Sometimes a particular vehicle checks so many boxes on your wish list but when the whole thing comes together it doesn’t quite come to the top of your wish list. This 1977 Plymouth Volare Premier is one of those cars. This one is on Craigslist, or here on the CL archive, and it’s in Atlanta, Georgia. The seller is asking $1,500 for this little box-checker.
The rust would scare me off right away. If I’ve learned anything over the last few years is to always buy thee most rust-free vehicle/s that you can find. It looks like surface rust on those door edges but if it isn’t rust that “needs replaced”, as they say in 2018, it soon will be. If it was just the patina / thin paint / surface rust I’d leave it as is, but I’d want to fix that rust on the bottom. And, around the sunroof, that’s scary. The trunk lid doesn’t appear to be rusty which is surprising, but there is a lot of surface rust all over this car. I’d want to see underside photos for sure.
But still, this car checks a lot of boxes for me. We’ve gone over and over the two-door vs. four-door mantra – but, in general, two door cars are generally more collectible and more desirable to a bigger percentage of the population. So, we have a two-door car, in silver with a red interior, factory AC, and having nice factory mags. Not to mention that it has a 318 V8 and a 4-speed manual transmission! Those dang rusty doors notwithstanding, this car checks a lot of boxes for me.
Here is the interior. Bbbbb.. most of us just cringed. As if the exterior didn’t have a big enough to-do list the interior looks rough. Ok, maybe it’s not as bad as a quick first glance would let on. The seats look almost perfect, along with the back seat, other than being incredibly dirty and faded and discolored. That’s a relatively easy fix. Most people would strip the seats out, bring them in to their favorite upholstery shop (I have finally found one after 30 years!) for any rips or tears, and then get that carpet out of there to assess the condition of the floors. The dash is cracked and, yeah, the carpet would be ripped out almost instantly.
The 318 V8 looks complete other than not having an Interstate battery like almost every other car on the globe has. There’s enough spray detailer and/or WD-40 on this engine to keep it preserved until the next owner can detail the heck out of it; it looks pretty good to me overall. The seller mentions that it’s “currently not running but I don’t think it would take much”. I would have to agree, I think that 95% of the Barn Finds readers could get this engine running and the rest of this car in top shape again in no time. But, even with having a 318 and a 4-speed, is it worth it?
Ah memories. Had the Aspen version with the leaning tower of power. Dark green with white half vinyl roof and dark green interior. Shifter would lock up so often that I had a peewee baseball bat that was riding in the door sill. Get down and tap the sweet spot on the linkage and off I’d go. Except the one time on a date with a beautiful red head. Would not unjam this time. Had uncle come out, and by the time it was rolling we had missed the first half of Alien. No drive in antics, no second date. On another usless note, if you throw the hazards on with a signal, you get blinking power to the radio.
500 bucks IF he is lucky where i’m from
Thanks for listing this car. It’s too far gone to restore. If you knew the mechanicals were in good shape it might make a great beater that you dispose of when it needs a costly repair. There is no sense putting much money into this car, the cost of any repair or upgrade would need to be weighed carefully.
This would have been a pretty car when new. I hope whoever bought it new enjoyed it.
Steve R
The 76-80 Aspen/Volare were swell ! Chrysler lost their tails replacing front fenders under recall for rust out on 76 models as soon as 1977. Still sold a lot of these and its pretty cool to see rare 4 speed V8 models. Yeah, pretty crummy cars. History isn’t always nice, it just is.
“The Aspen and Volare simply weren’t well-made,” Iacocca wrote. “The engines would stall when you stepped on the gas. The hoods would fly open.” (been there Lee!)
Surprisingly rust free for a Volare-Aspen.
I had a 77 Roadrunner 318 manual on the floor, I thought it was a 5 speed. I know its top gear was over driven and the transmission case was aluminum. Maybe that was what was different – only 3 speed manuals until they brought out the gas saver 4 speed overdrive. A light weight 833. Help me out please, I’m lost without my books.
It’s been a tough night. First of all the great cars in the Mopar collection and then the Charger. I have done my best spoiled brat impersonation, pouting and crying but the wife won’t cave. She saw this and told me this is all we can afford. Too much stress my heart can’t take it.
Im diggin this cheap hot rod, replace the 318 with a built 340, tuck the bumpers, shave the trim, blast it with a shot of Plumb Crazy, add some ’70s mags, and some traction bars (just because they look cool) you could have a really great hot rod for around 8 grand if you can do the body work yourself.
I know a guy who has a 68 Charger with a modified 318. It goes nicely, spins the tires and sounds nice.
Time to reevaluate some boxes.
This Volare???
NOOO-OOOHHHHH
Volare???
Unh Unh No-oh.
You sound unsure.
KAYK 6150, what does it mean?
I believe it was the old CB call sign assigned to the owner.
You will notice the CB still mounted to the floor.
The only box this one would check for me would be a great big one with hydraulic rams that the whole car can fit in. It would come out as a compact.
I always liked these cars. It’s unfair to rip on it, all the late ’70’s ( US) cars were garbage. I think it was the perfect size, even today. While it didn’t provide the neck snapping power of it’s brothers 10 years prior, it was about as good as you could get in the late ’70’s, and still provided some fun. If I had this car, since it probably doesn’t need emission testing,I’d tear all the baloney out of the engine compartment, the major downfall of these cars, and make it basic as heck again, like the old days, it would be a great DD. Cool find.
While it may be true all the late ’70s cars were garbage, US and everywhere else, not all the late ’70s cars bankrupted their makers like this one did.
Go for a spin in a seventies era BMW 6-series E24, full size coupe if you have a chance…. see how wrong your “everywhere else” statement is :D
I might do that if I can find a running example.
IF it weren’t for the fact that the interior appears to have suffered EXTREME moisture intrusion & the rust (seen & UNSEEN) issues, I’d be sorely tempted to give this one a go. On the other hand, would probably need a bio-hazard outfit while cleaning it out! :-)
was going to say, it looks like the windows were left open, of any car that just isn’t worth the $$$ to fix this is in the top three I know the 77s came with a floor mounted 3 spd, IDK about a 4spd .. it would seem unlikely to me to get a luxo edition and have a manual tranny .. but, maybe the original owner wanted to be ” sporty”
I’ve had a lot of experience with these Volarie and I’m positive you will find it’s a 3 speed with an overdrive as the 4th and the rust is almost certain on the under side but with a cam headers and carb/intake swap these cars handle real well and get out of the hole pretty good
If I have learned anything it is that when a seller says the car does not run, you believe him.
You say that most of us could probably get this running, but if it was that easy the seller would do it and sell it for more.
Finally a Volare with balls the last one was a slant six, maybe you could buy the six do a heart transplant cheap muscle car
Nice find and write-up Scotty! I learned to drive on a car like this. 1977 or 78? Volare wagon. My folks factory ordered it with wood grain, plaid interior, 8-track, AC, and a three-speed floor shifter! How many of those do you think they made? I remember my Step-Dad saying, after launching it in an impromptu stop-light Grand Prix, “Watch me get ’em in second!” This one looks rather like it was submerged for some time then dredged out of a bog somewhere. Thanks for the memories!
A retired truckers car would be my guess .
Sunroof…..did he say sunroof….and a 4 speed- for $1500 OBO ? Well let’s just find a better1977 Camero – oh forget it T-Tops and rust on those.. or what about a Mustang – oh wait wouldn’t that be a Mustang II….
Today I learned something new; a 318 is a big block (per the CL ad).
I hope to be able to use this info to my advantage in the near future.
I can easily love a 318-360 4 speed. Maybe a torque -flight auto at the right price. Nice submission !
Just a short commentary on the family 4 door Volare’, The 225 slant 6 “leaning tower” was excellent. After returning to the dealer under the 1979 “12 month/12K warranty” with no fix or good explanation, we installed an earlier 70’s Carter 1 bbl at the recommendation of the local service station. Ran great the rest of its life and stayed in the family for 16 years, used it for 3 drivers exams. Dad and I concluded that Chrysler leaned out the engines to pass smog. Simple enough to correct in 1982. Would be screaming at the top of my lungs if i had a remotely similar experience with a new car in 2018 !
Please share your Aspen/Volare stories ! These were compared to Mercede’s at half the price…You could get a fancy Ford Granada for a few dollars more !
Hope that a grain of salt and a sense of humor is appreciated !
Somewhere in my hoard of automotive literature, I have an order form and 1977 brochure on this exact car, one of the first I wanted to order, could order and afford. I literally “ticked the boxes” for the buckets, 4 on the floor, road wheels, etc. I will seriously consider this since it is practically in my back yard.
I honestly love these cars. I’ve had two of them and I didn’t have the problems I read about people having. With that being said, I would have a hard time even getting myself to part with $500.00 for it. Even at that price I’d probably pass. Remember, these words are coming from a guy that loves these cars.