Mike Must is one of the most under-rated car guys on the internet. Hope he gets more episodes of his show in this year and in the future. He's just really cool to listen to, it's like I grew up with him when he talks about AFX slot cars. Keep up the good work Mike.
I love these oddball mopars from late 70s and early 80s. Had few Miradas and currently one stw Aspen. Someday I will get my super coupe or R/T Aspen Coupe.
I was born in 1991, so hearing stories about cars from the 1970s is really interesting because it's a period of car making that's not discussed a whole lot, especially the cars that were a bit more performance oriented (i.e. the few models that were oriented towards performance in those days). Anyways, lots of love from Sweden!
chikitabowow you don't hear much about the mid-to-late seventies performance of any car company because there was virtually none to talk about. If anything you would hear about cars that had more styling cues than another.
I remember wishing I could own a 1970 Challenger. Now, I’ve got a Hellcat. Thank you Mike for reminding me that the dark times are over. Long live Mopar!
Get rid of the lean burn, put a regular thermoquad on it and a regular electronic ignition and you had a decent engine for the time. In fact the cam in the 360 would have been considered an aftermarket rev cam in a Ford or Chevy. In 1980 competition cams came out with a line of cams called the High Energy series. They put a 268 degree cam in every American V8 with 9-1 compression, a decent dual plane manifold, 650 Holley and headers and advertised the Horspower each engine made with that combo. In the early ads Chevy lead the way in horsepower. But when they finally published the horsepower for the 360 it was the only engine to make one horsepower per cubic inch, blowing the competition away!
Oh man, this takes me back to when I had a Super coupe when I was in high school. The poor thing didn't go over 110mph not even with a hurricane-esque tailwind. The 360 was choked down so, getting rid of the Lean Burn system, fattening up the secondaries and installing real 2.5 duals exhaust with Hemi mufflers. My cousins and I were oh so happy when the car went an easy 122mph as indicated on the police radar. We were fined of course......
I remember the decals were shipped in the trunk and we would apply them. The rest of the car was as you see it. Had the wider wheels which surprisingly weren't mentioned. Great job commentating, and so true about the WS6 T/A vs mopar P/S. How about the overly assisted power brakes? i love those.
My first car memories as a child are of my dads 78 Aspen. It was dark blue with black interior. I'd sit on his lap and steer on the back roads. The 2 things that I remember the most were the louvred back windows and the SUPER SLANT SIX sticker on the air cover. Thank you for the great vid and bringing back fond memories.
Never saw 1 that color before. I saw 1 in brown and black and also a 2 toned Petty Blue before, but not that combo. Also, according to MSP tests in '78, a full police spec Aspen sedan with light bar, etc, did 0-60 in 8.8 sec, and the 79 version with 20 more hp, did it in 8.2, so a coupe with less weight at 7.3 seconds, sounds about right. '78 E58 360s in cars with cats were rated at 175hp for federal emissions, 170 for California, and 185 for Canada. The 220hp rated versions were for trucks only, in that yr only. '79 E58s were rated at 195hp in all states. Cali cars added an AIR pump. I had talked to a guy that worked at a Chrysler engine plant during the late 70's and early 80's. He said that 1 thing Chrysler was doing was measuring and testing the engines as installed in their cars, and using chassis dynos for fine tuning rather than an engine stand dyno, which made them run better and stronger than the competition. Even so, the ELB system was a constant problem. The technology just wasn't there until about '81. He said that a tech could tune the system and it would run great, but the next start up the car could run terrible, w/o even touching 1 adjustment. Ironically, the 1st upgrade in the Direct Connection parts catalog of the time was to ditch the ELB, and add an Orange Box electronic ignition system with a fast curve distributor.
In a world of people that think all cars should make 4 numbers on the dyno, it's really cool to see pieces like this still exist. Don't get me wrong, I dig a well built restomod, but I have truly had more fun in a bone stock fox body with a gear, and a good clutch, than I have any 4 digit racecar. Keep up the cool work Mike! We all dig it!
In '82 a classmate pulled into our high school parking lot in a cherry '76 Dodge Aspen "R/T" red-orange on black, replete with RoadRunner graphics. We laughed so hard during first period coach thought we were high. We sang "Volare" whenever we saw him getting in or out of it. Randy didn't keep that car very long.
I remember seeing one of these at the Chrysler dealership in Topeka Ks. Then low and behold my uncle got one - the blue and silver version. All of us kids loved it and it was really fast to us. Great memories.
Well presented; seeing that nobody instantly start bashing on it in the comments. I love me some cool looking oddball Mopars, even more so knowing these where the last Iterations of the A-body's. Amazing really how long and divers/widespread they where able to use that platform in their line-up. Thank you for still providing a world wide audience with this quality content.
This is a great episode, a very cool ride ! ! ! ! ! ! Very original muscle car, and a very original episode, is not one of the too many classic muscle cars.
In case anyone was wondering about how dismal power figures were in the late 70's, the 1978 & 1979 Dodge Power Wagon Lil' Red Express pickup truck was the world's fastest production vehicle from 0-100. A goddamn pickup truck.
I won't rip on your beard Mike. That Kit Car Aspen is the story here. Fastest American Production car in 1978. Only beaten by the Dodge Little Red Express pickup- truck had no cats. Other options like a rear Anti-sway bar, heavy duty cooling system and the Plymouth Petty Blue version. No other American car in this size had rear anti-sway bars. 1978 had Supercoupe versions of the Aspen/ Volare', also a Plymouth Roadrunner version, and Aspen R/T version. These are definitely not a "me too" car. Thanks for featuring this awesome kit car Mike. you Rock!
Have followed and been a fan for a long while. Great videos Mike and you sure know how to bring back our youth with the cool cars you drive. Thanks again for not bailing out of you tube.
That car brings back memories. My first car was a 1978 Volare Wagon with the "Super Six", near identical red interior, column shifter and optional "vent package" (which added the A/C vents and a vent position on the heater but didn't have A/C). Later I bought a 1977 Aspen Wagon as a parts car and then a 2-door 1979 Dodge Diplomat to replace the Volare (now with over 350,000 kms on it and a cracked frame under the passenger seat that failed due to too much flexing over the "pizza delivery" miles). I had the frame welded a couple of times but it kept cracking in different places. When it was cracked you could see the rear window flex left and right in the rear view mirror (the whole car would twist). The Diplomat was close to loaded (including A/C & power windows) but only had the super six too. After swapping the heavy duty rear axle from the Volare into the Diplomat (after its failed) I put over 500,000 km on the Diplomat (delivering pizza too). The Diplomat didn't experience the cracked frame problem. I really enjoyed those cars and drove them from about 1981 until the mid 1990's.
I always wanted one of these too. They had a lot of potential - a little tuning on that 360 and a better exhaust system and it would really wake up, even with the lean burn system.
First car...'70 Dart, second car... '76 Aspen coupe, brown with yellow and orange strips, slant six with a four speed. I loved that car!!! I actually got it featured in the readers section of car craft in the mid '80's when they did a article on building a 225 slant six... Did I mention that I loved that car😍.
And there was a Volare Kit Car as well - they were 2-tone blue. I only ever saw ONE of those on the road, & I'm from the Motor City. These were insanely rare cars. I owned a Super Coupe Aspen for a couple of years - same drivetrain as this. After playing with the lean burn system for about a year, I installed a single point distributor which made it feel like I had tapped into 100 more HP. With the ignition working right, this car had good power & definitely had a great muscle car feel. The E-58 360 was no slouch, AND these cars handled like they were on rails - VERY sporty & comfortable cars to drive!
This was featured in Car and Driver Magazine. I was in vocational school at the time. My teacher was a MOPAR guy. Showed him the article and we drooled together
My first car was a 1978 Dodge Aspen, fresh from the factory with that same red interior, no radio, no air, slant 6, just power brakes and steering. Those interior shots were my original interior. They had put some odd options on it, which probably was why it had sat on the lot all year. Modified that car heavily in the five years+ I had it, drove it all over, including one lap of the Indy brickyard, never let me down after I learned to always have a ballast resistor in the glovebox.
Had no idea. If I had seen it on the street I would've thought it was a one-off owner kit job. Felt the same way the first time I saw a Superbird on the street in 1970. Both look too outrageous to be factory. Great video.
Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth all produced some pretty funky stuff at times. Hell, I still can't believe the Prowler actually made it to production back in the late 90's.
Awsome find Musto, never knew this car existed; dig the looks of the car too. Now you need to feature a King Cobra next. Or, if your really good find a Yenko Turbo Camaro, that'll blow everyone's mind.
Nice show, i just subscribed. I agree on the King Cobra, but also there are so many nice classics. I never seen someone doing a run down on AMC amx spirit. Keep up the good work Mike.
If you ordered the solid isolators and police suspension- it'll handle & brake much better. Since '73-up steering knuckles were standardized, so caliper adapters and a set of "Big" car rotors, that thing can sport 12" rotors using factory parts on the cheap.
Well...it was in the video description :-D I didn't even know about these cars. Pretty cool in context, especially when so many cars of this era were more advertising the EPA fuel economy rather than how quickly the cars would even go.
Really dig the HOM. Please keep these videos coming! I have 2 connections with the Dodge Aspens and Plymouth Volares in 1978 these were our drivers ed cars. 10 years after that we were pulling the torsion bar front ends out of these to weld in classic pickups. Still have a 1953 F100 with it. Your right steering way to light. By the way cool car I wouldn't mind having that one.
I remember the Aspen R/T and Super Coupe looked similar and there was a Volare Roadrunner as well. Never saw one of these in person though ..very cool.
Had a 360 Aspen in the early 80s. Had a fatly padded half vinyl roof. Some kind of luxury edition. Good running car. Can't figure out why Aspen, Volare, and LeBaron from those years were not engineered for big block options.
,hi, Mike back in the late 80s I had the brother to it aVolare Roadrunner I think. It was a 318 car otginally it was a 3spd with overdrive when I get it it had a 340 in it and a 4 spd. I brought it just for the motor and transmission .
Hey there, Thanks for putting that story of the Street kit car out there. Awesome episode. Finally someone else owns one. Nothing out there on these. I have the Plymouth version of the Street kit car as well. I also have the magazine plus have the window sticker with mine. Again very well done episode. Tom
I had the 1977 Dodge Aspen R/T. Black with Red stripe 318cuV8 /7:27 rear. Single carb. Rally Rims. We repolished the heads and distribution timed it a little rich. A slight adjustment to the exhaust manifold and at idle shook the car sideways slightly. With throttle open sounded like a 6000hp stock car. It did great going straight. 0-60mph in about 5 smokey seconds. Streering was best done at slow speeds. Lol. A tank. But fun to drive for this old high school kid. Lots of interior room. Loud, fast, smokey, and ugly. But so fun.
Also not sure about the others but the Dodge Aspen R/T was a run of 500 cars. Dodge made a fabled "purple" cam for racing purposes only as it would need extra motor mounts or the cam would shake parts off the car. Dont know if anyone ever had this cam or not. I only saw a pic of it.
Enthusiasm is the thing I like most about Mike Musto and the House of Muscle. Most of the time he describes the FEEL of the car, so that you can appreciate it even though it might not be exactly your thing. Kinda like he was saying, it's all about the context and that's what a lot of people should take into consideration when talking cars. It's all tied into a certain era and culture, coolness isn't absolute.
I was a Police Officer back then and we ran Aspens and Volares 360's. Not bad in a straight line, but did not handle in corners. Back end wanted to pass the front end. We never did have any impressive cruisers until we got the Satellite 440's.
I just stopped paying for motortrend on demand since I wasn't really watching it anymore. The main show I watched was House of Muscle, Ignition and Head to Head. In the end it was House of Muscle I was looking forward to the most. But there hadn't been any new episodes in like half year and I figured it was cancelled or something. Looked up Mikes twitter and saw this video posted. So damn happy Mike started this House of Muscle channel. Instasubbed.
at the dealer it was the super coupe and if you knew what there was a w-2 cylinder heads . if you went to the parts department you could order a kit to go short track racing start with a shell of the car then piece by piece up to complete kit.
When I was 16 (1987) my friend had one of these, it was his first car. I remember the first time he showed up in it, We were all like, "what the heck is that? Dude if your trying to have a cool car, you failed." To us a cool car was a chevelle, camaro, mustang, etc. but he couldn't afford one of those, so he bought what he could afford, he only paid a few hundred bucks for it. We ribbed him every chance we got about it, lol. Until this video, I've never seen another one, and now it's really cool. I have no idea where he, or that car is now. Ahh, memories.
Why didn't I get into Chrysler products when I was 16??? Cool factor is definitely 11. Been in Florida for almost 18 years...and never seen this, at any of the big shows. Love it! Thanks for sharing. JT ORlando, Fl
I bought the 1976 Plymouth Volare that came with the RoadRunner package. Not as rare as this car but still cool looking. Love the looks of the street kit....😍😍😍
Had a 77 Aspen in the mid 80’s. The slant 6 would stick to the bumper of my buddy’s 305 Camaro no problem. Love to have another someday, oh ya had a 70 comet, and 77 maverick back in the day as well.
Back in 1991 I had a 1974 Chevy Camaro. Yes, one of the most hated cars in the 90s. All my muscle car buddy's laughed there buts off and pointed out that gen2 Camaros had no power and weren't worth anything. Well after replacing the small block with a built 396 big bock, a bit of suspension work, and better gearing, I was running high 10s in the quarter and no one was laughing anymore. Well except me of course because even with all the upgrades I still had spent half what my muscle car buddy's who were left seeing nothing but tail lights had spent on their cars.
I wanted that car so bad as a kid when I first so it on the motor trend cover! It had that nascar vibe despite the lack of horsepower but around 87 Buick came out with a machine in all black that had the power and looks that hooked me till today! Proud Grand National owner.
I love cars like this because they were the cars of my time. These are the ones that were in the showrooms in the 70s when Dad was looking at the new Granada sedan. Gee Dad, wouldn't you rather have that Grabber over there? some of my pals had the bucks when we started driving (right around the time this Aspen was built) to pick up a big block 60s "real muscle car" but those of us on a tighter budget were fine saving enough coin to buy our Coors (actually Molson's or Labbatt's in Canada) by buying a car like this and bolting on a few extras to get the horsepower that wasn't being built anymore. They already had great drive lines. A Dodge with a 360 could be tuned to run with some of the best of the 60s pretty reasonably. My chosen ride was a '75 Comet GT. It already had the orange paint, hood scoop and big black stripes. It didn't take a lot to give the 302 a little extra. Heck, even my Mom got pulled over by the RCMP when she borrowed it once, Not because she was speeding, just because it was black and orange and had bigger tires than the police car! Lets here it for the GTs, the Grabbers, The Volare Roadrunners, the '74 GTOs, V8 Hornets and the Heavy Chevys!
my dad bought a '80. my lead guitarist had the '78. We thought that we were cool. great memories, cheap beer, loud amplifiers, and slow cars, what else do you need, ? Fast Women!
You gotta bring your old superbird clone to the Hoonigan garage! I think theyd love you there, itd make a hell of a fun episode and it would bring your channel a nice bit of exposure from one of the biggest auto channels around.
We're actually working on that. The balls in my court actually, just need to fix a few items first. And just remember, Daytona - the Superbird was a Plymouth
I had a 78 Aspen RT for a short time in 1983. It was brown with a white stripe, had the bench seat and column shifter, fender flairs, whale tail, and a huge ‘Sox and Martin’ hood scoop, that I had to cover when it rained so water wouldn’t pour onto the engine! Battery was in the trunk. Mine said it was a 340 under the hood, but somebody replaced the original motor with a 360 and a 2 barrel. Had a full posit rearend. I had to sell it after running afoul of the law.
Just discovered this channel please do a video on the valiant charger from here down under it was only a hemi slant 6 265 but was a real competitor back in its day
The Aspen had a redesigned front end (very good) and also like you said, very quiet inside w\windows up. Nice cars but only thing is that ignition (lean burned or-whatever) needed replacing.
Were there two different front splitter options? I knew a guy with one of these back in the 80's and his front splitter moulded into the front fender flares.
Funny thing about this car and engine... 1978 was also the first year for the Dodge Little Red Truck. 1/2 ton trucks didn’t have to meet the same emissions standards of cars, so Dodge was able to use a true duel exhaust without a catalytic converter. It used the same engine with the old “340” cam and stiffer valve springs. That truck was the quickest American made “car” that year... if you could get it to hook up!
79 R/T ASPEN had the same drivetrain and T TOP.with out the fender extenders.it also had the wing minus extender and bucket seat interior and side window luvers.
Thanks for staying on TH-cam Mike
We're working on it!
Your the man Mike!!! I've been hanging out for this new season. Thanks so much for keeping it real and keeping it free on YT
What he said...
Mike Must is one of the most under-rated car guys on the internet. Hope he gets more episodes of his show in this year and in the future. He's just really cool to listen to, it's like I grew up with him when he talks about AFX slot cars.
Keep up the good work Mike.
Cheers and thank you!
100%... Mike's the man
Austin Powers 100% agree
I had the Plymouth version in 1978. two tone blue. loved it !
*MULLET-Mobile* Awesome! Right when we thought we knew it all on MOPAR, this shows up while Earl dies of envy...
love this dodge. you had me at 43
Its cool hearing how people drove aspens back in high school,and im getting mine fixed up for my sophomore year
"Ya bought a car, ya put louvers on it, ya grew yerself a mullet, and ya drank yerself a coors lite" ... amen brother. LOL
I love these oddball mopars from late 70s and early 80s. Had few Miradas and currently one stw Aspen. Someday I will get my super coupe or R/T Aspen Coupe.
Agreed - would totally love an 78 Magnum one day.
Do more oddballs like this. Even gear heads can learn a thing or two.
I was born in 1991, so hearing stories about cars from the 1970s is really interesting because it's a period of car making that's not discussed a whole lot, especially the cars that were a bit more performance oriented (i.e. the few models that were oriented towards performance in those days). Anyways, lots of love from Sweden!
chikitabowow you don't hear much about the mid-to-late seventies performance of any car company because there was virtually none to talk about. If anything you would hear about cars that had more styling cues than another.
I remember wishing I could own a 1970 Challenger. Now, I’ve got a Hellcat. Thank you Mike for reminding me that the dark times are over. Long live Mopar!
Any time!
Dad had a 77 Aspen wagon when I was young lol. Purple!
Get rid of the lean burn, put a regular thermoquad on it and a regular electronic ignition and you had a decent engine for the time. In fact the cam in the 360 would have been considered an aftermarket rev cam in a Ford or Chevy. In 1980 competition cams came out with a line of cams called the High Energy series. They put a 268 degree cam in every American V8 with 9-1 compression, a decent dual plane manifold, 650 Holley and headers and advertised the Horspower each engine made with that combo. In the early ads Chevy lead the way in horsepower. But when they finally published the horsepower for the 360 it was the only engine to make one horsepower per cubic inch, blowing the competition away!
And where is it published that a Chrysler 360 produces 360 HP?🤔
Oh man, this takes me back to when I had a Super coupe when I was in high school. The poor thing didn't go over 110mph not even with a hurricane-esque tailwind. The 360 was choked down so, getting rid of the Lean Burn system, fattening up the secondaries and installing real 2.5 duals exhaust with Hemi mufflers. My cousins and I were oh so happy when the car went an easy 122mph as indicated on the police radar. We were fined of course......
I remember the decals were shipped in the trunk and we would apply them. The rest of the car was as you see it. Had the wider wheels which surprisingly weren't mentioned. Great job commentating, and so true about the WS6 T/A vs mopar P/S. How about the overly assisted power brakes? i love those.
Thanks dude. I have the Plymouth version of this car, six cylinder unfortunately, but I have the same interior and louvres with a Duster package.
My first car memories as a child are of my dads 78 Aspen. It was dark blue with black interior. I'd sit on his lap and steer on the back roads. The 2 things that I remember the most were the louvred back windows and the SUPER SLANT SIX sticker on the air cover. Thank you for the great vid and bringing back fond memories.
The leaning tower of POWER!
The House Of Muscle lol Don't be hatin on the leanin tower. I'm a Mopar guy because of this car
Never saw 1 that color before. I saw 1 in brown and black and also a 2 toned Petty Blue before, but not that combo. Also, according to MSP tests in '78, a full police spec Aspen sedan with light bar, etc, did 0-60 in 8.8 sec, and the 79 version with 20 more hp, did it in 8.2, so a coupe with less weight at 7.3 seconds, sounds about right. '78 E58 360s in cars with cats were rated at 175hp for federal emissions, 170 for California, and 185 for Canada. The 220hp rated versions were for trucks only, in that yr only. '79 E58s were rated at 195hp in all states. Cali cars added an AIR pump. I had talked to a guy that worked at a Chrysler engine plant during the late 70's and early 80's. He said that 1 thing Chrysler was doing was measuring and testing the engines as installed in their cars, and using chassis dynos for fine tuning rather than an engine stand dyno, which made them run better and stronger than the competition. Even so, the ELB system was a constant problem. The technology just wasn't there until about '81. He said that a tech could tune the system and it would run great, but the next start up the car could run terrible, w/o even touching 1 adjustment. Ironically, the 1st upgrade in the Direct Connection parts catalog of the time was to ditch the ELB, and add an Orange Box electronic ignition system with a fast curve distributor.
I think instead of being a street kit the brown and black was a super coupe or R/T it had at the least very similar flairs wings and louvers
In a world of people that think all cars should make 4 numbers on the dyno, it's really cool to see pieces like this still exist. Don't get me wrong, I dig a well built restomod, but I have truly had more fun in a bone stock fox body with a gear, and a good clutch, than I have any 4 digit racecar. Keep up the cool work Mike! We all dig it!
Thanks Mike!
4 numbers?
In '82 a classmate pulled into our high school parking lot in a cherry '76 Dodge Aspen "R/T" red-orange on black, replete with RoadRunner graphics. We laughed so hard during first period coach thought we were high. We sang "Volare" whenever we saw him getting in or out of it. Randy didn't keep that car very long.
KCB, Although bullying is now frowned upon, in the context of 1982 your teasing and tormenting was fully justified.
Agreed.
Love it, pure 70’s cheesy cool. I dig Aspens, and I’ve never seen one of these before, thank you for showing us this gem Mike, nice beard too! 😁👍🏻
the r/t and road runner of the same era are cool as well.
There's a reason you don't see many Aspen/Volare examples around--they were garbage
Kinda weird how similar the Aspen and the 76 Nova are. Its like companies gave up on styling once the power was choked off too.
I never seen one of these either I mean I seen the Aspen but not this Edition.
This channel is gold! I need a HOM T-Shirt now.
I remember seeing one of these at the Chrysler dealership in Topeka Ks. Then low and behold my uncle got one - the blue and silver version. All of us kids loved it and it was really fast to us. Great memories.
Well presented; seeing that nobody instantly start bashing on it in the comments. I love me some cool looking oddball Mopars, even more so knowing these where the last Iterations of the A-body's. Amazing really how long and divers/widespread they where able to use that platform in their line-up.
Thank you for still providing a world wide audience with this quality content.
This is a great episode, a very cool ride ! ! ! ! ! ! Very original muscle car, and a very original episode, is not one of the too many classic muscle cars.
Growing up i fell inlove with the old muscle cars from the 60s and 70s, so this video like how Mike mentioned made me feel like a 4 year old
Thanks big guy...many of us appreciate your content.
In case anyone was wondering about how dismal power figures were in the late 70's, the 1978 & 1979 Dodge Power Wagon Lil' Red Express pickup truck was the world's fastest production vehicle from 0-100. A goddamn pickup truck.
Credit that trucks not having to adhere to smog regulations.
HOM has always been the best show on Motor Trend. I'm glad it stayed on youtube!
I won't rip on your beard Mike. That Kit Car Aspen is the story here. Fastest American Production car in 1978. Only beaten by the Dodge Little Red Express pickup- truck had no cats. Other options like a rear Anti-sway bar, heavy duty cooling system and the Plymouth Petty Blue version. No other American car in this size had rear anti-sway bars. 1978 had Supercoupe versions of the Aspen/ Volare', also a Plymouth Roadrunner version, and Aspen R/T version. These are definitely not a "me too" car. Thanks for featuring this awesome kit car Mike. you Rock!
Rip away man - no worries LOL! And I agree - I just love the uniqueness of the Kit Car.
My 79 Dodge Aspen R/T had the same 360 that came in the Little Red Express trucks it was a police block it had cats but no lean burn junk on it
Have followed and been a fan for a long while. Great videos Mike and you sure know how to bring back our youth with the cool cars you drive. Thanks again for not bailing out of you tube.
No problem!
That car brings back memories. My first car was a 1978 Volare Wagon with the "Super Six", near identical red interior, column shifter and optional "vent package" (which added the A/C vents and a vent position on the heater but didn't have A/C). Later I bought a 1977 Aspen Wagon as a parts car and then a 2-door 1979 Dodge Diplomat to replace the Volare (now with over 350,000 kms on it and a cracked frame under the passenger seat that failed due to too much flexing over the "pizza delivery" miles). I had the frame welded a couple of times but it kept cracking in different places. When it was cracked you could see the rear window flex left and right in the rear view mirror (the whole car would twist).
The Diplomat was close to loaded (including A/C & power windows) but only had the super six too. After swapping the heavy duty rear axle from the Volare into the Diplomat (after its failed) I put over 500,000 km on the Diplomat (delivering pizza too). The Diplomat didn't experience the cracked frame problem.
I really enjoyed those cars and drove them from about 1981 until the mid 1990's.
Looks like you've grown a full beard and this is one cool rare street car.
I have one
@@kyletheis4259 Awesome brother.
Glad to see ya back
I always wanted one of these too. They had a lot of potential - a little tuning on that 360 and a better exhaust system and it would really wake up, even with the lean burn system.
Killer (rare) car! Thanks for showcasing one of the baddest of the 70's.
ive got a 79 aspen with a slant six and 4 speed. planning on hopping the slant six a bit
First car...'70 Dart, second car... '76 Aspen coupe, brown with yellow and orange strips, slant six with a four speed. I loved that car!!! I actually got it featured in the readers section of car craft in the mid '80's when they did a article on building a 225 slant six... Did I mention that I loved that car😍.
i missed the first minute /five rolling around, in great laughter! your killin me HERE!
A Yo Musto, That epic beard deserves its own TH-cam channel..
I second that . The House of Bearded Muscle?
I'm going FULL MOSES!
The House Of Muscle, lol right on 👊
“Let my people go” -Moses
“Let My Mopar Go” -Musto
And there was a Volare Kit Car as well - they were 2-tone blue. I only ever saw ONE of those on the road, & I'm from the Motor City. These were insanely rare cars. I owned a Super Coupe Aspen for a couple of years - same drivetrain as this. After playing with the lean burn system for about a year, I installed a single point distributor which made it feel like I had tapped into 100 more HP. With the ignition working right, this car had good power & definitely had a great muscle car feel. The E-58 360 was no slouch, AND these cars handled like they were on rails - VERY sporty & comfortable cars to drive!
I own a blue on blue one with a bench seat, loved that car I was also 19 and sold it at 21. I will own another some day thanks for the ride along.
This was featured in Car and Driver Magazine. I was in vocational school at the time. My teacher was a MOPAR guy. Showed him the article and we drooled together
Awesome I love this show, so glad your still doing it
My first car was a 1978 Dodge Aspen, fresh from the factory with that same red interior, no radio, no air, slant 6, just power brakes and steering. Those interior shots were my original interior. They had put some odd options on it, which probably was why it had sat on the lot all year. Modified that car heavily in the five years+ I had it, drove it all over, including one lap of the Indy brickyard, never let me down after I learned to always have a ballast resistor in the glovebox.
I’d used to see the Chrysler kit car stock cars in USAC race at the Milwaukee Mile in the 70’s. Race car in a box!
Had no idea. If I had seen it on the street I would've thought it was a one-off owner kit job. Felt the same way the first time I saw a Superbird on the street in 1970. Both look too outrageous to be factory. Great video.
Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth all produced some pretty funky stuff at times. Hell, I still can't believe the Prowler actually made it to production back in the late 90's.
1. Very Cool, nice car
2. Excellent narration / very informative
3. STELLAR Camera work
4. I just subscribed
Just a great non offensive host / narrator that is a true car guy. Love it. Thank you!
My first car was a 77 Plymouth Volare same body style.I have never seen this limited edition Aspen.Great video.
Awsome find Musto, never knew this car existed; dig the looks of the car too. Now you need to feature a King Cobra next. Or, if your really good find a Yenko Turbo Camaro, that'll blow everyone's mind.
Now THAT's a unicorn.
Nice show, i just subscribed. I agree on the King Cobra, but also there are so many nice classics. I never seen someone doing a run down on AMC amx spirit. Keep up the good work Mike.
If you ordered the solid isolators and police suspension- it'll handle & brake much better. Since '73-up steering knuckles were standardized, so caliper adapters and a set of "Big" car rotors, that thing can sport 12" rotors using factory parts on the cheap.
Well...it was in the video description :-D
I didn't even know about these cars. Pretty cool in context, especially when so many cars of this era were more advertising the EPA fuel economy rather than how quickly the cars would even go.
I recall the version of the Aspen/Volary/Roadrunner with Roadrunner decals on it. My 8th grade teacher had a black one w/ the red baha style wheels.
Really dig the HOM. Please keep these videos coming! I have 2 connections with the Dodge Aspens and Plymouth Volares in 1978 these were our drivers ed cars. 10 years after that we were pulling the torsion bar front ends out of these to weld in classic pickups. Still have a 1953 F100 with it. Your right steering way to light. By the way cool car I wouldn't mind having that one.
1980 Aspen coupe for my drivers ed.
Very cool car Randy. Those are insanely rare! I love all mopars, this is cool too.
I read about these cars in a Facebook group, which was of course only pictures. It's neat to see one on the road. Cool car indeed!
brilliant episode as always guys
I remember the Aspen R/T and Super Coupe looked similar and there was a Volare Roadrunner as well. Never saw one of these in person though ..very cool.
Had a 360 Aspen in the early 80s. Had a fatly padded half vinyl roof. Some kind of luxury edition. Good running car. Can't figure out why Aspen, Volare, and LeBaron from those years were not engineered for big block options.
Cool car.. reminds me of the Holden A9X - probably because of the bolt-on flares and coupe styling.
Cool. My first car was a 1980 Volare so I had a pretty good idea what this car was. Great episode thanks.
,hi, Mike back in the late 80s I had the brother to it aVolare Roadrunner I think. It was a 318 car otginally it was a 3spd with overdrive when I get it it had a 340 in it and a 4 spd. I brought it just for the motor and transmission .
Great review. Thanks !! I currently own a 1980 Plymouth Volare Coupe with a modded 360. I get plenty of thumbs up too LOL !
Hey there, Thanks for putting that story of the Street kit car out there. Awesome episode. Finally someone else owns one. Nothing out there on these. I have the Plymouth version of the Street kit car as well. I also have the magazine plus have the window sticker with mine. Again very well done episode. Tom
I had the 1977 Dodge Aspen R/T. Black with Red stripe 318cuV8 /7:27 rear. Single carb. Rally Rims. We repolished the heads and distribution timed it a little rich. A slight adjustment to the exhaust manifold and at idle shook the car sideways slightly. With throttle open sounded like a 6000hp stock car. It did great going straight. 0-60mph in about 5 smokey seconds. Streering was best done at slow speeds. Lol. A tank. But fun to drive for this old high school kid. Lots of interior room. Loud, fast, smokey, and ugly. But so fun.
Also not sure about the others but the Dodge Aspen R/T was a run of 500 cars. Dodge made a fabled "purple" cam for racing purposes only as it would need extra motor mounts or the cam would shake parts off the car. Dont know if anyone ever had this cam or not. I only saw a pic of it.
Enthusiasm is the thing I like most about Mike Musto and the House of Muscle. Most of the time he describes the FEEL of the car, so that you can appreciate it even though it might not be exactly your thing. Kinda like he was saying, it's all about the context and that's what a lot of people should take into consideration when talking cars. It's all tied into a certain era and culture, coolness isn't absolute.
Thanks Mikko - and what you said is very true.
I was a Police Officer back then and we ran Aspens and Volares 360's. Not bad in a straight line, but did not handle in corners. Back end wanted to pass the front end. We never did have any impressive cruisers until we got the Satellite 440's.
I really love your videos and, if I may say, your affection for mopars!
Love em' all - but yeah, got a soft spot for 'Ma.
I just stopped paying for motortrend on demand since I wasn't really watching it anymore. The main show I watched was House of Muscle, Ignition and Head to Head. In the end it was House of Muscle I was looking forward to the most. But there hadn't been any new episodes in like half year and I figured it was cancelled or something. Looked up Mikes twitter and saw this video posted. So damn happy Mike started this House of Muscle channel. Instasubbed.
Good episode!
The beard adds a few years to ya Mike!!
I just tell everyone that I'm 15-year older than I actually am and they say DAMN! You look good for age. Works every time.
The Beard gives you that wisdom beyond years look, Kind of a Gandalf of muscle cars.
at the dealer it was the super coupe and if you knew what there was a w-2 cylinder heads . if you went to the parts department you could order a kit to go short track racing start with a shell of the car then piece by piece up to complete kit.
Love these oddities of Mopars.
Great show again Mike ✌️
When I was 16 (1987) my friend had one of these, it was his first car. I remember the first time he showed up in it, We were all like, "what the heck is that? Dude if your trying to have a cool car, you failed." To us a cool car was a chevelle, camaro, mustang, etc. but he couldn't afford one of those, so he bought what he could afford, he only paid a few hundred bucks for it. We ribbed him every chance we got about it, lol. Until this video, I've never seen another one, and now it's really cool. I have no idea where he, or that car is now. Ahh, memories.
This video put a big ass smile on my face.😅
Good - means we're doing our job!
Why didn't I get into Chrysler products when I was 16??? Cool factor is definitely 11. Been in Florida for almost 18 years...and never seen this, at any of the big shows. Love it! Thanks for sharing.
JT
ORlando, Fl
House of muscle is back!
Been here for awhile and glad you're back as well!
I like these rare muscle cars!
Beautiful ride!
I bought the 1976 Plymouth Volare that came with the RoadRunner package. Not as rare as this car but still cool looking. Love the looks of the street kit....😍😍😍
I absolutely love these and the Super Coupes.
Had a 77 Aspen in the mid 80’s. The slant 6 would stick to the bumper of my buddy’s 305 Camaro no problem. Love to have another someday, oh ya had a 70 comet, and 77 maverick back in the day as well.
Thank you Mike musto for keeping your show on TH-cam (the opposite of roadkill : shame on motortrend)
Sure thing! And we'll keep it going as long as we can!
Back in 1991 I had a 1974 Chevy Camaro. Yes, one of the most hated cars in the 90s. All my muscle car buddy's laughed there buts off and pointed out that gen2 Camaros had no power and weren't worth anything. Well after replacing the small block with a built 396 big bock, a bit of suspension work, and better gearing, I was running high 10s in the quarter and no one was laughing anymore. Well except me of course because even with all the upgrades I still had spent half what my muscle car buddy's who were left seeing nothing but tail lights had spent on their cars.
I wanted that car so bad as a kid when I first so it on the motor trend cover! It had that nascar vibe despite the lack of horsepower but around 87 Buick came out with a machine in all black that had the power and looks that hooked me till today! Proud Grand National owner.
As you should be!
The House Of Muscle thanks brother! Keep up the great work on keeping American muscle in the frontlines!
I love cars like this because they were the cars of my time. These are the ones that were in the showrooms in the 70s when Dad was looking at the new Granada sedan. Gee Dad, wouldn't you rather have that Grabber over there?
some of my pals had the bucks when we started driving (right around the time this Aspen was built) to pick up a big block 60s "real muscle car" but those of us on a tighter budget were fine saving enough coin to buy our Coors (actually Molson's or Labbatt's in Canada) by buying a car like this and bolting on a few extras to get the horsepower that wasn't being built anymore. They already had great drive lines. A Dodge with a 360 could be tuned to run with some of the best of the 60s pretty reasonably. My chosen ride was a '75 Comet GT. It already had the orange paint, hood scoop and big black stripes. It didn't take a lot to give the 302 a little extra. Heck, even my Mom got pulled over by the RCMP when she borrowed it once, Not because she was speeding, just because it was black and orange and had bigger tires than the police car! Lets here it for the GTs, the Grabbers, The Volare Roadrunners, the '74 GTOs, V8 Hornets and the Heavy Chevys!
Awesome looking car.
my dad bought a '80. my lead guitarist had the '78. We thought that we were cool. great memories, cheap beer, loud amplifiers, and slow cars, what else do you need, ? Fast Women!
You gotta bring your old superbird clone to the Hoonigan garage! I think theyd love you there, itd make a hell of a fun episode and it would bring your channel a nice bit of exposure from one of the biggest auto channels around.
We're actually working on that. The balls in my court actually, just need to fix a few items first. And just remember, Daytona - the Superbird was a Plymouth
I had a 78 Aspen RT for a short time in 1983. It was brown with a white stripe, had the bench seat and column shifter, fender flairs, whale tail, and a huge ‘Sox and Martin’ hood scoop, that I had to cover when it rained so water wouldn’t pour onto the engine! Battery was in the trunk. Mine said it was a 340 under the hood, but somebody replaced the original motor with a 360 and a 2 barrel. Had a full posit rearend.
I had to sell it after running afoul of the law.
Just discovered this channel please do a video on the valiant charger from here down under it was only a hemi slant 6 265 but was a real competitor back in its day
I love this car, I had a 1978 Plymouth Volare, same color but a slant six 225.
The Aspen had a redesigned front end (very good) and also like you said, very quiet inside w\windows up. Nice cars but only thing is that ignition (lean burned or-whatever) needed replacing.
Were there two different front splitter options? I knew a guy with one of these back in the 80's and his front splitter moulded into the front fender flares.
Killer beard, killer episode!
Funny thing about this car and engine...
1978 was also the first year for the Dodge Little Red Truck.
1/2 ton trucks didn’t have to meet the same emissions standards of cars, so Dodge was able to use a true duel exhaust without a catalytic converter.
It used the same engine with the old “340” cam and stiffer valve springs.
That truck was the quickest American made “car” that year... if you could get it to hook up!
Best show on youtube!!
Thanks Travis!
I grew up around a blue one. It's still here. Why is HOM not have any new episodes on Mo-trend?
79 R/T ASPEN had the same drivetrain and T TOP.with out the fender extenders.it also had the wing minus extender and bucket seat interior and side window luvers.
I love the look of it!
This is a pretty neat car. I really like the wheels.