coupe to complete the set
Low-end E body Challengers/Barracudas had fixed rear side windows too, at least in some years. I thought the Duster and its Dodge counterparts at least had flip-open rear windows.
Yeah, the A-body coupe’s quarter windows were never fixed and always flipped open, even on the cheapest versions.
I don’t remember what the fixed quarter window Barracuda was called, but the Challenger version was known as the ‘Deputy’ and it actually used the cheaper Barracuda seats. For a cheap, speedy E-body for a lot less than an R/T, it could be had with a 383-4v but if you wanted a manual, you might have been limited to a floor shift 3-speed (the auto was optional). From what I can gather, Chrysler didn’t exactly build a lot of Deputies, and the 383-4v was even rarer, still.
The Deputy, like much of the extensive, early E-body models, options, and engines, would disappear after 1971.
According to Wikipedia, the ’71 Challenger Deputy essentially became the ’72 base Challenger Coupe, again with the fixed rear-seat glass, with a similarly-equipped Barracuda also available. The ’73 and ’74 Challengers and Barracudas apparently all had roll-down rear windows.
“coronet” is also french slang for a certain body part – how do I know?
growing up we had European exchange students stay every summer and a French one was aghast when he saw the name coronet on a car and told me why
trivia for next time you’re on Jeopardy
A 1972 Coronet sedan with a 4-speed seems like it would be one rare unicorn. For starters, from 1970-74, with the exception of the A-body coupe, all 4-speed B- and E-body Mopars got the pistol-grip shifter, even if bench seat equipped.
A 1972 Coronet or Charger with 4-speed was rare to begin with: Automotive Industries reported a 4-speed installation rate of only 0.6 percent, which works out to be fewer than 1,000 cars!
It’s hard to envision anyone buying a 4-speed Coronet sedan. I could actually see a base 3-on-the-tree for some government fleet (such as on a military base), but a 4-speed (with a pistol grip shifter yet) would have to be a ‘very’ special order. For starters, think of what would have been required to put something like that together on the assembly line. I can’t imagine Chrysler making any money on such a low-production, special optioned car like that.
I guess one possibility is what I had read about chase vehicles for the U-2 spy planes to recover the dollies used underneath the very long wings that had to be picked up on the air strips after the plane took off. The most famous vehicles were Z/28 Camaros. When that car was cancelled, they switched over to GTOs in the 2000s.
Maybe back in the day, they ordered up a few of those big engine/4-speed Coronet sedans for the same purpose.
Sacre bleu!
I’m right there with you on the rear ends. I strongly dislike taillights in the bumper as a rule, and that encapsulates a lot of cars people love and I mostly love otherwise (68-72 GM A bodies, 71-74 Mopar B body coupes , 72-73 Ford intermedates) but for some reason I like the 74-78 B body sedan rear bumper, it’s their best aspect. Only fault is I like the square 71-74 Plymouth Satellite wheel openings substantially better than the Dodge’s and all 75-78 round openings. These 4 door variants seem like cars with good ingredients but never meshed properly.
With all the car chase / car abuse videos I’ve watched over the years, I can’t remember ever seeing an actual 74 model.
Always thought these were handsome 4 door cars, no vent windows or fixed rear side glass panes lends a very clean look, and love the way the sheetmetal turns up at the cowl to hide the wipers, I know most US 70s cars had this, but me being from down under, our fuselage Valiants cowl stayed flat to the windscreen which looked a bit crude to me, and these seemed much more exotic. To me anyway.
Would love one of these with a 318 and Torqueflite.
The Blue & white one looks very nice to me .
I remember these mostly as cops cars, very good cop cars .
-Nate
I’ve seen several Coronets and the Plymouth Satellite/Fury whatevers over the years and regret that I passed on buying a couple of them when they were dirt cheap, especially the
’74 Earl Sheib or Maaco darker blue with a still pretty decent black interior one (as all interiors should ever be) that was on a used lot I passed by for many many months. 360 four barrel, with an 8+3/4 3.55 rear end. No real rust on it, and the thing that really made me lust for it, no vinyl top, so no roof damage! It’s build sheet, which was in it, had it being built for a Missisippi sheriff’s office, and it still had the working spotlight on the left, the right side one had been removed and capped off. It had the “Tuff” steering wheel added and a pretty decent cassette deck along with a bunch of sound deadening. For $3500 at the time, I should have grabbed it up. But I passed. I saw it months later going down the road and it’s the last time I saw it.