The Volare replaced the long-running Plymouth Valiant in 1976 (as did the Aspen for the Dodge Dart). Chrysler would sell more than 1.8 million of the combined cars over the next five years, but the machines would develop a dubious record for quality control. This ’77 Volare has been set up to do the one thing these cars weren’t supposed to do: go fast. It has a tricked-out 440 V8 under the hood which should produce a lot of speed in a relatively light car. Located in Kalida, Ohio, this Plymouth is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $15,900. Our thanks to Rocco B for his tip!
Neither the Volare nor Aspen were muscle cars despite that both offered performance versions of sorts. The Volare had the Road Runner and the Aspen the R/T, but these typically came with a 318 V8 and occasionally a somewhat anemic 360 as an option. No mention is made of the seller’s car being anything other than a routine Volare when new, so it may have even had a 225 Slant Six when it left the factory.
These cars racked up a stack of recalls early into their production, which would lead to depressed sales in the second half of their runs. We’re guessing if this Volare fell victim to any of them, those issues were sorted out long ago. The dark green paint (flat black hood and rear spoiler) looks good with no signs of body damage or rust. We don’t see much of the matching interior, but it may be okay.
The big selling point for this car is its drivetrain. A 440 cubic inch Chrysler V8 has been sandwiched under the hood (the battery now lives in the trunk). It has been bored out .030 over, has Edelbrock aluminum heads, Crane roller rockers, and a newly rebuilt 727 automatic transmission. An overdrive set-up is included but it’s going to need some work. The Plymouth presents well overall and is probably faster now than anything Chrysler built at the time. Any takers here?
You might be the only one with a Volare at a car show, and I’m sure this one hauls @$$, but these things were such a POS and ugly you would look right past them .No Comparison to the earlier trusty dart and valiant; they even cheapened up the formerly bulletproof , the leaning tower of power slant 6. if you decide to do for it, good luck and the price seems tolerable. Need to make sure the bugs have been worked out of this one . Good luck and happy motoring!
cheers
GPC
Any bugs this vehicle might have had scattered when the power plant reared vengeance on this car! The sleeper factor keeps my interest!
I like this one a lot. The paint and wheels really give it an 68 road runner vibe. Don’t hate me fellow Mopar fans. I said vibe. Gotta admit it’s an interesting spin on a not so loved model. Hope it’s a little frightening when you get on the loud pedal. Just saying
The trim says a base car, prob a slant six, I saw few 318 base cars like this. The console is correct but the shift control handle is out of an E Body. Looks like Frankenstein has a cousin. I would worry about the weight distribution also. These handled so so with a 318 up front, I hope they beefed up the suspension, and that is not easy with the screwy transverse junk in there to it give “a small car that big car feel”. Lastly to finish my Volare manifesto, I hate the stupid hood scoop. That is an AAR type. If a sleeper you want, ditch the childish hood. What is this, high school?
When I was in high school in the…uh, never mind, guys would jack up the rear end and add big tires to their rides…reminded me of stink bugs!
That’s not an AAR scoop…far from it. That is a ’73-’74 Dart Sport/Duster 340 Scoop.
Picky, I know, but only the Dart Sport had the scoops like this. The 73 Duster 340s had odd wide spaced scoops as an option, though I’ve never seen one
Want.
Lose: hood/spoiler/white letters
Gain: Full hubcaps/pink slips
I love it.
It’s not a cookie cutter Camaro, Mustang or Charger, it seems it would go like heck and at 15k seems a bargain.
I wish I wasn’t burdened with an outside influence as I’d bring this ole girl home in a heartbeat.
This car is neat as hell I hope it’s out together as nice as it looks
These kinds of cars done-up are someone’s personal expression-my first thought was what would I do to make it my own? Same color, Torque thrust mags , stock hood with air intakes plumbed up to directionals. No need to show 440, but they are gonna find out.
That’s a super nice little hot rod…and you don’t have to worry about grenading your numbers-matching driveline. Very well put together and super clean. More fun than a barrel of monkeys, I bet.
Would be interesting to see the exhaust routing on the LHS. The tank cannot be shifted over like the later ones. On my ’77, I fished it through the spring leaves. Not likely it was a slant six, the suspension (motor mounts) are different for V-8. Wonder what they did about the torsion bars, that’s a bigger load.
All business, a real life thrill ride with that 440! Not a clone or trubute, not a numbers matching(ha ha) classic, just a hot rod Volare without the tunnel ram no hood treatnent or other street freak chaos….all business.
I agree with Martin; I like Camaros, Corvettes and Mustangs, but it’s nice to see something a little off the beaten track, so to speak. I’m something of a geek when it comes to my taste in cars, and I immediately liked the Volares and Aspens, in ALL body styles, from the time they first appeared on the streets. Too bad Chrysler rushed production and turned out a lot of junk. On the other hand, my aunt and uncle bought a ’78 or ’79 Volare wagon new, and it lasted to the late ’80s, even in our brutal eastern Ontario winters.
Not a big deal to put a V-8 in a slant six car. Change out the front k-member and put beefier torsion bars in it. Super easy. I like this one. Definitely has some attitude to it.
Hood scoops and spoiler ruin the looks just plain tacky
I like this unit, too. Dad bought a Volare new for a company car, also in Ohio. Within 9 months, the fenders were rusting through. Of course, the dealer blamed Dad. Our neighbor worked at the nearby Lordstown plant producing high-quality and desirable Vegas. He said at shift end, there was always one car between the paint stations. That car was guaranteed to rust out early. We supposed such was the Volare. Oh, the horror stories he told about the Vega assembly.
I owned a 77 Volare, Silver with a burgundy color gator like wrap over rear roof. We all had Mopars back then. My cousins 440 SuperBee and his friends Superbird. That’s right we drove the strip in that Superbird many times. The Volare was my parents hand me down, and after I blew the 318 when happended to know a recently retired circle track racer that had a race built 340 just laying on a pallet. We put that in the Volare and it came ALIVE! After we destroyed the transmission, driveline and then rear end, we added a torque flight tans and the rearend from an Aspen. Then we trolled the streets…. We ate lots of 396 big blocks in the quarter. I can only imagine what a 440 would do in that car.