Luxury did not always mean soft suspensions and chrome ashtrays. In the late 1960s, it could also mean a front‑wheel‑drive coupe with a massive big‑block V8 and engineering that bordered on audacious.

The year is 1970, and the war in Detroit is ravaging the automotive landscape like there would be no tomorrow (there wasn’t). Cubic inches and horsepower were literally crowding the showroom floors of ...