June 17, 2007 Mondo has been sold and is on his way to Australia!!! Farewell 'ol buddy! (sniff) The car was picked up on June 28, 2007... pics on page 2
Mondo is a 1977 Dodge Royal Monaco Brougham 2-door, complete with opera windows. It has the cheap wheel covers Dodge was putting on everything in '77 and I can't wait to pull them off and chuck 'em. See the pics on pg 2 for the new-old stock wheels/wheel covers I want, which are also true to the Royal Monaco. My 1st priority is getting the car mechanically sound as someone has disconnected the smog pump to make this a "daily driver" which it clearly isn't, at least by California's standards.
When I had it shipped here, it was funny how many folks in the auto shipping biz didn't know what this car was! (never seen the 'Blues Brothers' or 'Hill Street Blues', apparently.) One guy referred to it as a "mohn-AHH-coh".
Other suggested names for the car were 'Hershey' or 'Greg's Global Warmer'. I liked 'Mondo'- perfect fit.
I've loved the big Monaco since I was a kid! The chick next door to me now with the Honda Civic Hybrid hates my guts, but, MOPARs Rule, Baby!!! If I was ever in an accident with her, I know who'd win! ;-)
Mondo has a 7.2L 440 (w/ Lean Burn) and was special ordered (I say this due to the very odd assortment of options for a Brougham) back in October, 1976 and delivered to a dealer in Cedar City, Utah. It has the oil/temp gauge package (typically only seen in police-package squads) in the opening where the clock normally went, the light package, deluxe wipers package (3 speeds, whoo hooo!), power seat, AM/FM 8-track w/ full speakers, A/C, cruise control, and that great front panel with the huge grille with the concealed headlights and the big round hood ornament. The header panel is REALLY pitted at 90,000+ miles, but the grille/trim looks super! Mondo has the fender-mounted turn signals, but I really wish it had the front-fender cornering lamps. I located a source for the steering column switch to accommodate cornering lamps; now all I need is a set of fenders fitted with the lights (or just the lights and a good body guy!)
The headlight covers in action!
I haven't found the build sheet, but I haven't pulled back the carpet yet... And make no mistake- this car is freakin' HUGE!!!
My biggest frustration with this car has been getting my hands on a passenger-side door mirror!!! Every one I find is attached to a car up for auction as a demo-derby car. Think the demo guys will take a moment to collect your cash and remove that mirror they're just going to toss in the trash??? Hell No! (I don't even care if it's a remote-controlled mirror, I just need some help parking this 18 foot long beast... Like maybe radar!) Biggest demo-derby creep thus far: "04hemi22" on eBay. You're an @sshole! (I may have to partially take back what I said: Thanks to the marvel that is eBay, I scored a cheap box of misc interior, trim, and dashboard pieces from a base model '75 Monaco some guy was stripping; ostensibly getting ready to derby it. I got the parts and I'm much happier w/ Mondo's interior now... The cigarette lighter element matches, there's a knob on the wiper switch, and the window cranks have handles on them. I also ventured under the seat for the 1st time and found one of the missing door strap anchors! I suspect the other is under there somewhere, I just didn't have time to dig under all that power seat mechanism.
Mondo's immediate repairs are some valve cover gaskets (on backorder for months) that don't leak oil onto the exhaust manifolds.
I just love this old car!!! I just learned that only 6,349 two-door hardtop Royal Monacos were produced for the '77 model year (compared to 24,000+ four-door sedans), so it appears my monster is even more rare than originally suspected. 4/5/06: After chatting with the owner of a true pillarless two-door hardtop Gran Fury, the number quoted above may not be correct. The pink slip for my car calls it a "FORMAL two door hardtop"... I'm going back to the Peterson Museum in L.A. to find the book that I quoted the production numbers from...
The clear-coat on the front passenger side fender has decided to peel off, so that one particular panel looks like hell. BUT, there's a Chrysler Cordoba here on Cardomain that's the same shade, and I was pleasantly surprised to see how nice it looked when well polished and waxed! We'll see what pans out.
PICTURES on page 2--->
