Someone’s been hard at work renovating this house in the neighborhood; it’ll undoubtedly get flipped after it’s done. The crew working on it have been showing up in this vintage Aspen (earlier misidentified as a Volare) wagon, which tows their trailer full of tools and such.
Even with a dent on its front fender, this wagon can’t help but show off its exceptionally clean lines. This has to be the best looking wagon of its time.
The grille is MIA, but then most Volares and Aspens still around seem to have either a partially broken or totally missing grille. The brittle plastic casting is quite vulnerable.
The interior looks…workman-like.
And just in case you thought I was trying to trick you again like I did with that Camry a while back, here’s the stark proof. Very stark, given the very vintage bumper hitch. Yup; thta’s how we used to do it in the bad old days, kids. And it’s downright refreshing to see it again.
Great find, and rust-free, too. It must be the healing rains of Eugene.
I think this is a Dodge Aspen, by the slatted front turn signals and taillamp lenses.
These are definitely great looking wagons. For me, it’s a toss up between these and the AMC Hornet Sportabout in terms of best-looking wagons of the mid-/late-70s.
You are correct Joseph, based upon the grille and front fender badge, this is a ’78 or ’79 Aspen.
Given how many of the Aspen/Volare wagons came with roof racks and tailgate air deflectors, this one almost looks bare without either.
That thought occurred to me late last night, but I didn’t bother to act on it.
Thanks; fixed now.
I’m with you on the Sportabout. I dig many of the old wagons of the ‘70s (Cougar, Country Squire, etc etc), but AMC hit the nail right on the head. The fact it lasted as the Eagle for another decade is amazing!
I am back on the same page as Joe now because I find these wagons simply beautiful – in a conservative, functional sort of way.
The slant of the back sort of splits the difference between the really racy but not very practical AMC Sportabout and the more squared-off 1978+ GM A body wagons.
I am absolutely shocked, no flabbergasted, that the owner of this old Aspen actually put us all in EXTREME danger by pulling that trailer with such a unsuitable vehicle.
Such a trailer requires at Ford F350 Diesel at the very least.
I’m impressed it’s not sagging more in the back. Even if there isn’t much weight in the trailer. They may have added a leaf, or longer shackles. I recall Aspen/Volare wagons, without trailer towing kits, used to drop quite a bit in the rear without much extra weight added.
You must live in Calgary, too… they must’ve invented the term “a dime a dozen” for those trucks. At $70,000 per truck.
This Aspen originally came with the ‘Custom’ exterior chrome trim package. You can see the holes in the body where the trim clips were attached. Along with the faint outline of the former trim. As well as the remaining trim clips at the rear of the driver and passenger doors.
I was wondering why this had the LH45 (higher level) trim with an exterior of an LL45 (lower level). To wit, the missing exterior moldings explain the discrepancy. As for being dangerous for towing, the Volare and Aspen wagons came standard option S13, which was heavy-duty rear suspension. I drove my 1978 Aspen Wagon for 185,000 miles, at which time, i sold it to a young man with a family. We were taking delivery of our 1986 GMC eight-passenger Safari. My Aspen featured the “Super-Six” which was unique to the 1978 year. Did it have more power? Don’t get too excited! With six of us in the car and baggage loaded to the gunnels, we tried to climb a mountain outside of Cherokee, North Carolina in 1985. It ran out of horsepower and we slowed to 20 MPH until we surmounted the incline. Great car, I must say. It ran well. Mine was loaded with power everything. Thanks for the nostalgia. Tom
At one time these were as ubiquitous as minivans. Locate a traffic photo of any North American city from the late 70s/early 80s, and you are almost guaranteed to see an Aspen or Volare in the scene.
They were certainly were popular in Canada, and were indeed everywhere. Even I had one for a while. They were good, honest cars, once Mopar had figured out how to build them.
In Soviet Canuckistan, circa 1975-1995, Dodge and Plymouth were the go to brand for folks who wanted a new car and a low price. There were still plenty of WWII vets around, who never buy a Japanese or German car.
Then one day, circa 1995, they were all gone. Chrysler no longer competed for those customers, as most of them had passed away.
The bottom end of the market is now owned by the Korean brands.
Yup, my Mom’s father was a WWII vet, and he was even angry when my Mom bought a karmann ghia in 1960. “The only good German is a dead German” he said. Years later, after decades of Chrysler and AMC products, his wife won a mazda glc in a marmalade contest. I still wonder how THAT went over…
+1 on the Aspen wagon. Styling still looks good after 42 years. If only they had upgraded the /6 to EFI……….
Hammer that dent out, replace the grille and go thru the interior a bit and itd be a helluva nice car.
Anyone else notice those widened rear wheels? They give this car a real sleeper look, like it might be hiding something evil…
I always thought these were a very clean design except for the ‘classic’ front end treatment which always looked awkward to non-American eyes. I had hoped Chrysler would have sold them here but we were stuck with the fuselage Valiant to the end, though Chrysler did ‘Americanize’ the front end…
That’s an Australian car? What model is it? I’ve never seen one like it before. It kind of reminds me of a ‘69-70 Fairlane/Torino wagon with a mid ‘60s Studebaker or mercedes grille.
Its a Valiant wagon, this body style was made from 1971 to 1981, this is the last model introduced in 1978, top of the line Regal, nicely optioned too with the 5.2 (318) V8.
Yup, the F-bodies were the best looking wagons of the late 70s. My family had one for 36 years. The 76-77 Aspen was the best looking of the bunch, with the turn signals in the bumper. And those grilles were fragile for sure. This one was the third one ours had on it, and it still had some cracks in it.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/cars-of-a-lifetime/coal-1977-dodge-aspen-wagon-the-party-wagon-for-the-whole-family/
I had a 1979 Chrysler Le Baron Town & Country, until it burned.
More LeBaron goodness…..
I always loved the 1979 Volare Sport wagon. Who knew wagons could be so cool?