When the Dodge Aspen debuted for the 1976 model year, it won Motor Trend's prestgious Car of the Year award. The 1976-1980 Dodge Aspen was more upscale than its predecessor and was the last Dodge of its kind to be produced.
My little brother bought a 1971 Dart with a slant 6. When I went to do his first oil change I pulled the drain plug and nothing came out. Not sure how long he was running dry but that engine must've been something else to keep from blowing up.
@@johnball3487 until the in tank pump or ECU crapped out, then bend over and smile, nobody's going to diagnose that roadside, towing to ( probably) the dealer, diagnosis, etc.
My mom bought, brand new, a ‘79 Aspen coupe in Ensign Blue with the standard striped cloth interior and the slant 6. I learned to drive in that car. It rode really well and was completely reliable and rust free the entire time she owned it. Rust free despite spending it’s life in Wisconsin. She finally traded it in for a little red Toyota Corolla in 1988.
That 1980 facelift really made the Aspen/Volare even better looking. The '76-'80 Aspen R/T & Volare Roadrunner were really awesome looking appearance packages!
My 79 has the original 360-4/ 727-3spd Torqueflite with the Suregrip rear axle, heavy duty suspension. And the 1980 originally had a 318-2/3spd 904 I think but now has a 1971 340 small block with the Edelbrock carb, intake and heads, dual exhaust and other suspension parts from a 1988 Diplomat police car.
Visiting the Dodge dealership back when these cars were being made I found a Dodge Aspen on the showroom floor. Walking around to the passenger side of this vehicle I discovered a Plymouth Volare on the showroom floor. I don't know how many orbits I made before it soaked in but the car was half Dodge and half Plymouth according to the emblems. True story.
I think substance abuse became a problem in Detroit's plants in the 70s. My sister once rented a Ford Fairmont sedan. Well in front it was a Fairmont. In back, it was a Mercury Zephyr. Blew my mind.
When I lived in Tulsa in 1979, one of my buddies worked at a GMC dealer. Was all the time telling us that GMCs were better than Chevys. So he buys a brand new one, drives it to school. We are all outside, checking out his awesome new GMC. Then someone notices the steering wheel with a Chevrolet bow tie in the middle of it. Hilarity ensues.
@@bizjetfixr8352 Allegedly, back in the days of land yachts, a Mopar plant screwed up, and spat out several Chrysler New Yorkers with rubber floors and 3 on the tree! 😂 Dunno if that was true, but it would be hilarious if it was.
Wow. I had a '76 Aspen with the slant 6. White with red velour interior. Lost track of how many times I drove between home in New Orleans and University in Boston. Zero issues for 6 years but road salt finally took it's toll.
I bought an 1980 Aspen in 1985 that had less than 21,000 original miles. It had the 225 slant six and a 3 speed on the floor. no one wanted it because it wasn't loaded. That car was one of the best I ever owned and served me well in over 140,000 miles. The only issue it ever had was occasionally the ballast resistor for the ignition would fail. It came with a single on the firewall so I installed one with a double. If it quit I would open the hood change two wires and be on my way. I would have driven it a lot farther but a lady in her Olds station wagon rearended me doing about 50 miles per hour, shoved the rear bumper almost to the back glass. If i could have found another like it I would have bought it in a heartbeat.
In the mid-80s, I bought a 76 Aspen, for $900 bucks...it only had 70,000 miles on it, and was a pretty basic version...but it had that very sturdy slant 6...I put another 100,000 on that car. It only stranded me once--in 1976, the car had a then new CD-type of ignition, with the little black box on the firewall. One night, as I approached my exit on the freeway, the car hiccupped a couple of times, and then shut down!...Fortunately, I was able to coast down the exit ramp, pull over, and have it towed to the shop. The shop dude called me the next day, saying that the car had started, and run, very well for nearly a half-hour!....but then, then they had almost given up fixing the problem, a mechanic tapped that little black box--the car stopped running. That box was thoroughly corroded on the inside!...After replacing the module. everything was just fine!..but at 170,000 miles, that trusty Chrysler transmission began to slip...I sold it to some backyard mechanic who claimed he could fix the trannie himself. That car might still be running, somewhere! That slant 6 was the smoothest engine I ever encountered.
Glad to see this video. I own a '78 Aspen wagon with slant Super Six (two barrel carb) and factory four speed floor shift. Classic Cream (light yellow) with tan plaid interior, Road Wheels, and factory AM/FM/CB transceiver with power antenna. It has 30,000 original miles and was bought new in Colorado where I bought it 12 years ago and drove it home to Pennsylvania without issue. I love it! These were really great cars after the bugs were worked out by 1977. Some people just love to hate on them, but that is the times we live in now. Hate seems to Trump being a decent person anymore.
I thought the Volare Aspen twins were extremely good looking cars. You could go from absolutely stripped to full luxury. My favorite M body was the 77/78 LeBaron and Diplomat 2 door. They were some of the best-looking cars of the 1970's.
I was gifted a 1977 dodge aspen in white with burgundy interior of any of my cars that I’ve owned and I’ve owned so many I can’t even count. This was the one vehicle that had the coldest air conditioner, the smoothest ride and the best power steering. it’s unbelievable . I’ve owned Oldsmobile ,Buick, Fords, Toyotas ,Honda, Chrysler, BMW, Chevy and by far this is the only vehicle I regret getting rid of.
I had a 76 Plymouth, 225-6. It was a fantastic car. It drove superbly, the 225 was super reliable. It was silver, with a silver Landrum top, burgundy interior, and the Rally Sport wheels. It had the 60/40 front seat, in a leather. That seat was one of the most comfortable I've ever had. Plush carpet, tilt, AC, woodgrain, and looked like a luxury car inside and sporty outside. It never gave me 1 bit of trouble. I changed the plugs once, and the oil regular. One of yhe best cars ive ever owned.
My Dad had an Aspen station wagon 318 without the lean burn garbage. A few years later I had a 77 LeBaron and it did have lean burn 318. Eventually I got it removed and replaced with the older style ignition and it ran so much better. Both vehicles served us well and I wish I still had mine.
I also had a Chrysler Newport that had points ignition and although it was fine went with a MSD set up to alleviate having to change points all too often. I hear the lean burn system was a loser, poor performance plus whack reliability. Once people put in an MSD distributor and box, the things ran real well. Or did you go with some other system?
Im sure that was a fast and cheap fix for the immediate problem but if it were YOUR car and you depended on it everyday to get you to work, wouldn't you rather put in a complete MSD system, distributor, wires, MSD 6A box and leave it at that or stay with a revamped 74 distributor?@@BrewBlaster
There was a Super Coupe in my neighborhood when I was a teenager, It looked cool for the day (1979) and even though these are pretty tame I still want one. I've owned 4 Barracudas and 2 Challengers since then and I still would like to find a Super Coupe or Aspen R/T or Plymouth Road Runner F body out there.
They gave up a couple of decades of a ride and drive that was different than GM and Ford and started chasing the Ford and GM float. If I wanted a car that floated I'd buy a Buick.
My mother had a 1977 Aspen, very nice car. The larger six in it, automatic, PS. PB. 4 door, Vinyl top. She loved that car. Her last car. We had it still in 2004 and it still had less than 50,000 miles on it. Was garage kept. Inside and even the trunk was as clean as it was when it was new.
We had a 76 Volaré station wagon with the 318 V8. Awesome vehicle. 💖 I will never understand why DaD picked a forest green one, except maybe that was the only one available at the time. When my brother bought it from DaD in 87, he painted it midnight blue, which was the perfect color. Thankfully, it had tan interior and NOT green interior, so the combination still looked really good.
Great show and review ! My parents owned a 76 Dodge Aspen sedan, the car had reliable mechanical components but the body was the pits , nevertheless the old Aspen lasted us 12 years before my parents bought a full-sized Pontiac Parisienne wagon .
A side note , even though these F body cars had a reputation for recalls and some issues they were pretty decent and reliable . Unfortunately most of the cars from the 70s had issues the GM X cars took over the Aspen/Volares place in most recalled cars.
My mom bought a new 1976 Aspen 2 door with the 225 slant 6 in blue . The flex plate kept cracking along with some other things but all in all it was a nice car and a nice looking car my sister let her boyfriend drive it and he totalled it . I always like the look of the Aspen. Wish I had one today , with a 5.3 LS in it 😊
I owned a 1977 Premier Volare back in the early 80's. A reliable car but what a rust bucket! Went through tons of Bondo keeping that car on the road until the rear quarters got so bad, I just threw in the towel and sold it for scrap.
My mom had an Aspen. 77 I think. Baby blue with a white vinyl quarter top, t-tops, white vinyl interior, bucket seats, console shifted automatic, 360 V8. I would love to find another one like it. Mom probably wouldn't want to drive it now, but I bet she would love to take a ride in it. I'd even be happy with a slant 6 Volare. Just beautiful cars
I had a green one with the white vinyl quarter top and T-tops as well! Kindava ugly duckling while wearing hubcaps and stock tires but if I would have had a brain, and took care of it enough to add some wheels and tires and love to it, it would have been a cool car to hold onto!
In the early 90s I was a manager of a pizzeria. Occasionally I would also make deliveries. I didn't want to beat on my regular car so I purchased a 1979 olive green with a velour green interior special edition Dodge Aspen sedan with the Super slant 6 with the 3-speed automatic. I purchased it for $300 with 95000 miles on it. It ran and drove great I had it for about 2 years got it up to 120,000 miles on it and I noticed it had this weird sag in the middle. Took it to my buddy shop he put it on his lift and we realize the frame was rotting away. I sold the car to someone for parts 200 bucks. LOL I had a friend who parents had a 78 Dodge Aspen wagon special edition same engine same trans. I used to love the color of his it was metallic caramel tan it was a very pretty color especially when washed and in the Sun. His father junked it because it had some Rust and the transmission went out at 166,000 miles.
Worked at a Dodge dealership '78-79. The Aspens on the lot, with 318s and lots of CA smog equipment, couldn't keep up with contemporary Dodge (Mitsubishi) Colts.
I had a 77 Volare. It had the 225 Six. Never got real good gas mileage. Ate transmissions every 33000 miles. I bought it for $3275 in Sept 1978. I worked for Chrysler at that time and it was a used Executive Lease car with around 11000 miles. I ended up donating it to an EMS school so they could train EMTs how to cut apart cars to rescue people. I worked in the Fastener Design dept which was a section of the dept which was analyzing the front suspension tower failures that resulted in the buy back of thousands of Dodge Taxi NYC cabs.
My friends dad had an Aspen 4 door when I was a kid. Cream colored with a blue vinyl top and blue vinyl interior. Straight 6, 2 barrel carb,loud( not in a good way ) and a sweet AM radio lol. Looked like a NYC police car.
When I was growing up and the '80s, my family acquired a 77 Plymouth volare wagon. Would love to have that car back. It was slant six 225 automatic and I distinctly remember it was tan with a brown vinyl interior but it did have air conditioning, power steering and power brakes and automatic transmission. Highly reliable. I think the transmission went out on us once replaced it and kept driving it. This was at a time when my father did not want to like repair or work on any kind of vehicle of any sort. As you can imagine me being just the polar opposite we didn't get along his idea was repair it just enough to where it will run and drive somewhat safely. Mine is where no go beyond that. Make it better and better and better. So yeah we didn't get along. Love the video. Love the channel. Keep up the excellent work
I can relate... my dad wanted to know why I (as a teenager) wanted to change the oil. 🙄 And... I later became a OEM design engineer in SE Michigan. Some parents have zero vision for their children
My first car was an Aspen with super 6, it was reliable and a great first car. They were pretty basic and an easy car to work on and maintain, not to mention great on gas. You could also fit 4 hockey bags in the trunk, which is a must in Canada. I had some of best times of my life in these and I will always have a soft spot for the dull and boring 78 Aspen.
When chief designer Elwood Engel left Chrysler in 1974, the golden age was over. 1964 through 1974 proved to be Chrysler's Golden Era. Muscle cars and the wonderful fuselage design from 1969 through 1974.
My first car was a 1978 Dodge Aspen R/T in RR7, Sunfire Red Metallic with the red, orange and yellow body stripes. I was fortunate that mine came with the 360ci engine. I LOVED that car. I kept it from 1981 (16yo) until 1999 (married with a 2nd child on the way). Sold it and my Dodge Stealth R/T which was my daily driver. I kick myself every day for selling the Aspen! I LOVED THAT CAR!!!!
Man! I love OldCarMemories! Keep the videos coming guys thanks! I had a 1977 Aspen with a 225 slant 6 Very hard to kill motor. Unfortunately the frame and body rusted out, But the motor was still strong.
I hate to disagree...but today's cars (very boring, etc) are so much more reliable, built by robots that do not make mistakes, etc...and they are much more safe than the older cars were. You are just being nostalgic...but so am I!
@@curbozerboomer1773 I would say total either way safer now. But it was built way stronger back then everything in the years of those years were built way better.
I bought a 1976 dodge aspen brand new 2 door coupe red ext. With white interior 318 auto 3 speed, really liked that car kept for 2years and bought a 1978 Chrysler Cordoba white with red interior, i miss the 70's cars they had a lot of class then!
no comparison can ever be made between those older muscle cars and the newer ones when it comes to driving fun , the way they looked and the personality, imo
The Aspen was actually Chrysler's first downsized intermediate, predating the '78 GM A-body and the Fairmont/Zephyr. EPA index has Aspen/Volare in the midsize class. And the Aspen wagon has 138 cubic feet volume, even more than the "full size" 2005-2008 Magnum (133.1). Coupes were on the 108.7" short wheelbase with reduced rear legroom, 4-doors at 112.7". The 1980-1981 LeBaron and Diplomat 2-doors were downsized from the 112.7" M-body to the 108.7" Aspen platform.
Wow. Great to see this video. When I was just out of high school, my grandpa retired and my grandma and grandpa move to Delray Beach Florida. So he decided that they did not mean both cars. They kept my grandmothers car which was a Chevrolet caprice classic and my grandfather gave me his 1978 dodge Aspen. It was definitely the elevated model because the interior was a light brown leather and on the outside was cream with brown pinstriping. It was definitely the luxury car. It rode like a Cadillac. I loved driving it for the couple of years that I did. it also had a lot of quality problems on the outside. The inside was like a brand new car. Outside, it was a rust bucket and it was rusting along the seams . It was rusting all along the Landau top. I traded it to a friend for an MGB convertible.
My sister bought new one of these mopar I think the first year. She had it 1 year and the front fenders rusted. They replaced them under warranty. She traded it in after that My parents had a 78 New Yorker nothing but trouble the first major issue was oil consumption. Dealership said it was break in for a new car After 1,000 he was still using a qt of oil each week Took it back in and they found it was missing the o-rings I won’t get into my Sundance which wouldn’t even make a good paperweight
We had a lovely 1979 Aspen sedan in sable/tan. Only problem was, within two years the transmission disintegrated while driving along in city traffic. Fortunately, still under warranty.
My 74 Dodge Dart was one of the best cars I ever owned. The bulletproof 225 slant 6 was amazingly dependable. I worked for Budget Rent a Car. We had a fleet of Aspens in 78 and 79. They were a disaster. I hate to say it as I'm a Mopar guy, but they broke down constantly. That said, my brother had an Aspen wagon and put 130,000 miles on it. Go figure.
I personally owned a Plymouth Volare for many years. I thought it was a great car. It rode and handled well. It was comfortable. It had the Super Six engine (Slant 6 with a 2 barrel caburetor). It had plenty of power - surprisingly - but got decent fuel economy. (17 around town, 22 on the highway). It did not have the rusting problems some of the 1976 models had because it had plastic inner fender liners. The early cars did not have those. There was also the station wagon body style, which Chrysler compact cars did not previously offer. There was a lot to like about these cars. I felt like this video was actually a fair assessment of what these cars were - as opposed to what you read on the internet - usually posted by people who never actually owned one of these cars.
Thanks for this excellent video! My family had a blue 1976 Dodge Aspen coupe when I was growing up, and it is still one of my all-time favorite cars from childhood. Thanks again!
FIL had a 77 dodge aspen wagon straight 6 with a manual. If you could drive that, you could drive ANYTHING! Had about 400k before it gave up the ghost. Great video!
I had a 77 Aspen wagon with a 225 slant six and that metallic green paint. Big green lima bean we used to call it. A friend of mine had the same year Aspen Duster with same color and powerplant. His was a manual though. I also had a brown with cream vinyl top 75 Plymouth Volare brougham. Classy car, very well built cars you could drive through a brick wall.
Hmmm. I worked for a small delivery company in the 1970s...the owner was a player, and drove around in an XKE...he knocked up the secretary, his wife found out, and left him...By the time I left that company, he was frequently passing out from drugs/booze, in his office! Karma does exist.
The F body probably could have been built for '73 - it's design was mostly done by 1970, but Chrysler had bigger priorities in the '74 C body which were released a few weeks before the Arab oil embargo, and the A body fortunately kept selling well. The plain looking Ford Fox body knocked the wind out of the Aspen/Volare.
Back in the 70s, I worked for a guy who bought a Volare. He traded a Plymouth Fury II with a 318 ci engine. I liked the Fury (he would send me on errands to pick up food, etc.). The Volare.... well - I always felt a little uneasy. And even thou it was a new car, it had issues. Like a dead battery. The belt in that thing was huge and I guess it was hard to get the tension right on the pulleys.
Anything made by Chrysler from 1976 through 1980 was rust prone garbage, save for the slant 6 motors, which were often cannibalized and repurposed to run farm equipment or irrigation pumps.
My mom had 1977 Volare, baby blue 4 door. No a/c, no FM radio, no passenger side mirror but for some reason was equipped with the optional "light group". Car had lights everywhere: driver facing signal indicators on top of the fenders at the end of the hood, glove box, trunk and under hood lights. Foot well lights, map lights and door puddle lights. Some odd build configurations back then.
This car & its Plymouth Volare' twin first debuted for the 1976 model year & was billed as "the new small car with the accent on comfort". It was highly praised by the automotive press, & even won Motor Trend's Car of the Year for 1976. Unfortunately, build quality & reliability issues began to take their toll & ruined the cars' reputation forever, even earning them the dubious distinction as being the most recalled new cars from Detroit (GM's 1980 X-cars would soon earn that same sorry title, as well as Motor Trend's 1980 Car of the Year award) . By 1978, Chrysler had worked most of the bugs out, & the Aspen/Volare` actually became very good cars, but the damage had already been done. These cars had earned a reputation that they never recovered from, & were unceremoniously dumped completely after the 1980 model year, to be replaced by Chrysler's new front-wheel-drive 1981 K-cars (Dodge Aries/Plymouth Reliant).
Grandpa had the Valarie Version. I Always got sick riding in it. The Valuer Seats and how they felt against my skin. It was Grandma's Car and the one they took on Long Trips. Had the 318 and only got 18mpg tops. No Cruise Control. No A/C. Dark Red Paint Or Light Maroon and Dark Red or Light Maroon Interior. Over 250,000 on the Rebuild back in early 90's. Also Repainted Twice. Once by a Buddy and the second time by the College Auto Class. Uncle ended up with it after Grandpa Died in 2005. I wanted it and could have used it. But Uncle Sold it.
The 2 door Granada could have looked better without that frame around the door window.. My grandfather had a 76 4 door Aspen with the 318...man that was a rocket...
The original 1960 Darts were full size cars and offered a full line of models and options with Phoenix being at the top ~ 225 cu in slant-6, 318 cu in V8, 361 cu in V8 or 383 cu in V8.
I was hoping you’d mention the Roadrunner trim package too. Oh well. I always thought these were good looking cars, especially in two door configurations
The Volare Road Runners were a joke. Most of them had 318s Your typical 340 Duster (even the low compression 72-73s) ate Volares for breakfast. And there were plenty still around in the mid/late 70s. (I gave $2500 for my 73 340/4speed Duster with 30k miles in 1976. Probably a little too much, but Mopars in general, and 4 speeds in particular were hard to find, even back then) Drove it to 100k miles, only thing I had to fix was the worn out clutch at 96,000 miles. Girls thought it was cool. Ran a 14.6 on bald snow tires at a test & tune in the early 80s. Sold it for what I paid for it in 1985 or thereabouts. Absolutely zero regrets buying it.
