The Dodge Aspen and its cousin, the Plymouth Volare, replaced the venerable Dart/Valiant compact combo in 1976. They brought nothing innovative to the party other than that they would pile up a stack of recalls over their five-year run. The seller has a nice 1978 edition of the Aspen with low miles and custom trim, though the paint looks better in the photos than in person. Located with a dealer in Wautoma, Wisconsin, this red-over-red Mopar is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $7,995. Another tip brought to us by “Lothar… of the Hill People”.
Aspen sales ramped up quickly from 219,000 units in 1976 (while the Dart was still on the market) to 312,000 in 1977. But the recall news led to a decline to 197,000 copies in 1978 when this version was built. By 1980, just 85,000 Aspens were produced, and the car didn’t see a second generation as Chrysler was betting the farm on the new FWD K-Cars. The best thing about the Aspen was perhaps its standard engine, the 225 cubic inch Slant-Six, which this Dodge possesses.
We’re told this Dodge has had at least three owners, yet the odometer reflects a low 43,000 miles. Besides the Slant-Six, this Aspen has a TorqueFlite automatic transmission and the Custom trim option (it was a series in 1976 and 1977). The seller is a dealer, so you’d think the photos would be better, but they’re not. Taken in the dark inside a garage with poor lighting and weird angles, which don’t show the issues with the red paint the seller says the car has.
The interior seems to be exceptional, and could the upholstery be those Rich Corinthian Leathers (just kidding!)? The Dodge has recently been serviced (an oil change) and has newer brakes, belts, and the exhaust. This car should be roadworthy, though it begs the question of whether a regular Dodge Aspen ever reaches collectible status or is just another old used car.
Boring as cold oatmeal and please lose the windshield bling.
Exactly. You’ll notice that to the immediate left or right of this ‘Mopar’ is ‘no car’…
Chrysler was on the ropes, at that time. My neighbor worked at the stamping plant in Twinsburg. He operated a crane loading scrap stampings and tailings to rail cars. He was disgusted that they, supervisors would have the workers pull blemished or a bad stamping from the pile and they built cars with them. I know the Mopar guys don’t want to hear that but I have no reason to make that up. The plant is gone and my neighbor at the time is no longer alive. These cars were terrible, quality was poor and saw a couple of examples in person.Like tail lights that weren’t sealed and rain water running in the trunk. I bought one of those K cars, well two. One new and one used.
I like the Packer Ford pickup truck, GO PACK!!! Cadmanls’ story is not unique, but it’s true. Even Iacocca said in an interview” we sent a lot of crap out the door”, but it wasn’t entirely Chryslers fault. All the car companies were struggling to meet new regulations and still dealing with 50 year old designs. That, and the imports were clobbering us in the engineering dept., something had to give. The Volare was a good car, right size and price, and shortcomings aside, they still sold a lot of cars. Again, not many bought another, besides, the Omni/Horizon was right around the corner, and it was adios to traditional, 50 year old engineering. A great find, and lose the steering wheel cover,,,
There are also 2 different Corvettes in the background beside a Mercedes SL.
I have related this story before but here it goes again. We had a Goodyear Tire Centers (these were Goodyear franchise stores in previously Goodyear owned locations) one of which was in a small town with a Chevy store in the middle (close to where we were located m) and a Dodge store on one end and a Plymouth store on the other end. Neither Mopar store’s techs had a clue how to diagnose a vibration issue. So it was ALWAYS THE TIRES! Well, it a as during Firestone 500s rein of terror and many (about 40%) had the “infamous” culprits. And some even had a bad Goodyear or two. But, more often than tires, there were problems with their tin foil wheels, (never had one of these cars with 4 straight or round wheels) brake drums without balance weights and the “new super front suspension system” (which they eventually got sorted out in later applications to be a decent system) would just amplify anything that wasn’t perfect. There wasn’t a day when we didn’t have one of these in the store. Drive down the highway, it vibrated like a paint mixer, go to stop hard and the car would jump up and down violently so the body flex would pop open the lift gate on a wagon or trunk lid on a sedan. Brake calipers with plastic (fenolic) pistons that would size up in the bores not allowing the brake to release on that wheel. And brake rotors that would warp at the hint of getting hot.
So no, I have no fondness for these cars. That being said, my stepmother bought one of the last wagons produced. (318 automatic) I spent a few days upgrading everything I could think of on the car. And she drove it almost 300,000 trouble free miles.
There is a lift in the background, why no undercarriage pictures? The dealer says it has “surface rust”, that has a different meaning depending what part of the country you are in, he needs to show it.
Steve R
Correct. LOOKS clean, but is it? No engine shots? If it is a super six, it will run okay, a standard 1bbl will leave you screaming in agony. Facebook ad has no descriptions worth squat. That stupid windshield sticker will probably come off with a ton of work, but the fool who put it on sometime in the cars history worries me. How was the car driven and maintained? Did some kid inherit Grandmas car and because it was a six, abused it? This car will need a thourough in person inspection and a much lower price will be needed before a sale.
I had a 76 volare with the 318 v8 and I loved the car. I drove it a lot of course mine had a lot more than factory horsepower as I had the local machine shop rebuild the engine for high performance and I added headers and a lot of go fast parts it was a real sleeper put the cop car wheels on it. I would still have it today but I couldn’t keep up with the rust so I ended up selling it to a guy that wanted the engine for his hot rod. I’m Maryland it rusted badly so this one in Wisconsin I would have to make an in person rust inspection before buying
The transverse mounted torsion bar suspension what’s considered innovative at the time. It gave these compacts a big car ride. Remember, this was the same platform the M bodies used through model year 1989. If I’m not mistaken, the M bodies used the same doors as the Aspen and Volare.
I like these in general. I’ve had a couple. I do like this one but not the price.
need to lose the windshield decal. we all know it’s a Mopar. then lose the dice and the steering wheel cover. be a good 5k car in the current condition.
The only free car I ever acquired in my life. A ’76 Volare Premier. GF Dad’s car. He was a Chrysler bean counter at the Twinsburg plant. I put a starter, new tires, and an exhaust on it, before the 318 broke.
Dealer sellers tend to only take pictures of the good. The ugly stuff is for you to find out later after purchase. Best look at in person. Why would anyone paint a Ford Truck John Deere green ?
im afraid to think what under the hood looks like,every panel on the car is a different shade of red
I wanna reach into the picture and rip those mud flaps off!!
I owned a ‘76, and if it wasn’t for bad luck, I would have had no luck at all. A junk series followed by an even worse one: LeBaron/Aries/Reliant, vile excuses for automobiles. Of course you also had the Horizon/Omni debacle which made VW Rabbits look like royalty.
Elwood—
I had four L bodies (Omni/Horizon) and had nothing but great luck with them.
I also had a Plymouth Scamp that was a fantastic car.
We had a neighbour who had a ’76 Volare wagon that was an absolute nightmare when it got even a little damp or cold. It refused to start without a lot of drama…usually flooding the carb or spraying starting fluid down the throttle body. Once it started, it barely ran until it warmed up. The dealer replaced the carburetor at least twice and the Lean Burn computer once. Until she traded it in on a Reliant wagon, that car would just sit in the driveway unless it was dry and sunny. Our other neighbour had an Aspen that had its fenders replaced four times.
I could never understand how Chrysler could manufacture a great car like the Valiant and then make such a dog as the Volare……..
I think the car has low miles because it spent most of its time in the shop….
SaabGirl900,
It’s called greed. Make it cheaper to make more profit. If they needed a face lift. They could have just made a new body for the Valiant. (And the majority of the tooling costs would have been written off many years before. They did have new emissions requirements to contend with. But as it worked out all they did was modify existing power trains anyway. They had been using the Valiant underpinnings since 1961 or so. Giving us Baracudas, Dusters, Darts, Demons, etc etc. But the things I saw on the Aspen/Volares were just inexcusable. And that’s coming from a Mopar guy! I was driving a ’65 Baracuda, ’67 Camaro convert. and a 1976 Scirocco at the time and a 1979 Dodge van that I bought new. But that Dodge van was the last Mopar I ever had. At the same time as the Aspen Volares the Dodge trucks were what we called 200,000 drivetrain with a 10,000 mile body. Luckily for me. I was able to disable or back date many of the crap parts on my van and got good service and fuel economy from that van. I have had close to 200 vehicles in my lifetime. BUT NO MOPARS SINCE THE VAN. And that’s been 46 years now. And I tend to keep vehicles I like a long time.(FJ40 LandCruiser 42 years, 5.0 Mustang 25 years, etc. And I don’t care what the name is Chrysler/Mercedes/Ram/Stilantis/Jeep, etc. No more Mopars for me.
Wayne—
I totally agree with you. My last Chrysler was an ’89 Horizon that I traded in for my first Saab. I have owned nothing but Swedish iron ever since. I had the Scamp, four L bodies and a Dakota; I learned to drive in my parents’ ’71 Newport and I drove my Mum’s ’78 Cordoba..with fiiine Corinthian leather……..I was a diehard Mopar fan. But, Chrysler stopped building decent cars and started building rubbish that disappointed the minute you placed your backfield in the driver’s seat.
And don’t get me started on new vehicles to-day……there is nothing out there that would cause me to pay more than my mortgage per month to watch fall apart in my driveway.
Cars to-day are nothing special…just automotive appliances. It’s a sad time for gearheads…..
I bought a 76 Volare 4dr with the 318 V8 when it was 15 years old. I then pulled the 318 and had the local machine shop do it’s magic. I then installed it adding headers a set of purple hornies with turn downs right behind them 4bbl intake a holly double pumper and other go fast goodies. Added the cop car wheels. It was dark metallic blue. With the extra hp it was fast and it was loud sounded like it was running on 3 cylinders at idle. I loved it and drove it all the time. Unfortunately as time passed the rust got ahead of me and I ended up selling it to a guy that wanted the motor for his hot rod. Here in Maryland it rusted badly so if it spent its life in Wisconsin and I was looking to buy it I would want to do an in person rust inspection.
Many of these have now been uograded/repaired to be just ok vehicles. But the original engineering/parts sourcing/assembly was pure crap. In Iacocca’s book he told a story about how manufacturers used to test the passenger compartments for integrity by sealing up the ventilation. And then throw in a cat overnight. If the cat was dead, then they had done their job in sealing the passenger compartment against the elements. At Chrysler at that time. Their quality control was so bad. That the next morning the cat was gone! Meaning the cat was able to escape the sealed passenger compartment. The assembly was haphazard with less than quality parts and a lack of “new engineering” testing. As stated earlier, I spent a couple of days on my stepmother’s late production Aspen wagon which I never would have let her buy if I knew she was going to buy a different car. After doing everything that I could think of as far as repairs and upgrades. (And the parts bill was not cheap) She got excellent service and use from that car. (She drove all over the country showing dogs.) So they are fixable, but don’t expect them to be “good cars “.
I had one of these as a company car in 1979. What a hunk of junk! The transmission blew up at 19K miles and was not abused. Even though it was free car for me, it wasn’t very reliable. Good luck to someone who will pay $8k for this…………