Station wagons are a hot topic right now. Two weeks ago we covered this 1968 Caprice wagon and we received 38 comments from our readers. Many recall growing up and riding in the third, rear-facing seat, or had other interesting stories from their childhood/adolescence that involves a station wagon. This 1979 Plymouth Volare is quite a bit different from the Caprice but is a logical successor considering where we had been regarding mandated emission controls and fuel economy standards in the eleven years between ’68 and ’79. Let’s take a closer look at this Volare wagon, it is located in East Northport, New York, and available here on craigslist for $4,950. Thanks to Dennis H. for this tip!
The Volare was the successor to Plymouth’s fabulously successful Duster. Produced between 1976 and 1980, the Volare was offered in a two-door coupe/sedan, four-door sedan, and a station wagon like this example. It was a good year for Plymouth in ’79, in spite of another contrived oil shortage and the resulting bumpy economy; 179K Volares found new homes. And this Volare wagon is the high zoot-suit “Premier” version, replete with faux wood grain flanks.
This 62K mile wagon is in amazingly clean condition. The Teal Green Sunfire Metallic finish is strong and consistent, and it’s green! The wood grain plastic veneer is fade and nick/gouge-free, unusual after all of these years unless the wearer has been well stored which I gather this Volare has been. The seller doesn’t go into too much detail but he does state, “Really clean and honest car, get in and enjoy”! This Volare wears the older style Mopar rally wheels really well – they absolutely set this Plymouth apart.
As for the interior, it’s good to be green! Swaths of green vinyl are everywhere but it’s in great shape; there are no signs of splits, fades, scuffs, or sun-baked trim – more evidence of good storage and gentle use. The instrument panel is a bit cheesy looking in a late ’70s/early ’80s fashion but that’s how things were in that era, for ChryCo products in particular. At the least, it all looks very functional. Power door locks and working A/C are among this Volare’s optional features.
Under the hood is old reliable, a 225 CI slant “Super” six-cylinder engine working through a three-speed automatic transmission. The seller mentions that he has installed a new radiator, battery, water pump, fuel pump, brakes and rotors, tires. In 1979, Plymouth offered buyers a wide choice of power options including both six and eight-cylinder variants. Interestingly, the 225 six came with either a single or two-barrel carburetor, no details on which one is installed under this Volare’s hood.
There is one image included in the listing of the spare tire well and there is no sign of rust or rust-through so the thought is this Volare is pretty solid. It’s a New York-based car, and that’s always cause for concern, but there isn’t any evidence of an integrity problem. The Volare and its Dodge cousin, the Aspen, didn’t get a lot of respect 40 some years ago but maybe it’s time to reconsider that position, don’t you think?
Oh, the poor Volare/Aspen. A perfect example of dated engineering meeting modern times. I think these had the poorest customer ratings and was the poster child for recalls. Practically took Chrysler down, single-handedly. Even Iacocca said, “we sent a lot of crap out the door”. It wasn’t the Volare’s fault, all automakers were struggling. Look at that engine, the poor slant 6 never asked for any of that, it was just the most economical motor Chrysler had at the time, and they strangled the poor thing. Bugaboos aside, I thought the Volare was nicely styled, right size car for the time. Even today, surely the bugs have been worked out by now. I grew up with “green” things, cars, refrigerators, toilets, mom’s oven mitts ( thanks to Scotty for that one) I love the interior. Great find.
Good analysis of the times in which this car was produced. We look back and mentally trash this era and its cars, but as you noted all manufacturers were struggling. It was what it was.
As a kid in the early 80’s, I knew two families that each had one of these wagons. The only memories I have is that they were hard to start.
I can remember multiple times sitting in the back while the driver cranked and cranked before the car would start.
The other families did the same thing, will always recognize the sound of starter used in these.
I always had a spare ballast resistor in the glove box for no starts on my duster.
My dad had a 76 Aspen. Ballast resistor blew once a year. Regularly
The wagons were known for water leaks from somewhere in the back. My brother in law went nuts trying to find it. I guess it kept the spare tire cleaned unless you drilled a hole underneath it.
My dad bought a new 78 Volare coupe to replace our 1968 Sport Suburban station wagon, which had finally given up the ghost after hard family use. The Volare looked nice, but it was junk and didn’t last a quarter of the wagon’s time with us, even without having to put up with kids that had grown up by then.
John, thanks for the smile. We had a 68 Custom Suburban Plymouth wagon growing up. It gave way to a 77 Dodge Monaco wagon with a 360. It was the first vehicle we ever had with AC. That poor car saw a lot of teenager abuse but just kept on hauling.
My first car was the hand me down 77 Volare wagon with the leaning tower of no power. Destroyed the transmission doing neutral drops. Dad was mad as hell replacing the trans. Sorry dad.
My first car was a 79 Aspen sedan. I killed the transmission doing the same thing.
Thats pretty funny- I blew the rear out of my dads 78 Volare doing the same thing !!
My parents owned a Dodge Aspen after our 1969 Volvo 164 died. Nothing but problems. We wound up using one of our Checker cabs as a family car after my parents got rid of it.
This car, being from NY, has never seen a salty winter road in it’s 62K miles.
Otherwise, it would be dust.
I remember looking at the Consumer Reports “frequency of repair” charts back then, with its black dots for bad and red dots for good. The Aspen/Volare was the first I can remember that was solid black, all the way down- engine,trans, fuel system,body hardware, body integrity, electrical, etc. Of course with every run of cars there are exceptions to the rule that are built a bit better, and this wagon has to be one of them.
I remember Consumer reports charts back then – they always had Toyotas , Datsuns and Hondas as having great body integrity , and I’d drive by those same cars listed and the fenders would be flopping in the breeze – I was living in CT. , and they are a CT. based company, so they should have known those 70s imports were major rusters , but it was never noted. After that I figured there was some major bias on the reporting and stopped my subscription
This incredibly rare car is only a 360/4 and a 727 away from being worth the asking price.
The “Super” refers to it being a 2bbl carb. 1bbl was standard.
I don’t know why these cars are regarded as poorly as they are. I do know about the fender rusting issues on the 76s, but this is a 79. This has the Super Six – which by the way means it has the 2 barrel carburetor – which is an appropriate balance of power and economy for these. The 1 bbl carb is too weak in a wagon. The reason they were hard to start and had driveability problems was because of all of the emissions equipment. At this point, it doesn’t matter anymore. You could bypass some of that and you could tune it so it runs properly. There is nothing mechanically wrong with the drivetrain on these. This really is a great size for a wagon – not too big or too small. It seems to be in great shape, so why not? 1979 was not a good year for Plymouth as stated – it was one of their worst sales years, and they were down to 3 models – this, the Horizon, and the TC3 – which is really sad considering Plymouth as late as 1973 (I believe) had been the #3 selling brand in the country. And the reason why Chrysler almost went bankrupt in 1979 was not because of these. It was because in 1974 they came out with the brand new full sized cars (Fury/Monaco/Newport/NewYorker), right as the first 1973-74 gas crisis was going on. They had invested all of this money in redesigning them, and they didn’t sell. So the seeds were sewn years before 1979. People were simply not buying their cars because they were seen as too large and fuel inefficient. The mid sized B bodies dating from 1971 were also quite large and by the mid 70s no one was buying those either. Chrysler had no small car to sell except for the Omni and Horizon and that wasn’t until 1978. As far as this Volare wagon goes – it’s in great shape, it’s a good size, it has good mechanicals, the Super Six is a great engine for these. If you bypass some of the emissions controls (if not already done) and it’s tuned properly, it will run fine. I still have a 77 Volare sedan so I can attest to this. The F bodies were cars with great potential. They just needed to iron out some of the bugs and they would have been great cars. It was the 76s and the fender rusting issues that tarnished these cars’ reputations. They’re not bad at all.
You nailed it 100% – I had several of these (1978 -1979) , and while they are not performance or luxury cars , They are a reliable, easy to work on , good size car
In 1979 Plymouth offered several different Mitsubishi products ranging from the Champ through two coupes to the Arrow Truck. You could also still buy a Trailduster or a full-sized Voyager van at your local Plymouth dealer.
Uncle had the sedan, kept running even after the fenders were toast ,lol!
Recall on them, $200 each, iirc.
No front fender liners as i recall, and also kept ballast resisters in glovebox.
Leaning tower of power, keep the oil changed, run forever!
Says “wave cash”! $3k for this long roof. jmo.
That rear seat looks funny to me.
Mom had a ‘76 Premier wagon like this, also with the slant six. Agreed it was an ideal size then and even today. Otherwise, ours was a steaming POS. The six was impossible to kill, but had zero power, had huge starting and drivability issues and got lousy mileage as a bonus, mostly because you were at WOT all the time. Electrics were always an issue as were water leaks, probably related. The dealer was no help as they were overwhelmed by the quantity of Aspen’s/Volares in the shop daily. A no-start that left mom stranded in the days before cell phones was the last straw. The Plymouth was traded immediately after the tow and repair for a ‘78 Volvo 244DL that while not trouble free was a revelation compared to the Volare.
My first new car was a 1977 Volare coupe, super six, 4 speed manual with Overdrive, and a fold down rear seat. Great durable economical vehicle that served me well for 103k miles. Replaced it with a Diplomat station wagon 6 months after my first child was born. BTW, the super six name = 2v carb.
Very cool wagon. Not surprisingly, it appears to be sold.
Thanks to “S” above for an honest evaluation. I also had a 76 Aspen wagon with the single barrel six and four speed with overdrive. It actually was a great trouble free vehicle for 201K miles. It was not driven in snow so there was never any of the infamous fender rust, or any other rust either. I traded it for an 81 Diplomat 2-door, also with a slant six/727. Funny story: when I traded it for the Diplomat at a Chrysler dealer the speedometer was showing one thousand miles. They didn’t ask me about it, just took it for a test drive and told me what they would give on trade. When we were signing papers they had put 101 K miles on the odometer statement. I crossed it out and put down the correct 201 K miles. They were surprised but couldn’t back out then.
I remember these as being tough and reliable cars. My buddy had one as his first car and it earned the name “War wagon” for good reason. One time we sent it airborne Dukes of Hazzard style and the only injury was bent transmission linkage. We drove it home in reverse and with some bending and twisting it was back to normal in no time.
I had this model it’s “grandfather” (dart) and “son” (K car Aries, Reliant). All wagons. The dart was a 170 I drove for a decade (some around the parameter states of this beautiful country for a yr or 2) the motor in a ’64 then ’66. After, returning to the NE I drove the Valarie/Aspens as livery (cab) for a co. And the Aeries I purchased for college use (or was it the other way around on model names?) Anyway – they all gave great service. Cars are more rust proof these days but there was nuttin but pollution and MPGs to worry about w/them. Last forever (the 170 got a clean 300K w/o rebuild). I’m feignin’ for this 1 but its gone already…
last sentenence isn’t right but no more edit function for me…
“nuttin to worry bout w/the motors but… (it should sayP
I remember working on one of these wagons at a shop I was at in 1993. The wood grain did a great job of hiding the rust. I ended up putting my thumb through the passenger door panel near the handle opening the door…..didn’t tell the boss!
I had a volare and aspen wagon, and a volare 2 dr., all bought used, never had any real problems, did replace 1 resistor though. I thought they were good practical cars, kinda miss them
About 5 or 6 years ago I bought what had been a 1 owner 1980 Volare wagon. It was red in & out, slant six, same basic car as this.
I was driving it to work one morning when the temperature gauge started going up. I got off the freeway but there was no parking where I was. I kept going until I found a place to park, with the needle buried. Once I found a place on a side road, as I was pulling onto the parking spot, a shackle collapsed for the right rear leaf spring, breaking the spring. The differential twisted, snapping the brake lines.
I had the vehicle towed to a friends shop. They fixed the spring & shackle, and the brake lines. They never found a reason for it to overheat & it never ran hot again. That alone gave me pause, and I sold it a few months later. I liked the car, but not that much lol.
I think that took care of my appreciation for these cars. I wouldn’t mind having an older Valient or Dart, but unless it were a cream puff, I think I would pass on an F body wagon.