By 1971, Chrysler was in trouble. Their cars weren't selling. They decided to simplify the cars and reduce costs all of the way around. The 71 Cuda front end was very expensive. The grille consisted of 21 individual pieces and was the most expensive grille ever. Add to that the cost of four headlamps and the expensive turn signals and valance and you had a very expensive front end. The gills in the fenders added an extra expense as well. The side markers were very expensive since they consisted of a seperate bezel, reflector and lamp assembly times four. The 72 grille was one single casting with a couple of small trims and simple headlamp rings. The new valance insert included the castings for the turn signals and the bezels were cheap chrome plated plastic pieces. For 72 there were no more shaker setups, no big motors, no rear wings, no gills, no cast multi piece tail lights and new cheap one piece side markers that would be used on all Chrysler products. In fact the option list was just about empty. It was the beginning of the end.
I own two 70's, two 71's and one highly modified 73, but my favorites are the 71's with the 70's close behind. My 73 is the best driving car of all though with a late model fuel injected 360 and overdrive transmission. With the cruise control set at 70, it gets 29 mpg on the freeway.
