A 1977 Dodge Aspen brochure calls this lineup “The unbelievable small car.” Entering the market as a follow-up to the Dodge Dart and Plymouth Valiant (for the Plymouth Volare variant), there were initially some quality issues, but as is often the case, by the end of the run, they were pretty good cars. The seller has this one posted here on craigslist in Chesapeake, Virginia, and they’re asking $7,950. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Tony P. for the tip!
As a young architecture student, we were taught to take risks, and Dodge sure went out on a limb when they named this color: White. For a car located on the East Coast, and by coast I mean almost literally on the coast of an ocean filled with salt water, I don’t see any rust on this car. That’s amazing, given that the seller says it’s still wearing its original paint and vinyl top. Both look almost like new to me, other than the rear bumper filler material.
The rear bumper filler material may just be dirty, maybe, possibly? It’s hard to tell, but if it isn’t cracked and missing, it should be able to be touched up, and nobody would be the wiser, in my best Oliver Hardy voice. Babe Hardy was long gone by the time the Aspen came out in 1976, and Dodge and Plymouth dealerships offered them until 1980. That’s not a long time to be on the market, and they were available in a variety of body styles, other than a convertible and 2-door sedan.
A nice, checked or other funky 70s pattern cloth interior would have been great, but this one is tough-as-heck vinyl, and it looks perfect both front and back. The rear window louvers are as cool an accessory as was available for these cars, and I wouldn’t stop looking until I found a set of those for my ’77 Aspen, if I had a ’77 Aspen. The trunk also looks clean, from what we can see. Not “clean” as in having been vacuumed recently, but solid. We don’t see any underside photos, though.
Speaking of clean, I did not expect to see such a clean engine bay! And, just to have an engine photo in a craigslist ad means something good must be happening in the world right now, if that’s even possible. Even better, this seller includes three photos (!) of this clean 318-cu.in. OHV V8 with 145 horsepower and 245 lb-ft of torque. It’s backed by exactly what you knew would be hiding back there, a 3-speed TorqueFlite automatic sending power to the rear wheels. The next car in line would be front-drive: the K-Car. The seller says this one has “new tires, new brakes, brake hoses, rotors, new plugs, wires, cap and rotor just serviced,” and more! In looking at the specs, this car reportedly gets between 13 and 15 mpg, or about the same as my former 500+ hp, 4-second-0-to-60 whisper-quiet Cayenne Turbo. This Aspen looks like a winner to me, how much would you pay for this one?
Just don’t let it get wet.
Hard to believe that the fenders are not rusted out
The 76 Aspen wagon we had, my father was getting ready to drill a new hole and mount the antenna further away from the rot hole before it fell off. We eventually sold it. The slant 6 was the only thing reliable about it.
It’s probably had the fenders changed under the program that Chrysler had for the 1976-77 F-bodies. The revised fenders eliminated the design flaw that caused the corrosion in the original fenders.
It’s probably had the fenders changed under the customer satisfaction program (it technically wasn’t a recall, but worked like one) that Chrysler had for the 1976-77 F-bodies. The revised fenders eliminated the design flaw that caused the corrosion in the original fenders.
Only showroom car I ever bought. Went out for a Mitsubishi built Dodge Challenger in Blue, but port strike, vacation coming , Got this showroom Aspen instead, but fancy SE Velour interior, slant six engine. Owned it’s crappy build for 3 years before selling it off, thank you!
Wanted one as shown on the brochure, triple tan metallic, buckets/console; was told by a salesman that I wouldn’t be able to get one exactly like that, as the Chrysler corp. only “made a very few of them”?!?
I always hated salesmen who lied or wouldn’t try. No reason you couldn’t order that car unless dealer policy was sell out of stock only. My dad bought a 73 Colony Park. I wanted it dk green with tan interior – both colors they made. Salesman said they didn’t come that way. I told them just fill in the order sheet – they will do it. It turned out to be a great looking car and the salesman learned not to say no.
We got one of those in ’77! Velour bucket seats, triple tan like the brochure, 318, “SE” power windows, seats, locks, steering, brakes and AC! It worked well for the first year then began having problems.
My friend had an SE just like this that was a hand me down from an older brother. By the mid 80’s, it was already really rusty. I recall the color being more of a gold, so maybe not exactly the same.
100% Ford guy here but I had one of these in 1993 that I paid 60 bucks for. It was indestructible. Wanna see how I tried? YouTube “Disco Dodge”
I went to YouTube and searched. It came up with a Charger SE, a Dodge Truck, and the closest thing was a “Disco Wagon” Aspen Wagon.
Do you have a direct link?
Running a Goodyear store in a small town with a Dodge dealer on one end and a Plymouth dealer on the other end. I learned very quickly to hate these cars. Not for all the business they brought me, but because it seemed that all were made from old beer cans (particularly the wheels) Back then radial tires were starting to be the ” newest” thing in the automotive world . And there were plenty of issues with them. (CAN YOU SAY FIRESTONE 500s? I knew you could!) So whenever a customer brought in a Volare or Aspen to the dealer with a vibration complaint, they dealer just farmed it out to us. Virtually all cars with the Firestones had at least one bad tire and one or two bad wheels. We had our share of bad Goodyears too. But nowhere close to the amount of the bad Firestones. Bent or out of round wheels by the scores, out of balance or out of round brake drums, brake calipers with siezed pistons. I could not believe all the poor quality, since I and the business had never had any issues with Darts, Demons, Valiants and Dusters. I would not buy one for a openny! My stepmom. Bought one of the last wagons and my Dad brought it to me. Sure enough, it had 3 out of round wheels and it needed tires. I replaced the wheels with the original wheels off my New z Dodge van. (They were heavier duty and about 1.5″ wider. I installed Goodyear Double Eagle tires because she was always on the road showing dogs. And lastly I installed KYB gas adjust shocks to help the overly soft suspension. She put 200,000 more miles on that car with never a single issue. She got 105,000 miles on the tires! Rust was finally an issue since we lived in the Chicagoland rust belt. So she upgraded to a B200 van. I was very surprised at the use she got out of that car!
The only MOPAR I ever owned. Mine was a Volare, 318, loaded, with the velour interior, white with a red vinyl half roof. Got it for free, in the mid-80’s. Guy said if I got it out of his driveway, it was mine. Towed it home, put a starter in it, and drove it for 6 months til the trusty 318 threw a rod.
Would much rather have a Dart or Valiant but it does look in really clean shape. Can’t beat a southern car. One of the reasons I went to VA to buy my 84′ Dodge Daytona turbo z. Everything up hear in the northeast was junk.
This is a nice one, for sure.
I’m not sure if there are many Aspen buyers at almost 8K.
Scotty, your 2 door sedan looks like a 2 door Granada.
I like it and it will fit in my garage.