Dodge spelled out “Special Edition” for this 1977 Dodge Aspen SE Wagon, rather than using “SE”. If anyone is looking for what may be the nicest example out there, this one really appears to be special in more than just its name. This rust-free woodie wagon can be found listed here on eBay in Sarasota, Florida and the bids are up to $9,000 so far, but the reserve isn’t met.
It’s hard to believe that the Dodge Aspen and Plymouth Volaré were only made for five years, from 1976 to 1980. This car in Vintage Red Sunfire Metallic with woodgrain trim looks as close to new as any that I’ve seen. Dodge didn’t offer a two-door sedan version of the Aspen, so I made a Photoshop version here. I like the notchback look, it’s too bad there wasn’t one available. I also made a quick convertible, just because there should have been one of those, too.
This example appears to be in outstanding condition, I don’t really see a major or even a minor flaw inside or out. The seller says that this car is rust-free and they have provided some detailed photos showing things like the bottom corners of the doors, and they look brand new. They posted a few underside photos and it does look good and, as is almost always the case, it would look great with a dry-ice-blast session.
An unusual feature of this particular car is that these fantastic red and white Hillcrest Plaid seats aren’t original to this car. The seller says that this car originally had a burgundy vinyl interior and these seats and door panels are from a 1978 Aspen, but they would have been available in 1977 so I don’t see anything wrong with that swap at all. It’s hard to argue with funky, bright, cool, patterned fabric seats for me and these fit this car perfectly.
The engine is Chrysler’s 318-cu.in. OHV V8 engine, which would have had 135-140 horsepower and 235 lb-ft of torque when new. The seller says that everything works right down to having cold air-conditioning, and it has a new power steering pump. The transmission is Chrysler’s three-speed TorqueFlite automatic, and this sure looks like a nice rust-free example. Have any of you owned an Aspen wagon?
I like the style of this,but would never own one.
When we passed through Sudbury,Ontario,there was
a new one of these in a showroom that really looked
sharp.It was Black,with the custom factory wheels on it.
Re: Banner headline,,,more like the ONLY one left. Before the “Econobox” Omni/Horizon, like right before, these were the stopgap measure on the WAY to minicars, and failed miserably. I thought the Aspen/Volare was the right idea, but they were trying to do too much at once, better mileage AND less emissions. That was a tough nut to crack, and the Aspen became the poster child for recalls. THIS was the car that almost took Chrysler down. Like Lee Iacocca said, “we sent a lot of crap out the door”. While the collectibility may be low,, compared to what’s available today, this would make a great car.
Side note, this car takes 14″ tires, and in case you haven’t looked, 13″ and 14″ tires are almost extinct from the local tire stores, so be ready to pay “innernet”[sic] prices. And I realize my resolution, but no post of mine would be complete without,,NINE GRAND? They’re nuts.
Over 2 million sold, so hardly a failed car ; the Chevy Citation became the poster child for recalls
I would contend that despite two million sales, the Aspen/Volare twins were failed cars. As were the GM X-cars, which sold over two million units in their production run. As was the Ford Pinto, which sold more than 2.5 million during its time. As was the Chevy Vega, which cleared north of 1.5 million.
All of these vehicles (and there are other examples) were pyrrhic victories—they contributed significantly to their manufacturers coffers in the short run, but significantly damaged their respective brand values over the long term, not to mention the recall costs in the short term. The large adoption of import brands such as Toyota, Honda, Datsun/Nissan, Mazda, etc. was due in part to consumer experiences with vehicles like those noted above. The legacy of all of those vehicles haunted their respective manufacturers reputations and brand image for years after production ended.
Not the only one left. I see them for sale all the time.
Hey Scotty – nice find and write-up. I learned to drive on the Volare version of this wagon, right down to the plaid cloth & vinyl seats, except ours was tan with a light brown interior. The best part was my folks factory-ordered the three-speed floor shifter with the 318. How many wood-grained Volare wagons came with a split bench seat and a floor-shifter? Despite the low HP the Volare had no problem hauling a pop-up trailer to Canada and back, and we could refill every *other* time our friends topped off their 455 Olds Custom Cruiser. Thanks for the memories!
3 spd manual Fitch ? Very cool 😎
Learned to drive a standard in one, with a 4 in the floor. It was my friend’s father’s car. 110,000 miles on the clutch. Cruising the backroads.
My dad had a 4 door Aspen sedan with a four on the floor. One day he tossed me the keys (I was 17) and said “go pick up your brother and sister from school”. That was my initiation into the world of manual transmissions. Thankfully I paid close attention to what he did when he drove so I made it without crashing or burning up the clutch.
A good family friend of mine had a fire truck red version and i am sure it had the plaid seats too and the faux wood outside panel trim too. I liked it then and still do today compared to todays cars with cheese grater grills and jelly bean looks
We had one just like it, except ours had a light tan interior. Same burgundy/wood grain exterior. Had pretty much every option available. My father bought it brand new for $6k. (Was much cheaper than similar offerings from GM and Ford.). Car was never reliable. Parents were trading it in on an ‘81 Chevy. When starting it to drive to dealer, engine caught fire and burned up….LOL it was only 4 years old at the time. Family hasn’t owned a Chrysler product since.
I usually abhor any “personal tweaks” done to old cars, but those seats are fabulous. Especially love how the doors were done too. Very sharp!
I like it we keep seeing these older cars and trucks pop up it has me strongly considering getting rid of my newer car and just stick with the older stuff
I do not know what tire store Howard goes to, but 14 and probably 13″ tires are still readily available. The 318 engine had bad carburetors. The accelerator pump bore was scored and caused problems. They were resolved with the rebuilds.
They had a lot of problems with carbs. Our 76 Polara Wagon would stall out going down our hill all the time. Get to the bottom of the hill and start it again.
I had a ’77 Volare wagon I bought new. Had it for 4 years, worse car I ever owned. Howard is absolutely correct-these almost ruined Chysler. I did not have another Mopar until 1994.
I had a 78 Volare coupe with the super six ; I had it for over 14 years and finally drove it to the junkyard when it had over 200,000 on it and was just plain worn out- It survived 17 years in New England without a garage . Still one of the most dependable car I’ve ever owned
A close friend of mine had one. Ran great, drove good but any time it rained or going thru the car wash water found its way to the spare tire area. He did everything he could to find id but absolutely nothing worked! New window and rear hatch seals or roof rack screws. Nada!
It could have been the filler neck seal , I had that issue on a Mustang I had.
I couldn’t agree more I’d rather drive something from early 80’s and older
The Aspen/Volare cars were then, and are now, such a tease. I look at this station wagon and remember how attractive they were, and how nicely they rode and drove, especially with the 318 under the hood. And this one is particularly attractive, with the plaid interior and wire wheel covers. But in the next breath, I remember what a mechanical NIGHTMARE they were. My late father bought a 77 SE wagon in 78, with 14 thousand miles on it, not quite as elaborately optioned as the one featured here, but still quite attractive nonetheless. I was in my teens then, and being the car buff I always was, Dad always took me along whenever he bought a car, and valued my opinions. We both were impressed with the ride, looks, and drivability of the Aspen wagon, with the 318 V8, and marveled at how Chrysler had managed to incorporate those traits into a car that was so much smaller than the 75 Marquis wagon Dad had decided to sell because of the poor gas mileage it got. But once we got the Aspen home, our enthusiasm quickly vanished. I NEVER remember any car in the family giving so many mechanical problems. By the time Dad traded it in, with 40 thousand miles on it, in the spring of 1980, (for a low mileage 78 Monte Carlo), it had chewed up 2 or 3 rear differentials, the 318 burned oil like mad and constantly smoked out the tailpipe, the tops of the front fenders rusted out, and yes, a water leak into the cargo area developed and was impossible to find, let alone stop. The straw that broke the camel’s back, though, was when it stalled in the toll plaza of the Verrazano Bridge on one of the hottest July days you can imagine, and wouldn’t start again, snarling traffic for what seemed like hours, due to what was later found to be a faulty ballast resistor. Anyone who has driven through the 5 boros of NYC knows that it doesn’t take much to bring out the absolute worst in notoriously hostile New York drivers, and a stalled car in a tollbooth will certainly do the trick, complete with blaring horns, extended middle fingers – well, you get the idea. Dad was SO glad to see that car go, and for years afterwards said that if he ever won a Chrysler product in a sweepstakes, he’d refuse it!
Until he bought a 1985 Dodge 600 sedan in 1986…
But at least he got 128 thousand miles from that car with the 2.2 Liter 4 cylinder!
When I started working as a lot jockey for a rental company in 78, one of the first things they taught us was how to change a ballast resistor on a Mopar. The spider gear differentials were noisy and tended to seize. Usually at busy intersections.
The car in itself didn’t almost ruin Chrysler, it was their buy back program.
They bought back cars from rental agencies, I think it was.
When Lee Iacocca took over the company they have lots full of these cars just sitting there and they had to take the loss on each and every one of them.
I’m sold based on the cool plaid interior! Our family had a 76 AMC Matador Bro-ham Coupe…plaid interior with matching 2-tone vinyl, root beer metallic paint and gold pinstripes! Hot damn and triple family nerd points.
I suffered through a few years of ownership of a 4dr, 1980 Volare, slant 6, no air, crank windows and worse. The only good thing was good gas mileage and it looked similar to unmarked police cars at the time.
I owned a 78 Aspen. Worst car ever. I bought it new, on a Saturday. By Sunday I was jacking it up to fix it.
Yeah , right – if it was new, you would have brought it back to Chrysler as it would have been under warranty .
I did take it back to the dealer on Monday. I needed to make sure the top right A arm wasn’t going to fall off.
My dad owned a couple Volare sedans and they were very reliable and easy to work on himself.
They progressively got better but in 1976 out of the gate they were terrible. Poor quality build and rushed into production. Rusting fenders was a major recall item, this was fixed by 1977. Inconsistent build quality leads to mixed reviews of them.
The last one he owned was a final year 1980 with the 225 slant six. Very basic, especially by today’s standards but super reliable. Nothing went wrong with it and regular maintenance was dirt cheap.
With close to 2 million Aspen/Volare sales they were everywhere. Police cars, government cars, rentals, family cars.
Who remembers when Sam Malone (from the bar where everybody remembers your name) sold his Corvette for a Volare? Lol, funny stuff.
I had a 76 Aspen wagon, white ‘wood’ sided with a beige plaid interior. Powered by the 225 slant 6 and the floor shifted Overdrive 4 transmission. It was a great car. At the same time my father in law had a 77 Volare wagon he hated it.
My mother bought one new in dark green & 318. Magnificent unit when new! But it had myriad problems from the start: noisy lifters,severe pulling to the left,AC compressor etc. We put more miles in the first year on a loaner Monaco wagon than we did on the Aspen. Excellent design, poorly executed.
Love it Great interior
There was a Chrysler Aspen SUV in 2007-09 and there was even a hybrid V8. They were built in Delaware iirc, and they shut the factory down when they stopped making them.
The basic mechanicals were used in every Mopar of the era from the Duster to B series vans. Carbs and ignitions were problematic and especially the lean burn system. I drove these and Dusters which a local pizza joint I worked at used for delivery. They got the snot beat out of them daily and came back for more. Unless it rained. Then they wouldn’t start. A few years later they were the basic rental car and the forerunners of the Diplomat, LeBaron etc. once Chrysler got the bugs fixed they were a sensible pair of shoes.
I bought a 77 Volare wagon in 1982. Only had 37k miles but had bad rust on the lower body. Also had the wood paneling and Super 6. Mine was tan.Had the transmission replaced twice. Otherwise dead reliable. Drove it from Virginia to Arizona in 1986 with no problems. Kept it until 1992. Had about 110k miles when I traded it in.
My first car was a 77 four door Aspen SE, hand me down from mom. Exact same burgundy color with matching vinyl seats. Car had so many issues – we should’ve expected problems when a piece of sealant fell from the inside the top of the speedometer so it never registered more than 40 mph. That happened in 78, one year after ownership. I inherited it when it was 6 years old. When you washed it, the paint came and turned the towel red. Dad went to Hondas after that for the rest of his driving years…
They were crap overall, too bad too. I like’ em though just like a lot of people did for what they were when they were. The “Six Cylinder” success stories that you hear about are true, they were better built overall than the 318ci versions of the same car. As one of the other commenters wrote about the massive recall disasters of the GM X-body cars starting in 1980, Chrysler actually was just before them with the Aspen/ Volare models. RWD doesn’t automatically make an old classic a reliable car. These were the equivalent of GM’s X-body nightmare. It’s too bad too because I like ‘em. Good luck to everyone.
Ah, the Aspen/Volare twins. Our driver’s ed car was a ’78 Volare and it was a giant POS. If it rained, getting it started required patience and someone chanting a novena in the rear seat. Our across the road neighbor had a ‘6 Volare wagon, and once the temperatures dipped below 60 degrees, it was start, run, stall, Start, run, stall. Was worse when it was damp and when it got cold, as it always does in New Hampshire (as I write this, it’s -15) you’d have better luck walking than trying to drive the car. My first car was a ’74 Scamp, which was as reliable as a Swiss watch, my second car was an ’83 Turismo, again pretty reliable, save for having to replace the oxygen sensors every few thousand miles. I got pretty good at doing that, so it took me less than 15 minutes to snap one in and take the inoperative one out. Folks got suckered into buying the Aspen/Volare because they thought that they were getting the same reliability that was baked into the Dart and the Valiant, which is why Chrysler sold so many. People quickly found out that the two models were as different as chalk and cheese. I wish I still had my Scamp….I would run as far away from this Aspen as I possibly could.
Beautiful looking car. I’ve always loved the 1976-77 Dodge! Aspen. My favourite is the Aspen Special Edition station wagon.
My aunt had a 1977 Aspen Special Edition coupe. I was too young at the time to drive a car at the time, but I remember finding it quite attractive. Since I never drove the car, I don’t know exactly how reliable it was. She had the car for a few years before buying a less attractive (IMHO), but more versatile Honda Element.
Bought a new Aspen wagon in 1978. White with tan interior, 318 V8, auto. Drove it nearly 90k miles in NW Ohio and other than routine maintenance, never had a single problem. Surprised at al the problems mentioned with these cars. The 318 was tried and true and nearly bullet proof.
I was working in a shop in Peterborough and I am not sure how it happened, but when I went to grab the front passenger door handle, my right thumb poked a hole through the wood grain due to the rust behind it….so I just pulled the vinyl flush with the rest again and parked it outside and didn’t say a word.
$9000 and the reserve is still not met? The seller should be thrilled to get a bid that high. That Fairmont for $5k a couple of weeks ago was a steal relative to this one.
Auction update: this one ended at $9,100 and the reserve wasn’t met, so no sale.
Auction update II: this car has been relisted with a buy-it-now price of $9,499, or you can make an offer. That’s so close to the previous high bid that it’s a head-scratcher why the last one didn’t work out, unless it was a bad bidder.