The Dodge Aspen and Plymouth Volare were the successors to the Valiant and Dart compacts that sold so well in the 1960s and 1970s. With similar engineering, they should have been hits, but a slew of recalls due to quality control issues (common in the ‘70s) led to a single generation of just five years. This 1977 Aspen, a second-year coupe, looks to have beaten the odds and has that “new car shine” after 46 years. With just two owners, it’s been well-maintained and – from Goldendale, Washington – is available here on craigslist for $6,900. Our thanks to PRA4SNW for this Mopar tip!
Along with Plymouth, Dodge introduced their new compact in 1976. Perhaps to appease prior owners of the Valiant and Dart, those two cars continued in production for part of that model year, giving buyers more than one choice in compacts for a brief period. Initially, the Aspen/Volare pairing sold well, but some negative press took the duo from a peak combined production of 266,000 cars in 1977 to a low of 67,000 three years later. 1980 would be the last outing for either car, replaced by the front-wheel-drive K-Cars in 1981 as Chrysler needed something new to rescue it financially.
My mother owned a 1974 Dodge Dart and a 1980 Plymouth Volare at separate times, and the latter car was just as good (or as average) as the other, so whatever issues that the Aspen/Volare had were worked out after a couple of years. The seller’s car looks like a survivor-quality vehicle with 71,000 miles and is likely to get many more under its belt as the venerable 225 cubic inch “Slant-Six” engine is under the hood. While no rubber burner, those motors are known to be quite reliable and long-lasting.
The seller bought this Dodge a few years ago from the estate of the 93-year-old lady who purchased it new. She and the seller no doubt kept it under wraps as often as possible, and it presents as well as it did back in the day. Over the past six years, the car has only seen 12,000 miles and only needed a tune-up and a few oil changes. The tires are newer and the only thing the buyer may want to do is change out the carpet which has faded with age (but the rest of the interior looks nice). The seller has some health issues, which is prompting the sale. Have any of our readers ever owned an Aspen?
We had one of those. Same color too. But ours was the “SE” so it had the hood ornament, 318 V8, AC, power steering, brakes, windows, locks and seats. We got a good deal because it was a “demo” with 5k miles. But we had many issues with it either because it was a demo or because it was an Aspen. We traded it in on a 80 Aspen 4dr. which was a much better car. Plus it was brand new, not a demo.
Imagine if you bought an abused Aspen or Volare rental car instead.
Yet, unlike the Vega, if an unabused one could go 77k miles in good weather like this one for sale w/o any issues, then i would say the only issue with these was rust when driving in bad weather or leaving it outside in bad weather.
Try finding a 2 door car today this size this price with room for 4, with a full tan interior, & decent rear overhang, large side windows, & protective bumpers.
Trying to picture it w/o the vinyl roof.
I like it but I think $7k is on the higher side , my truck is only two wheel drive, this thing is only two wheel drive so if I sold my Subaru and got this I would have two very dependable rigs but would need to find a 4wd for this weeks we do have snow. That black jeep posted here the other day was nice… My driveway is starting to fill up I need to quit when I still have room because I’m also watching that little red car from earlier in the week…
Troy, any RWD car can be driven in the snow – just get dedicated snow tires all the way around. Throw some ballast over the rear wheels if needed. I daily drove a 2013 RWD Charger here in NH for almost 10 years without a single issue. Seemed more natural to me than driving a FWD.
That being said, I would never drive this in the snow. Not because it couldn’t handle it, but these cars rusted out super quickly in these parts where they salt the roads.
I agree completely I never owned a AWD car until I moved here where its needed unless you want to chain up when it snows because of the hills however the snow normally only lasts a week or two between December and January. Guess it’s what I get for living in Hells Canyon
Can’t go wrong with that Slant-six. Those engines are bulletproof as long as you take care of them. Tune-ups, oil changes, etc. 👍👍
Wow, that looks like it’s in great shape, and it has that dependable slant six under the hood. That “cloth” roof on cars of this era always seemed a bit odd to me, but this looks like it’s been kept indoors, seems to be straight and true. I bet you could drive this for another 45 years.
Not cloth…vinyl. I had a friend who had the roadrunner version of this. Black with red and orange graphics. 60 series with cragars and white letter tires. Ordered extra thick black leather interior. T-tops. 360 with a cam. Sidepipes. Actually looked good with them. Would really like to have that car today. Boy was I jealous at 16. At least I got to drive it.
The only brand new car my parents have ever bought was a 78 Aspen. White with red along the bottom and a red interior. It also had the quarter window bars and Magnum 500 style wheels. Not a bad looking car, really. It was a complete POS. The 318 was always pushing oil out and the dealer couldn’t, or wouldn’t, fix it. I was pretty young so I don’t know all of the details, but I know my dad didn’t buy another Mopar until 2017.
The orig female owner would have been about 47 yrs old when she bought it. Surprised she did not get a 4 door, let alone power windows or even a/c.
From age 47- age ?? & she was still driving a fairly sporty 2 door, while today the few teenagers & even 20 somethings with licenses are driving ugly 4 door all lookalike colorless appliances – just shaking my head from side to side repeatedly.
It is a shame. With the exception of a few sports versions and big brute trucks cars these days are more an appliance ( like a fridge or washer) than a statement. Also a shame is younger drivers only know these things as a cool car.
We owned a 1976 Dodge Aspen sedan and it had the very venerable 318 V8. The car was solid comfortable ride vehicle. The only issues it had was 1) minor rear end hit and 2) a minor carburetor issue. The rear end was fixed and I figured out that the choke was causing the carburetor and just made the choke rod a little longer. Never the less, it was a great car.
My parents bought a 76 Dodge Aspen wagon in the mid 80s, it had the slant six with A/C that didn’t work. It was already a rot box, but the blue paint was still shiny. The push-button HVAC controls were crappy, my father replaced it once, then when that one was worn, you had to hold the button in to keep the blower on.
I like this car, to an extent. It’s in good shape, looks quite sporty. I wish it had A/C and a 318. Then I would be in the bidding. Don’t want to deal with the week 7.25 inch rear axle. 77K miles is about all that’s good for.
Otherwise the price is close to spot on for the condition. I would just love to bring Mopar home to piss my GM (Garbage Motors) only brother off. I already have a Ford product and would love to rub it in.
Won’t last long in that shape and at that price…
I had a 76 volare 4dr with the 318. I built the 318 all high performance toped it with a alum. 4bbl carb and headers glass packs was loud fast and comfortable. I drove it every where for a long time I loved it. A buddy of mine bought a dodge pickup with a slant 6 that thru a rod through the side of the block. It still ran and he drove it home like that said it ran ok but leaked some oil. The slant 6 was a great motor. He replaced the motor with a used slant 6 then sold the truck to me and I drove it daily for several years. GLWTS
My friend had a well used and abused Volare wagon all marooon inside and out with a 360 and roofracks with the original rally wheels on it still, he didn’t know much about cars and every car he had he blew up the engine from not putting oil and water as usual 😝but I told that donkey give the car to me when he blew this one up and it probably needed the usual a timing chain because of the plastic outer cam gear shredded apart which is typical with these 318s and 360s plus a tuneup but anyway the county came and picked it up fast 💨 soon that week outside on the street from his house and he didn’t tell me in time but the real sad 😢 thing about losing this car was that it was a 4-speed wagon that’s the heartbreaker 😩lol and he also forgot that he left his sawed off shotgun under the seat as well and he was really pissed about that more than anything lol 😝
I inherited a Volare from my ex father in law.
Never happy with the car. It had the slant six but that engine got poor gas mileage, had lousy performance and was just overall not good. Problematic.
My previous car was a Dodge Coronet circa 1975 , with the slant six.
That engine was smooth and trouble free. I remember the Coronet as being one of the most dependable, substantial cars I ever owned.
The two engines in those cars were like Jekyll and Hyde.
Didn’t know why then, but from reading comments I guess it was all the anti pollution ad ons.
This is the third time this car has been featured on BF in the last few months.
The seller lowered the price by almost 4K since the last time we saw it here about 5 weeks ago.
So maybe this is the last time we will see it.