First things first: the mileage isn’t really 8,000 miles. This is a Canadian car, so the odometer reads 13,063.9 kilometers, which equates to 8,117.5 miles. But for all intents and purposes, this beautiful survivor 1977 Dodge Aspen Custom sedan probably has the lowest odometer reading you’ll find. Oh yeah, it also has a floor-shifted manual! It’s posted here on craigslist in Kaleden, British Columbia, Canada, and the seller is asking $12,000 ($8,479 U.S. dollars). Here is the original listing, and thanks to Curvette for the tip!
Man, what a great-looking car! At least condition-wise. I know a four-door Dodge Aspen isn’t on the must-have list for too many Barn Finds readers, but if you’re going to own one, this is it. The Jade Green Metallic paint looks perfect from what I can see in the photos. We don’t know if this car has been repainted or not, but with such low mileage, I’m assuming this is the original paint. I wouldn’t change one thing about this car.
The Kaleden climate isn’t exactly the desert Southwest, and as expected, the bumper filler material looks great, as do the contrasting dark green vinyl top, the bodyside moldings, the bumpers, and everything else. The small wheel covers/caps are perfect on this lower trim car. Dodge made the Aspen and sister car Volare from 1976 through 1980. Its legend has lived on for almost five decades, even though they were only offered for five model years.
Thankfully, it’s even green inside. And with nice brocade (“Revere cloth and vinyl”) seat fabric and that snake-like floor shifter! COME ON, TAKE MY MONEY! I believe that’s a 4-speed with overdrive, but a 3-speed manual was also available. I could be wrong, but I’m guessing the 3-speed manual would have had a column shifter. The 1977 Aspen was reportedly one of the last cars here to have a column shifter. There isn’t a close-up photo of the shift knob, and I can’t find that info in any brochures showing the 1977 Dodge Aspen. Chrysler redesigned the A-833 4-speed as an overdrive transmission with an aluminum case in 1975, more for fuel economy, and they were available on the ’76 through ’79 Aspen.
Sadly, the seller didn’t include any engine photos or give any engine information or a VIN, but the trunk looks good! We don’t know if this is a 225 slant-six or a 225 Super-Six. I’m assuming that since this is more of a base-level car, it has the base engine. The horsepower difference was only 10 hp, with 100 in the base 225-cu.in. OHV slant-six, along with 170 lb-ft of torque. Backed by the manual transmission sending power to the rear wheels, the seller doesn’t say how it runs, but I have to believe it runs as well as it looks. Have any of you owned an Aspen or Volare with a manual transmission and a floor shifter?
Let me count the ways why no one “should” be interested in this car: it is from the Malaise Era, it’s an Aspen, it has four doors, it is a lowly six-cylinder, it has dog dishes, it is green, even the interior is green, it has a vinyl roof. All of those things make it interesting to me. Even there are those who would scoff at someone saying they would enjoy taking it to Cars and Coffee, just for the conversations it would generate (this is particularly fun for me).
So, I like it…. because it is what it is, and it has survived (more accurately, thrived) for all these years. The icing on the cake is that cool shift lever.
Fun write-up SG.
I KNEW Bob would dig that shifter!!!
Those are all reasons I WOULD buy that car!
If you want something no one else has this is the car for you!
Look up “Patina Classics” – Bob n Tenn – who’s making a killing off of 4 door Chevy’s selling everyone he can get running or not to Sweden…..for big money….
It needs full wheelcovers since the dog dishes clash with the vinyl top and deluxe side moldings.
I can’t get over how well preserved this Aspen is. Before the rust and poor build quality comments start flowing here, the Volare and Aspen were very popular during those 5 years and they used to be everywhere. I don’t ever remember seeing one with the 4 speed overdrive.
Fun fact about the A833. Not only did it appear in cars, but also in the half ton pickups and vans. AND an even bigger fun fact, GM used them ( modified to bolt up to their engines) on the half ton pickups and vans as well. MPG was a huge topic by the mid tonlate 70’s and 80’s. My Dads 81 had that trans behind his 305. He could get over 20 with it if he drove it easy.
This is great Scotty. Thank you!!!
I could see this doing the 1/4 mile in under 4 days. These hideous 4 door cars, are usually the cleanest time capsules. I guess people were afraid to be seen in cars like this, so they kept them hidden away in the garage.
Have u seen what’s on the roads today? No wonder they tint the windows.
Good point, Joe. They also use it to hide the cloth interiors that are as exciting as a grocery store paper bag.
I’m with JoeNYWF64. I’d be proud to be seen in this…. especially compared to the SUV and ridiculous pickups on the road today. This has class…. those have crass.
And regardless of what the vehicle is, I can always appreciate something this old in this great condition. Amazing.
Hideous? These 4 doors are much better looking than the big-ass 2 door Aspens and Volares.
AGREED, Peter!!!
Because it’s a 4 speed,it might be an interesting semi-
daily driver to take to Cars & Coffee.
To me that shifter just doesn’t fit in – looks like something
Ed Roth would use.
As once before mentioned, some admin weenie at the cop shop in Carson City (NV) bought a truckload of Volare’s at a bargain price at a govt federal auction to save on fuel costs, all equipped as patrol cars-with a slant 6 and auto under each hood they were the laughingstock of the state.
Needless to say there was a reason the Air Force security team that initially got them wanted nothing to do with them.
All the Carson cops to no end hated driving these anemic wonders. Top speed was said to be in the 60’s on flat ground (4200’ altitude) if the siren or overhead lights were on as the standard heavy duty palternator put such a load on the engine it’d slow down-and forget about running the AC on a hot summer day.
BUT!
When the motor pool took them out of service as their mileage peaked and farmed them out to the rest of the city offices they were the perfect little gas sippers and lasted quite awhile, to the chagrin of those city employees.
This one could be a unique commuter especially if you trash that sorry excuse of a carb and throw on an FI unit.
A unique find, and nowadays perhaps appreciated more than when new.
Never owned one but a regular customer at the Taco Bell I worked at did. His was a black wagon with absolutely no side trim on it. I tried to buy it from him several times but with no luck. That thing looked absolutely sinister if you ever saw
it. But I do seem to recall basic
’74 and ’75 Dart sedans having this same setup. GTE (now Verizon) used them as company
cars back then. I nearly bought
one in the ’80s from the guy who
owned a Rent A Wreck franchise
there in Bloomington but passed on it for two reasons: if the clutch ever went out, could I have found the parts I needed to fix it?
And I wasn’t sure if my wife could
drive a Chrysler 4-speed so I put
her into a ’74 Pinto wagon instead. And we can knock Chrysler for their horrendous build quality back then as many of their assembly line workers were often drunk on the job while
they were slapping these things
together. All you can really say is
that buyers liked them enough to
keep Chrysler’s head above water
until Lee Iacoca showed up with
the K-cars in ’81 and the mini van
in ’84. Maybe the original owner
knew about all the defects and
drove the car sparingly to keep it
from falling apart LOL!
Strip that side trim off, loosen the torsion bars to drop the front, add rear lowering blocks and lose the ww tires. That’s all it needs in my world.
The ugliest girl and guy in my high school reunion still were 50 years later.
To me, this is pure Valiant at it’s core so still cool.
But I love seeing the heartthrobs (jocks and cheerleaders) of my high school class 50 years later…… bloated and wrinkled.
And yes….this car is indeed cool.
Swap those tires onto a set of Magnums which would really spice the up the looks of this car! GLWTS!! :-)
I knew several ladies who owned these back in the day, including my then-girlfriend’s mother, and I loved being able to ask them “how’s your Aspen” without getting slapped…
first time i ever saw a bench seat 4spd aspirin. rare bird for sure but is it 12k rare?
Of all the vehicles featured today I’d say this is my favorite, mainly due to its well preserved condition and it’s got a stick shift. I’d do my best to maintain it, keep a spare ballast resistor in the glove box and go out and enjoy quality time behind the wheel.
Mom’s Volare wagon would not get out of its own way, hopefully the manual helps in that regard.
I had the displeasure of driving the replacement for these, a K car for work at one point.
While the transmission is totally different, that shifter looks the same!!! So sloppy new, you almost hit the dash and passenger door when powershifting lol
A standard 3sp was either on the tree or by the knee, your choice on the order sheet. They had a nicer feel then the 4sp OD. I also bet its a supper six as they ran so much better than the 1bbl. Dealers soon learned this and made customers happier.
I had a 1976 Volare wagon Super 6 with a 4speed OD trans and 3.55 posi all factory .Was a great car but here in North East the Salt ate that car up. I have never seen a car with more rust. It was Yellow with wood grain sides.
I’m old enough to remember when these littered the landscape… My Mom had one for a few years… But I’ve never seen one (other than this) with a floor shift… and I believe I only ever saw one with a column manual… Pretty unique I’d say… …not that I want it.
I tend to think of the /6 as indestructible, but I believe that’s when they are paired to an automatic. Do they still live forever with a human being controlling the revs?
Yes I couldn’t break a Tradesman 100 3spd with a 6.
Shorty that I could get hopping, kids do stupid crap………
I remember being in my mid teens, and my dad bought a ’76 Aspen four door. It was silver with a burgundy vinyl top. Every time he bought a new car, he had me and my sister in the back seat listening for any squeaks and rattles. Fun times!?
Nice one, Scotty, and thanks to Curvette as well. I learned to drive on the sister, a Plymouth Volare wagon, tan with wood grain, 318 and a three-speed floor shifter. My folks both preferred manual so they ordered it that way, and they wanted the nifty upgraded interior with plaid cloth inserts but that only came with air conditioning, so they begrudgingly got the AC and never EVER used it. I guess it seemed like an unnaturally wasteful luxury so it was windows down all summer, which also mercifully evacuated the ever-present smoke from countless cartons of Kools. My driving lesson consisted of my Step-Dad explaining how the pedals and gearbox worked, then pulling over on the side of the road so I could take over. No parking lot, etc. just “Here you go, kid. Good luck!” I did OK, but it was a bit nerve-wracking. Thanks for the memories!
Thanks to the ever-present watchful eye of curvette & Scotty’s great write-up we have another cool car to read about.
Rick’s right about the ballast resistor, they should’ve come with a spare in the glove box.
I had a ’77 Aspen wagon in the 80s for my upholstery repair business. The front fenders must’ve been replaced because they were pretty solid. It treated me well, no major issues normal stuff.
I think the stick shift and the look is neat.
Really in amazing condition, and to see that floor shifter really shocked me. It certainly wouldn’t be the car for everyone but it would for me.
My father totaled my sister’s ’68 Tempest custom w/OHC 6. She then bought a ’74 Duster with a bench seat, 3 spd on the floor, Slant 6.
What a great find! I would leave it like it is. Anyone looking for a “doomsday” car, this would be a perfect candidate…plus you would have the benefit of being the center of attention at the cars and coffee!
My best friend in high school ordered one new. 2 door black, red interior, 318 v8 and 4 speed manual. For the time it was a pretty fast car but what an odd car. It was mid-level se bucket seats ps pdb tinted glass and white walls.
No such thing as malaise era. If anything, this is an era of the most interesting cars that bridged the 60’s to 70’s feel as we all moved onwards to the 80’s /90’s. A fantastic time capsule of a beautiful and better Times.
Ummm… some of us that lived the malaise era respectfully disagree… ;-)
The Volare/Aspen always depressed me because, while they were everywhere on the road, they were never iconic like the Valiant/Dart they replaced. Just drab cars that weren’t very well put together. Yet, to see a true survivor (and a unicorn at that) is heartening! I hope the seller gets a good price and the buyer keeps it as-is
This has to be a contender for the Best Comments of 2026, if we had such a thing, and we should. Thanks, folks; these are great fun to read!
As of now this is comment number 51!! Who knew a “Run-of-the-Mill” Aspen would generate all these comments. I like it!!!
Well, in the 5 year production run (’76 to ’80) there were approx. 1.3 million produced (combined Aspen/Volare)… So for those of a certain age, there was either one in your driveway, or your neighbor’s…
Nice clean car.
How much grief do you go through to import a used car from Canada?
Taxes? Tariff? Import fees?
????
I’d love to hear the back story about this. I mean how did a nearly fifty year old car rack up so few miles? I was very surprised to find out that it has a manual transmission with a floor shift. Sort of a unicorn. And I’m not surprised that it is located in the Pacific Northwest, Canadian side. It’s where the good stuff resides. Neat car and GLWTS.
Hey Curvette! It’s a radio delete car, too! It looks like it might be an A/C car too. Can you confirm?
Now, if I got this (and both my Dad and my Father in law each had a 1980 and a 1979 Volaré 4- door sedans with Slant-six engines and torqueflite automatics, when my future wife and I were dating, so it runs in the family), I’d have to pick up suspension pieces from Firm Feel (police cast K-frame mounts) and anti-sway bars, find a Super-6 intake and exhaust manifolds, have a 2-1/2” exhaust system run, and have Howell Fuel Injection cobble up a 2-bbl Rochester TBI system for it (using the Jeep 258 set up but tuned leaner) and hunt down a set of 3.55:1 gears and make it a daily driver. I already have a set of 5 14”X 6” wheels.
Good gosh, these types of cars garnish a lot of comments , great reading
My buddy had a 340/four speed 64 valiant four door. Sure suprised a lot of Mustangs and Camaros. Put a 8 3/4, SS torsion bars and a 440 in it. be a fun sleeper
I absolutely LOVE this!
Low line car with the deluxe body side moldings and vinyl top, puppy pan hub caps, and a 4 on the floor (4th being overdrive to boot)!
Combine all of that with a leaning tower of power and the fantastic condition, and how could one not love it?
I’m a little late to the party here, but just thought I’d add to it. I grew up in a small town that had a Dodge dealer at one end and a Plymouth dealer at the other. I worked in a gas station that was between the two. I saw a few of these with the 4-speeds, I guess it was considered a 3-speed as 4th was overdrive. The ones I saw were in wagons with sixes in them. I test drove a Plymouth with a 318 and this trans. and it ran really great. This one may have been owned by an older person that didn’t use it much and kept it in the garage. We had a regular customer at the gas station who was in her eighties and had a ’61 Corvair coupe with a 4-speed. It only had about 50,000 mi. on it when it developed a bearing knock. She gave it to her nephew and then went to the Plymouth dealer and bought a new ’75 Duster. Slant six with a 3-speed on the floor.
In high school in the early ’80s, my good friend’s father was passionate about keeping those old slant-6s running, and my friend’s regular daily was an Aspen wagon just like this one, but with the 3-speed floor shifter. Other than the wagon/sedan difference, this one looks exactly the same way I remember it, same color, same seats, same everything.
It was not a very good car.
me and my brother would buy these cars for less than 100 and use them for parts to upgrade the 70 and 71 darts . duel master cylinder, disk breaks in front and better rear ends. anyway electronic ignition as well unlead valve train. with all this exported with 4 barrel and headers mild cam the dart could get 29to30 mpgs
and a blast to drive sell for 4 grand and off to the next 100 dart and 100 one of these to raid for parts. made more off this that our sun up to sun down job. and the 4th gear was at least 55 miles per hour or it would kill the motor. it was a true overdrive
In 1985 I owned a 1976 Volare wagon with a slant six and what was called a ‘three by the knee’. It was a standard 3 speed trans, a classic H pattern with reverse top left. First gear was bottom left and then second top right and third bottom right. I regularly got over twenty miles to the gallon. With the slant six and a standard trans it was one of the best car in snow. Excellent power to weigh ratio, RWD, and a stick so it was easy to rock it, never got stuck. Ground clearance could have been better. I’d love to find another one if any readers know of any out there?!
I had a 1977 Plymouth Fury with the leaning tower of power & a 3 on the tree. That was a great car to drive and performed very well in winter. I really loved that car. I should have never sold it!
Rare find of one of the most successful cars of the latter half of the 20th century, literally millions made and they were everywhere at one time. Many of today’s drivers do not possess the skill needed to drive one of these daily. As safety and handling and electronic nannies have made driving safer, many have lost or never had the skill to drive basic cars.
First off the manual transmission eliminates many from contention.
It’s carbureted, pump the gas twice and let her run a minute, kick down the choke.
No ABS and rear wheel drive cuts out a few more.
No stability control, no lane assist etc etc. some would not know what to do.
These cars handle, like 80’s movie cars in a chase scene. Leaning hard – counter steering and oversteering skills required.
For many that drove pre 90’s cars they know the drill. I dare say, all the skill needed to drive this makes for a safer driver, if not a safer car.
I briefly had a 1976 Aspen just like this — and the four door sedan is the only one I would consider. Mine had a slant six and automatic shift: the only manuals I like are the ones built before automatics were generally available — column shift with overdrive on something from around 1948 or earlier; otherwise, automatic shift. I lost the Aspen when a teenager discovered that the ignition would turn without the key, stole it, and wrecked it on the railroad tracks — bent the body. Whatever possessed him to drive it on the railroad tracks, I’ll never know. It still ran and drove, but it could not be aligned and would dog-leg down the road and ruin tyres. These cars might have looked a bit “generic”, but they were NORMAL — much like the later Dodge Diplomats, Plymouth Gran Furys, and Chrysler Fifth Avenues. I hated the K-cars. I would drive a car like this — but not at $12,000 and 3,000 miles away; thank you!
Green Junk
Having owned one of these with a Super Six (2 bbl carburetor version), I can tell you just that alone completely wakes the engine in one of these. If it has the 1 barrel carb, get a 2 barrel carb and intake manifold and swap those onto the engine. Suddenly you have so much more power and gas mileage only drops by about 1 mpg. It’s all because of better breathability. The Super Six package actually came with a larger diameter exhaust and a slightly different rear axle ratio, but even without these the improvement in power is surprising. Plus it’s easy to do.
I dated a very attractive girl who drove around in her parents Aspen wagon, with a slant 6 and a 3 speed on the floor. Those were the days!!
In my high school a very attractive blonde girl drover her parents red Volare Sedan. And another attractive blonde friend of mine drove her parents’ Aspen wagon in high school.
My best friends parent’s had the Plymount Valient version of this car when we were in high school it was a beige 4 door with the slant 6 and that same 4 speed shifter. It was indeed a 3 speed with overdrive.
My dad bought a ’77 Aspen SE coupe (white/maroon landau vinyl roof & maroon vinyl split bench) new with a 318 & TorqueFlite – when the fenders were replaced under warranty, the paint didn’t match. He drove it 6+ years and replaced it with an ’83 Caprice 305 V8
Pretty bad when you can’t match white.
Your Dad moved up a lot.
My dad bought a ’77 Aspen SE coupe (white/maroon landau vinyl roof & maroon vinyl split bench) new with a 318 & TorqueFlite – when the fenders were replaced under warranty, the paint didn’t match. He drove it 6+ years and replaced it with an ’83 Caprice 305 V8
What a cool car! Clean lines nice colors and a stick. Where else can you find a simple easy to maintain car that seats 6, gets great mpg, easy to park, has only 8,100 miles with a bullet proof engine for $8,500? Only addition I would make would be to add a vintage air system and have fun.This would be my daily driver. Best of success to the lucky bidder
Are we sure that its a 6-banger. Is it possible that it has a 318?
This one is a 6 cylinder, but the 318 was available with this transmission.
I love cars of the ’70’s, and particularly the Mopar F body Aspens and Volares. I’ve owned about seven or eight, all wagons except for a ’78 Aspen SE T-top. I still own a ’78 Aspen base wagon with Super Six and the four speed OD floor shift. It also has the factory AM/FM/CB transceiver with the required power antenna. It is “Classic Cream”, a one year only light yellow color. It has 30K original miles and zero rust because it lived most of it’s life with one elderly owner near Pueblo CO. I literally looked for YEARS to find one – when I did, I flew out to CO and drove it home to Pennsylvania. That was 13 years ago and I still love it! Such a great little wagon!