The owner of this collection of 20+ cars has decided to clear house. The majority of these cars are claimed to be rust free and a few of them appear to be in excellent condition. They are all Mopars, but may not be the models you would expect to find in a collection of this size. Keep reading to find out what is under all those covers…
Surprise! While most people seek after pre-76 Mopars, this guy had an eye for the Dodge Aspen and its Plymouth brother the Volaré. They picked up two-door and wagon versions of the car and although they may be a bit homely, there appear to be some real gems here. Most have the base inline-six, but there is mention of a few V8 powered cars.
This 1978 Aspen R/T is supposedly fitted with the special order E58 360 V8. It was good for 220 horsepower and 280 ft lbs of torque. This engine was basically the high-performance police version of the 360 and was similar to that found in the Lil’ Red Express. We aren’t talking 60’s muscle car kind of power here, but this was still considered potent in the emissions choked seventies.
The R/T is cool, but we sort of want one of those wagons. The seller claims to have a 1979 Aspen Sport Wagon that is fitted with the E58 engine too! The Sport Wagon package added some visual effects, but we are not sure if you could even order it with the that V8. If so, this combination has to be a rare one. Take a look at the listing here on craigslist and let us know which ones you want!
Wow, of all the cars to collect, I’d have never thought of these. They were ubiquitous in the 70’s and 80’s until the rust got to them.
Erm, I’ll hold out for a stash of Cadillac Cimmarons, thanks… :/
I saw an absolutely MINT Cimarron the other day…dark blue, late model with the 2.8 V6 and a 5-speed stick. I had thought the stick was only available to make the 2.0 liter models bearable. For an unimpressive car it was a pretty appealing example. The nicest Cavalier ever made!
Reminds me of a friend way back in high school whose parents had a late ’70s 4 door Dodge Aspen, metallic brown, tan vinyl top, slant six, auto. Kindly referred to as the brown turd, it never seem to give much trouble, but man was it boring! By 1990, it finally got traded in on a used Gold Dodge minivan, slightly less boring, but not much and it didn’t last nearly as long nor perform nearly as well as the ‘turd.
Wow. Imagine the futility.
I wonder if the seller woke up one morning and thought, “Amassing a collection of emissions strangled late ’70s Aspens and Volarés seems like an awesome idea!” I can’t imagine they collected them with the thought that one day they would be valuable, so that leaves me to assume they bought them simply because they loved them. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t see anything wrong with collecting these, it just seems like a strange choice to me. It goes to show we all have different tastes. I actually have to admit, I rather admire them for going against convention and collecting these.
I only ever seem to like cars that no one else likes (don’t get me wrong – I’d love to get a GTO or a Super Bird, too!). This is both a blessing and a curse. One spends less to acquire a weird bird, but the costs of restoration are as high and there is no hope of recovery with the odd-balls. It really is a labor of love, purely.
Hey Kristi, did you get the Studebaker home yet? Was curious how it all turned out?
This is for Brian! I bought my Stude in 1980 and paid $250 no motor or trans but a very good 2 dr body with black int and I know it’s worth more than the cars from the late 70’s that other kids had.. Today has 350 with turbo 350. I built this even though Car Craft magazine said not to.
Rick M – I got my Studebaker, ’63 Cruiser, in 1994 from a guy who had a bunch of them in his backyard when the city gov came down on him! This was back when junking a car would give you sub $100. I traded a used VCR (remember those?) for it. Your right that back then everybody thought Studebaker were interesting, but almost nobody wanted to spend any money on them! Off topic, sorry!!
I would actually be more interested in bidding on the car covers than the cars under them!
Funny. I just ran across a 1980 Volare wagon at the local U Pull it. It was in as near to mint condition as I would ever expect to see, with not even a tear in the prosthetic beige vinyl seats and it had a perfect dash pad too. For some odd reason, I wanted it, but then I tried to figure out just what exactly I would do with it…and so I walked away.
That’s not prosthetic beige vinyl, it’s fine corinthian leather!
The fine Corinthian leather was only available on the Cordoba.
Just jokin’ David – all in good fun!
Great inexpensive place to stuff a tricked out 440 !!!!!!
graveyard carz needs these
Strange that a Mopar fan would collect ugly vehicles!?
That’s so out of character!! (Sarcasm)
Todd…………good one
Stone the heretic. Or at least poke him in the eye with a sharp stick.
:-)
In ’91 I ran across a ’78 Volare Roadrunner. It was mid spec; 318 with 4 speed(actually 3 speed w/overdrive per Mopar), PS, PB. The unusual thing was that it was coded as “built for export”. I found it in central Ga., where it had lived it’s entire life. I found some original paperwork under the seat showing it was delivered to a dealer about 50 miles from where I found it. $600 for a running driving car seemed fair so I added it to the collection. Kept it for about 6 years and sold it to a co-worker from the north for $1500.
Can anyone tell me what “Mopar” means.
Thank you for helping a poor frenchman to improve his vocabulary.
I believe it is a term for Chrysler, dodge and Plymouth cars, but don’t quote me on it.
It is a contraction of the words MOtor PARts. It is exclusive to Chrysler products.
Mostly Old Paint And Rust
(Just kidding!)
MoPar is to Chrysler as FoMoCo is to Ford!
Move Over, Plymouths Are Racing
Massively Over Powered And Respected
:-)
Made Of Paper And Rust. Lol. Seriously, MOPAR is short for MOtor PARst, I think it came about in the 30s.
It’s MOPAR or No Car!
MoPar is a contraction for “MOtor PARts” the original name for Chrysler’s parts division.
It stands for MOtor PARts.
Holy ancient thread resurrection Batman.
Hey Jean,
I’m a Yank and I don’t know what it means either……………….
I have it on good authority that during the 70’s and 80’s if any Mopar design dept. employee ever had the nerve to “color outside the lines”, they’d get their knuckles smacked with a ruler and pocket protectors confiscated.
Short for MOtor PARts
i would like any/all of the wagons with a slant 6 and manual trans. i am glad someone saved these and i hope they all find new homes. great find
It is interesting that with everyone chasing V8 cars, there are a few of us who would still prefer an inline-six/manual. Can you explain your reasoning to our readers Jim?
the manual trans is first about the clutch, left foot on the pedal unless it is a motorcycle then it needs to be left hand on the lever on the handle bar. i think the clutch gives me much better control at all times. combine that with engine braking and being in the right gear at all time. add the cost is less to buy or rebuild.
as for the inline six, it is what i grew up with. again they cost less to buy, own and rebuild back then. they had the torque low in the rpm range where it is useable. i think they are less likely to over power the rest of the vehicle. and i like the sound/feel of inline 6.
now it is your turn to explain why you prefer an inline six/manual
~ [hand raised] Volunteer!!!!
It’s a rather unusual trans too, if memory serves. It’s actually a A-833 4 speed manual with an overdriven fourth, so it’s more like a 3 speed transmission with overdrive. Now, for those who don’t speak Mopar, the A-833 is the same transmission they put behind the mighty 426 Hemi. However, this one has a very wide ratio spread, unlike the ones used in performance cars. It’s an odd setup that was also used by Ford for the SROD transmission (Single Rail OverDrive) during the same time period. GM had an actual 5 speed, the T-50 (not to be confused with the T-5 ! (first used in the 1982 AMC Spirit and Concord)) which they used in a number of applications like the Monza (and clones) and even the Olds Cutlass with the 260 V8 option. I often wonder if this is the same transmission used by Toyota for the AE-86 as that car too also had a 5 speed manual by the same name.
Ummm…err… what were we talking about again? (My stream of consciousness goes in interesting directions some times!)
This post makes me want to puke. Ugh! I blew my money on a wagon I had no business trying to save. I LOVE the Aspen/Volare lines. My mom had one in ’80… Gadzooks. I envy the ppl who can take advantage of this sale.
My truck is for sale. If it sells that sport wagon could make the short list.
My Oid Pig Ain’t Runnin
I’ll take this one, and put some CCR on the 8-track.
http://images.craigslist.org/00C0C_fQRy5mEHWRN_600x450.jpg
Yep my thoughts exactly.
worst barn find ever.
I’d love to have that Sport Wagon.
Contrary to popular belief I always liked the Aspen/Volare. I thought they looked pretty good and performed well too. I don’t think I’d be interested in amassing over 20 but if one came along that really beckoned to me and the price was right, I’d be tempted.
When these cars came out, the guys over at AMC must have be so jealous!
i bought a new 1976 roadrunner which was a volare with stripes and a beepbeep horn. i wanted it with the 360 4speed 4 barrel carb and dual exhaust. i could not get the 4speed the 4barrel or the dual exhaust. you could order a duster and get all those goodies though. made no sence to me why you could get the goodies on a car not meant to be a performance car but not on what mopar made a performance car. thank god at the time i got the car car craft was doing a buld up of the roadrunner. i working for firestone at the time was able to do what they were doing .of coarse it included a new intake manifold and 4 barrel carb, headers and dual exhaust. they also put a performance cam and other goodies and a tranny kit. i didn’t like the wheels and tires they used so i put the best wheels at the time the cragar ss and firestone tires. by the time it was done not only did it look better but it would out run the dusters and a few fords and chevys too. .i have been looking for a replacement for years now.
This collection is kind of funny, although almost a nice change from all the typical Mopar collectibles (note that I said “almost”). I actually do like that wagon – very clean lines, but I guess that I’m a fan of anything with Magnum 500 wheels (like I ordered on my ’71 Satellite Sebring Plus). Thanks, Jesse, because we sure won’t be seeing these at Barrett-Jackson.
Barry Thomas’ “Wheel to Wheel” blog
Wow…… neat collection but I think the prices are way high for late 70’s non desirable vehicles…..
Come on Barnfinds, you can do better than this! April fools has come & gone!!!
I’ve always despised Aspen/Volare and yet find both of the R/T models oddly attractive. Will be leaving for my therapy session now.
Not a Huge Mopar fan, Still , I own a ’01 Dakota Nascar/ M.E. Edition. I’m also a Pinto Owner, and racer. ( And No, the answer to every question is Not Miata, I’ve met some real Nutcase people with those cars, Sometimes the Lemming mentality insures Boredom) I can appreciate anyone who really likes a given vehicle, as long as it’s their passion. You can’t take your money with you when you go , so spend it how you want. Now excuse me while I write another check for Mk1 GTI parts again!
WOW! There must be two or three thousand dollars sitting there!
If eBay and the Internet has taught me anything, it’s there is a collector for just about everything. These are not cars that I would collect but (for reasons that elude me) I am glad someone else does.
These werent bad cars, MotorTrend liked them enough to make them car of the year. If you ever needed a car with alot of trunk room dont choose a sedan, they have a very shallow trunk with very little room.
Kudos to the owner for investing in covers, rather than letting them rot in the elements!