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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Fine Corinthian leather

Fine Corinthian leather

by DougJ|  August 11, 20101:02 pm| 60 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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Is it just me or is all this talk about Cordoba House making you nostalgiac too?

Consider this an open thread.

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Previous Post: « Handel’s messiah?
Next Post: Managed ignorance »

Reader Interactions

60Comments

  1. 1.

    Origuy

    August 11, 2010 at 1:05 pm

    Nostalgic for the time I spent in a sleepy Spanish town that once was the grandest city in Europe.

  2. 2.

    Remember November

    August 11, 2010 at 1:08 pm

    Revenge is a dish best served with gazpacho…

  3. 3.

    Remember November

    August 11, 2010 at 1:08 pm

    and he played Khan. So it’s all a decades long Muslin konspeercy!

  4. 4.

    Brachiator

    August 11, 2010 at 1:09 pm

    Fine Corinthian leather

    Given that another thread title is “Handel’s Messiah,” I misread this as First Corinthian leather, with images of biblical bondage gear.

  5. 5.

    Napoleon

    August 11, 2010 at 1:09 pm

    In high school/college a friend of mine had one of those. It got totaled when an off duty deputy sheriff who had had his license suspended, but somehow the sheriff, Jim Traficant, had gotten it back to him, ran into the back of it with the Jaguar he had just bought (I later learned he was rumored to deal cocaine).

  6. 6.

    Scott P.

    August 11, 2010 at 1:09 pm

    And of course, no leather of note is now or ever has been produced in Corinth.

    sleepy Spanish town

    Córdoba has a population of over 200,000. It may not be a metropolis, but “sleepy spanish town” makes me think of a roadside village with a dozen houses and a well.

  7. 7.

    Ross Hershberger

    August 11, 2010 at 1:09 pm

    This is strange. yesterday I was thinking about a Cordoba my friend Randy had about 30 years ago. It had Chrysler’s Lean Burn engine, which was, to say the least, problematic. I kinda liked the looks but you never see them on the road any more. IIRC, Corinthian Leather was just a label the marketing guys came up with because it sounded more luxurious than just Leather.

  8. 8.

    QDC

    August 11, 2010 at 1:10 pm

    I saw the post title and thought it was going to be about Boehner.

  9. 9.

    Ross Hershberger

    August 11, 2010 at 1:12 pm

    Ricardo Montalban said in a later interview that it bothered him that they used the wrong syllabic emphasis when pronouncing the name. It’s CORdoba, not corDOba.
    That is all.

  10. 10.

    Dave S.

    August 11, 2010 at 1:13 pm

    I like that it’s the “small” Chrysler, meaning you can only launch and land aircraft using the hood rather than the hood AND trunk.

  11. 11.

    me

    August 11, 2010 at 1:14 pm

    Hmmm, the “Small Chrysler”? Small meant something very different back then.

  12. 12.

    SiubhanDuinne

    August 11, 2010 at 1:15 pm

    Dan Rostenkowski is dead. The universe seems to want to gather up corrupt old politicians these days . . . .

    Still, to his family and friends, RIP Rosto.

  13. 13.

    Citizen_X

    August 11, 2010 at 1:15 pm

    Why does Ricardo Montalban hate America?

    And may I be the first to add:

    KHAAAAAANNNNNNN!

  14. 14.

    Bubblegum Tate

    August 11, 2010 at 1:15 pm

    …which in turn makes me think of A Tribe Called Quest:

    “Yes, ‘Quence, he’s over
    His rhyme style is older
    Than a Chrysler Cordoba”

  15. 15.

    eemom

    August 11, 2010 at 1:16 pm

    The below from Steve Benen re the “principled” senator from Wisconsin:

    Republican activism in opposition to a lame-duck session on the Hill this year has been pretty strong of late. The notion that the Democratic majority might try to legislate after the November elections — the way the GOP has in years past — has fueled a coordinated effort from the Republican Study Committee, Newt Gingrich, Dick Armey, and assorted Tea Party groups.
    Yesterday, they picked up an unexpected ally.
    Sen. Russ Feingold became Tuesday the first Democrat to denounce the lame-duck session, saying such work periods “are sometimes used to consider extremely controversial policies.”
    “By allowing votes just after an election but before the newly elected Congress takes office, lame-duck sessions provide an opportunity to override the public’s will as expressed at the ballot box,” said the Wisconsin lawmaker, who is up for re-election this year.
    “Rather than schedule a lame-duck session this year, Congress should complete its work before the upcoming elections,” he said in a statement.
    ……….
    Also yesterday, Feingold launched a new radio ad, insisting that he’s more conservative on guns than his right-wing opponent.
    I can only assume Feingold is deeply worried about November.

  16. 16.

    Violet

    August 11, 2010 at 1:17 pm

    Did he drive that on Fantasy Island?

  17. 17.

    Redshirt

    August 11, 2010 at 1:17 pm

    Ah, age. What once looked hideously ugly to me (all American cars from the 70’s) have magically turned beautiful to me now.

    Look at how small it is! ;)

  18. 18.

    Davis X. Machina

    August 11, 2010 at 1:18 pm

    “Corinthian” wasn’t chosen completely at random, however — in antiquity the city of Corinth had associations with wealth, luxury, and the good life in general. For an example, see Horace on life not being fair: “non cuivis homini contigit adire Corinthum’, ‘It does not happen to just anybody to go to Corinth’. (Epistles 1,7)

  19. 19.

    Allan

    August 11, 2010 at 1:19 pm

    Speaking of nostalgia, I just learned that my chamber of commerce booked Gallagher for their annual street music and entertainment fair. Everything I’m reading on line says his act is nothing but gay-bashing, shitting on Mexicans and Arabs and President Obama.

    I’m starting a campaign to get him cancelled. Found a great review of his act from this June in The Stranger, anyone else have any recent documentation of his disgusting performances?

  20. 20.

    steviez314

    August 11, 2010 at 1:19 pm

    From Hell’s heart, I stab at thee, Sarah Palin.

  21. 21.

    QDC

    August 11, 2010 at 1:21 pm

    @Dave S.:

    That thing is almost two feet longer than my full-size four door.

    It’s 10 inches longer than a BMW 750Li. (Which is most assuredly not my car, but is nevertheless the longest looking sedan I could think of.) And it’s a coupe!

  22. 22.

    Comrade Dread

    August 11, 2010 at 1:23 pm

    I did not know that Chrysler was run by the Secret Muslim Caliphate as far back as the 70’s.

    My God, that explains it all. They’ve been plotting to steal our wealth, and they did it by mass producing shitty gas guzzling cars that increased our dependency on Saudi oil all the while demolishing one of the pillars of our old economy, the Auto industry.

    Those Secret Muslim Caliphate bastards!

  23. 23.

    Davis X. Machina

    August 11, 2010 at 1:23 pm

    You didn’t go down to the DMV to apply for a title in those days — you got a zoning variance down at town hall.

  24. 24.

    Citizen_X

    August 11, 2010 at 1:24 pm

    Since this is an open thread, allow to point out that Ben Quayle, Dan’s little boy, is running for Arizona’s 3rd District, with an ad you can see here. He starts off saying that Obama “is the worst President in history,” emotes Teabagger butthurt throughout (“What’s happened to America?”), and ends with a promise to “knock the hell out of” Washington.

    I thought that was al-Queda’s job.

  25. 25.

    Origuy

    August 11, 2010 at 1:26 pm

    @Scott P.: After I wrote that I realized that “town” wasn’t really appropriate. But I arrived there on the AVE from Madrid, stayed in the old town, and never saw much of the rest of the city. I was subconsciously comparing it to Madrid and Seville, which have much more of an urban feel.

  26. 26.

    flukebucket

    August 11, 2010 at 1:28 pm

    West Virginia Ninja

    I always thought Corinthian Leather was really just Uniroyal Naugahyde.

  27. 27.

    Mike in NC

    August 11, 2010 at 1:29 pm

    @Violet:

    Did he drive that on Fantasy Island?

    If he drove it in Arizona today, would the cops have to ask to see his proof of citizenship?

    Saw Ricardo on a TV talk show way back then and he said the whole “Corinthian leather” thing was just some BS from an ad agency.

  28. 28.

    Tax Analyst

    August 11, 2010 at 1:29 pm

    Fine Corinthian leather

    DougJ: I believe the precise term was “RICH Corinthian leather”.

    Also, too – from Wikipedia:

    Corinthian leather was a phrase invented for marketing use to describe the leather used in certain Chrysler luxury cars in the 1970s. In this case, “Corinthian” does not actually indicate any relationship with Corinth, nor any specific type of leather and was added simply as a linguistic cachet.

    So whatever it was, it wasn’t Corinthian, it probably wasn’t “Rich”, except perhaps in the ironic sense, as in “Well, THAT’S Rich, har-de-har-har”, and it might not have even been real leather. My God, it was all just another cheap, smarmy marketing scam. Who could have imagined it?

  29. 29.

    mr. whipple

    August 11, 2010 at 1:32 pm

    Stopped at an old car show a few weeks ago. Scary as hell that things like this are now showing up as ‘vintage cars’. Wonder what kids think of the 8-track players in them?

  30. 30.

    Origuy

    August 11, 2010 at 1:35 pm

    The wildfires in Russia are causing haze in Oregon. Also, some of the fires are burning in areas contaminated by Chernobyl, raising concerns about radioactive smoke.

  31. 31.

    Poopyman

    August 11, 2010 at 1:35 pm

    Not just you, Doug. I keep thinking “Look what they’ve done to my mosque!”

    @me:

    Hmmm, the “Small Chrysler”? Small meant something very different back then.

    You bet. I learned to drive in a ’69 Ford LTD. Rear wheel drive, 8 cylinders, with a hood like the deck of an aircraft carrier. Was doing pretty good at 11 mpg, too, IIRC.

  32. 32.

    Roger Moore

    August 11, 2010 at 1:39 pm

    @Remember November:

    and he played Khan. So it’s all a decades long Muslin konspeercy!

    Except that Khan was a Sikh, not a Muslim. Not that most teabaggers would know the difference.

  33. 33.

    Napoleon

    August 11, 2010 at 1:39 pm

    @mr. whipple:

    The weird thing about going to those things is that any more half the nameplates are gone. It use to be only the odd Studebaker or Nash that was a ghost nameplate but now half the brands of my youth seem to be gone.

  34. 34.

    Tax Analyst

    August 11, 2010 at 1:41 pm

    I don’t know why, but thinking about how Ricardo Montalban pronounced “Rich Corinthian leather” somehow brought to mind the SNL skit from several years back about the “cork-soakers”.

  35. 35.

    me

    August 11, 2010 at 1:42 pm

    @Poopyman: I was born in ’77 so I only remember the trailing edge of the ginormous car era. Although, now I drive a pickup that has only a slightly smaller footprint then the Cordoba.

  36. 36.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 11, 2010 at 1:43 pm

    @me: My grandfather had one of those. He loved it; my grandmother hated it.

  37. 37.

    Jewish Steel

    August 11, 2010 at 1:44 pm

    I like how the Cordoba is filmed responding to Ricardo’s “demands!” travelling no faster than a sane, gentle 35 mph.

    And the rhetorical thrust of the voice over seems to express a satisfaction in one’s lowered expectations. It meets his “needs.”

    Advertising was once not a high-octane assault upon the senses?

    Also, Concierto de Aranjuez!

  38. 38.

    El Cruzado

    August 11, 2010 at 1:44 pm

    @Scott P.: You’re talking southern Spain here. A city can have 200000 inhabitants AND be a sleepy town.

    At least by day.

  39. 39.

    Larry Signor

    August 11, 2010 at 1:45 pm

    Oh, the Seventies. Viet Nam, Iran, Yom Kippur War, Lebanon…nostalgia was not the term I was considering. Perhaps, deja vu? All over again? Anybody want to buy a Pet Rock?

  40. 40.

    Svensker

    August 11, 2010 at 1:50 pm

    @Tax Analyst:

    In this ad he actually says “soft Corinthian leather”, but I’m pretty sure the usual was “fine C.L.” There’s a FB page for both rich CL and fine CL but fine CL has way more “likes”, if that proves anything.

    If you want big cars, I once saw a 16 cylinder Cadillac, from the 1930s. The hood was as long as the Ventura highway. What a car.

  41. 41.

    Ross Hershberger

    August 11, 2010 at 1:50 pm

    I learned to drive in a Fiat 128 and a Gremlin. Only later did I appreciate the joys of a 454 Suburban.

  42. 42.

    Svensker

    August 11, 2010 at 1:54 pm

    @Svensker:

    OK, read the Wiki article a bit more closely — the ads were all “soft Corinthian leather” which Wiki says “were often misquoted as rich corinthian leather or fine Corinthian leather”.

    We learn something new every day while improving each shining hour.

  43. 43.

    Origuy

    August 11, 2010 at 2:03 pm

    @Jewish Steel:
    I love that work, but I never learned the name of it. Maybe I’ll remember now. Performed by Narciso Yepes.

  44. 44.

    Napoleon

    August 11, 2010 at 2:18 pm

    @efgoldman:

    The firing order stamped on the top of the block was not the actual order.

    Awesome. My dad had a Plymouth Fury that when you turned it off it kept going in dieseling mode for some time and would lay down a toxic cloud that likely is still burning a hole in the ozone layer.

    Just thinking of cars owned by my parents, brother and me during my life time and the following are from dead brands, AMC Rambler, Olds Delta 88, Plymouth Fury, Pontiac Firebird, and Triumph TR-6.

  45. 45.

    Tax Analyst

    August 11, 2010 at 2:20 pm

    @Svensker:

    @Svensker:

    OK, read the Wiki article a bit more closely—the ads were all “soft Corinthian leather” which Wiki says “were often misquoted as rich corinthian leather or fine Corinthian leather”.

    We learn something new every day while improving each shining hour.

    God, I even managed to misquote the Wiki article that I was referencing. I guess the “something” I learned this new day was that I ought to pay more fucking attention to what I’m looking at instead of projecting and superimposing what I THINK I’m looking at over the actual text.

    Oh, well – “Fine”, “Soft”, or “Rich”, when you boil it down and sit your ass down on it what you find is that it was all just more of the same and usual Marketing Hot Wax, no matter how Ricardo stressed his syllables.

    “Reech Coreentheeyann Bhoul-Sheet”.

  46. 46.

    Ross Hershberger

    August 11, 2010 at 2:21 pm

    The weird car market still exists. I drive past the local Morgan/Lotus dealer on the way to work. Who buys those?

  47. 47.

    debit

    August 11, 2010 at 2:28 pm

    I had one of these. My ex, cheap bastard that he was, picked it up for $100 from Goodwill. It was a deep maroonish purple and had bits falling off it from the rust. The shop wouldn’t put it on the lift when I had the brakes done because the frame was so rusted they were afraid it would crack. The body was pure shit, but the engine ran like a champ, even in our Minnesota winters. I named it Petunia.

  48. 48.

    trollhattan

    August 11, 2010 at 2:58 pm

    @ DougJ

    No, sadly it’s not just you. I think of that crapmobile’s ads literally every time I hear about the mosque-that’s-not-a-mosque-that’s-not-at-ground-zero “Kahntroversy.”

    Har, I cracks myself up agin.

    Also, too, we mustn’t forget the Royal Deluxe II, zenith of ’70s car design and quality.

    http://www.hulu.com/watch/2323/saturday-night-live-royal-deluxe-ii

  49. 49.

    Pangloss

    August 11, 2010 at 3:04 pm

    I got circumsized in a Royal Deluxe II.

  50. 50.

    Jason Bylinowski

    August 11, 2010 at 3:06 pm

    NOSTALGIAC = someone who is really really into 1960’s Batman episodes, shag carpeting, and Pet Rocks.

  51. 51.

    Napoleon

    August 11, 2010 at 3:08 pm

    @Ross Hershberger:

    I would by the Lotus in a heartbeat.

  52. 52.

    Svensker

    August 11, 2010 at 3:08 pm

    @Pangloss:

    Simultaneous TMI and whaaaaa? Do tell!

  53. 53.

    Ab_Normal

    August 11, 2010 at 3:18 pm

    @Larry Signor:

    Anybody want to buy a Pet Rock?

    Now they come in USB http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/cubegoodies/c208/

  54. 54.

    Bubblegum Tate

    August 11, 2010 at 3:23 pm

    @Allan:

    I’m starting a campaign to get him cancelled. Found a great review of his act from this June in The Stranger, anyone else have any recent documentation of his disgusting performances?

    I’m betting his performance at the 11th Annual Gathering of the Juggalos will be a real treat.

  55. 55.

    Bill Murray

    August 11, 2010 at 3:43 pm

    I thought Corinthian leather was from Corinth, MS (pronounced Cornth). That’s why they didn’t use the term fine or rich

  56. 56.

    Kered (formerly Derek)

    August 11, 2010 at 3:51 pm

    Some conservative radio douche’s solution to the “Ground Zero” mosque situation: No mosques, anywhere, ever.

    http://summonthemeteors.wordpress.com/2010/08/11/more-mosque-insanity/

    Christ.

  57. 57.

    chaucer

    August 11, 2010 at 4:33 pm

    i had a cordoba in black. it was awesome! it drove as smoothly as a cadillac without paying what a cadillac cost. loved it!!! wish i still had it. but oh no! traded it for a ford granada. love those spanish name!!

  58. 58.

    tworivers

    August 11, 2010 at 5:26 pm

    Mr. Roarke: “Tattoo, my fantasy is to see you drive this Chrysler Cordoba – off that cliff!”

    Tattoo: “No, boss, NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!”

  59. 59.

    tworivers

    August 11, 2010 at 5:27 pm

    Roarke: “Tattoo, which kind of donut would you like, the jelly, or the plain?”

    Tattoo: “De plain! De Plain!”

  60. 60.

    JohnR

    August 12, 2010 at 2:08 am

    Ah, Ricardo – is there nothing he couldn’t do? Although at our house, we much prefer this version.

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