“Room, ride and comfort for less than you imagine”, is how Plymouth describes its Volaré coupe, wagon, and sedan, as with this 1979 Plymouth Volaré sedan. This one is recently out of a 30-year slumber and the seller has it posted here on craigslist an hour south of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and they’re asking $3,200. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Pat L. for sending in this tip!
This is my kind of car. If it had a three-speed manual on the column (three-on-the-tree) it would be even better, but this one has a three-speed TorqueFlite automatic. Who can argue with a $3,200 asking price in 2023, though, certainly not me. I really like the undercover police car look with black steel rims and blackwall tires.
The Volaré and Dodge Aspen were made from 1976 to 1980 and they offered a four-door station wagon, two-door coupe (fastback), and a four-door notchback sedan as with this example. I couldn’t help thinking about what a two-door sedan might have looked like… I like it, the plainer the better for me. The seller says that this car was hidden away for three decades and they brought it back to life and it’s been their daily driver for the last year. Cool.
The exterior looks good, other than a couple of issues like a missing piece of the grille, but wow, did anyone else expect to see such a nice interior in this car?! I see a crack on the top of the dash, unfortunately, but I don’t see any other issues inside. The seats look perfect both in the front and in the rear. We don’t see the underside and there are some issues with the paint, but this looks like a decent deal.
Here’s another case where two hours spent cleaning the engine would have made a huge difference in the presentation. It looks good, though, just a bit dusty. It’s a Chrysler 225-cu.in. OHV slant-six, which would have had 110 horsepower and 180 lb-ft of torque when new. The seller doesn’t say how it runs but the transmission has been rebuilt. Would any of you pay $3,200 for a four-door Plymouth Volaré?
Great specimen, let it sleep for 30 more.
It’s almost worth three grand to take it to car shows to enjoy the ensuing “my mom had one, haven’t seen one in years” conversations. Maybe even park beside a high-dollar muscle car…..
I think you’re onto something, Bob.
Well…here goes ! It was late 1979 and being the eldest child at 9 years old, our growing family needed a 4 door vehicle to replace the 2 door ’73 Nova. With dad being a huge fan of Lee Iacoaca we wound up with a tan 1980 Volare’ all base w/ the 225 and the exception of A/C and a 727 TF. The first couple years it was a driveability nightmare, constantly stalling whenever you’d let off the gas. The dealer could never get it right, likely due to the ridiculous amount of vacuum lines and emission controls they had to contend with. Finally dad was filling up a the corner Sunoco garage and talked to the owner who sad he had seen and fixed dozens of these with the same issue. Sure enough after leaving it for a day and a carb replacement and some butcher work on the vacuum lines it ran perfectly for the next 15 years it was in the family. Never got rust here in OH and the only other issue was with the rear leafs. I’m guessing the replacement carb was probably for an earlier 225,
If I had the storage space, I’d offer $2700 and haggle it out with seller…
Hi Bob, and that guy would be me! Although later Mom bought a slant six Demon.
My Aunt (25 in 1979 and pretty hot) had one of these in umm, 1979, drove me to baseball practice/games, basketball practice/games, football practice/games when my mom was working. All around the ATL Metro area which even in 1979 was hard on a car,
can’t believe it only had 110 HP, she got every Pony out of it…
Frank
They made 2 doors two.
Don, they didn’t make a two-door sedan as far as I know, only a “coupe” with a sloping fastback body style.
That’s what people say when they see my 1977 Ford Granada.
Just because it has my name on the trunk lid, is no incentive, however, if I WAS looking for a regular old car, nothing earth shattering, just to get somewhere, you can bet THIS is what I’d be driving. Again, anyone even remotely interested in a car like this, will want the automatic, and couldn’t care less what the motor looks like. These cars were the downfall of Chrysler, but not terribly different from all car makers at that time. Hopefully, the bugs have been worked out by now, and I thought they were nice cars. BTW, I remember several police agencies that used these. Security mostly, and lucky was the perp that was being chased by one of these,,,they probably got away. Due to what it is, it’s a great find.
Ha, I was hoping you’d see that name on the trunk lid, Howard! You’re right about the automatic, with those nice seats you don’t want to be dealing with a three-on-the-tree manual.
So we can literally say “Howard! This has your name all over it!”
Seller already reduced the price to $3,000.
That engine is a Super Six, meaning it has a 2 bbl carburetor, so it must have a little more power than the older slant sixes with their 1 bbl. This car has an upgraded interior and cruise control. They were very reliable, and this one looks like the paint would polish out pretty nicely. I’d get the A/C working, and fix what was needed. I just remembered, though, the HVAC controls on these were crap, and when worn you had to keep pushing the buttons in harder and harder to keep the blower on. If it’s not hopelessly rotted underneath, which many of them did, it’s worth buying.
The SUPER SLANT 6( whistles), that poor motor could write a book. Originally a replacement for the tried and true flathead, it never asked for any of this. Trouble was, Chrysler was caught with their pants down during the gas crisis, without a viable motor, so the Slanty was it. It soldiered on until 1987 when the V6 , still not a revolutionary motor, replaced it. The 2 barrel did little, as I read the intake manifold was of poor design. I wondered if anyone ever fuel injected one?
Due to the length of time that these engines have been around, there is very little that has not been experimented with. I have seen fuel injection, turbochargers, superchargers, multiple carburetors and nitrous oxide used on them.
They even made a run of them with aluminum blocks.
Although the Slant was intended as an economy engine, for the then-new Valiant…even before release, Chrysler engineers realized they had something special, on their dyno tests. The engine apparently breathed quite well, and the long runners on the intake manifold apparently equalized the fuel/air portions going into all cylinders. There was nothing to do but experiment with it in race equipment…and, right away, it found its way into the D series trucks.
The only thing it wasn’t ready for was the smog stuff. Yeah…that, and the public’s demand for low maintenance, which meant that the lack of hydraulic tappets was a handicap.
That extra barrel added a whopping 10 horsepower, and it did make a difference IMO.
Fantastic Find. Love it
“You’ll be sorry,
With a Volare!”
I had a 78 Volare wagon as a company vehicle, about as stock as you could get it (at least it had a/c), white with blue vinyl interior. The electronic ignition module had a very intermittent fault where the car would just die randomly when you came to a stop. I had a great mechanic that loaned me his personal car (Chevy Impala SS, 1967 I think. It was red.) while he drove my car to find the problem. It finally failed on him and he found the problem. The ballast resistor had failed earlier so we thought that might have contributed to the problem.
I’ll pass on this one.
I had a 1975 Dodge pickup 318 cu in auto that was notorious for blowing ballistic resistors.Fortunately, it was mounted under the hood and easily replaced. I carried 3.
I drove taxi and Brown Volare was in the fleet. It’s brakes scared many a passenger but I made more money in that car than any other I drove.
Yeah, me, too. For a time I worked with a small independent cab company serving my city’s suburban area exclusively. Had 15 cabs, not all of them ran…but he was Chrysler all the way. Before I went to work for him, he ran old Valiants…time ran out on those; but he had several Volares and was getting M-Bodies, Gran Furys and Diplomats, to slowly replace them.
FWIW, the Ms were nearly identical to the earlier Aspen/Volare bodies. Just with some of the bugs ironed out – and felt a lot more solid, and with mushier suspension.
This was not an exciting car (although I like the basic styling) but now, in my dotage, I’d gladly buy one. BUT. Rust issues remain. If this one is clean, and probably it is…it’s a weekend cruiser, not a daily driver.
Which means the lack of front-fender liner and other oversights, won’t matter. It also means it’s not practical in most people’s fleets.
Back when I was younger, I was a bit interested in kit-bashing. I had a Jeep YJ/CJ7 mash-up, with the front clip of a traditional Jeep, but the dash and suspension left as I bought it. With the cab-company Volares, and many still on the road, even in the Rust Belt…I couldn’t help thinking how good a two-door LeBaron would look, with the Volare front clip replacing the awkward waterfall grille used at the time. The style of those notchback bodies, did work…just the trim on both ends, failed.
Same disc/drum brake set up as later A body Dart , I dont know what kind of issues you’d have with them if the system was working properly were
In the 70s, we referred to these as ‘narc cars’.
Dealer friend of mine was going through a divorce and was ordered by the court to give his now ex wife and car so he got her one of these and he was mad because10 years later she was still driving it he said he should have went with the Chevette. It should make its next owner a dependable car for years to come
Around here they rusted to nothing in just a couple years And I heard a mechanic sing Volare Chrysler is sorry mine rusted away its gone today
https://www.motortrend.com/news/dodge-aspen-plymouth-volare-history/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsT-Up4Aedc
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cc-outtake-rust-on-a-volare-in-oregon-it-really-must-have-been-a-rustbucket/
Volare was my Driver’s Ed car in ’78. No cushy velour interior in that one, just the standard hard plastic vinyl with that distinctive Mopar odor when new.
We all thought that a car could not get any uglier, but driving one today would be sort of distinctive.
Looks like the A/C compressor is missing, so getting the A/C going will be a bit difficult and expensive.
We had them as police cars with 6 in them they ran fir ever as ling as we had enough if ignition modules I was a mechanic in the city shop at that time the bodies were poor the door skins and had to be welded and I got real good at rebuilding the third member and replacing brakes every 5 to 7 thousand miles they were not suited for that duty at all
Police cars with slant sixes in them ?
Volare (Oh Oh Cantare Oh Oh Oh Oh)
Volare ad featuring it’s spokesman Sergio Franchi.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3RRiY3QHII
Thanks, now I have to hear that tune over and over in my head. Lol.
I owned several of these Volares 76 through 80 mostly with the Slant6 . Never seen one with a Torque Flight Transmission . Mine all had a 904 transmission that was shared with American Motors !
They’re both 904s , but they aren’t interchangeable ; the AMC has the starters on the opposite sides, so different housings had to be used.
would make an interesting everyday driver for around town. don’t know how it would do on long distance trip. maybe 25 m.p.g.?
This car is a near-identical copy to the ’80 Volare I owned from 1993 to 2003. It was purchased new by my grandparents in 1980. I had upgraded the engine to Super Six specs, added the digital dash clock, map light and locking glove box. It was extremely reliable, even during Manitoba winters, never left me stranded and regular maintenance was a snap.
I should have never sold it.
It’s gone, did one of you buy it?