While the human Seven Deadly Sins – lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride – clearly play a part in any automaker’s fall from grace, Detroit cultivated its own favorite deadly transgressions. Chrysler’s recurring dirty little habit was premature ejection: spurting cars out of the factory door before they were ready. The shoddily built 1957s devastated the company’s hard earned rep for solid, well-engineered cars. Chrysler only barely absolved itself through the penance of hard work along with the blessing of the sacred A-Body. But in 1976, Chrysler fell from grace again, and this time it took the intercession of the Great White Father in Washington to keep it from eternal damnation. And not for the last time, either.
It’s hard to overstate the importance of the A-Bodies to Chrysler’s survival during its difficult years. The Valiant and Dart, along with their Swinging Duster off-shoots, developed a well-earned reputation for rugged simplicity. And they sold like stink. In fact, contrary to usual Detroit-think, they sold better the older they got. In 1974, in their fifteenth year, some 720k new A-Bodies found homes. And I’ll bet that the percentage of them still on the road today is the highest of any American car sold that year. There are dozens of them still plying the streets of Eugene.
Chrysler must have known that replacing the A-team successfully would be a mission-critical task. Boy, did they ever flub it. Their compacts went from being the most durable to the most-recalled in history, up to that time; GM’s X-bodies soon stole that title. It was 1957 all over again, but worse.
Beta-testing new cars on a mass scale is just not a good idea. Build quality was all-round crappy, at best. It went downhill from there: five mandatory recalls covering a variety of ills with suspension, ignition, fuel system, brakes, steering and body. The one that had the highest visibility (literally) was pre-mature rusting of the front fenders. All Aspares had fenders inspected, removed, replaced and/or galvanized, and repainted to the tune of $109 million. That was serious bucks to Chrysler then, especially since the whole mothership was rusting away.
Lee Iacocca had this to say: “The Dart and Valiant ran forever, and they should never have been dropped. Instead they were replaced by cars that often started to come apart after only a year or two. When these cars first came out, they were still in the development phase. Looking back over the past twenty years or so, I can’t think of any cars that caused more disappointment among customers than the Aspen and the Volare”. Honest, but easy for him to say, since he wasn’t responsible. Oh, and I can think of at least one other car that starts with V to compete in the disappointment category.
There was a big difference this time from 1957. Back then, unhappy Chryslerites might have drifted reluctantly to Ford or GM, only to soon be back in the fold. But by the late seventies, it was more likely that they ended up in a Toyota, and stayed there. By 1980, the delayed but full impact of the pre-mature twins was obvious; sales were down to under 200k. And sales of the Volens’ direct replacement, the Reliant and Aries K-cars, never topped 300k. The A-car franchise was now a distant and painful memory, and materially contributed to the Pentastar’s collapse.
Chrysler barely avoided bankruptcy in 1979 thanks to federal loan guarantees, and went on to fly high again. But it wasn’t the last time its pet sin was committed (think Neon). Meanwhile Volare and Aspen soldiered on a few more years, before they morphed into the dull M-Bodies: Diplomat, LeBaron, Grand Fury, New Yorker, and that final supreme devolution, the Fifth Avenue, which doddered along until 1989. Does it only seem like that was yesterday?
Can we find something a little positive to say here? Sure; the original incarnations were the best looking, before all the neo-classic grilles and half-vinyl tops. The Volare and Aspen were an attempt to redefine the intermediate size car, since the abominations that had once been called that swelled to ridiculous proportions in the mid seventies. The wagon in particular exemplified the best qualities of that effort: clean, practical, handsome, almost Volvo-esque. The coupe: much less so.
Ignoring the driveability/smog control issues that were common to the era, Chrysler’s engines and transmissions were a highly known quantity: pretty much bulletproof. You could even order a Super Six, a two-barrel version of the slant six which put out as much power as some of the Chevy small blocks of that illustrious lo-po era. With a floor-shifted four speed to back it up, it was about as euro as Detroit got back then.
Ride and handling were decidedly anti-euro: softer. The A-Bodies were always the best handling domestic compacts, at the expense of refinement in ride and quietness. The Volare and Aspen introduced a new transverse torsion-bar front suspension, with greater isolation, and the result was just that. Chrysler was trying to imitate Ford’s popular soft-rider Granada, and it succeeded spectacularly.
Just as the impact of the Volare and Aspen’s fall from grace hit, along came the Ford Fairmont and pretty much did it all better. The original Fox body was lighter, cleaner, crisper and more efficient; the closest Detroit ever got to the old Volvo formula. But it too morphed into bizarre padded vinyl-topped monsters.
Probably the best thing Chrysler did with the Volare and Aspen was their names. By not naming them Valiant and Dart, they at least avoided dragging those names through the mud. Now that sin would have been unforgivable.
77 Comments on “Curbside Classics: Chrysler’s Deadly Sin #1 – 1976 Plymouth Volare and Dodge Aspen...”
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Too true.
But the Fairmont briefly took over the most recalled car until the Xs took the lead.
Damn but that belt line looked cut a lot deeper in the teaser picture than it does in the others. It looked as sharp as the 68 Polara from that angle. Never would have believed it was as soft a line as it is on the Asplares.
Another great piece Mr. N.
My family bought one of the early Volares, and my uncle got an Aspen. The “in between” size sparked strong sales. And the cars were horribly unreliable, at least until they sorted out a problem with the carburetor float that caused the car to stall in many turns.
The fact that someone took the time and effort to suspend the “Volare” script with wire within the cracked and busted remains of a grille blows me away. The additional “PLYMOUTH” nameplate along the dash by the steering wheel is charming as well. Why would anyone want to remind themselves that they are driving such crap.
Oh, lord, I was actually brought home from the hospital in one of these cars. My parents bought it because my grandfather’s car (a Fury wagon) was rusted out and not at all reliable, and my grandmother was going to have his hide before her first grandson was going to ride in it.
The Aspen (wagon, brown, slant-6, auto, ‘76) was rusting from new,a nd by the end of it’s life we had holes in the floor. Ignition and carb problems were constant, and the whole car had a “half-baked” feel. The engine was reliable, but that’s it.
It actually drove my family, formerly loyal Chrysler buyers, right into Toyota’s waiting arms.
The Volare eventually became a Gran Fury with a 318 and maybe a 383 in the police version.
What made the A body Valiants and Darts desirable were the engines. Both the slant six and the 318 V8 outlasted the bodywork by a good margin.
A girl friend had a 70ish Dart with no power steering in the early 80’s. It was a pig to drive, but cheap. I got this lady interested in Mercedes 240D, which wasn’t so cheap, but it drove well.
Apparently the Volare owner is very concerned about forgetting what kind of car he’s driving. Also, note to designers: after 30 years the unadorned Plymouth is infinitely better looking than the blinged-out (for its time) Dodge. It sort of reminds me of the plain, sleek beauty of the original Mustang. Finally, can anyone write an article deciphering the history of the alphabet designations of the various body styles? You know, A bodies, X bodies, K cars, etc? That would be great… (Lumbergh voice).
There was a big difference this time from 1957. Back then, unhappy Chryslerites might have drifted reluctantly to Ford or GM, only to soon be back in the fold. But by the late seventies, it was more likely that they ended up in a Toyota, and stayed there.
Oh, lord, I was actually brought home from the hospital in one of these cars. My parents bought it because my grandfather’s car (a Fury wagon) was rusted out and not at all reliable, and my grandmother was going to have his hide before her first grandson was going to ride in it.
The Aspen (wagon, brown, slant-6, auto, ‘76) was rusting from new,a nd by the end of it’s life we had holes in the floor. Ignition and carb problems were constant, and the whole car had a “half-baked” feel. The engine was reliable, but that’s it.
As above, it actually drove my family, formerly loyal Chrysler buyers, right into Toyota’s waiting arms.
My parents had the ‘57 plymouth (bought used), a disaster, the 1970 Valiant, which was at that time by far the best car they ever had, and the ‘76 Volare. They got the Volare because the Valiant was so good. The Volare was totaled when my mother was going out from our little road onto the main road, the car stalled as she got onto the main road–a chronic problem, and someone plowed into her. My father’s reaction: “we’re well rid of that car.”
The stalling was due to the way the car was tuned to suppress smog. A friend who is a mechanic said that at his shop, if a customer came in a second time with the stalling, they’d drill out the carb, which would solve the problem.
My recollection is that the smog tuning was a problem for the last valiants and darts though, that you didn’t want a ‘74. I’m pretty sure they were good through ‘72, and maybe through ‘73.
Stylistically, I think the ‘70 was the zenith for Valiant, very simple, no superfluous lines, and well executed.
@oldandslow
my parents’ ‘70 Valiant’s body lasted well despite Massachusetts winters and being totaled twice one winter late in life. (the car’s value was so low by that time that it didn’t take much to total it, so they kept it another 4 yrs. They had it until the mid-80s.
By not naming them Valiant and Dart, they at least avoided dragging those names through the mud.
Quite right.
Another painful memory for me is the TV commercial with someone (Ricardo Montalban, maybe?) singing “Volare”. I was a kid then, but that ad forever turned me off to the Volare.
And to think that Chrysler reincarnated the Aspen name for an SUV is remarkable. Couldn’t they come up with anything else?
Probably the best thing Chrysler did with the Volare and Aspen was their names. By not naming them Valiant and Dart, they at least avoided dragging those names through the mud. Now that sin would have been unforgivable.
One of the funniest things they ever did was resurrect “Aspen” for a full-size luxury SUV. I haven’t seen my father laugh quite so hard in a while.
One point about these cars: if you find one that’s still running (and running well) and looks good, buy it. Either it’s been fanatically maintained, or it’s freakishly well-built. Likely both.
One of my favorite Aspen/Volare recalls was to reposition a brake line. It had been placed underneath the battery. The concern of NHTSA, and obviously less so of the Chrysler engineers, was that battery acid would leak on to the brake line. Which might spring a leak.
They got the Volare because the Valiant was so good.
Everyone did that. It’s a testament to what reputation can do: Chrysler would have been in very, very different straights today if they hadn’t pissed in their customer’s proverbial cornflakes with the Aspen/Volare.
Every mainstream automaker needs to keep a picture of the Valiant and Volare handy. You can make mechanical-princess sports cars and similar toys and get away with it because, well, those are ego purchases, and people can forgive a lot for the sake of their ego. These buyers are also very fickle: they’ll dump you for the next hot thing as soon as the lease is up.
Screwing bread-and-butter buyers is entirely different: they depend on their car, and they spent hard-earned money to buy it. Treat them well and they’re yours for life; treat them badly and they, their kids and their friends will never, ever darken your door again. What happened with the Valiant would be akin to Toyota doing the same with the Corolla. It would kill them as a brand, instantly, because these cars are the real “halos” for a mass-market marque, not Lutzian toys.
The concern of NHTSA, and obviously less so of the Chrysler engineers, was that battery acid would leak on to the brake line. Which might spring a leak.The concern of NHTSA, and obviously less so of the Chrysler engineers, was that battery acid would leak on to the brake line. Which might spring a leak.
My parents had this happen. That they had the forethought to kick it into neutral and use the foot-operated parking brake got us out of trouble. That, and that my dad is a very conservative driver and, by that point, stalling and suchlike was something you just acclimatized to.
I had a 76 Aspen Wagon as my first new car. Still love the utility of cargo space (one touch of a button and the seat back would fold FLAT), low liftover height of the rear hatch, and the high visibility of the large windows. Didn’t like the rust and crappy dealer service. First oil change took over an hour as the drain plug wouldn’t come out completely. Dealer balked at replacing the oil pan, but eventually did before the next oil change.
Chrysler redeemed themselves with the 84 minivans.
Another painful memory for me is the TV commercial with someone (Ricardo Montalban, maybe?) singing “Volare”. I was a kid then, but that ad forever turned me off to the Volare.
I always think of the Cheers episode where Sam Malone had to trade in his Corvette for a Plymouth Volare because he lost some money or some such. The never ending tirade of abuse he swore on that car always struck me that at least one of the show’s writers must have owned one of these POS’s for a bit.
First, the 1957 Chrylser/plymouth/Dodge were rushed into production because they wanted to leapfrog any changes comming from Ford & GM.
I had a 1987 Chrysler Fifth Avenue. If I could go back in time, I’d get that car back today. compared to the ’80’s and ’90’s cars I drove (both US and Japan), that car drove like a tank. Practically unstoppable. Did not have the greatest takeoff and the transverse Torsion bars sucked, but it held the road better then most of the cars I drove. One time I had that car easily in excess of 110 (it was pointing straight down at the bottom of the gauge) and that car cruised.
Scoff if you might, but it was a staple of alot of the local and state police for years. Cops aren’t usually wrong !
I drove a police-package Aspen sedan, and found it to handle as well as my police-package 1976 Dart. Its wide wheels really filled the wheelwells, and you could see a lot of tire as one passed you. The one I drove was in county-sheriff metallic green with an ugly tan interior and rather narrow bucket seats with no bolsters. It would sure as hell corner though; iirc it had the same rear sway bar as my Dart. At one time I was planning to get an ex-cop Diplomat and outfit it with an interior from a Fifth Avenue, but found the Dart instead.
I learned to drive on a 79 Volare and it was my primary transportation when I was 16. My father actually ordered this car as he did with all of his cars. I have to say by 79 they must have figured most of the issues out. He kept the car for 12 years, put well over 200K on it and it was in good shape when he traded it.
I especially dig the exposed gas cap, which invariably got stolen or left on a gas tank somewhere off the Jersey turnpike and the owner’s brilliant solution was to stuff a oil-soaked rag or sock into the hole, creating a mobile Molatov cocktail that cruised along at 55 mph.
My Dad sold Chryslers in the 70s and 80s and we had our share of Volares (Premier, if I recall). They were all ok for us but they were also brand new.
I had a 78 Aspen in the late 80s, it was the basest of the base Aspens. It had the old Duster steering wheel, the huge one with 3 spokes. No power steering either, the wheel would threaten to rip your fingers off when it snapped back from a turn. I never really had any problems with the Aspen that I remember but I didn’t have it longer than a year, 18 mos max.
I always think of the Cheers episode where Sam Malone had to trade in his Corvette for a Plymouth Volare because he lost some money or some such. The never ending tirade of abuse he swore on that car always struck me that at least one of the show’s writers must have owned one of these POS’s for a bit.
It was a brilliant piece of writing in that the car was never, technically, named in a sentence.
Somebody in the bar asks Sam “what did you replace the Corvette with?”. Everybody else in the bar sings the one word from the commercial:
“Volare”
Otherwise, the car was never named. But just in that moment, Detroit (and Chysler) should have known that once it entered into pop culture and tv comedy as being the purveyor of POSmobiles, it was doomed.
Wow it is funny how a close up can change the look. I could not reconcile the molding along the window and the body line with anything I recognized.
As bad as this car started out, it ended up being quite the bread and butter car for Chrysler. Over the years the Volare and Aspen evolved into the M body LeBaron, Diplomat, Grand Fury and ultimately the Fifth Avenue. So popular were the M bodies with fleet buyers (not to mention the very profitable Fifth Avenue) that when Chrysler bought AMC, production was moved to Kenosha WI to buy a couple extra years of life.
I had a friend in the late 80’s who just loved these things.
He could pick them up cheap and the slant six ran forever after properly modified. Sure they rusted but who cares; he’d pay $200 and drive it until it died, then buy another one.
I had another friend who did the same thing with Citations, take it as you will.
I was unaware of the volare thing on Cheers, as I only watched the program sporadically. Thanks to those who brought this up for giving me my best laugh of the week so far.
Another great article…the link between Chrysler’s 1957 fiasco and the launch of the Volare/Aspen is quite interesting.
These cars were Motor Trend’s “Car of the Year” for 1976 – another infamous choice!
The man who warbled the tune “Volare” for the Plymouth commercials was Sergio Franchi, not Ricardo Montalban.
Academy Award-winning British actor Rex Harrison – of My Fair Lady fame – was the spokesperson for the Dodge Aspen.
Let’s see…can we have a “Deadly Sins” series for all of the domestics, even those that haven’t filed for bankruptcy? The failures and fiascos are often more interesting than the successes.
Another line from that same episode:
“It’s amazing how fast you can drive when you don’t care about your car”
Or something to that effect.
As a Moparite, it pains me to see this article.
These things were so awful. My cousins has had A-body’s their entire lives (a second gen Charger thrown in). They got one of these and with a year or so of ownership the front frame collapsed when they crossed some railways tracks.
There is still one of these alive and kicking in my neighbourhood. Same colour as the reddish one here, but how it passes safety is beyond me. Bondo patches, pop riveted patches, even duct tape.
God, now I have ‘Voooolaaareeeeee’ from the commercial stuck in my head.
gslippy,
It was Italian singer Sergio Franchi. Montalban did the Cordoba commercials, and didn’t sing. Thanks for bringing back those memories….I think.
My Dad loved his ‘72 Valiant but after 6 years my mother wanted something that rode better and was more….stylish. He liked the Volare, but the word was already on the street that these cars were crap.
We ended up with a ‘78 Buick Century aeroback. Laugh all you want, but the thing lasted 12 years and 130K before being stolen off a Brooklyn street.
“While the human Seven Deadly Sins – lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride – clearly play a part in any automaker’s fall from grace, Detroit cultivated its own favorite deadly transgressions.”
No, I’d say Detroit has the human ones pretty well sewn up without having to develop new ones of their own!.
Geeber
Let’s see…can we have a “Deadly Sins” series for all of the domestics, even those that haven’t filed for bankruptcy? The failures and fiascos are often more interesting than the successes.
Covered that three years ago.
Frank,
That was an illuminating article; thank you for posting the link. I would also like to focus on the individual models that brought about each manufacturer’s decline, as this article does.
Chrylser eventually worked out the bugs and the later Aspens and Volares were solid, reliable cars. My parents owned a 1980 Volare sedan. It had the 225 Slant Six and automatic transmission. The car was maroon with a maroon vinyl top and a color keyed, maroon cloth interior.
This car was bought used in 1981 and gave years of reliable service until 1990 when my parents traded it for a used, 1989 Dodge Aries. The Volare was not fast or sporty, but it was roomy and comfortable. The thing I recall most is that when the humidity was just right a white vapor would blow out of the a.c. vents.
The F-Bodies and M-Bodies were not great cars by any stretch of the imagination, but they were nicer, more appealing cars than all of the K-Car derivities Chrysler built during the 1980’s and early 1990’s.
My dad had a 76 Volare. Total POS. The 318 got worse gas mileage than the 68 Newport with the 383 that he replaced, in the interest of better MPG. Everything went wrong – tranny, burned oil, you name it. He learned to keep an extra ignition ballast or 2 in the glove. Otherwise, it could leave you stranded with no warning.
My driver’s ed car was a ‘78 Volare… in 1993. Its sole attractions were that it started when you turned the key, and nothing important fell off at speed.
Nice photo correction of the Aspen parked on a hilly Oregon side street.
PN, terrific writeup. As a longtime connoisseur of the Slant-6, I have to confess I read this piece with a figurative red pen in hand, waiting for the opportunity to pounce on any errors of fact. No such opportunity arose, so all I can do is add some details and comments:
• The enormous and systematic difference between the class-leading A-body Dart/Valiant + derivatives and the abysmal Aspen/Volaré make it seem entirely appropriate that the latter cars were F-bodies (think in terms of letter grades).
• Chrysler Australia started importing A-bodies in late 1961, started building A-bodies in 1963, and kept building A-bodies through 1981; they never adopted the F-body. In 1971 they completely revamped the car so it didn’t look even a little bit like the boxy American Valiants, but underneath it was still an A-body. The new Australian styling was kept til ‘81. Even while the American mother ship was coughing up blood, Chrysler Australia was a profitable concern making good cars people wanted and bought — sometime in the late ’70s, the Australians were concerned that their Valiant didn’t handle well enough, so they sent some of them to Highland Park for evaluation and recommendations; the response from America was that the Australian car handled better than anything the American operations had at the time. This did not, however, result in the Americans trying to figure out why the Australians were doing well; Iaccoca sold Chrysler Australia to Mitsubishi.
• Chrysler de Mexico did commit the unforgivable sin; the F-bodies were sold in Mexico as Dodge Darts and Chrysler Valiant Volarés.
• The Motor Trend Car of the Year award for the ‘76 F-bodies was an utter farce; the following year’s recipient (all-new Caprice) was a good deal more justifiable, but nonetheless a skeptic might’ve been forgiven for suspecting the “award” was for sale.
• Every now and then over on the slant-6 board, we get happy F-body owners bitching about how the cars have an undeserved bad reputation as evidenced by their intact, dependable specimens. This necessitates a quick chat about anecdotal evidence and confirmation bias. With such utterly random build quality, a few of them were bound to be downright passable; the really bad ones rusted away long ago. But “the really bad ones” is a relative term, isn’t it? Just about any pile of junk can be kept on the road with sufficient will and, ah, resources; there was an ‘85 Yugo in daily service not far from me in Denver right up through at least 2000 when I moved away.
• When I worked at a large wrecking yard, my favourite yard car was a ‘78 Volaré with a 225 and 3-onna-tree. It started immediately every time, had a big enough trunk to bring a goodly haul of parts to the office from the far reaches of the yard, and had enough torque that the gearstick position didn’t matter. It was, however, no match for the forklift with the 6-foot-tall tires. Perhaps there’s a writeup in the works.
@Joe McKinney:
The A-Bodies and M-Bodies were not great cars by any stretch of the imagination, but they were nicer, more appealing cars all of the K-Car derivities Chrysler built during the 1980’s and early 1990’s.
Eh-body? The A-body cars (in the US and Canada) were the ‘60-’76 Valiant/Duster/Scamp, ‘61-’62 Lancer, ‘63-’76 Dart/Demon/Swinger, ‘64-’69 Barracuda. The “AA-body” designation was used for the ‘89-’95 Spirit/Acclaim/LeBaron sedans, which were K-derivatives that had nothing to do with the F-bodies. The M-body Diplomat, Gran Fury, (Canadian) Caravelle, LeBaron and New Yorker Fifth Avenue were lightly facelifted F-bodies that had nothing to do with the K-cars.
@ Daniel J. Stern
You are correct. The Volare and Aspen were F-Bodies. Also, I omitted a “than” in the sentance you quoted. I was contrasting the F-Body and K-Car rather than implying they are related. I have edited my previous post and this sentence now reads.
The F-Bodies and M-Bodies were not great cars by any stretch of the imagination, but they were nicer, more appealing cars than all of the K-Car derivities Chrysler built during the 1980’s and early 1990’s.
>They got one of these and with a year or so of ownership the front frame collapsed when they crossed some railways tracks.<
The exact same thing happened with my parent's 77 Aspen. They had a '68 Dart and it was such a solid and reliable car that they got the Aspen to replace it (with the Slant-Six Dart still running strong at the ripe old age of 9). Shortly afterwards the recalls began, then the whole front suspension collapsed, the fender rusting, etc. etc. Not learning his lesson and still very favorable towards Chrysler from the Dart experience, he next bought an Omni.
Needless to say, there's a Honda in his garage now.
I Knew it! It was the width of the moulding under the window that gave it away. No such moulding on earlier Mopars.
Damn you, Chrysler! After a 10 year run for the A bodies (an unheard-of length of time in those days), out came the Volarspen. EVERYONE thought, based on the A body reputation, that these would be great cars. Boy were we wrong.
I will come to the defense of Motor Trend on this one: To all of us at the time, this car looked like a great leap forward: we expected all of the bulletproof durability we had come to expect from the A bodies, along with a level of quiet and comfort that those cars never possessed. The transverse torsion bars were an ingenious rethink of the iconic Chrysler suspension design, and this car gave the impression of being the most innovative compact sedan in a long while. The fact that the first compact wagon in years was part of the lineup was all the more reason to make this Car of the Year. Given what was known at the time, I don’t know what else would have been more deserving of the honor.
Althought the coupes and sedans were a bit homely, I think that the wagon was one of the best looking cars of the late 70s.
An interesting fact is that during the recession of 1974-75, while these cars were in development, the economy went into the tank and Chrysler was hemmoraging red ink. In line with its increasingly dysfunctional management at the time, Chrysler elected to lay off scores of people involved in Volarspen program. In fact, there was a point when virtually the only part of the engineering staff still working was those directly working on Federal safety and emissions compliance. A book written in the early 80s called Going for Broke chronicled the terrible internal state of the company at that time.
I will agree that by 1979-80, most of the bugs had been worked out of these cars, and they served reasonably well (to the extent that anything with Lean Burn could). But I have driven both, and these are woefully lacking compared to the A body. In particular, the rigidity of the body structure was nowhere near the tight, flex-free structure that the A body enjoyed. Everything you touched in the Volarspen felt cheap, but this was true of all late-70s Mopars.
I started to type that this car absolutely ruined Chrysler, but it is more accurate to say that Chrysler absolutely ruined this car and, in turn, itself. Why are the most serious wounds always self-inflicted? Your article reminds me how hard it was to be a Mopar guy during this era. Fortunately, I was in high school and college in those years, so I could only afford the good Mopars which were, by then, several years old. Anyway I enjoy all of these articles, but the Mopars are my favorites (even this one.)
jpcavanaugh:
Everything in your analysis is spot on, except you’re forgetting about AMC. They offered the Hornet and Concord as a station wagon during this same period (71-83, I believe). Were they forgettable? Of course, but they were available.
My driver’s ed car was an Aspen donated by the local Dodge dealer. It ALWAYS stalled when turning a corner!
Ahh, rrrich Corrrinthian leatherrr…
But it wasn’t the last time its pet sin was committed (think Neon).
What’s the story with the Neon?
The edumacation one gets in the comments as I’ve watched em develop here is so enjoyable. It’s what makes CC so appealing when it selects a shitbox.
My biggest fear is that you’ll run out of cars in Eugene that meet the CC criteria. If you lived in KC or STL, you would have run out of such cars about 20 CC’s ago.
grog: My biggest fear is that you’ll run out of cars in Eugene that meet the CC criteria.
Fear not; five hundred in the can, and still finding new ones. And Portland is nearby: CC heaven.
My first car was a 1976 Volare Wagon, silver with blue woven-vinyl interior and the woodie decals on the flanks. 318 V-8 (woohoo!) It had been my father’s “company car”, and they gave it to him for $1 (one dollar) when its term was up. Had 100K miles on it at the time (1979).
The stalling was epic – led to MANY close calls crossing intersections.
The handling was hilarious – by sawing the wheel back and forth at speed, I could get the body swaying in opposite phase to the steering wheel, to much guffawing from everyone in the car at the time.
The folding seats were perfect – for a hormone-addled High School kid to take advantage of (kept pillows in the back seat)
The rust was ravenous – radio antenna finally fell off completely, dangling by its cable.
The top speed was 107 mph (ask me how I know)
The dealer who took it on trade was disappointed – the timing chain broke the day after they took it in. (heh, heh)
Ahh, the memories….
Paul,
I’m loving these. Regarding my earlier post, consider being on the lookout for an AMC Hornet Sportabout wagon, preferably 1971-75 vintage.
Wow, just wow. Not one, but two extremely well prserved Volare/Aspens.
My Dad was originally a GM fanboy, way back in the 40’s and 50’s. And then he got a new job that came with a company car, and we were the proud drivers of a 1960 Valiant 4 door. The next company car was a ‘63 Valiant, and he was instantly in love. It took one car about a week to make my dad a Mopar boy. His employer tried to make him use a ‘67 Galaxie, a few years later followed by a Meteor, and then an Impala. All the non-Mopar cars died mysterious deaths, and each time were replaced by Furys and Valiants/Volares. We became such a Mopar family that they became the default vehicle to purchase. I owned several Mopars, and until the ‘96 Voyager remained a staunch fanboy.
I was a youngish father and family man when we bought our used ‘76 Aspen coupe; that slant six was (and still remains) one of the best ever to come out of Detroit. The turboglide 3 speed was also much better than what the competition had as well. We put a lot of miles on the Aspen, and it made at least two trips a year out to the coast, and served us incredibly well. At some point it became obvious that the rust was proving to be a serious safety hazard so we had to give up the car to the great junk yard in the sky. If I could find another one, in good condition, I would buy it with no questions asked. It was a quiet, comfortable ride, and other than the rust was bullet proof. In the five years we owned it, we had zero service issues. Zero. It got a new battery, some new tires, and regular oil changes, and a tune-up once a year. We never once had the car in the shop for anything other than the oil changes or tune-ups. Almost 100,000 miles and not one service visit. That’s my idea of a “bullet-proof” car.
And then Chrysler gave us generation 3 of the Caravan/Voyager minivans. I wish them well, but probably won’t ever consider another Chrysler product.
This is a GREAT CC… thanks.
I remember a friend having a pretty tired wagon when we were in high-school… it had well over 200K on it. They were fairly simple, and the slant-six was probably the best engine Chrysler has ever made. It was fairly powerful (remember it was the 70’s) and just SO robust.
bomberpete :
October 29th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Paul,
I’m loving these. Regarding my earlier post, consider being on the lookout for an AMC Hornet Sportabout wagon, preferably 1971-75 vintage.
I would enjoy this one as well… my grandparents had a series of Sportabout wagons in the 70’s and 80’s… the engines and transmissions of those also were essentially bullet-proof, but the front fenders started rusting within the first two years.
I had a ‘79 Volare sedan, just like the one pictured but blue/blue, engine was Super Six. As mentioned above, Chrysler had pretty much gotten it together with these cars by ‘79, so mine was sturdy and reliable with little rust (I had it in ‘89-’90). The worst thing about the car was the horrible 7 1/4″ rear end; I bought it for $300 with a broken sun gear, swapped in a boneyard differential, and was good to go – for a while. Yes, THAT one broke, too, forcing me to do it again on a subzero Christmas Eve afternoon. Sold it for $500 in 1990 and got a Mirada. Yes, a Mirada.
Later, I owned an ex-police ‘87 Diplomat (DON’T buy a police car unless you’re prepared to do a lot of wrenching), and, in 2001, I bought a cream-puff, old-man owned ‘88 Fifth Avenue which turned out to be one of the best cars I ever had. Replaced the lean-burn with a Mopar Performance electronic ignition, swapped carbs to one specified for a ‘77 Dodge pickup, and that 318 ran like a dream. Started in all weather with one pump and a tip of the key, tranny shifted properly, rode smooth and handled surprisingly well for what it was. Wonderful car. Sold it in 2003 and it’s still on the road today.
Flame me if you must, but I’ve owned nothing but Chryslers since 1993, and my experiences do not match the conventional wisdom (except for the 2000 Concorde that replaced the Fifth Avenue – everything they say about that garbage 2.7 engine is true). I now have a ‘99 Grand Voyager that’s about to hit 200,000 miles, and I’d drive it anywhere.