There was a time when mid-sized station wagons like these were pretty common sights at the mall, grocery store, or Little League field. Like the majority of long roofs from yesteryear, they usually led sometimes hard and unglamorous lives (the term “rode hard and put away wet” seems appropriate). That, plus the Volarés propensity for attracting tin worms, hasn’t left many examples around after 40 plus years. On the surface, this appears to be a solid driver-qualityy survivor. Currently residing in North Bennington, Vermont, this middle-age 1978 Plymouth Volaré grocery getter is for sale here on craigslist for an asking price of $7,000. (The seller shares that he/she “is open to a ‘reasonable’ offer, for the right match matters to me more than profit.”). Another thanks to our pal, Pat L., for sending this old long roof our way.
The photos aren’t the best quality or thorough (there are no photos of the engine, driver’s side profile, or front end), but they’re a start. I don’t know if the current paint is the original Spinnaker White, but it looks presentable. You can spot rust bubbles on the rocker panels on the passenger side and the bumper fillers are discolored and would need replacing. From what I can tell, the glass, trim, badging, bumpers, and brown color-keyed side molding look good. This Volaré is also sporting the optional luggage rack and mag-type wheels. For 1978, the 1978 Plymouth Volaré Station Wagon trim lines were changed from having a base, custom, and high-line option to simply having a base option (and the buyer could add option packages if they wanted). The sales brochure shows a gussied-up Volaré wagon with what they called “Premier woodgrain exterior trim,” a chrome and woodgrain luggage rack, and various wheel options.
Although the seller describes the cabin as having an “impeccable leather interior,” it looks more like easy-to-clean brown vinyl (that’s been well cleaned). Overall, the interior appears to be in good driver-quality, above-average condition. There appears to be some seam splits in the driver’s seat and the original color-keyed brown carpet has been replaced by green carpet (or is that astroturf??). The seller describes the cabin as having “working interior instrumentation and lighting.”
The rear bench seat is in remarkable condition for a 45-year-old station wagon with virtually no sign of wear and tear. What Plymouth described as a “family-sized 73.1 cubic-foot cargo area” looks good as do the cargo area storage bins. Not perfect, mind you, and the cargo floor is covered with a fabric (is that a repeated lemon pattern?), so we don’t get to see what the cargo floor actually looks like. The Volaré wagon also features a lift gate with a fixed-rear window and a rear window defogger.
(INSERT MISSING ENGINE PHOTO HERE)
Sorry I can’t show you the engine bay, but inexplicably, no photos were provided by the seller. The ad states that it’s the venerable 225-cubic inch Slant Six that’s paired to a rugged TorqueFlight automatic transmission. The seller says the Volare has 73,572 original miles with maintenance logbooks to back it up. The seller also says “it has not been sitting unused. Even when stored this winter, it would start right up.” So what do you think about this 45-year-old survivor grocery getter?
Good GAWD have I reached the age when stuff like this actually has an appeal to my long-roof sensibilities?
Wow, I feel conflicted. I had a friend who owned one of these in the early nineties and it constantly broke down. Swore I would never own one but kinda dig it now. Just miss a small wagon I guess. That or oh so tired of everything looking the same on the roads today
I had one. 1977 or so. Slant six. The xar broke down so many times I just about gave it away.
The 318 motors were fine. My father had one.
The transmission went out. The heater never worked right. The suspension was junk. The car was no good.
My neighbor had a red volare wagon with the faux woodgrain trim and plaid seats it was a cool looking car.
Wow this would have been a rough wagon for a road trip. Vinyl interior and it looks like no AC and all of those non tinted windows. It would have been like riding in an easy bake oven.
No need for air in Vermont.
Correct Brian, a good heater ❄️ was more important for the ski 🎿 trips up to the mountain 🏔 load up the wagon and go.
I had a 1976 Volare wagon with a 225 slant 6, automatic transmission, heater, am radio and power steering. It was designated a “premium” model, if memory serves. NO AC! You are correct, it was an oven in the Summer. That slant six would backfire and stall from a start in cold weather. Had it until 1983 and the rust had already started.
Wow, brinds back memories. Our grandmother was a retired Chrysler employee and my little sister had a green one when she was in high school in the early 80’s.
I truly love the 225, but in 1978, unless it had the 2bbl Supersix option, it was unuseable. If it had it, the seller would have mentioned it, or is from a quick flipper who recently visited an estate sale. Body looks in good shape. I have to agree with the air comment. A buddy bought a new 1976 Volare with a green vinyl interior and no air. man, was that an awful combo on your backside in warm weather. Oh yes, it had the strangled 225. An awful running engine. I understand, and agree, why the slant six had to be strangled in those days, but the 318 was the only way to go in those years, at least until the 2bbl option came out a year or two later. Those didn’t have any problems, ran great.
Clean looking Plymouth but I laughed when the seller mentioned about horsepower and slant 6 in the same sentence…. I guess the seller was driving 4 cylinder cars for a long time. I drove these when I was younger working at a Chrysler/Plymouth dealership. 318 or 360 was a big difference over the 225. Yes this would be hot in summer without AC. And stick to the seats. I would definitely tinted the windows to help the interior from getting way to hot. The mileage is good oh.. don’t know which 225 it is. If it’s going be a 225 you want the 2bbl carb. Good luck to the next owner.. 🐻🇺🇸
1978 should have 2 bbl.
My 2nd car was a ’78 Aspen Wagon, sister to this one. Bought it in ’88 from a coworker for $250 (!) Those were the days! Drove that peach for several years too. Reliable transpo for a brokeazz young blue collar w kids.
My folks had a maroon Volare wagon when I was a Kid. 4 on the floor. Vinyl seats (same as these), no A/C, AM radio. Trips to Virginia beach from Pittsburgh were very warm; 55 mph and all windows open . Front fenders rusted out within a year. it served us well until we upgraded ??? to an 82 Chevette with an auto.
Our used car manager came up to me at the dealer I was working at one day and told me his son had an 82 Chevette.First thing I replied was I’m sorry.Then he proceeded to ask me if I would do the brakes.
We had one of these new, growing up. Slant 6 was very reliable. We never had any problems with fender rust. Maybe it was undercoated? Neighbor next door bought a new Toyota Corolla at the very same time and would brag about his gas mileage. Unfortunately for him, his new Toyota was looking pretty bad with rot after 2 years. He gave it to his son and the brakes failed and he ran it into the back of a truck.
The Volare’ was passed down to a few relatives and I don’t know what happened to it. It was still on the road in 2008 for out family reunion though.
Yeah – people forget in the 70s/early 80s a lot of Japanese cars had serious problems with rust, especially in the northeast and midwest.
Nice looking wagon. This one has aged well and as mentioned in an earlier comment I’m suprised I too like what I see for ‘Volare’!
Slip a warmed over 318 or 360 under the hood and you’ve got yourself a nice little hot rod that can pay for its keep as a bit of a work horse hauling during the week.
Price is reasonable if it’s in as good shape as advertised, especially ‘negotiable’ for the right buyer.
When I was a teen my neighbor traded his early 70’s vw van in towards a79 or 80 Volare wagon.It was white with woodgrain sides and a 225 slant 6 with a 4 speed.
Key words there are ‘4 speed’. That’s the other thing I’d add beside a molar small block.
… mopar.
I got my one and only Chrysler product in the form of a ’76 Volare. For free! It quit running in a friends driveway. He said, you tow it, you own it. Put a starter in it, and drove it for six months before the 318 blew up. Had more holes in the body than a harmonica.
That odometer has rolled at least once but will still make someone a decent car except in the winter like a diesel it takes forever to warm up
With this run-of-the-mill wagon, Barn Finds will post anything.
It’s not run-of-the-mill because it’s not really 1981 anymore and when is the last time you saw one in person? Plus, some of us like seeing a variety.
I’ve often thought these were an ideal size for a station wagon. Big enough but small enough. This has the mid level Custom trim – though apparently in 1978 they no longer had a “Custom” model, but instead a trim level. Since this has the 225, you really want the 2 barrel version. A 1 barrel 225 will have too little power.
On the “advice” of my cheapskate uncle, Dad, who must have been drunk as well as coming off his first mid-life crisis, traded both Mom’s ’73 Cougar XR-7 and his ’75 Pontiac Trans AM for a new ’76 Volare Premiere wagon and a new ’76 New Yorker Brougham sedan. Two awful cars, but the Volare was hideous. Tan pain with the cheap woodgrain over the beige knitted vinyl, it was well equipped with A/C, PW, PDL but the Slant-six/Torqueflight combo. An absolutely terrible car that self destructed sitting in the driveway and within a year was dumped at a huge loss for a ’77 Volvo 242DL. The New Yorker left soon after as Dad upgraded to a Mercedes 280SE. Those two Chrysler’s were the last domestic cars in my parents driveway until a new Explorer arrived in 2013.
I bought a ’77 Volare wagon new in ’77. Had it undercoating, front fenders rusted anyway. The cause was a design defect for which it was recalled and the fenders replaced. 225 slant 6, torqueflight automatic, drove and rode nicely, drove from Illinois to Arkansas every summer for years.
These seemed very promising when they first appeared. A tidy package with Chrysler heritage (well, at least the slant six and torqueflight). They pretty much disappeared in a few years, presumably for the reasons noted above. It seemed like Chrysler may have “hit bottom”, but they still had a little further to go (think K-car).
Very nice survivor! But would be a much nicer driver with either a 340 or 360! An uncle who I was close to. He originally had a 64 Valiant V200 wagon he had special ordered, that had a 273/4 brl, with push button Torque Flite, plus 3:42 posi. That he kept for 22 years, when he traded for a new Volare Wagon again he special ordered in the same black on red HD Vinyl interior, but with all the chrome, including the police like remote spot lights on each side of the windshield. But like before he ordered the biggest most powerful V8, a 360, but as it came with a 2brl was rated at only 170 hp! But with a HD Torque Flite to an optional 3:09 posi, that came with the towing package and Police Package. Of course as soon as he could he added an Edlebrock intake, with 4 brl Holley Economizer with tubular headers into quiet dual exhaust. He installed the biggest shocks, cranked up the torsion bars and added a leaf in the rear. As he added a dog crate in the rear to carry 6-8 Beagles he would go out deep into the woods running or hunting with. That wagon lasted a few years till it was stolen by some punks that wreaked it! He ended up with a 1988 Subaru Wagon 5sp with AWD.
Bought a 77 in 77 while in the Army. Had 318, white w/woodgrain. Great lil party wagon for me & my boys while at Ft. Hood. Put a U-Haul behind it in 78, dropped buddy off at Dallas airport, came on home to Michigan. Never missed a beat. Sold it to 1st family that came along. Have owned 13 vehicles. only Chrysler product I ever owned. No complaints tho.
Always liked the wagon versions of these cars and this one is particularly nice looking
After all these years I still can’t decide if “ more “ or “ less “ amount of people were really happy with these cars. I tend to like cars that are “ totally loaded “. If it’s a stripped model , it better show its stripes with dependability and longevity. Fixing cars beyond reason ability just means somebody didn’t do their job in the first place. I like these cars/wagons, but if it goes to the shop too often I get over the fact that I like them. Good luck. Nice article too.
The equivalent Australian Valiant wagon had the Hemi 6 cyl upright engine starting at 215cubes and three on the tree most were owned by our national telecommunications provider Telecom a government dept not even a radio
Local taxi company used these cars and I was a fleet mechanic who fixed them. I remember the wood grain decal everytime we had to do body repairs, it would come in wrecked and leave without woodgrain because it was cheaper that way. I was a part time cab driver in these cars and also owned a wagon and 2 and 4 door versions all slant 6 powered.
Everybody laments no AC. You have to remember that on cars that had a base price from $3-4K or so, AC was a $1500 option.
The only slant six I owned was a 1986 Dodge D100, reg cab 4×2 Custom, with AM radio and automatic as the only two options, along with a nice custom cloth seat and plastic/wood trimmed interior in two tone blue with light blue body. That was a fine comfortable truck, that actually did a decent job twice a year towing the family boat down to the marina a back. However you could never really be in any hurry and lucky to get up to 80 mph, until I put a cap on it then 85! But the only problem we had was the spring loaded heat rise valve in the exhaust manifold, right below the carburetor. That for some reason or another would get stuck in the closed position, that obviously cut power way back, to the point you would be forced to pull over in a nice safe spot till it cooled off, then I could force it back open. The dealer said the only thing they could do is change the manifold, but they were mostly all bad! We were on our way home from Florida to MA, when it happened again. So we stopped for a while on the south side of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel for lunch and cool down. Where I was able to get it back opened. Then the first place I stopped after we got going again was a local car parts store, to buy the one 3” hose clamp, and strong spring. I fastened the big clamp around the round flat wheel like body of the heat riser after I removed the broken round spring that was supposed to open it that was the cause of the failure. Then I hooked the spring onto the clamp, then to the alt mount, that gave enough pull to keep it opened. After that I had no problems other than driving around like it was a decent run diesel, but a gas guzzler at 15-20 mpg. I found out right after signing the paperwork, the last few years of the Slant Six it was manufactured in Mexico? I should have bought the 318 V8 truck that was there, but it was mostly for my wonderful Dad to use daily in his semi retirement gig as “Your Handyman”. That when he was using, lent me his 78 Town Car.
That car brings back a memory to beat! I graduated HS in 82. In 78, I was a freshman and didn’t drive yet ( legally that is!). My best friend’s stepmom had a new 78 Volare SW in burgandy, 6 banger and being Florida, AC. No, he didn’t have a license but that didn’t stop him from driving. On Saturdays I would bike over to his house around 11PM and we would push the car off the driveway and hit the town. Fort Lauderdale strip was basically a drag strip back then until they spilt the road (AIA) up into one way roads years later to break up the spring break crowd and drag racing. Its still that way today. One night I decided to skip the antics and stayed home. The next morning, my father woke me and grilled me about the Volare. Turns out my friend got into a head-on collision totalling the Volare at under 1 year old and fled on foot. Luckily no one was severely hurt. He was sent to live with his mother up North and came back several years later later to live with his dad as the stepmom left. I was a junior and had a 1970 Plymouth Satellite 383 4 speed Dana 60 street/strip car ( paid a whopping $2500.00 for it since it had a race built engine and was over $1000.00 higher then similar Satellites and Road Runners). We went out one night and I melted the tires in a bowling alley parking lot. Well, I forgot to look for the police! Got pulled over and they took my license and ran my other two friends. I got off with a warning as the cop made me show him my car. My friend who crashed the Volare had a Juvenile Pickup Order ( Warrant) for Fleeing the Scene of an Accident. His dad decided to teach him a lesson and left him in Juvenile Jail for around 30 days. Time served and he got his license. Sad ending for a great car to cruise in.
i love it