I remember when I was a little kid riding in the back seat of my Mom's 1979 Dodge Aspen. It was about the same color as your car but it was the base model instead. Great video of your car. Will you be showing new videos of this beautiful car?
When I had my Aspen, I was 17, and living in Whippany!! I was finishing my senior year at West Morris Mendham, so I went up and down 287 often. The year was 1992 lol.
I had a '78 Dodge Aspen and two '79 Plymouth Volares (Sorry, SAME CAR!) They were good, dependable (solid pre-Iacocca MoPar running gears) fun cars! IF quality control (all car brands) had been better, these would have been TRULY GREAT AMERICAN VEHICLES! As it ended up, a GREAT drivetrain just couldn't have made up for shoddy workmanship on the rest of the vehicle!
I owned this exact same car..in 1990 to 1997 !! I paid only $800.00 for it. The right side of the car was missing the molding. (The owner, went partially blind .) It was strong running, and a very comfortable driver . Sometimes it did not want to start, though . I replaced the rear end differential...and had the transmission rebuilt, while I owned it... A man ran into it's front right panel, and ran !..while we were in a small Bar ! It was hideous to look at after that, so we sold it, for $750.00 running condition to a girl, that liked it . It was a real go getter . I pushed it on the freeway to see what she has..and ended up putting new parts back on it...and it would work even better...better parts =better results. (On this car, If you flip the stock Air-Cleaner-Cap, Upside-down, and tighten it,...the throttle opens, with a nice throaty WUUUM..! Whenever you accelerate ...! And, It gives you more horsepower too..! ) My Foreman called it, "the Narc car ." ....undeniably reliable after fixing any problems...! But they add up. Hose leaks, cylinoid replacement, drive chain replacement, air conditioning repair...etc. etc. But sooner or later, it stays running ! I had a wobble..when I put on the brakes. And I paid a guy fo fix it, for $700.00 ...it did nothing ! It still wobbled ! So I took it to another place and they actually fixed it...for $700.00 ... I had had enough of cars when I finally sold it . Old big cars are not maintenance free . Little new ones, are though...!
I remember the day I took my brand new 76 Aspen SE 4 dr sedan home from the dealership Holley Motor Co in Tyler, Tex - it was Carmel Tan Metallic with a 318 V8 - I loved looking down that chrome wind-split to that beautiful SE hood ornament - mine had the 5 spoke chrome styled road wheels with Good Year Polysteel radial tires, tilt steering wheel, cruise control, AMFM stereo matching vinyl roof and that same faux wood glove box door - it was a great little car and I never had any of the horror story rust issues that so many people complained about
It was a bit surreal watching this video, as I used to live in New Jersey, and I had a 77 Volare when I lived there. I used to listen to WMTR in the Volare because it only had an AM radio! I know that song "Hey baby, they're playing our song"! I laughed though because they said "Morris Plains, Livingston, or West Paterson" - because this was recorded in what, 2020? West Paterson has not been called West Paterson in about 10 years! And I know where you are driving - on Route 202 in Boonton! Myrtle Ave I think. I know where that Acme grocery store is, and I've gotten on 287 North on that entrance ramp with that other road right next to it on the right. I have not lived in New Jersey in a long time. By the way, the Super Six is the best engine option in these. Much better power than a 1 barrel slant 6, but it doesn't use as much gas as a 318 or 360. I used to go to GI Auto Salvage in Pine Brook. I'm pretty sure that place is long gone now.
Glad to see that you posted a followup. I had been quite interested in your first video of this Aspen several months ago. It looks to be in really good shape, and although the commonly rusted frame rails doomed many F bodys to the crusher long ago, they can readily be replaced by someone who knows how to weld. Your Aspen is especially nice because of being an upgraded SE with some nice options. Be extremely careful driving on old tires! Even if they have nice tread left, they will still weather and crack with age and a sudden blowout at speed could be disasterous. Looking forward to your next video, keep them coming! (just leave the radio off next time)
