The muscle car era shifted gears in the mid-1970s. Performance models went from being potential fire breathers in the late 1960s to flashy decal and sticker cars that mostly just looked fast. Two of these cars were from Chrysler during the same model year, 1978. They were the Plymouth Volare and Dodge Aspen Super Coupe. The seller has a nice example of the former, which saw only 494 copies built (plus 531 Aspens). With some upgrades, the seller’s car might just live up to its name. Located in Lake City, South Carolina, this Mopar is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $10,500.
Chrysler launched the F-body Volare and Aspen in 1976 to replace the aging Valiant and Dart. These vehicles brought little to the equation from the engineering side, and quality control problems resulted in a flurry of recalls. Perhaps hoping to remake the image of these Plymouth and Dodge brands. If you bought one of these, you got either a 318 or 360 cubic inch V8, a beefed-up suspension, mods to the fenders and spoilers, and snappy visual graphics (and a black matte hood). Helping the cars handle better were wider tires and wheels.
The Super Coupe was an evolution of the Volare Road Runner and Aspen R/T models, which Chrysler trotted out in 1976. But a Slant-Six as standard equipment, even in a fuel-conscious era, didn’t help the sales of these models either. The seller’s car presents well at 113,000 miles with what may be a rust-free body and good white paint (but what about the grille?). The interior is red and features bucket seats. The seller has owned this car for more than 25 years, having acquired it from the first caretaker.
We suspect this Super Coupe puts out more power than it did when new, with Edelbrock touches here and there, headers, and a modern exhaust system (catalytic converters?). The tires are new, and the TorqueFlite automatic transmission has been rebuilt. We’re told it starts every time, and it is a car that you can drive anywhere. If you were to buy a Volare, the Super Coupe is the one to search for. An attaboy goes to “PRA4SNW” for the tip!
They were great looking cars,among the best looking of the malaise years.The shame is they were so poorly built and had such fatal flaws,especially concerning areas that trapped water and rusted while still making payments.If you were a teen in the 70’s,seeing a Volare Roadrunner or an Aspen R/T was cool as heck.
Having a real hard time trying to believe this is a real Super Coupe.
Someone cloning a Volare. That would be a first!
So someone took off the fender flares, and someone painted it white, and someone got rid of those great looking 15×8 wheels.
Ridiculous price given the condition. That might be feasible if it weren’t in need of restoration, but like this? C’mon!
Nice find, leave it to Barn Finds, to jog your memory from when these were on the road. 👍