Video: Dodge’s ’78 Dodge Magnum XE Promotional Film

Every automaker has some skeletons in their closet. For Ford, it might be the Edsel or the Pinto. For GM is could be the Aztek. For Chrysler, well, we’d say almost everything from the  1970’s (that is, past 1971). The E-Bodies died only after four short years. The B-Bodies kept growing and growing, all the while horsepower dwindled.

In part of Chrysler’s new luxury-over-performance marketing credo, cars like the Charger were watered-down shadows of the mighty Mopars that preceded them. In this lengthy promotional video, Dodge’s newest entry into the late 1970’s lineup was the Magnum, a bloated luxo-coupe hampered by Federal smog regulations, and enough bells and whistles to make Neil Diamond’s “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” album…well, good.

The menu of automotive options to bait the interested buyer were opulent, like cushy leather interiors, supple seating and arm rests, push-button in-dash controls for the windshield wipers, power windows, AM/FM radio, “Citizen” wideband radio/CB, automatically retracting antenna, and a choice of power sunroof or “T-Bar” t-top roof.

We all joke about Chrysler’s “rich Corinthian leather” advertisements, but don’t give Dodge enough ribbing for its wet-noodle performance during the same time period. These were dark days for the automotive performance enthusiast – particularly for Mopar lovers (unless you were into pickup trucks, but that’s a different story).