In Oregon’s gentle healing rains, cars grow moss, mold and lichens, but not rust. I almost did a double take when I saw the nasty cancer on the rear flanks of this fine Volare Premiere. So maybe the bad rep earned by the early Volares and Aspens was deserved after all?
Yuck. Maybe; just maybe, it spent its earlier years in a harsher climate. And maybe it hasn’t been here long enough for the healing rain to do its magic; give it a couple more years and it will look as good as new.
Cantare. Oh oh oh oh.
“…Nel blu di pinto di blu…” Come to think of it, I’d rather have a blue Pinto…
It’s “Nel blu dipinto di blu”, literally “in the blue-painted blue”.
Yeah, I know. I’d still rather have a Pinto than a Volare, especially if the Pinto was a non-fake-woody wagon. A Volare just ain’t something to go “oh oh” about.
Mike, huh? I feel like I’m talking to myself…
I had a volare in Arizona and even it had a little rust in the rear fenders back there (not as much as this one). I had the car for about 3 years. Slant 6 was too weak to run AC, but that quit working anyway and it didnt seem worth it to try to fix it. I liked the car otherwise!
If this car where here it would be Swiss cheese up to the door handles by now. Sorry twenty years ago. Many cars of this era suffered the same fate hence the retarded prices people have on their cars brought in from less rusty locales. One example is a 77 or so nova that is said to be all original except paint but is resprayed in the original brown. The owner is wanting a very optimistic $15000.
I would use a better word than retarded and this is coming from a person who is not exactly politically correct.
You might want to re-examine the politically correct part of your statement.
The word only works up here as long as it’s preceded by ‘wicked’.
‘To retard’ is a genuine old school expression for what happens to a vehicle when the brakes are applied. Not even the Oxford Concise English Dictionary acknowledges that now. It’s time we took this word back from people with impairments.
Actually I think it’s something to do with really early ignition systems. I’m not old school enough.
Wouldn’t “retarded” mean that the price had not advanced beyond all reason?
I remember that shade of tan. It was called ‘Cashmere’. It has hardly faded in this example. The vinyl top looks faded/bleached some. Color combinations like this were quite common on domestic cars back then. If garish today. In spite of the quarter panel rust, this one’s in great shape. A family member bought a new ’78 Dodge Aspen wagon, with Super Six and Torqueflite, in June ’78, and it provided reliable service until 1992. The front fender rust issues, and subsequent recall, affected the ’76/’77s. In salt-infested Canada, the Aspen wagon held up very well. The Achilles heel seemed to be the ceramic ballast resistor. It performed very reliably otherwise. The torsion bar front suspension tended to rattle as it aged. Guessing it was the bushings.
These were eventually quite good cars, more like the Dart/Valiant… once the first and second year issues were resolved. Unfortunately, for Chrysler, first impressions mean a lot. Many people were badly burned on the ’76s and ’77s. But the ’78s and later models were much improved. But by then, the Volare was made obsolete by the Ford Fairmont/Zephyr as well as the new Malibu.
What do you mean, “garish”. I think it’s a fine color combination. Brown is the new black. Had it been sold today, they would’ve called it “mocha latte” or something…
I had a 73 Valiant Ranger wagon in Aussie that was mostly that colour,215 single barrel hemi 3 speed tree shift very good on gas during Bush MK1s Iraq tour I drove from Mareeba in far north QLD to Sydney gas hit 83c per litre driven at the speed limit 110kph it did about 29 mpg its flat most of the way.
“Yuck. Maybe; just maybe, it spent its earlier years in a harsher climate.”
Yeah, maybe Los Angeles
Interesting comparison between the Volare and red Paseo next to it.
That Daewoo in front of it is a rapidly disappearing breed as well…for good reason.
Not Mopars finest,how come they made such a disaster from the good old Dart/Valiant?They were very similar cars.CC effect strikes again as I’m looking at a picture of a Volare Roadrunner my brother took on his holiday.
The trend in the mid-70s was towards more luxury in compacts (i.e. the North American Ford Granada). The Volare/Aspen were Chrysler’s attempt to bring their compacts more upscale. These were followed in 1977 by the Dodge Diplomat and Chrysler LeBaron compacts, which were derived from the Aspen/Volare. The Aspen/Volare used very conventional engineering. Only the quality control the first couple years especially, was shoddy.
The Aspen/Volare were also offered as station wagons. The only other compact domestic station wagon offered at the time, was the AMC Hornet Sportabout. So, Chrysler sold a lot of Aspen/Volare station wagons.
For decades now, I’ve been hearing the narrative about how only the first 2 years of the F-Body were bad. Well, my parent’s ’78 LeBaron literally fell apart in 2.5 years. It had a litany of quality failures, including but not limited to a wheel bearing failure which resulted in a wheel flying off at speed.
Of course there are going to be individual lemons. Plus the LeBaron was only in it’s second year in 1978. It was the third year for the Aspen/Volare. But the general consensus is that the Aspen/Volare were more reliable starting in ’78. Plus, the recalls were nothing like ’76/’77.
But the late 70s were hit and miss for Chrysler. You could get a creampuff or a lemon. The odds seemed lower than ’76/’77, that you’d get a lemon. You never heard of large scale issues with the 78s thru 80s. As you did with the first two years.
Thanks,there was a very clean Volare wagon with low mielage for sale at £2500 a couple of years ago in Classic American magazine.I wasn’t tempted though
You’re welcome Gem. The wagons are quite spacious, but unless you have a special interest in these, I wouldn’t consider them.
Get yerself an Aussie Valiant Gem mid 70s there are some in the UK, get a 265.
I’d love one,Dad had an Aussie 66 4 door which he gave to Mum when he bought a Dodge Dart as she didn’t like driving his previous LHD Falcon solo.Sadly both cars had gone when us kids were old enough to drive.Lots of happy memories of our Aussie Valiant
Is it just me or does it look like this Volare may have had its right front fender repainted (replaced?)at some point. If yes, likely the result of the front fender rust recall of early models?
Hard to confirm. As the front part of the front fender looks like a reasonable match to the rest of the car. But the rear of the fender is definitely streaked/mismatched. The antenna is bent too.
Back around 1977, you definitely saw quite a few Volare/Aspens with mismatched front fenders, due to the fender recall.
it look like this Volare may have had its right front fender repainted (replaced?) at some point. If yes, likely the result of the front fender rust recall of early models?
Could be, but I’m thinking that the car received the rust free, but weathered front fenders from a junkyard after it’s move to Oregon.
Haven’t seen one of those in decades. Heck, i haven’t seen a Daewoo in clost to 10 years.
My grandmother had a Volare. It was a 1976 model. Sometime after 1983 or so, she started loaning it to my aunt and uncle, both of whom lived in Philadelphia, for long and short periods of time. (My grandmother lived in a small town in Central Pennsylvania.) I believe that she stopped driving somewhere around this time, and both my aunt and uncle had trouble with their cars.
Her Volare was the same color as in the photo above; however, I believe the vinyl was a bit darker in color. The car was a major rust bucket. After my grandmother died in 1986, my uncle took “full” possession of it. A year later, in 1987, I turned 16 and got my driver’s license. My uncle had his ’83 Cadillac repaired, and he gave the Volare to me.
Both my brother and I drove the Volare while we were in high school. One time, I took it to a car wash fundraiser. My friend looked at the back of the car, and reached underneath, and pulled out a whole bunch of papers that were in the trunk. Obviously, there was a hole in the trunk.
On another occasion, a friend dared me to drive the Volare on a wooded trail at a camp where we worked. I had to get a new muffler after that excursion.
The car kept going, though. I often drove it on the Northeastern Extension of the PA Turnpike. It was fine in highway traffic. Another time, my dad loaned it to one of his employees. She took it on a camping trip to upstate NY. The car did fine, made this trip with no trouble whatsoever.
During my senior year in high school, my grandfather on the other side of the family decided to give my mom his 1980 Pontiac Grand Prix, when he bought his first and only new car, a 1989 Dodge Caravan. The Grand Prix was a beautiful car, white and blue, with a plush interior. She, in turn, gave me the car she was driving — a 1980 Ford Fairmont Futura. My brother drove the Volare for a bit during his senior year and my first year of college, and then my dad and he junked it. It was developing some engine problems and the rusting was getting worse.
Besides the rust, it wasn’t an awful car. It looked terrible on the outside, but the interior was fine. It always started and I only remember one time when it left me stranded.
I wish I had some pictures of it to show my kids. HA HA.
Just as a comparison, this is what these cars would normally look like
I remember in the early 80s, my local daily newspaper ran an article about a woman who lost her tailgate on a local freeway. Apparently, due to rust. She had a ’76. Now, I’d have to think something strange was in effect, as I don’t recall ever hearing about tailgate hinge weld or rust issues leading to tailgates coming loose. Now that would have been an impressive recall. Her tailgate may have been missing welds, or otherwise defective.
They kept on running, but rust was their biggest weakness, even the newer ones.
The pix of the coupe on top is a 78 or later and the rust on it is rather surprising. I grew up not too far away from Twinsburg, Ohio, where many of the Mopar F-bodies were produced. I’d see lots of them, in all states of repair, but the ones produced after 1977 were markedly better WRT rust and body corrosion.
It would be interesting to know the situation with that coupe, as they generally held up very well. The sedan below is a 76 or 77 model and that does not look out of the ordinary to me at all.
It’s definitely an ’80 Volare. You can tell by the squared off front fender leading edge. They acquired a new front clip, that one model year.
I think if you do an Internet search, “Rusty Caprice”, you are going to find some exceptionally rusted Caprice examples. Here, you can do a “Rusty Volare”, to find this one.
I agree, the later Volare’s and Aspen’s rusted. But it was more the lower body. Not all over like the ’76/’77 versions.
Picture one of these in Hawaii or Guam without regular washing, a Ziebart treatment and undercoating. The rust patterns would’ve been reversed . . . top on down . . .
Could be this example was a case of mud and debris caught under the rockers up there in Eugene . . . . and the rust starting to set in. Even some cars in California could have this problem (oceanside . . . mud, sand and moisture laced with sea salt – if not washed out regularly). . . .
Getting back to the rust picture . . . . during my times being stationed on the Eastern Seaboard and many Midwestern visits . . . . ca. 1982-88 – these rusted out Volare/Aspens were typical of what most looked like when the cars were several to ten years old . . . . swiss cheese/metal melanoma.
Yes, the ’74 Nova I had in the mid eighties had rust like that too, just from spending its first winter in Wisconsin. Those aren’t the plates a Volare would have had if it was in Oregon from new.
That coupe looks like one of the last-of-the-line ’80 models.
The boot/trunk leaks thats why the rusty lower quarter the sound deadener soaks up the moisture and hey presto rust, All Aussie Chrysler products do this here by the way so its not a surprise to me.
In it’s final year, Chrysler felt the need to freshen the Volare/Aspen’s look, to remain competitive. For 1980 only, they gave it square headlights and a Fairmont-like front clip.
Speaking of Fairmonts, I wouldn’t exactly turn to them for rust relief… I like the duct-tape trim
Whoaaa….I want to see the rest of that gem!
Me too, looks like its both a car and a house, judging from all the crap on the inside.
I’m certain Mopar planned for the 1980 changes before Lee Iacocca got the keys to the place, thinking the V/A would stay on market longer. But, Lee pulled the plug as soon as he could.
There were more things changed than the clip, also. Allpar site has a list of them.
Paul, you could have a pretty good CC column with just the ones that show up at Jerry’s…. (a local 2-store big box home improvement chain, for you non-Eugenians).
hi.i have got a question for you motorheads&I hope someone responde to me.i am looking to buy a 1976 Chevrolet monte carlo with 400/400 combo.owner says that it has only 97k miles on it&has no issues.asking price is 1500 dollars&car is in fair shape.i was wondering if those small block400s(6.6 L)are long lasting&reliable engines?looking forward to see what you guys opinion is.thanks.
I see this is the rare Egg Nog and Peanut Brittle Designer Edition. All of these limited editions came from the factory with one 1964 Plymouth wheel cover, for some reason.
That mismatched wheel cover is my favorite part of the whole car.
I was trying to figure out what it was from? Another Mopar? The logo on the center cap looks like a shrimp WTF?
That would be the Plymouth “frog legs” emblem.
Studebaker wheel cover
That’s what an Aspen/Volare looked like after one year here in the Cleveland area…
I lived for five years in Cleveland! Winter work cars!! The FWD “A” body GM cars took the place of the rusty Volares/Aspens of the beater winter cruiser for N.E. Ohio !! (I know – my ’88 Celebrity turned into one – ran great; pulled wonderfully through the snow and ice . . . but really started to rust around the wheel wells).
Grew up and lived in Miami all my life. I remember these cars quite well. Chrysler, Datsun, GM and Ford vehicles from that period were notorious for rusting in our climate. I had a 1977 Ford Granada (1983-1993) that would visit the body shop every two or three years to take care of this problem. The car was very reliable but the sheet metal was garbage. I had a hole in the trunk (you could see the street below) and under the carpet behind the driver’s seat. A guy I went to auto-shop class with had a beautiful 1980 Ford Fairmont that was practically new and was already rusting out. My Dad used to say that people were buying Japanese because the quality of American cars was terrible. Quality started to improve by the mid-80s. Today you don’t see too many rusty cars in Miami.
Whaaa? I’m surprised in humid, salt air Miami in the day that you didn’t see similar problems with Japanese vehicles in the late 70s/early 80s. Around that time, I first moved to Hawaii and then to Guam and unless the car was rustproofed and undercoated, the door and trunk edges would’ve been eaten away in 12-16 months. Even then, rustrproofing just postponed the rust. Japanese sheet metal it seems hadn’t really improved in terms of rust resistance until well into the mid 1980s.
Circa 1990, my boss loaned me his 1982 Nissan Sentra his “boonie car” . . . it had Fred Flintstone floorboards. Interesting watching the world roll by you under the car while driving it. Baggies stuffed in the holes in the A pillars so the rain wouldn’t soak you . . . .
Let me tell you, that thing is pristine compared to the one I saw in a parking lot in Galesburg last summer. I would have gotten pictures but literally minutes later it started absolutely pouring.
I think it was originally dark green but it was hard to tell; it looked like it had been pulled out of Lake Superior!
We had a brown 76 wagon, I recall my dad saying the fenders rusted out after a few years, it also broke down alot. We sold it to some guy in 1988, last american car they bought.
ITS COLD AND SNOWS ALOT IN PARTS OR OREGON…
OREGON JUST ISNT PORTLAND YOU KNOW !!!
IF A CAR IS IN PORTLAND ,YOU DONT ASSUME ITS BEEN THERE ITS WHOLE LIFE,MAYBE ITS ALSO A MINNESOTA CAR !