Lots of cars take on a personality and a demeanor of their own, and if I had to choose a disposition for this 1979 Plymouth Volare, it would probably be the playground bully at just about any middle or high school in rural America. While there are both positives and negatives to consider here, the plus side is that this one’s powered by a 440 engine, and the $5,000 price or best offer won’t break the bank like most Mopar projects. On the low, there’s going to be a lot of effort required to get this one cosmetically refreshed. If you’re ready to get started, this 1977 Volare is in Seattle, Washington, and can be found here on Craigslist, with our thanks to reader Curvette for sending in the tip here!
Between 1976 and 1980, the Road Runner name was a trim option on the Volare, and the seller notes that this one wears that package. I’m not sure it left the factory this way, as the side window louvers aren’t present, but they could have just been removed. The sheet metal appears reasonably solid, but the panels will need quite a bit of smoothing out before the body is ready for a respray. Another option is to leave the exterior as it is and let its temperament carry on for years to come.
For 1979, the Volare offered the Slant Six and a pair of V8 engine options, including the 318 and 360. However, under the hood here at present is a 440, connected to a 727 TorqueFlite automatic transmission. There’s no additional information provided, such as the source of the big block, but the seller does report that the car runs, drives, and stops. That’s a very busy-looking bay, with the large scoop adding to the complexity here.
There’s nothing particularly special about the interior, and I’d call its condition average at best. Other than a dash-mounted tach and some aftermarket door speakers that were probably installed decades ago, it appears fairly stock in here. I’ve got to believe there’s somebody out there that will see this 1979 Plymouth Volare and immediately come up with a vision, but it’ll involve lots of cosmetic repairs, that is, unless the buyer goes the low-budget route and chooses to just drive this one as-is. How do you see moving forward here?
Nasty as hell. I love it. I’d make sure it’s safe and healthy, put a FAFO vanity plate on it, and hit the streets.
Can’t really find anything good about this car, wait a minute…….,………. No, never mind.
Step 1 – yank all the AC components out of the engine bay.
Step 2 – regret you even started trying…
step one suggestion
biggest mistake most car hacks make. If the AC is out of your league and over your head, buy less ‘reds’ and less bud light and pay an adult to service the AC.
Its simple, keeps the value and class of the car, and is a HUGE improvement while cruzing.
Any monkey can pull a part.
With a 440 under full torque, reminds me of the title of a favorite album from days long gone…Pretzel Logic…
Good grief! To me this looks like such a complete hodgepodge of assorted parts, pieces etc. but that engine compartment tells a story of just grabbing lots of pieces and attach wherever they might fit? This is the kind of car I completely avoid!
I’m having trouble understanding how this survived the tornado, but the double wide didn’t??
Now that’s funny, I don’t care who you are!
The engine swap was surely done by a professional, along with all of the other necessary drivetrain mods that go with that, right? It doesn’t seem to say that here.
Professional,and it looks like this nightmare?
I was joking. This has all the signs of a backyard job.
Looks like an audition for the next Mad Max film 🎥.
You had me at 440…
I read the Craigslist ad, comes with wheelie bars? I would put them on and then park at Walmart and see how many people I would trip from not seeing them…😂
Perfect for the dead dodge garage guy.
pull the 440 and scrap the car. motor is worth 1500-2k.
Ya better buy this quick . One of them Hollywood car company’s will buy this and have their monkeys clean it up and recover the seats , then it will be on a turntable listed for 35k.