Dodge Mirada
A few years back, I wrote a series of tributes to Poseur Muscle Cars--the Ford Mustang II Cobra II, Chevy Monte Carlo SS, Dodge Magnum XE, Ford Gran Torino, and Spirit-based AMC AMX--celebrating those toothless but highly endearing cars that matched their highly extroverted visual bravado with a nearly complete lack of actual performance. Like its Magnum cousin, the Dodge Mirada richly deserves inclusion into this hallowed pantheon.
Like those other other flabby would-be performance cars, the Mirada had star potential that didn't quite translate into reality. The Mirada was built to the tried-and-true muscle-car formula, with a large V-8 driving the rear wheels and bold, aggressive styling enhancing its large long-hood, short-deck proportions. It's a formula that, when executed well back in the 1960s, helped make the Mirada's Dodge Challenger and Dodge Charger forebears.
Unfortunately, just as the Chevrolet Chevelle Laguna Type S-3 was a tepid, leisure-suited distortion of the classic Chevelle muscle car, the Mirada was a pale shadow of a muscle car. Like the Laguna, the Mirada's otherwise clean styling had a strong late-1970s, early-1980s disco flavor, and its V-8 power was sapped by the anti-performance influences of its time.
The Mirada's biggest engine, the classic Mopar 5.9-liter V-8, produced a measly 185 horsepower and was only offered for one year. The mid-range engine, the 5.2-liter V-8, made only 120-130 horsepower, and the standard slant six put out only 90 horses. That's a dismal level of output in virtually any context, but for a big, bulky faux-muscle car it was a travesty.
For a variety of reasons, the Mirada never really caught on. For one thing, it was overshadowed by the similar Chrysler Cordoba; for another, as a big, soft rear-wheel-drive Poseur Muscle Car, it was very late on the scene. The Mirada debuted in 1980, at which time the move towards smaller, front-wheel-drive cars was already well underway. Chrysler in particular had already begun shifting its focus in earnest towards the front-wheel-drive K-car that would underpin its offerings for the following decade. The Mirada was essentially an afterthought--a big-engined, rear-wheel-drive cruiser in a decade in which consumer tastes shifted away from those cars and towards smaller, front-wheel-drive, more European sporty cars.
As with the other Poseur Muscle Cars, none of this means that I dislike the Mirada. In fact, it has been one of my objects of lust for years. For one thing, I love the way the Mirada looks--big, smooth, and nicely aggressive. For another, I like the fact that it's essentially a Chrysler Cordoba--Ricardo Montalban's own personal-luxury cruiser--in activewear.
If equipped with the desirable 5.9-liter V-8, the Mirada could serve as a rare cruiser with torquey performance and distinctive, attractive styling. That's in stock form; adding more power by either freeing the 5.9 from its artificial restrictions or dropping in a crate engine would help give the Mirada the power its good looks deserve.
I mean, just look at the white Mirada pictured here--imagine cruising in that beauty with the T-tops off, the big V-8 burbling softly under the hood, and some ABBA playing softly over the speakers. Who could resist the Mirada's siren call? I would so drive the Mirada, and I'd drive it proudly.
The video below highlights fantastic examples of the Magnum and Mirada, Chrysler's two under-appreciated and, to my mind, highly desirable muscle car/personal luxury crossovers. The top image is from Wikipedia; the other two are contemporary Chysler press shots.
--Chris H.
Bob G on August 12, 2010 at 04:09 AM
It was about this time that I beginning to lose interest in the whole Detroit big car, big engine, low horsepower thing. Took me years to get some like back. About this time I replaced my '65 bug with a Mazda GLC wagon.
Yankee on August 12, 2010 at 07:08 AM
The Mirada was basically in the wrong place at the wrong time, and had so many things going against it from the start. The huge market at the time was the personal-luxury market (Chevy Monte Carlo, Olds Cutlass Supreme, Ford Thunderbird, etc), and the problem was, Dodge was never strong in that area, despite having a version of the Chrysler Cordoba (that was a HUGE seller by comparison). Plus, Chrysler's reliability and financial woes by 1980 had become all too apparent to the car buying public, and many wanted no part of it. One must also remember that the Mirada was based on the humble Dodge Aspen platform, and surely the memory of their questionable reliability reputation wasn't far from people's minds (deserved or not).
I think had the Mirada been marketed as a true personal-luxury car instead of a quasi-muscle car, it might have done alot better than it did. But it seemed that even Chrysler gave up on the Cordoba/Mirada (and especially the Imperial, which was based on the Cordoba/Mirada) shortly after they were introduced. It seemed as soon as the K-cars debuted, the Cordoba/Mirada/Imperial were put on the backburner and largely ignored as red-headed demon stepchildren, which I think is a shame.
It's nice to see others finally giving the car some recognition and its proper due in the place of automotive history. Personally I'd love to find a low-mileage mint-condition '83 model with the 318, but I'd probably have more luck finding a mint condition Pinto...
Sonicfrog on August 12, 2010 at 08:12 AM
This calls for an early 80's salute to the Imperial, the one that hd the fo-rear-end styling of the early 80's Seville.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSsUcP13j6E&feature=related
That Car Guy on August 12, 2010 at 08:15 AM
I too like the looks of the Mirada, especially the white profile image. However, there is quite a bit of K-Car styling showing through, save for the T-Tops and opera window. And this is NOT a K-Car. The grille looks unfinished, sadly.
BTW, I'm told that the "T" in T-Tops stands for "targa," which is Latin for "shield," for what that's worth.
Rob the Audi Guy on August 12, 2010 at 08:18 AM
One thing that I think is interesting about this era, is that the styling is almost uniformly awful. But I think it's more than just the "style". I think it was partially due to the technology. In the 50s and 60s, the sheetmetal most likely originated from a clay model, produced by hand. This allowed for complex forms, curves, scallops, and body lines. But these cars.... these were some of the first cars designed in CAD. With limited computing power, and limited program (they were pretty archaic), the result was simple, boxy forms. What's funny is that history repeated itself, in videogames. When videogames started maturing past sprites and pixels, and into the realm of polygons, the first few generations generally had boxy, ugly cars... similar to the Mirada. Now though, the tools and the processing power allows for more complex, better looking forms.
Cookie the Dog's Owner on August 12, 2010 at 09:35 AM
The Mirada was the Dodge version of the gen-2 Cordoba, and it really was more of an attempt at a personal luxury car than a musclecar. Compare the styling to, say, the contemporary G-body Cutlass and Monte Carlo, which were also a little on the boxy side compared to the previous generation, and the Mirada isn't too far off from them.
Shawn on August 12, 2010 at 11:43 AM
Well I can at least give it credit for putting the louvers on the taillights and not on the rear window!
DensityDuck on August 12, 2010 at 12:31 PM
@Audi Guy: Neat! I like that notion.
@Mirada: Hey guys, Ford called, they want their Thunderbird back.
Matt Groom on August 12, 2010 at 12:34 PM
A friend of mine had a Dodge Miranda (81?) in High School in the late 90's that was a badass SOB. Even though it was kinda rusty, I really liked it. His had a V8, although I can't remember if it was a 5.9 or a 5.2, but it was VERY fast. Another friend had a '68 Chevelle SS 396 (BEAUTIFUL) that he'd restored with his dad and the Miranda would beat it off the line every time. I know the Miranda had a different header, and Holley Carburators (including a hideous sticker on the rear window), and straight pipe exhausts, but it was easily the fastest car I had ridden in up until that point of my life, possibly still the fastest.
AC didn't work, and the radio had an 8-track player. Lame.
Mr. W on August 12, 2010 at 12:49 PM
I am willing to bet that there is not one road-worthy Mirada left on America's roadways. The combination of spotty 70's build quality and old age gives the Mirada owner the joy of driving something rarer than a Ferarri Testarossa.
My friend John Satterfield bought one new and I speak with authority regarding the build quality.
That said, If I had Bill Gates money I would find that white T-Top one and restore it to concourse condition. I would then proceed to drive around with a smug and self-satisfied look on my face as I demonstrated my good taste to posers in BMWs and Benzes.
They would be green with envy.
Richard Fagin on August 12, 2010 at 12:51 PM
Mr. Hafner, although I don't share your love for the automotive version of "That '70s Show", in THIS round of "The U.S. Government v. High Performance Cars" we have some serious technology on our side that wasn't around in the 70s. Even with the new (2009) CAFE standards, better engine design, EFI and turbochargers will whip the bureaucrats. Nothing makes me happier. Those crapheads hate cars and try their damnedest to make sure we hate them too. They lost the last battle because of technology and I'm confident they'll lose this one, too.
Brian on August 12, 2010 at 01:13 PM
in 1980 my father bought a new 81 Cordoba LS, nightwatch blue with a 318 in it. He drove it for a few years and when I got old enough to drive I started using it, mostly because it was gutless and my father can't stand slow cars. I started taking auto shop my sophmore year. My uncle suggested replacing the engine, my autoshop teacher went along with it.. in the end we had an 81 Cordoba with a 440 police package engine and drive train. We did some of the work, but my uncle's shop did the rest because there was a few things that had to be done by a professional. I loved that car, it stomped everything.... unfortunately its a REALLY bad idea to have a car like that at age 16. So several tickets later it was taken away and sold.. did i mention my dad was in law enforcement? ..heh .. I miss it though and I wish I could find another car like that and build it up again... but the cost of doing it these days .. well I wonder if its worth it? If I were going to build a dodge up now I'd probably go with a more classic muscle car for the value.
Chris Hafner on August 12, 2010 at 01:28 PM
You're right that I'm being a bit unfair to call the Mirada a muscle car, Cookie - like the Magnum, it's more of a Monte Carlo than a Challenger, more a Thunderbird than a Torino.
There's a fair amount of cross-over here, though - the Cutlass and Monte Carlo had versions marketed as muscle cars, and there's something about the Mirada that has always struck me as more wanna-be muscle car than its Cordoba cousin or even the Thunderbird.
I had a Mirada Matchbox car as a kid, and it was clearly a muscle car. The Miradas I've seen on the road have been clearly muscle-car builds. Not to go back to the Chevelle Laguna, but it's really the same situation - a classic rear-wheel-drive muscle car on an intermediate chassis, tarted up with just enough personal-luxury filigree to help excuse its poor performance.
Chris Hafner on August 12, 2010 at 01:29 PM
Just FYI, Mr. Fagin, I think you're probably responding to Glenn Reynolds' commentary on the article (i.e. CAFE regulations and performance car availability in the future), and not mine - I was speaking strictly about the car itself.
JT on August 12, 2010 at 01:37 PM
I had a Dodge Mirada as the first car I actually put any serious mileage on when I turned 16 in 1986. It was awful. No... no... that's not bad enough. It was horrendous. Lacking power, miserably uncomfortable interior, squishy steering, and braking in an emergency took years off my life every time the pasta-like brakepads slid and locked and generally refused to even marginally slow the car down.
However, the one thing it did admirably was act as a battering ram. On at least several occasions my friends and I found remote neighborhoods where leaves were arranged in giant walls of trash bags along side the road, waiting for the pickup by the leaf collectors the next day. We re-arranged in a wall across the street, and then under cover of darkness went barreling through them, dragging bags of leaves in the wheelwells and scattering trashbags for miles. Several ended up stuck under the car, melted to the catalytic converter, and the car smelled like burning plastic until I sold it just 7 months after purchase.
tomm on August 12, 2010 at 02:08 PM
Again, as with author's other posts, the Mirada was never meant to be some kind of 'muscle car'. It was meant to be a Cutlass fighter, the Cordoba's twin.
The Laguna was also not any kind of muscle car, too. All Chevelles were not, either. It's the SS version only that was a GTO platform-mate, not every single Chevelle.
Steevo on August 12, 2010 at 02:17 PM
I remember when it was a little interesting to modify the "jewel in the rough" Miranda for really die hard Mopar fans in the latter 80s to early 90s. A big problem was lack of aftermarket bolt-ons for their non-hemi V8s and very restrictive heads (especially the 318). I did extensive porting on it and if I could go back and do it over would go with a Chevy hands down. To squeeze some performance usually it amounted to more money and much more work period just to have your, Mopar. Baloney.
Chris Hafner on August 12, 2010 at 02:19 PM
I would argue that, Tomm. The Mirada was definitely designed to look muscular. It conformed with the classic muscle car formula. It was available with a 360 V-8. Virtually every Mirada you see around now is kitted out as a muscle car. The Mirada followed the Magnum, which followed the soft Charger SE, which followed the Charger. The Mirada was what muscle cars had turned into at the end of the disco era - just as the soft Datsun 280ZX was what real sports cars had turned into. No, the 280ZX wasn't marketed as a real sports car - but that very fact makes my point about how times had changed.
Sure, not all Chevelles were muscle cars. But the intermediate Chevelle was perhaps the most ubiquitous basis for muscle cars that the world has ever seen. And a 1974 Chevelle Laguna with a 454 V-8 should absolutely be thought of as a flabby muscle car muscle car. Or, if you prefer, the Laguna is a sad commentary on how the pressures of the era resulted in a 454-powered Chevelle that was a flaccid cruiser instead of the muscle car it should have been. It all works out to the same thing, I think.
5th Level Fighter on August 12, 2010 at 02:33 PM
I saw one of these for sale a few weeks ago - looked almost identical to the first picture above - but I didn't stop. Since then, I had been thinking a bit about it, but I couldn't remember what the model name was despite my best efforts. All I knew was that it was a late '70s/early '80s Chrysler product, that I could tell from the styling. Thanks for jolting my memory.
FWIW - I far prefer the Magnum XE. Much tougher styling, with none of the K-car blah.
tigerstrypes on August 12, 2010 at 02:36 PM
Found the article I read in a magazine not too long ago:
http://www.hemmings.com/hcc/stories/2007/06/01/hmn_feature7.html
Horologium on August 12, 2010 at 03:23 PM
It's a shame that the only ones you have pictures of are the later models. The 1979 model had clear headlight covers that added a distinctive look to the car, but it looks like they were jettisoned after the first year.
FWIW, you blogged about the Dodge Mirada earlier, and the picture is a sadly neglected specimen of the 1979 model. It's at http://www.carlustblog.com/2009/11/4-sale-cheap.html.
Horologium on August 12, 2010 at 03:26 PM
ermmm. Never mind. Wrong car. I confused the Magnum with the Mirada.
maryk666@gmail.com on August 12, 2010 at 04:09 PM
I saw one of these for sale a few weeks ago - looked almost identical to the first picture above
http://www.IdiotsTrafficSchool.com http://www.FreeTryTrafficSchool.com http://www.DummiesTrafficSchool.com http://idrivebetter.com http://coast2coasttrafficschool.com http://trafficschoolplace.com
Car_Nut01 on August 12, 2010 at 05:42 PM
For anyone lusting for one, here's one at a decent price:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/80-Dodge-Mirada-318-Auto-/190429292169?pt=US_Cars_Trucks
Bill T. on August 13, 2010 at 06:40 PM
I llked the Mirada from the day it was introduced, and thought that if the back windows would drop down in true hardtop fashion, it would be a real neat looker. Some I saw had the 225 CI slant six in them, but none came with a manual transmission. I had a '69 Dodge Challenger deputy coupe (fixed back windows), that rusted out whle the engine ran very well. I called Chrysler to see if I could purchase a Mirada without the engine. I specified that I would be buying it with no warranty, but was turned down.