I had a 1978 Plymouth Volare. It was a blue & silver fully loaded 2 door car, cruise control everything. It had a slant 6 and an automatic transmission. I remember the car was impressively comfortable to drive, the ride was like that of a Cadillac. That blue steering wheel felt good in the hand with effortless ease of steering. The slant 6 was impressive, it felt like a V8 the way it would launch the car down the highway. I wish they made a car like that still these days.
I had the final evolution of the Volare: a 1987 Chrysler Fifth Avenue. It was an AWESOME example of PURE AMERICAN luxury (Think Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham), but in a more "city friendly" size. I would buy a car like this NOW! Actually, I NEED a car like this NOW, Not some tennis shoe shaped "crossover". The modern "300" was CLOSE, But my 5th Ave was better!
I bought a 1976 Dodge Aspen in mint showroom condition with the Slant 6 and TorqueFlite 3 speed automatic transmission. Cream white with beige interior. Ice cold air. Ran like a top, and handled like a dream. Bought it off original owners in 1987 for $400!!!!! Once upon a time in USA. Never to return again ever.
March 1977, Hicksville NY. Dad took the family to either pick up or agree to his new Dodge Aspen. I only remember he had chosen the god-awful cream colored-brown bench seat base model on the showroom floor. I hated it and hated it out loud. My Dad and the salesman took me out to the lot (it was dark out) and let me choose another. I chose a vintage red SE sedan with a parchment interior and vinyl top. My Dad bought that car. I WAS 12 YEARS OLD! A car fanatic was born. I kept that car clean until I went away to College in 1983.
@HelpingHand-ic4wt It was a modest car, but it was spec'd just right. It got a lot of attention. My Dad was a quiet, humble man, but I think he was proud of it. We NEVER discussed that night. It only occurred to me as an adult what I did as a child and how significant it was.
@t21229513 I was a confident kid who was big for my age. My Dad was quiet and gentle. He adored me, and I think he got a kick out of my lack of filter. I remember that night like it was yesterday. When I had a car of my own he would often leave me his car and take my car to his mechanic near his office and have the servicing done for me.
@@jimlubinski4731 My parents had a 63 Dodge Dart station wagon and it was totally dependable and we went everywhere with it. The slant 6 back in the day was a great basic engine.
@@jimlubinski4731 Indeed it was. I don't know if its reliability was maintained after emission controls were added. Chrysler had a terrible time making carburators work properly in the '70s.
My Dad bought a ‘76 Volare woody wagon. Bicentennial car of the year. He hated it. He’d run red lights because every time he stopped it would stall and he’d have people honking at him because it wouldn’t start again until 2 or 3 green lights later. Every single car brand my parents owned while I grew up no longer exists. Plymouth, Mercury, Oldsmobile, Pontiac all gone but we will never miss Plymouth because of that Volare.
I had a '77 Volare with the "Super" Slant 6. Got me through 6 years of university. Many many trips between Boston and New Orleans every year. Unfortunately in spite of my best efforts the winter road salt finally took it's toll on the body and frame. But the drivetrain was bulletproof.
I had the Dodge Aspen Super Six with the 3spd/Overdrive... what made it a super six? it had a TWO bbl carb instead of the 1bbl! lol I had no real issues with it over 7 years...
The same could be said about the Vega, it was a reasonably attractive vehicle which was an outstanding "race" car...the body and engine were in a race to see who would self-destruct first...
My first car was a '79 Volaré. In 1990, I paid $125 CDN for it, which was, I believe, what it would have fetched for scrap. It had a 318 2bbl, and had been in service as a police vehicle in a small community. It was the ultimate beater. Its paintjob looked like it was done with house paint and a roller. Despite only keeping it for the summer, I put a lot of miles on it, including crossing the US border in it a few times-- without getting cavity searched either. Its performance was the expected malaise, for cars of its time and then the age and previous duty. It handled well, with a firm, non-floaty suspension, which may or may not have been due to a possible police package. Thanks for the video! I didn't know they put 360s in them either. Cheers!
In 1999, I bought a turquoise 1949 Packard Standard Eight Touring Sedan in St. Agatha, Ontario, and drove it to Detroit. No cavity search and about a dozen US Customs officers wanted to look at the engine and interior. The Packard is now happily retired in snow-free California.
@joshuagibson2520 Hopefully, they don't do cavity searches on everyone! That would take an awful lot of agents and I would question whether they were doing it for security purposes or for some other untoward reasons.
My dad was a cop in the 60s, 70s and 80s, I loved looking at the old cruisers and unmarked's he drove home. I was never so disappointed as when he pulled up in a Dodge Aspen.
...says the man who must not have owned one. We had a '75 Valiant, and it was a complete piece of garbage. The catalytic converter frequently backed up and caused the passenger compartment to smell like rotten eggs. The engine constantly stalled out, so it wore out two starter motors. One of the front tie rods snapped in half while the car was going around a corner. I could go on.
@@jamesmurray6883 Sometimes that happens. I once owned a 1993 Lexus LS400. I have owned many cars in my life - that one was the most problematic of them all.
@@jamesmurray6883 As I've stated elsewhere, I used to own a four door '74 Plymouth Valiant Brougham which, to my knowledge, was the test bed for many of the luxury features of the Volare and Aspen. It was super quiet and felt like a much bigger car with it's luxurious interior and soft ride. Sadly, the build quality was absolutely garbage. By the time I traded it in there was very little of the car that wasn't just total junk, the 318 engine and the transmission being about all that was still operating well. That car ended my ever owning another Chrysler vehicle again!
My parents had the last year Valiant, a '76 Brougham with the slanty. It was an incredibly nice car for what it was, and ran far better than my '75 Valiant did.
You managed to make a boring car interesting. I really enjoyed the video for the content and the footage. I liked you covered the connections to other Chrysler products and had footage to match. I liked you explain the many details as well. They were still selling the Dart into the early 1980's in Brazil. Dart came back briefly a few years ago and is gone ago. Chrysler could use a suv in 2024 or a line up of vehicles as it is down to a minivan. I recall this car. They did sell a lot of them. Thank you for the effort you placed into the video and the humor as well.
My father had a Volare in black with orange highlights. The car spent more time in the dealership shop than in the driveway. The transmission detonated two days after the warranty was up. He got rid of it and bought a 79 Malibu. Six months later, he was still getting recall notices.
I had a 76 volare and drove the wheels off of it , slant 6 had over 300000 miles on it when i sold it and it still ran great. Literally the most reliable car i ever had.
Thanks for this episode. My Dad owned a Plymouth Valiant station wagon in the late 60s early 70s. We drove that car on many vacations pulling a little pop top camper. It even made it up Pikes Peak without any issues. He then purchased a Volare' with the fake wood grain sticker siding. Good memories!
My wife owned a '78 Volaré wagon that we took on a trip to Idaho and got 23 mpg from its 318 V8 and auto trans. It was roomy enough for us and had a great ride. No complaints.
I'm still driving my '77 Volare I bought new for $6K. It's got 411,000 miles, and have had few problems, even though I've replaced the engine at 325K, (318V8) and 2 rebuilt transmissions I replaced myself, and a few other parts. It's the best $6000 dollar investment I've ever made. Got me from the tail end of adolescence to retirement. ❤
I had a used 1977 Volare coupe for a few years. It was a "meh" car for reliability. It had the three on the tree manual transmission and the linkage would separate at random moments leaving me stuck in whatever gear. The rear brake shoes had a bad habit of rusting solid to the drums if I didn't drive it for a few days with the parking brake applied, which was very annoying. I did manage to to have a bad wreck one night hitting black ice on an interstate and rolling off the highway into the bushes. The exhaust broke off after the converter and nearly every body panel was dented up with a slightly bent right "A" pillar, cracking the windshield. The driver's door was dented in, breaking the driver's window. Aside replacing the exhaust and straightening the door, no other repairs were made. She still drove straight and was perfectly functional transportation. The sheet metal rusted, but welcome to the northeast where snow and road salt seem to be dropped in equal amounts. The slant 6 was a very reliable engine for me, as was the entire drivetrain aside from the shift linkage. The vinyl bench seat was very hard and slick in the colder weather and seat belts were required more for staying put than crash safety when cornering. It wasn't the worst car I owned, but it certainly wasn't anywhere near the best. I liked the fact that it looked a lot like the Duster.
I received my grandfather's 1976 Dodge Aspen after he died in 1977 when I was sixteen while living in Rochester, New York. It was a nice looking red colored body with a white top. As time went on the fenders started to rust and was recalled by Chrysler. They replaced the fender, but gave it what looked like a spry can quality paint job that did not match the factory paint. No clear coat paint was applied. Soon the hood springs rusted out and separated from the car body. Every time I needed to service the engine, I had to use a piece of wood to prop the hood up. There were two additional recalls from what I remember. One involved adding a plastic drain guard under the battery to prevent possible battery acid leaking on to the break cable. The third recall involved replacing the carburetor. My car had a history of stalling out if I made a hard left turn. No fun when you needed a quick turn to avoid oncoming traffic. The body of the car soon began to rust out in various sections of the car. My dad would try his best to apply fiberglass over the rust holes. I used to joke that my car's body had the same amount of fiberglass on as a Corvette. I always referred to my car as.... 'The Dodge Ass Pain'. LOL Drove it through high school to my last year in college in 1984. I eventually got a Federal job and moved to Phoenix, Arizona. The used car I purchased out there was a 1974 Plymouth Satellite in mint condition.
I had a 77 Dodge Aspen wagon in metallic green and my high school friend had a 76 Plymouth Duster, in the same metallic green and 225 slant six engine. We both liked em back then, good cars.
Thank you for your interesting look back. Our family had a 1976 Dodge Aspen wagon. That "car of the year" was the worst lemon on four wheels. After two engines, a new transmission, and a host of other replacements, we traded it in for a nice, sporty 1980 Honda Accord. Handling was like a wet sponge, though not as bad as the Ford Granada. I enjoyed watching those clips of the sappy 1970s commercials!
I had a 1979 Volare SW. It was a great car. great reliability. The engine was bulletproof. It lasted for over 15 years and never broke down. I lost it to an illegal tow.
I can still see the stacks of new Volare fenders at the local Chrysler Plymouth dealer I worked at in 1977. Also can't forget all of the non-matching paint on the replaced fenders. I hope you do a segment on the "K" cars as well. Iacocca did a masterful job selling these piles of crap. They were vibrating tin cans on wheels.
Owned a small body shop and we became experts at replacing those fenders for the local Dodge dealership. Kept us busy if we had a slow day or 2. The paint never, ever matched the paint on the cars faded and lost its gloss in a couple years.
It caught up with them eventually, though. The principle difference was that GM was healthy with a good reputation (deserved or not) at the time whereas Chrysler was not.
Oddly enough the cars like the Aspen that GM was selling for the next two decades were arguably the only really decent ones they were making…..the RWD V8 cars were about the best thing they had going, basically a half ton pickup drivetrain with a perimeter frame. Their compact FWD cars like the K car were the biggest junk upon introduction. Really Chrysler was similar, the M body Diplomat / Fifth Ave. / Gran Fury were actually decent cars, but not what America wanted. The K cars and derivatives were awful but outsold the M body 20:1
I owned a few Dodge Aspen's, and a Plymouth Volare, all had a slant 6, one with a/c, very little issues, did all my own repair in my backyard, I must have had the good ones, thank for the video, cheers
The singer that performed the Volare theme came on the Merv Griffen show. They had a full Orchestra the whole thing. He came out and started to sing Volare. The Audience laughed ! I was a Tech at a Chrysler/Plymouth dealership. We received a new Volare/Aspen ? It had badges of both models with a Aspen Grille and Volare tail lights. We had a recall that involved break lines routed under/near the Battery that corroded the lines. Chrysler sent Plastic Shields to cover the lines. First recall. We had cold running complaints. The unleaded fuel was drying out the Accelerator pumps and the engine would hesitate. Brake squeeks. Chrysler had us applying Duct Tape to the back of the front Brake Pads. It worked but only temporarily. Then a problem with the Heater/AC box. Disassemble the entire Dash to fix it. Fit and Finish was very poor. We use to say the reason Chrysler put the Owners Manual in a clear plastic holder was to keep it dry. Water leaks everywhere. Funny you mention Chevy Citation. I lived that Debacle as well. Five recalls before we could sell the " most tested Car GM ever Built " . Thanks for the memories.
Sergio Franchi? Thanks for filling in details. I remember hearing rust was excessive. Trivia: Colorado skiers protested use the the Aspen name as it was a trendy ski town. A dealership responded that the town stole the name from the Aspen tree!
@@samholdsworth420 yeppers, Duct Tape. This is pre-anti-squeel products. Holly Carburetor came out with new Accelerator pumps ( blue in color ) that stood up to Unleaded. The Carbs used on the Slant Six's had defective Floats ( absorbed Gasoline ) Holly came out with better Floats that didn't sink. We also had to " modify " the Accelerator pump check valve. New straight from Holly to Chrysler and then Dealer had to be gone thru because Holly hadn't fixed em yet. Those were the days.
My parents bought a used ‘77 brown Volare coupe for $3,500 in ‘78 in Brampton, ON that originally came from Flowertown Chrysler-Plymouth in Brampton. It was a bare bones stopper with the 225 ci Slant Six, 4 speed manual, no power steering, no power brakes, no power windows, locks, or A/C. It didn’t have the recalls of the ‘76 models. But it rattled and shook over potholes and rough roads. My Mom drove it until 1985, despite the heavy steering. I sat beside her and helped her steer it. The previous young male owner power shifted it a lot more, so my Dad had to rebuild the 4 speed manual after two years. But he reversed the second and third gears ⚙️ giving it a U shift pattern instead of the typical N pattern. Similar to an Eaton Roadranger overdrive truck transmission. She wanted a Valiant or Dart, but they were hard to find on the market that time. Her previous car was a ‘70 Plymouth Belvedere coupe (similar to the Satellite 📡) with a 225 slant six and an automatic.
My mom had a plymouth velare just like the one in the ad. She absolutely LOVED that car. She drove it from when I started junior high until I was a sophomore in high school. Traded it in on a diesel Benz which she regretted almost instantly.. junior year a friend of mine got a dodge aspen as his first car and she really wanted it but he wasn't getting rid of that thing.
As per quality control, I was looking at one of these at a Plymouth dealer in Johnstown PA. It was a blue Road Runner. At least that’s what it said on the driver side. Walk around the passenger side and it had the R/T stripe kit. That had gotten through the assembly, QC, shipment and dealer prep without being identified. I knew the owner and pointed it out. He hit the roof! Still want an Orange Road Runner T-Top though. I need therapy.
I learned to drive on my Dad's '77 Volare wagon, equipped with the bullet-proof slant-6 and 3-speed auto. The only trouble I remember with that car was the front fenders needing to be replaced during the recall (ours did quickly develop a hole near the radio antenna). The engine didn't make a lot of horsepower, but it was super smooth and made decent low to mid-range torque. Not too bad on the gas mileage, either. And I do remember all those singing ads 🎶🎶
My parents bought one of these new, 1977 model, and drove it until 1985, when someone ran into it and totalled it. I was just 6 when they bought it so I have absolutely no recollection of it giving them problems or not. I do remember loading up the family (mom, dad, three kids, dog) most every winter to go skiing, if not vacationing for a week in the mountains in winter. There ya go!
I have owned a 1976 Dodge Aspen Special Edition sedan since the mid 1980s. Silver with burgundy interior and burgundy vinyl roof. Still like new, even the undercarriage is still without surface rust. 360 4bbl V8. Still drives great.
A family friend was having financial issues in the early nineties and just needed some wheels. She found a 1978 Volare station wagon in a light blue color, it had really low mileage and had been sitting in the garage for several years. It belonged to the sellers grandmother who had it since new, the grandson cleaned it up and put new tires and a battery in it. The car looked liked it rolled out of the showroom. He was trying to sell it for a few months for $1,000 and had no interest. She asked him what his bottom line was, he said $300.00. She drove that car from 1993 until 1999 and did nothing to it other than putting gas in it. It managed through the harsh Canadian Prairie winters with never an issue starting. She sold it for $ 200 to someone in a similar hardship situation as she was and it lasted this person another couple of year before they totaled it.
My dad sold tires at Poquoson Chrysler Plymouth in Hampton, Virginia back in the mid to late seventies. I would occasionally go in with him on a Saturday or days in the summer. They would bring in new cars on the car carrier and most would have to be pushed of and into the garage because they wouldn't start. Then they would take the interiors apart to remove soda cans and garbage left inside by the factory workers. I'll never forget this.
In our little city of Portland Maine there were hundreds of Volarespen taxis running around. So they must've had some redeeming qualities. Though they sure clunked & rattled as they went by! And the lifters were always ticking, yet still ran for many hundreds of thousand miles. Great video!
My Great-Grandmother bought a 1979 Plymouth Woody Volare Station Wagon with all the options: Air conditioning, Power Windows, Wire Wheel Covers, and a saddle Vinyl interior. I liked that car, and she drove it right up until her death in July 1991. She gave the car to me, and I drove the car through high school and College without a problem There wasn't a scratch on the paint or a tear on the interior. The 318 V8 and three-speed automatic ran like a top. I was coming home from my senior year in College and was rear-ended by a drunk in an Oldsmobile 98 at a stoplight. Needless to say, the car was totaled, but the Oldsmobile didn't fare that much better.
Back in the early 1980s, I bought a 1976 Aspen for $800 bucks. It was a one-owner, pristine car with 70 thousand miles on it. I put over a 100 thousand more miles on that car, the only serious problem was the U-joint almost falling off the car.....The slant 6 and 3sp automatic "Baby Torqueflite" transmission was a great, reliable combination, getting anywhere from 20 to 28 mpg. It was likely the best investment as a used car that I ever made. That slant six engine is now legendary, and for good reason...Chrysler Corp offered that jewel for nearly 30 years.
I had a ‘79 Volaré that I bought used in the mid to late ’80’s. It had the 225 cubic inch slant 6. That engine was amazing. The car eventually rusted to pieces, but that engine was still purring like a kitten! Miss that engine!
Pretty much all American auto maker "performance packages" after about 1971 were nothing more than appearance packages. Some cars had lower ratio gears in order to get the cars to 60 quicker but after 60 mph school was pretty much out on those cars. I think I recall the 1979 Z28 had a whopping 175 hp 350 V8. 0-60 was something like 8 seconds but 0-70 took 13 or 14 seconds.
Nice people from Texas on Carrol st and Hoyt st in Brooklyn gave me a green wagon, I'm trying to recall if it was an Aspen, or Volare, Would'nt it be something if that was you ???? Great cars I had multiple of them, I have a near mint 83 New Yorker today.
My dad's first new car was a 1978 Aspen with a slant 6 and 4 speed manual transmission. By the time it was 8 years old he was working on it every weekend. My mom made him trade it in for a 1986 Ford Ranger. That truck treated him very well for 20 years.
My parents had a 76 Volare 2 door they bought used from my uncle. It was the best starting car my parents ever had. Unfortunately rust and a cracked windshield was its demise. My dad went to change tires and the car started twisting when dad tried to jack it up. I also remember it would stall when you would takeoff. Living in the country it was no big deal, but driving in the city was a pain.
Now you're driving up my alley. In 1975, I went in with my Dad on new FIAT 131 (Brava) for our 40 mile one-way work commute. It promptly broke down numerous times, and had to be towed with burned out points and brake problems. We agreed to cut bait, and replace it with a brand new bespoke Dodge Aspen, for the sake of reliability. Although I thought Chryco had missed the boat, introducing no more than a larger, fatter Valiant with evolutionarily conservative styling, Dad let me fill out the form (You could still order an American car built to your own specs). I chose an R/T coupe in silver with black accents and window surrounds, maroon interior with white vinyl buckets, a fold down rear seat with carpeted back for extra luggage room, and factory mag wheels. Critically, we specified a slant six with 4-speed overdrive to squeeze out reasonable mileage. It looked sharp (if gaudy) when it arrived, but we were shocked by the complete lack of drivability: the Aspen simply would not get out of its own way. It stumbled and lugged, and you could never find the right gear, so the overdrive was a waste, returning poor gas mileage on our over-mountain pass commute. Dad traded it for a Chrysler LeBaron with V8 as soon as he could, while I bought a 10-year old Chrysler 300 and moved out to my own place. That Aspen became someone else's problem, and I still feel sorry for them. BTW, the Dodge Dart you showed for 1960 was a full size car. Dodge got a Valiant variant in '61 called the Lancer, while the Dart remained standard size until the name was moved to the redesigned A-Body compact in 1963.
My dad owned a 1978 Aspen coupe with a 318 V8 and Torqueflite automatic. When the car was delivered, the brake light switch was improperly mounted so that the brake lights only came on when the pedal was fully depressed at a stop light. The front end alignment was out of whack and despite numerous trips to the dealer, they could never seem to get it to the point where the car didn't pull to one side or the other. The engine had a chronic misfire and would vibrate strongly when at a stop. Both front fenders began to pit within two years and the weatherstripping on the doors regularly came loose (it was attached with small plastic clips that didn't seem long enough.) From delivery there was a rattle from the back seat area that the dealer couldn't find. We removed the bottom cushion of the rear seat to find several loose bolts lying there. In short, the car looked great, but was a headache from day one.
Worked at a Dodge dealership in CA in '79. The Aspens on the lot were comfortable enough but even the ones with the 318 V8 were dogs(the smog gear seemed to really bog them down). My parents' '74 Dart was a much better car. The Mitsubishi/ Dodge Colts on the lot were much quicker and handier. Woeful times for Chrysler. Don't even ask me about the pickups.
Had a 1979 Volare coupe with the slant super six, a 225 slant six with a 2-barrel carb. Three main issues I recall with that car: 1) The front brake calipers would stick. Chrysler was using plastic pistons in their disc brakes and they would swell causing the front brakes to either drag or lock up. Caliper pistons were replaced under warranty, but I eventually swapped them out with steel pistons. No more sticking brakes. 2)The proportioning valve between the front and rear brakes was not engineered correctly. The rear wheels had a bad habit of locking up before the front brakes under hard braking. 3) The accelerator pump piston cup in the Carter 2-barrel carb would never last very long. I replaced it multiple times due to the piston cup tearing. Other than that it was a reliable car
fun fact: in '79, Plymouth offered a Volare badged as a Duster, which was a trim package with special trim and louvered side windows. This wouldn't be the last time the old badge would be used either, as Plymouth would offer Duster versions of the Turismo, and later the Sundance, near the end of their runs.
In 76, went car shopping with my sister. She got the Volare brand new and while she was filling out the paperwork, I walked across the street to the Toyota dealership just to check it out and bought a brand new Corolla. lol. She began having problems with it a few years later, with water getting into her oil because of blown gaskets. It was repaired and happened again. Then again. She sold it. She mentions once and while today that she really liked the car until it started to fail. My Corolla my grandson has it and it still runs, he had it cherried up and it looks nice!
My dad bought the 1976 Plymouth Volare Station wagon with the lighter Bluish exterior and interior. It had to have a 318CI(5.2 Liters) engine because he was helping to make them at the now defunct Mound road engine plant. I was 15 at the time. I don't recall any recalls. However, we also had a 1974 Plymouth Satellite 4-door sedan with the 318 in it. That stalling problem was present in both. You had to be delicate with it going from zero to speed at stop signs and stop lights. My dad said it never happened to him. I don't know what kind of denial he was trying to pull. A couple years later my grandmother bought the Aspen coupe. It was golden brown. She bought it with a slant 6 engine, she never had a stall.
You made mention of the recalls for suspension troubles. The issue was so bad that the MSP and CHP refused to order any F body for their fleets due to transverse torsion bar failures and front camber issues making them unpredictable and unsafe for high speed pursuits, starting in 78 and continuing through 1980. Many other state police organizations followed suit. This bit into Chrysler's huge police car market, even though many cars were still ordered for street patrol. For 79, coupes and sedans could have the E58 360 4bbl rated 195hp for federal emissions cars. There was a 170hp version for police cars in Cali. The 360 would be gone for F and M cars for 80. 1 last note. Iacocca blew the whistle about what was really going on with these cars in detail, in his book. The buying public had no idea how fast these cars were rushed into production w/o proper R&D, even stating that Chrysler should've held up the discontinuation of the old A's until '77, releasing the F's mid model yr.
the police duty option had aluminum pucks instead of rubber bushings causing more stress on the subframe. For the last couple of years, Chrysler redesigned the subframe with shock tower reinforcements and correct tinsel strength steel. Look for an 88 or 89 :)
My first car was a 1981 Volaré sedan with the 318. Bought it used in 86, it had just under 100K km on it. My Dad has always been a Dodge guy, he was very familiar with them so he had me buy something he could fix and maintain. Although it was only 5 years old, the Volaré already had rust issues, and water was leaking in everywhere. Then came the stalling problems (left me stranded a few times). Couple years later I had a good job and enough money to buy my first new car. The Volaré was given to my younger brother, where it had a quite short life, given the way my brother was (mis)treating his vehicles! Today it makes me realize how far vehicle qualité has come. My current car is a 16 year-old Acura TSX with 365K km on it. It still drives and runs super nicely, and the reliability... well it's a different world.
I still have my 77 Volare, It originally had the super six, but swapped it to a 318. Absolutely loved the handling compared to the Darts that I owned(1973 &1969) thanks for the video.
Thanks. I was a school librarian on the Navajo Res in NE AZ. In 1983-84 my first year's Navajo Library Aide drove a '78 Dodge Aspen. Meanwhile commuting between 2 schools I drove an awful '79 Ford Fairmont Gvt Car, with horrible worn out shocks, 'buzz bomb' auto trans, and miserable boggy slug 'acceleration.' Sometimes though I drove a '79 Jeep Cherokee the 18 mile dirt backway past Navajo hogans (trad. houses). At 62 mph I made it 'fly' --jumping all 4 wheels. With 4 wheel leaf sprung live axles it jumped solidly. I kept wheels very straight during jumps.
I learned to drive in a 1970 Chrysler Newport (4 door) with a 383 2 barrel V8. It had a green/gold metallic paint with a color coordinated interior (bench seats). Loved that car and the fuselage styling. Best looking grill ever IMHO. Would love to see you do a feature on that car.
I had a 1977 Dodge Aspen wagon that now has around 350,000 miles on it. It's no longer legal to drive on the road and hasn't been for many years. It's so rusty even the area around the tailgate window rusted away and one day the window popped out and shattered while driving down the highway. These days it has a high quality cardboard and duct tape rear window and it's used at a friend's salvage yard to push and drag other cars around. It's had at least 10 transmissions replaced, all from other cars in the salvage yard. The frame is also bent and has patches welded on where it rusted away. The oil light flashes and the top end is clattery when you first start it up but that 318 is somehow still going and he uses it almost every day. It no longer requires oil changes either. It burns and leaks oil so bad you just need to add more when the top end gets too noisy. Maybe one day a cherry one will roll down Barrett-Jackson's floor and sell for more than it sold for when it was new, which was a little over $4000 in 1977 according to the invoice that is most likely still in the glove box of my old wagon.
Having had a '79 Aspen, I know it wasn't great. But it did have a good ride, brakes, and handled well. The slant 6 always ran extremely rough despite much attention from mechanics and the front seat upholstery split at the seams by 20K miles. It deserves its wretched reputation.
In 1988, my best friend got a maroon 77 Volare 4 door from a relative. It still had shiny paint and an interior that a couple of 16 year olds considered "plush," but disappointment was right around the corner. When it came time to get it inspected he was informed by the mechanic that the entire front subframe was about to separate itself from the rest of the car due to SEVERE rust issues which actually was a complete shock to us since the car drove "straight and normal" and looked fine standing next to it. We sure did some stupid things in that car and to that car in the year he had it not realizing how close to death we were...😂
I worked at dodge main assembly from 78 to 80 putting these together. I started in the bodyshop, and it was clear the "give a shit" factor was quite small, unless of course it was a police/taxi unit. Those had a lot more weld points and fasteners added around the suspension and door openings. QA even used torque wrenches, something you would never see on regular cars. Eventually as the plant would down, many of us moved over to lynch road, where the new yorker & newport was being built...
Grandpa bought a late 70's Volare, 8cyl, 4 Door Burgundy Color in and out with Color Matching Velour Seats.. Those seats made me sick every time I rode in it. It was Grandma's Car.. And would be taken on longer trips but got Shite Gas Millage. 16mpg Max. Had the 318 in it. Also Burnt Oil. Rust was a HUGE Problem and had to have it Repainted Several Times..
I can remember we had one of those come in on a new car delivery and it had different size and style wheels and tires on either side. It had a remote control right hand mirror with the cable run to the driver's side dash but no hole for the handle to come through.
The only thing I remember about the Aspen and Volare is that we used to go find them at junkyards and salvage the 'Super Six' two barrel intakes for our Darts and Valiants.
I had a friend in high school back in the early 1980’s. He brought his parents 1976 VOLARE wagon to school once in awhile. I got to ride in it many times and I loved it. It rode as smooth as glass and was comfortable. But that 318 stalled constantly. Loved that old CHRYSLER starter sound. I wondered how we ever got home. I CHRYSLER could never get their quality right for whatever reason. It was a nice car otherwise.
Well my grandpa bought a brand new 1979 Dodge Dart (in Mexico the Aspen name was never used until the suv aspen, so they were the Chrysler Volare and dodge dart). It came with the slant six and a 3-gears manual, later in there was an offering of a 4-speed manual and an automatic. It was a beautiful navy blue coupe with blue vinyl and fabric ibteriir and a half vinyl top with louvers in the rear quarter windows which I helped to choose (I was six years old). Never had an issue with the car except for one time overheating as we have in tropical south temperatures of 90 + degrees. And he sold it in the late 90s when he wouldn't drive it anymore.
Dad had a 76 Volare Premier 4dr V8 outfitted like a little luxury car. Before I was old enough to drive it (and truly understand that experience, meh), I thought it was really impressive. Such a nice interior, better than most of the neighbors / classmates had even in their larger cars. Only the Granada / Monarch Ghia sedans rivaled it at the time, but when comparably equipped they were much more expensive.
I've always wanted a Volare' Road Runner. They just look so cool. The mid to late 70s era graphics and fender flares are so cool in general and the Volare' really wears them well.
My first new car was a 77 Volare Coupe, base model. I special ordered it with the 225 6 cylinder, automatic, bucket seats, manual sunroof which was a lot of fun and it never leaked, rallye wheels and rallye sterring wheel. With the cruise control set at 55mph I got 24 mpg. I never had any problems with it. It was quiet as I bought the extra sound insulation package. It had a very comfortable ride.
I had a 1978 Dodge Aspen Wagon that was a hand me down from my mother. She picked it off the lot at Herbee Dodge in West Islip, NY. It had the wood paneling. It had the 318 V8. Ran well, but it was damp out, it would not start. I got rid of it after the fly wheel went. I miss that wagon.
My first car was a used 1978 Dodge Aspen wagon. White (or mostly rust) w/wood paneling and the 318 V8. We called it The Beast. My next car was a used (shocker!) 1980 AMC Concorde wagon and was yellow (as in LEMON) w/wood paneling. Not much worked in that car, but I did like the look of it, since it looked a lot like the Jeep Eagle models that came out a few years later, closer to when I had my car.
I bought new a 1976 Volare Roadrunner with the 318 V8. It was recalled 5 times. It was a fun car to drive and I put 250K miles on it before the unibody rotted out. I vowed never to buy a1st run of the model year car after that. I still miss the "meep, meep" horn.
They “only” had a 5 year model run because the K-Cars replaced them in the entry-car lineup. The basic Volare/Aspen platform lasted for 13 model years and included the 1980-81 LeBaron, the 1980-83 Cordoba/Mirada, the 1981-83 Imperial, and the 1982-89 Fifth Avenue, Diplomat and Gran Fury. The Fifth Avenue version sold over 100,000 units in 1985 alone, so I’d say this car was far from a failure once the early model kinks were worked out.
My parents bought there first new car off the lot in the fall of 1978 at Star Chrysler Plymouth in New Orleans. It was a 1977 Plymouth Volare sedan. That car was the biggest piece of sh!t ever. The trunk had to be slammed shut with several tries. It left my mother stranded with us on a regular basis. Chrysler replaced the transmission twice under warranty. There’s no way I would buy Mopar even today.
There was also the '77-'80-ish Chrysler LeBaron 2dr. Coupe also based on the Volare` I think you didn't mention. We had a 2 yr old used one. As a teen, I heard about the front fender recall and could tell the fenders on our LeBaron had been replaced. It was a black on black Medallion Edition & super plush. Great video!
I had a 1977 Aspen station wagon which I bought in 1980. I loved that car with it's 318 V8 and fancy trim. In 1988, a guy pulled out in front of me and I T-Boned him. I actually drove away from that. The car was no longer pretty but driveable. A few months later, I bought a 1985 Honda Goldwing from a friend, and gave the Dodge to him because he needed the steering gear out of it for his Dually truck. I had driven that car all over the country and it had never failed me, plus it got 23 MPG on the HWY, which was really good for that era.
We had a 76 Two Door Volare Sport bought right off the delivery transporter truck as it was being unloaded. It ended up having the notorious fender rot in both fenders which Chrysler replaced. It was a comfortable driving car the whole time we had it.
Wow! What memories.Mine was the 76 with the Roadrunner package.The red exterior With a white vinyl top and white interior.Sure I added dual exhaust and glass pack mufflers. Those were the days!
I had a 1978 Plymouth Volare. It was a blue & silver fully loaded 2 door car, cruise control everything. It had a slant 6 and an automatic transmission. I remember the car was impressively comfortable to drive, the ride was like that of a Cadillac. That blue steering wheel felt good in the hand with effortless ease of steering. The slant 6 was impressive, it felt like a V8 the way it would launch the car down the highway. I wish they made a car like that still these days.
Yep, I owned a 77 2 dr coupe, white/tan with the 318CID V8. It had almost every option except PW and PDL. Was a very good riding and driving car.
I had the final evolution of the Volare: a 1987 Chrysler Fifth Avenue. It was an AWESOME example of PURE AMERICAN luxury (Think Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham), but in a more "city friendly" size. I would buy a car like this NOW! Actually, I NEED a car like this NOW, Not some tennis shoe shaped "crossover". The modern "300" was CLOSE, But my 5th Ave was better!
Beautiful cars and dependable too .
I had a 77 and it was a sweet ride. I miss it.
My first new car was a '78 Ford Mustang II. For a '70s era car, I got excellent service from it. I loved that car and I was damn proud of it.
I bought a 1976 Dodge Aspen in mint showroom condition with the Slant 6 and TorqueFlite 3 speed automatic transmission. Cream white with beige interior. Ice cold air. Ran like a top, and handled like a dream. Bought it off original owners in 1987 for $400!!!!! Once upon a time in USA. Never to return again ever.
March 1977, Hicksville NY. Dad took the family to either pick up or agree to his new Dodge Aspen. I only remember he had chosen the god-awful cream colored-brown bench seat base model on the showroom floor. I hated it and hated it out loud. My Dad and the salesman took me out to the lot (it was dark out) and let me choose another. I chose a vintage red SE sedan with a parchment interior and vinyl top. My Dad bought that car. I WAS 12 YEARS OLD! A car fanatic was born. I kept that car clean until I went away to College in 1983.
he raised a kid with great taste! That's a complimentary combo.
That’s a cool story
@@MuniTechnology I did something similar with dad in 8/87. Kinda picked out our next car as an 11 year old. It was Buick Century
@HelpingHand-ic4wt It was a modest car, but it was spec'd just right. It got a lot of attention. My Dad was a quiet, humble man, but I think he was proud of it. We NEVER discussed that night. It only occurred to me as an adult what I did as a child and how significant it was.
@t21229513 I was a confident kid who was big for my age. My Dad was quiet and gentle. He adored me, and I think he got a kick out of my lack of filter. I remember that night like it was yesterday. When I had a car of my own he would often leave me his car and take my car to his mechanic near his office and have the servicing done for me.
My first car was a 1980 Plymouth Volare with the slant 6! Drove the wheels off that car!
Literal, figurative or both?
Well, the slant 6 was a bulletproof engine. My mother had a '69 Dart with that engine.
@@jimlubinski4731
My parents had a 63 Dodge Dart station wagon and it was totally dependable and we went everywhere with it. The slant 6 back in the day was a great basic engine.
@@jimlubinski4731 Indeed it was. I don't know if its reliability was maintained after emission controls were added. Chrysler had a terrible time making carburators work properly in the '70s.
Not an exaggeration! Took about 20 minutes!
My Dad bought a ‘76 Volare woody wagon. Bicentennial car of the year. He hated it. He’d run red lights because every time he stopped it would stall and he’d have people honking at him because it wouldn’t start again until 2 or 3 green lights later. Every single car brand my parents owned while I grew up no longer exists. Plymouth, Mercury, Oldsmobile, Pontiac all gone but we will never miss Plymouth because of that Volare.
I had a '77 Volare with the "Super" Slant 6. Got me through 6 years of university. Many many trips between Boston and New Orleans every year. Unfortunately in spite of my best efforts the winter road salt finally took it's toll on the body and frame. But the drivetrain was bulletproof.
I had the Dodge Aspen Super Six with the 3spd/Overdrive... what made it a super six? it had a TWO bbl carb instead of the 1bbl! lol I had no real issues with it over 7 years...
@@MrJJSimonds Yes peasant. I had the high performance version.
😁😁😁😁😁😁
If the entire underside of mine hadn't rusted out I'd probably still have it.
@@MrJJSimonds Chrysler Australia offered the same slant six with a 4 barrel and split manifold in some of their cars.
I currently own a 76 2 door Aspen and I absolutely love it!! It's a nice change from the typical muscle cars at car shows
Beautiful vehicle
That was my first car.
Such a shame that Chrysler hurried the Volare and Aspen to market cause they were both pretty nice looking cars.
Hurrying to market happened too often.
The same could be said about the Vega, it was a reasonably attractive vehicle which was an outstanding "race" car...the body and engine were in a race to see who would self-destruct first...
My first car was a '79 Volaré. In 1990, I paid $125 CDN for it, which was, I believe, what it would have fetched for scrap. It had a 318 2bbl, and had been in service as a police vehicle in a small community.
It was the ultimate beater. Its paintjob looked like it was done with house paint and a roller. Despite only keeping it for the summer, I put a lot of miles on it, including crossing the US border in it a few times-- without getting cavity searched either.
Its performance was the expected malaise, for cars of its time and then the age and previous duty. It handled well, with a firm, non-floaty suspension, which may or may not have been due to a possible police package.
Thanks for the video! I didn't know they put 360s in them either.
Cheers!
In 1999, I bought a turquoise 1949 Packard Standard Eight Touring Sedan in St. Agatha, Ontario, and drove it to Detroit. No cavity search and about a dozen US Customs officers wanted to look at the engine and interior.
The Packard is now happily retired in snow-free California.
'76 Aspen, acquired used. Run it to more than 250K, but the recall/replacement fenders...
They cavity search now. Unfortunately.
@joshuagibson2520 Hopefully, they don't do cavity searches on everyone! That would take an awful lot of agents and I would question whether they were doing it for security purposes or for some other untoward reasons.
If you crossed into the US now, you'd end up on a terrorist list with that car
My dad was a cop in the 60s, 70s and 80s, I loved looking at the old cruisers and unmarked's he drove home. I was never so disappointed as when he pulled up in a Dodge Aspen.
The Valiant and Dart had incredible, enviable reputations. Right up to the last year, 1976. They should never have been killed off.
...says the man who must not have owned one. We had a '75 Valiant, and it was a complete piece of garbage. The catalytic converter frequently backed up and caused the passenger compartment to smell like rotten eggs. The engine constantly stalled out, so it wore out two starter motors. One of the front tie rods snapped in half while the car was going around a corner. I could go on.
@@jamesmurray6883 Sometimes that happens. I once owned a 1993 Lexus LS400. I have owned many cars in my life - that one was the most problematic of them all.
@@jamesmurray6883 As I've stated elsewhere, I used to own a four door '74 Plymouth Valiant Brougham which, to my knowledge, was the test bed for many of the luxury features of the Volare and Aspen. It was super quiet and felt like a much bigger car with it's luxurious interior and soft ride. Sadly, the build quality was absolutely garbage. By the time I traded it in there was very little of the car that wasn't just total junk, the 318 engine and the transmission being about all that was still operating well. That car ended my ever owning another Chrysler vehicle again!
My parents had the last year Valiant, a '76 Brougham with the slanty. It was an incredibly nice car for what it was, and ran far better than my '75 Valiant did.
You managed to make a boring car interesting. I really enjoyed the video for the content and the footage. I liked you covered the connections to other Chrysler products and had footage to match. I liked you explain the many details as well. They were still selling the Dart into the early 1980's in Brazil. Dart came back briefly a few years ago and is gone ago. Chrysler could use a suv in 2024 or a line up of vehicles as it is down to a minivan. I recall this car. They did sell a lot of them. Thank you for the effort you placed into the video and the humor as well.
My father had a Volare in black with orange highlights. The car spent more time in the dealership shop than in the driveway. The transmission detonated two days after the warranty was up. He got rid of it and bought a 79 Malibu. Six months later, he was still getting recall notices.
I had a 76 volare and drove the wheels off of it , slant 6 had over 300000 miles on it when i sold it and it still ran great. Literally the most reliable car i ever had.
that engine/transmission combo, was very reliable...the rest of the car had some problems.
Slant six was one of the best engines ever made. The cars and trucks it was in would fall apart around it but that engine would run forever.
Mechanically sound but the trunk rotted out on my father’s Volarie.
Chrysler went from some damn good engines, to Stellantis-- that cannot do ANYTHING near correct.
Now i have that damn jingle in my head. Thanks, My Old Car :D
🎶🎶VOLARE🎶🎶!!!!
Cruel, just cruel ミ●﹏☉ミ but, you can bear the pain...
Earworms can be tough to get rid of sometimes. Listen to two of your favorite songs & call your local DJ in the morning if problems persist.
Thanks for this episode. My Dad owned a Plymouth Valiant station wagon in the late 60s early 70s. We drove that car on many vacations pulling a little pop top camper. It even made it up Pikes Peak without any issues. He then purchased a Volare' with the fake wood grain sticker siding. Good memories!
My wife owned a '78 Volaré wagon that we took on a trip to Idaho and got 23 mpg from its 318 V8 and auto trans. It was roomy enough for us and had a great ride. No complaints.
I'm still driving my '77 Volare I bought new for $6K. It's got 411,000 miles, and have had few problems, even though I've replaced the engine at 325K, (318V8) and 2 rebuilt transmissions I replaced myself, and a few other parts. It's the best $6000 dollar investment I've ever made. Got me from the tail end of adolescence to retirement. ❤
WOW !!!! I had multiple of them, Never let me down! Today I have a near mint 83 5th Ave w/ 318.
The 1978 Dodge Aspen was my first car and have a few great memories. Great episode.
No Bob's Burgers clips?! The Belchers drive an F-body wagon in that show!
We're not all 15 years old.
You’d be surprised how many adults and how little 15 year olds watch Bob’s Burgers
I had a used 1977 Volare coupe for a few years. It was a "meh" car for reliability. It had the three on the tree manual transmission and the linkage would separate at random moments leaving me stuck in whatever gear. The rear brake shoes had a bad habit of rusting solid to the drums if I didn't drive it for a few days with the parking brake applied, which was very annoying. I did manage to to have a bad wreck one night hitting black ice on an interstate and rolling off the highway into the bushes. The exhaust broke off after the converter and nearly every body panel was dented up with a slightly bent right "A" pillar, cracking the windshield. The driver's door was dented in, breaking the driver's window. Aside replacing the exhaust and straightening the door, no other repairs were made. She still drove straight and was perfectly functional transportation. The sheet metal rusted, but welcome to the northeast where snow and road salt seem to be dropped in equal amounts. The slant 6 was a very reliable engine for me, as was the entire drivetrain aside from the shift linkage. The vinyl bench seat was very hard and slick in the colder weather and seat belts were required more for staying put than crash safety when cornering. It wasn't the worst car I owned, but it certainly wasn't anywhere near the best. I liked the fact that it looked a lot like the Duster.
I received my grandfather's 1976 Dodge Aspen after he died in 1977 when I was sixteen while living in Rochester, New York. It was a nice looking red colored body with a white top. As time went on the fenders started to rust and was recalled by Chrysler. They replaced the fender, but gave it what looked like a spry can quality paint job that did not match the factory paint. No clear coat paint was applied. Soon the hood springs rusted out and separated from the car body. Every time I needed to service the engine, I had to use a piece of wood to prop the hood up. There were two additional recalls from what I remember. One involved adding a plastic drain guard under the battery to prevent possible battery acid leaking on to the break cable. The third recall involved replacing the carburetor. My car had a history of stalling out if I made a hard left turn. No fun when you needed a quick turn to avoid oncoming traffic. The body of the car soon began to rust out in various sections of the car. My dad would try his best to apply fiberglass over the rust holes. I used to joke that my car's body had the same amount of fiberglass on as a Corvette. I always referred to my car as.... 'The Dodge Ass Pain'. LOL Drove it through high school to my last year in college in 1984. I eventually got a Federal job and moved to Phoenix, Arizona. The used car I purchased out there was a 1974 Plymouth Satellite in mint condition.
My first car in 1982 was a 1976 Plymouth Volare. My mom bought it as my high school graduation gift.
I had a 77 Dodge Aspen wagon in metallic green and my high school friend had a 76 Plymouth Duster, in the same metallic green and 225 slant six engine. We both liked em back then, good cars.
I'm so happy to see you at 100k subs ! Best car channel.
Thank you for your interesting look back. Our family had a 1976 Dodge Aspen wagon. That "car of the year" was the worst lemon on four wheels. After two engines, a new transmission, and a host of other replacements, we traded it in for a nice, sporty 1980 Honda Accord. Handling was like a wet sponge, though not as bad as the Ford Granada. I enjoyed watching those clips of the sappy 1970s commercials!
I had a 1979 Volare SW. It was a great car. great reliability. The engine was bulletproof. It lasted for over 15 years and never broke down. I lost it to an illegal tow.
I can still see the stacks of new Volare fenders at the local Chrysler Plymouth dealer I worked at in 1977. Also can't forget all of the non-matching paint on the replaced fenders. I hope you do a segment on the "K" cars as well. Iacocca did a masterful job selling these piles of crap. They were vibrating tin cans on wheels.
We had a 79 Aspen Wagon. Fenders were gone within a couple of years if i remember correctly.
Owned a small body shop and we became experts at replacing those fenders for the local Dodge dealership. Kept us busy if we had a slow day or 2. The paint never, ever matched the paint on the cars faded and lost its gloss in a couple years.
Almost killed Chrysler, but GM was able to get away with making terrible vehicles for 2+ decades after these cars.
It caught up with them eventually, though. The principle difference was that GM was healthy with a good reputation (deserved or not) at the time whereas Chrysler was not.
No Idea! Owned 3 in the family. Thanks!
Oddly enough the cars like the Aspen that GM was selling for the next two decades were arguably the only really decent ones they were making…..the RWD V8 cars were about the best thing they had going, basically a half ton pickup drivetrain with a perimeter frame. Their compact FWD cars like the K car were the biggest junk upon introduction. Really Chrysler was similar, the M body Diplomat / Fifth Ave. / Gran Fury were actually decent cars, but not what America wanted. The K cars and derivatives were awful but outsold the M body 20:1
Only the citation and the vega . The rest of gm cars of the 70s and 80s were decent despite their flaws
oh it's catching up with them now
I owned a few Dodge Aspen's, and a Plymouth Volare, all had a slant 6, one with a/c, very little issues, did all my own repair in my backyard, I must have had the good ones, thank for the video, cheers
The singer that performed the Volare theme came on the Merv Griffen show. They had a full Orchestra the whole thing. He came out and started to sing Volare. The Audience laughed ! I was a Tech at a Chrysler/Plymouth dealership. We received a new Volare/Aspen ? It had badges of both models with a Aspen Grille and Volare tail lights. We had a recall that involved break lines routed under/near the Battery that corroded the lines. Chrysler sent Plastic Shields to cover the lines. First recall. We had cold running complaints. The unleaded fuel was drying out the Accelerator pumps and the engine would hesitate. Brake squeeks. Chrysler had us applying Duct Tape to the back of the front Brake Pads. It worked but only temporarily. Then a problem with the Heater/AC box. Disassemble the entire Dash to fix it. Fit and Finish was very poor. We use to say the reason Chrysler put the Owners Manual in a clear plastic holder was to keep it dry. Water leaks everywhere. Funny you mention Chevy Citation. I lived that Debacle as well. Five recalls before we could sell the " most tested Car GM ever Built " . Thanks for the memories.
Sergio Franchi? Thanks for filling in details. I remember hearing rust was excessive. Trivia: Colorado skiers protested use the the Aspen name as it was a trendy ski town. A dealership responded that the town stole the name from the Aspen tree!
@ForbinColossus 1 of my friends and coworkers bought a Volare Road Runner. Cool body panels but gutless.
@@samholdsworth420 yeppers, Duct Tape. This is pre-anti-squeel products. Holly Carburetor came out with new Accelerator pumps ( blue in color ) that stood up to Unleaded. The Carbs used on the Slant Six's had defective Floats ( absorbed Gasoline ) Holly came out with better Floats that didn't sink. We also had to " modify " the Accelerator pump check valve. New straight from Holly to Chrysler and then Dealer had to be gone thru because Holly hadn't fixed em yet. Those were the days.
@samholdsworth420 Mopar Sofar.
My parents bought a used ‘77 brown Volare coupe for $3,500 in ‘78 in Brampton, ON that originally came from Flowertown Chrysler-Plymouth in Brampton. It was a bare bones stopper with the 225 ci Slant Six, 4 speed manual, no power steering, no power brakes, no power windows, locks, or A/C.
It didn’t have the recalls of the ‘76 models. But it rattled and shook over potholes and rough roads. My Mom drove it until 1985, despite the heavy steering. I sat beside her and helped her steer it.
The previous young male owner power shifted it a lot more, so my Dad had to rebuild the 4 speed manual after two years. But he reversed the second and third gears ⚙️ giving it a U shift pattern instead of the typical N pattern. Similar to an Eaton Roadranger overdrive truck transmission.
She wanted a Valiant or Dart, but they were hard to find on the market that time. Her previous car was a ‘70 Plymouth Belvedere coupe (similar to the Satellite 📡) with a 225 slant six and an automatic.
My mom had a plymouth velare just like the one in the ad. She absolutely LOVED that car. She drove it from when I started junior high until I was a sophomore in high school. Traded it in on a diesel Benz which she regretted almost instantly.. junior year a friend of mine got a dodge aspen as his first car and she really wanted it but he wasn't getting rid of that thing.
As per quality control, I was looking at one of these at a Plymouth dealer in Johnstown PA. It was a blue Road Runner. At least that’s what it said on the driver side. Walk around the passenger side and it had the R/T stripe kit.
That had gotten through the assembly, QC, shipment and dealer prep without being identified.
I knew the owner and pointed it out. He hit the roof!
Still want an Orange Road Runner T-Top though. I need therapy.
I learned to drive on my Dad's '77 Volare wagon, equipped with the bullet-proof slant-6 and 3-speed auto. The only trouble I remember with that car was the front fenders needing to be replaced during the recall (ours did quickly develop a hole near the radio antenna). The engine didn't make a lot of horsepower, but it was super smooth and made decent low to mid-range torque. Not too bad on the gas mileage, either. And I do remember all those singing ads 🎶🎶
My parents bought one of these new, 1977 model, and drove it until 1985, when someone ran into it and totalled it. I was just 6 when they bought it so I have absolutely no recollection of it giving them problems or not. I do remember loading up the family (mom, dad, three kids, dog) most every winter to go skiing, if not vacationing for a week in the mountains in winter. There ya go!
We had a ‘72 Duster and looked at the Volare but we read about the recalls and bought a ‘78 Fairmont- it was aweful!!
Congrats on reaching 100k subscribers!! 🎉
I have owned a 1976 Dodge Aspen Special Edition sedan since the mid 1980s. Silver with burgundy interior and burgundy vinyl roof. Still like new, even the undercarriage is still without surface rust. 360 4bbl V8. Still drives great.
A family friend was having financial issues in the early nineties and just needed some wheels. She found a 1978 Volare station wagon in a light blue color, it had really low mileage and had been sitting in the garage for several years. It belonged to the sellers grandmother who had it since new, the grandson cleaned it up and put new tires and a battery in it. The car looked liked it rolled out of the showroom. He was trying to sell it for a few months for $1,000 and had no interest. She asked him what his bottom line was, he said $300.00. She drove that car from 1993 until 1999 and did nothing to it other than putting gas in it. It managed through the harsh Canadian Prairie winters with never an issue starting. She sold it for $ 200 to someone in a similar hardship situation as she was and it lasted this person another couple of year before they totaled it.
My first car was a 74 Valiant Brougham. I loved that car. Had a very luxurious interior and a 318.
My dad sold tires at Poquoson Chrysler Plymouth in Hampton, Virginia back in the mid to late seventies. I would occasionally go in with him on a Saturday or days in the summer. They would bring in new cars on the car carrier and most would have to be pushed of and into the garage because they wouldn't start. Then they would take the interiors apart to remove soda cans and garbage left inside by the factory workers. I'll never forget this.
In our little city of Portland Maine there were hundreds of Volarespen taxis running around. So they must've had some redeeming qualities. Though they sure clunked & rattled as they went by! And the lifters were always ticking, yet still ran for many hundreds of thousand miles. Great video!
My Great-Grandmother bought a 1979 Plymouth Woody Volare Station Wagon with all the options: Air conditioning, Power Windows, Wire Wheel Covers, and a saddle Vinyl interior. I liked that car, and she drove it right up until her death in July 1991. She gave the car to me, and I drove the car through high school and College without a problem There wasn't a scratch on the paint or a tear on the interior. The 318 V8 and three-speed automatic ran like a top. I was coming home from my senior year in College and was rear-ended by a drunk in an Oldsmobile 98 at a stoplight. Needless to say, the car was totaled, but the Oldsmobile didn't fare that much better.
Back in the early 1980s, I bought a 1976 Aspen for $800 bucks. It was a one-owner, pristine car with 70 thousand miles on it. I put over a 100 thousand more miles on that car, the only serious problem was the U-joint almost falling off the car.....The slant 6 and 3sp automatic "Baby Torqueflite" transmission was a great, reliable combination, getting anywhere from 20 to 28 mpg. It was likely the best investment as a used car that I ever made. That slant six engine is now legendary, and for good reason...Chrysler Corp offered that jewel for nearly 30 years.
Thanks for another Saturday night video to watch. Keep em coming!
I had a ‘79 Volaré that I bought used in the mid to late ’80’s. It had the 225 cubic inch slant 6. That engine was amazing. The car eventually rusted to pieces, but that engine was still purring like a kitten! Miss that engine!
Best engine Chrysler ever made!
I remember seeing these driving around back in the day. Great video! Thanks for sharing!
My first car was a 1980 Plymouth Volare Roadrunner . I still have it today
The Roadrunner looked pretty cool.....Good for a restomod.
Pretty much all American auto maker "performance packages" after about 1971 were nothing more than appearance packages. Some cars had lower ratio gears in order to get the cars to 60 quicker but after 60 mph school was pretty much out on those cars. I think I recall the 1979 Z28 had a whopping 175 hp 350 V8. 0-60 was something like 8 seconds but 0-70 took 13 or 14 seconds.
We came to Texas in a Plymouth volare station wagon. It was green on green and that slant six was a great engine. Good car overall in my opinion
Nice people from Texas on Carrol st and Hoyt st in Brooklyn gave me a green wagon, I'm trying to recall if it was an Aspen, or Volare, Would'nt it be something if that was you ???? Great cars I had multiple of them, I have a near mint 83 New Yorker today.
My dad's first new car was a 1978 Aspen with a slant 6 and 4 speed manual transmission. By the time it was 8 years old he was working on it every weekend. My mom made him trade it in for a 1986 Ford Ranger. That truck treated him very well for 20 years.
My parents had a 76 Volare 2 door they bought used from my uncle. It was the best starting car my parents ever had. Unfortunately rust and a cracked windshield was its demise. My dad went to change tires and the car started twisting when dad tried to jack it up. I also remember it would stall when you would takeoff. Living in the country it was no big deal, but driving in the city was a pain.
I had a 77 Volare and I loved it
I had a 1978 Plymouth Volare with a 3 speed transmission and a 300 straight 6 engine. It ran like a sewing machine. I wish I had it back.
Now you're driving up my alley. In 1975, I went in with my Dad on new FIAT 131 (Brava) for our 40 mile one-way work commute. It promptly broke down
numerous times, and had to be towed with burned out points and brake problems. We agreed to cut bait, and replace it with a brand new bespoke Dodge Aspen, for the sake of reliability. Although I thought Chryco had missed the boat, introducing no more than a larger, fatter Valiant with evolutionarily conservative styling, Dad let me fill out the form (You could still order an American car built to your own specs). I chose an R/T coupe in silver with black accents and window surrounds, maroon interior with white vinyl buckets, a fold down rear seat with carpeted back for extra luggage room, and factory mag wheels. Critically, we specified a slant six with 4-speed overdrive to squeeze out reasonable mileage.
It looked sharp (if gaudy) when it arrived, but we were shocked by the complete lack of drivability: the Aspen simply would not get out of its own way. It stumbled and lugged, and you could never find the right gear, so the overdrive was a waste, returning poor gas mileage on our over-mountain pass commute. Dad traded it for a Chrysler LeBaron with V8 as soon as he could, while I bought a 10-year old Chrysler 300 and moved out to my own place. That Aspen became someone else's problem, and I still feel sorry for them.
BTW, the Dodge Dart you showed for 1960 was a full size car. Dodge got a Valiant variant in '61 called the Lancer, while the Dart remained standard size until the name was moved to the redesigned A-Body compact in 1963.
My dad owned a 1978 Aspen coupe with a 318 V8 and Torqueflite automatic. When the car was delivered, the brake light switch was improperly mounted so that the brake lights only came on when the pedal was fully depressed at a stop light. The front end alignment was out of whack and despite numerous trips to the dealer, they could never seem to get it to the point where the car didn't pull to one side or the other. The engine had a chronic misfire and would vibrate strongly when at a stop. Both front fenders began to pit within two years and the weatherstripping on the doors regularly came loose (it was attached with small plastic clips that didn't seem long enough.) From delivery there was a rattle from the back seat area that the dealer couldn't find. We removed the bottom cushion of the rear seat to find several loose bolts lying there. In short, the car looked great, but was a headache from day one.
Worked at a Dodge dealership in CA in '79. The Aspens on the lot were comfortable enough but even the ones with the 318 V8 were dogs(the smog gear seemed to really bog them down). My parents' '74 Dart was a much better car. The Mitsubishi/ Dodge Colts on the lot were much quicker and handier. Woeful times for Chrysler. Don't even ask me about the pickups.
I remember a lot of them had the top of the fenders rust through behind the headlights
Had a 1979 Volare coupe with the slant super six, a 225 slant six with a 2-barrel carb. Three main issues I recall with that car: 1) The front brake calipers would stick. Chrysler was using plastic pistons in their disc brakes and they would swell causing the front brakes to either drag or lock up. Caliper pistons were replaced under warranty, but I eventually swapped them out with steel pistons. No more sticking brakes. 2)The proportioning valve between the front and rear brakes was not engineered correctly. The rear wheels had a bad habit of locking up before the front brakes under hard braking. 3) The accelerator pump piston cup in the Carter 2-barrel carb would never last very long. I replaced it multiple times due to the piston cup tearing. Other than that it was a reliable car
We had a few Volares and Aspens. No issues.
I had a 77 Volare 2dr with the slant 6! Honestly it was a $500 beater and I loved it!
fun fact: in '79, Plymouth offered a Volare badged as a Duster, which was a trim package with special trim and louvered side windows. This wouldn't be the last time the old badge would be used either, as Plymouth would offer Duster versions of the Turismo, and later the Sundance, near the end of their runs.
we now need the Chrysler Aspen episode 😮
0:48 Mr. Roarke's had white Corinthian leather
In 76, went car shopping with my sister. She got the Volare brand new and while she was filling out the paperwork, I walked across the street to the Toyota dealership just to check it out and bought a brand new Corolla. lol. She began having problems with it a few years later, with water getting into her oil because of blown gaskets. It was repaired and happened again. Then again. She sold it. She mentions once and while today that she really liked the car until it started to fail. My Corolla my grandson has it and it still runs, he had it cherried up and it looks nice!
My wife's parents gave us their 4 door 1977 Aspen. It wouldn't die no matter what. The A/C was insanely cold.
At 5:22 82 Uno Drive in Etobicoke (Toronto) . It's still standing for Bob & Doug fans out there.
My dad bought the 1976 Plymouth Volare Station wagon with the lighter Bluish exterior and interior. It had to have a 318CI(5.2 Liters) engine because he was helping to make them at the now defunct Mound road engine plant. I was 15 at the time. I don't recall any recalls. However, we also had a 1974 Plymouth Satellite 4-door sedan with the 318 in it. That stalling problem was present in both. You had to be delicate with it going from zero to speed at stop signs and stop lights. My dad said it never happened to him. I don't know what kind of denial he was trying to pull.
A couple years later my grandmother bought the Aspen coupe. It was golden brown. She bought it with a slant 6 engine, she never had a stall.
You made mention of the recalls for suspension troubles. The issue was so bad that the MSP and CHP refused to order any F body for their fleets due to transverse torsion bar failures and front camber issues making them unpredictable and unsafe for high speed pursuits, starting in 78 and continuing through 1980. Many other state police organizations followed suit. This bit into Chrysler's huge police car market, even though many cars were still ordered for street patrol. For 79, coupes and sedans could have the E58 360 4bbl rated 195hp for federal emissions cars. There was a 170hp version for police cars in Cali. The 360 would be gone for F and M cars for 80. 1 last note. Iacocca blew the whistle about what was really going on with these cars in detail, in his book. The buying public had no idea how fast these cars were rushed into production w/o proper R&D, even stating that Chrysler should've held up the discontinuation of the old A's until '77, releasing the F's mid model yr.
the police duty option had aluminum pucks instead of rubber bushings causing more stress on the subframe. For the last couple of years, Chrysler redesigned the subframe with shock tower reinforcements and correct tinsel strength steel. Look for an 88 or 89 :)
My first car was a 1981 Volaré sedan with the 318. Bought it used in 86, it had just under 100K km on it. My Dad has always been a Dodge guy, he was very familiar with them so he had me buy something he could fix and maintain.
Although it was only 5 years old, the Volaré already had rust issues, and water was leaking in everywhere. Then came the stalling problems (left me stranded a few times). Couple years later I had a good job and enough money to buy my first new car. The Volaré was given to my younger brother, where it had a quite short life, given the way my brother was (mis)treating his vehicles!
Today it makes me realize how far vehicle qualité has come. My current car is a 16 year-old Acura TSX with 365K km on it. It still drives and runs super nicely, and the reliability... well it's a different world.
My '78 Aspen had a Volaré badge on one quarter panel.
I still have my 77 Volare, It originally had the super six, but swapped it to a 318. Absolutely loved the handling compared to the Darts that I owned(1973 &1969) thanks for the video.
Thanks. I was a school librarian on the Navajo Res in NE AZ. In 1983-84 my first year's Navajo Library Aide drove a '78 Dodge Aspen. Meanwhile commuting between 2 schools I drove an awful '79 Ford Fairmont Gvt Car, with horrible worn out shocks, 'buzz bomb' auto trans, and miserable boggy slug 'acceleration.' Sometimes though I drove a '79 Jeep Cherokee the 18 mile dirt backway past Navajo hogans (trad. houses). At 62 mph I made it 'fly' --jumping all 4 wheels. With 4 wheel leaf sprung live axles it jumped solidly. I kept wheels very straight during jumps.
I learned to drive in a 1970 Chrysler Newport (4 door) with a 383 2 barrel V8. It had a green/gold metallic paint with a color coordinated interior (bench seats). Loved that car and the fuselage styling. Best looking grill ever IMHO. Would love to see you do a feature on that car.
I had a 1977 Dodge Aspen wagon that now has around 350,000 miles on it. It's no longer legal to drive on the road and hasn't been for many years. It's so rusty even the area around the tailgate window rusted away and one day the window popped out and shattered while driving down the highway. These days it has a high quality cardboard and duct tape rear window and it's used at a friend's salvage yard to push and drag other cars around. It's had at least 10 transmissions replaced, all from other cars in the salvage yard. The frame is also bent and has patches welded on where it rusted away. The oil light flashes and the top end is clattery when you first start it up but that 318 is somehow still going and he uses it almost every day. It no longer requires oil changes either. It burns and leaks oil so bad you just need to add more when the top end gets too noisy.
Maybe one day a cherry one will roll down Barrett-Jackson's floor and sell for more than it sold for when it was new, which was a little over $4000 in 1977 according to the invoice that is most likely still in the glove box of my old wagon.
Having had a '79 Aspen, I know it wasn't great. But it did have a good ride, brakes, and handled well. The slant 6 always ran extremely rough despite much attention from mechanics and the front seat upholstery split at the seams by 20K miles. It deserves its wretched reputation.
In 1988, my best friend got a maroon 77 Volare 4 door from a relative. It still had shiny paint and an interior that a couple of 16 year olds considered "plush," but disappointment was right around the corner. When it came time to get it inspected he was informed by the mechanic that the entire front subframe was about to separate itself from the rest of the car due to SEVERE rust issues which actually was a complete shock to us since the car drove "straight and normal" and looked fine standing next to it. We sure did some stupid things in that car and to that car in the year he had it not realizing how close to death we were...😂
I worked at dodge main assembly from 78 to 80 putting these together. I started in the bodyshop, and it was clear the "give a shit" factor was quite small, unless of course it was a police/taxi unit. Those had a lot more weld points and fasteners added around the suspension and door openings. QA even used torque wrenches, something you would never see on regular cars. Eventually as the plant would down, many of us moved over to lynch road, where the new yorker & newport was being built...
Grandpa bought a late 70's Volare, 8cyl, 4 Door Burgundy Color in and out with Color Matching Velour Seats.. Those seats made me sick every time I rode in it. It was Grandma's Car.. And would be taken on longer trips but got Shite Gas Millage. 16mpg Max. Had the 318 in it. Also Burnt Oil. Rust was a HUGE Problem and had to have it Repainted Several Times..
I can remember we had one of those come in on a new car delivery and it had different size and style wheels and tires on either side. It had a remote control right hand mirror with the cable run to the driver's side dash but no hole for the handle to come through.
Thanks Pat for another great video. It's funny, they discount a new car more than they cost back then.
The only thing I remember about the Aspen and Volare is that we used to go find them at junkyards and salvage the 'Super Six' two barrel intakes for our Darts and Valiants.
I had a friend in high school back in the early 1980’s. He brought his parents 1976 VOLARE wagon to school once in awhile. I got to ride in it many times and I loved it. It rode as smooth as glass and was comfortable. But that 318 stalled constantly. Loved that old CHRYSLER starter sound. I wondered how we ever got home. I
CHRYSLER could never get their quality right for whatever reason. It was a nice car otherwise.
Well my grandpa bought a brand new 1979 Dodge Dart (in Mexico the Aspen name was never used until the suv aspen, so they were the Chrysler Volare and dodge dart). It came with the slant six and a 3-gears manual, later in there was an offering of a 4-speed manual and an automatic. It was a beautiful navy blue coupe with blue vinyl and fabric ibteriir and a half vinyl top with louvers in the rear quarter windows which I helped to choose (I was six years old). Never had an issue with the car except for one time overheating as we have in tropical south temperatures of 90 + degrees. And he sold it in the late 90s when he wouldn't drive it anymore.
I knew a guy who daily drove a beige Aspen up until 2004-2005. Purchased it in Arizona and drove it all the way to Minnesota, no issues
Dad had a 76 Volare Premier 4dr V8 outfitted like a little luxury car. Before I was old enough to drive it (and truly understand that experience, meh), I thought it was really impressive. Such a nice interior, better than most of the neighbors / classmates had even in their larger cars. Only the Granada / Monarch Ghia sedans rivaled it at the time, but when comparably equipped they were much more expensive.
I've always wanted a Volare' Road Runner. They just look so cool. The mid to late 70s era graphics and fender flares are so cool in general and the Volare' really wears them well.
My first new car was a 77 Volare Coupe, base model. I special ordered it with the 225 6 cylinder, automatic, bucket seats, manual sunroof which was a lot of fun and it never leaked, rallye wheels and rallye sterring wheel. With the cruise control set
at 55mph I got 24 mpg. I never had any problems with it. It was quiet as I bought the extra sound insulation package. It had a very comfortable ride.
That slant six engine is likely the best, most reliable six ever built by an American car manufacturer...20-25mpg, and decent power too.
I had a 1978 Dodge Aspen Wagon that was a hand me down from my mother. She picked it off the lot at Herbee Dodge in West Islip, NY. It had the wood paneling. It had the 318 V8. Ran well, but it was damp out, it would not start. I got rid of it after the fly wheel went. I miss that wagon.
Cut up mom's old 1977 Aspen wagon this year. The amount of rust in that thing was mind boggling. Hardly had to cut it up, it basically fell apart!!
My first car was a used 1978 Dodge Aspen wagon. White (or mostly rust) w/wood paneling and the 318 V8. We called it The Beast.
My next car was a used (shocker!) 1980 AMC Concorde wagon and was yellow (as in LEMON) w/wood paneling. Not much worked in that car, but I did like the look of it, since it looked a lot like the Jeep Eagle models that came out a few years later, closer to when I had my car.
I bought new a 1976 Volare Roadrunner with the 318 V8. It was recalled 5 times. It was a fun car to drive and I put 250K miles on it before the unibody rotted out. I vowed never to buy a1st run of the model year car after that. I still miss the "meep, meep" horn.
They “only” had a 5 year model run because the K-Cars replaced them in the entry-car lineup. The basic Volare/Aspen platform lasted for 13 model years and included the 1980-81 LeBaron, the 1980-83 Cordoba/Mirada, the 1981-83 Imperial, and the 1982-89 Fifth Avenue, Diplomat and Gran Fury. The Fifth Avenue version sold over 100,000 units in 1985 alone, so I’d say this car was far from a failure once the early model kinks were worked out.
I have an 83 5th Ave - GREAT car, inspired by my many Aspen/ Volares I've owned, Very Good Cars!
My uncle had one of these and it was the absolute nadir of American automobile quality.
My parents bought there first new car off the lot in the fall of 1978 at Star Chrysler Plymouth in New Orleans. It was a 1977 Plymouth Volare sedan. That car was the biggest piece of sh!t ever. The trunk had to be slammed shut with several tries. It left my mother stranded with us on a regular basis. Chrysler replaced the transmission twice under warranty. There’s no way I would buy Mopar even today.
There was also the '77-'80-ish Chrysler LeBaron 2dr. Coupe also based on the Volare` I think you didn't mention.
We had a 2 yr old used one. As a teen, I heard about the front fender recall and could tell the fenders on our LeBaron had been replaced. It was a black on black Medallion Edition & super plush. Great video!
I had a 1977 Aspen station wagon which I bought in 1980. I loved that car with it's 318 V8 and fancy trim. In 1988, a guy pulled out in front of me and I T-Boned him. I actually drove away from that. The car was no longer pretty but driveable. A few months later, I bought a 1985 Honda Goldwing from a friend, and gave the Dodge to him because he needed the steering gear out of it for his Dually truck. I had driven that car all over the country and it had never failed me, plus it got 23 MPG on the HWY, which was really good for that era.
I had a 1977 Volare coupe. It was blue with blue interior. The slant six was a great engine. I only had it a couple of years but I enjoyed it.
I liked the 1980 style over the previous years.
We had a 76 Two Door Volare Sport bought right off the delivery transporter
truck as it was being unloaded. It ended up having the notorious fender rot in both fenders which Chrysler replaced. It was a comfortable driving car the whole time we had it.
Wow! What memories.Mine was the 76 with the Roadrunner package.The red exterior With a white vinyl top and white interior.Sure I added dual exhaust and glass pack mufflers. Those were the days!