For Part 5 (links to previous entries at the bottom), there is no epic family vacation, but rather a collection of smaller, shorter, possibly more memorable trips and activities in the venerable MoPar F-Body family hauler. This time we go to a few car shows in Ohio, add a trailer hitch, plop a canoe on top, and take a weekend trip with the family to an eclectic car show in Maryland.
After realizing how much we liked vacationing in the Aspen, I decided to do some small upgrades:
- Rear air shocks to offset the saggy OE leaf springs when the cargo area was loaded, or when we had more than a driver and a passenger in the car.
- Rear Sway Bar
- Receiver Trailer Hitch
After the Air Shock install, I began moving 20+ years of MoPar bits that I stored away in my home’s garage attic. That attic space above the garage was so full of Dodge Dart and Plymouth Volare’/Aspen Parts that one could no longer move or find things up there in the “Parts Attic” as I called it.
When I moved into my house at age 23, I had saved EVERYTHING from cars that I parted. Nothing went to waste, clips, nuts, bolts, glass, window tracks, weatherstripping, air conditioning boxes, condenser cores, evaporator cores, fasteners, etc, all were saved, because I was a frugal kid who had just bought a house.
The amassed parts were moved to a newly acquired shop space and I found a few factory rear sway bars for the F-J-M Body Mopars (the Aspen is the F-body platform) in the parts move. After painting and detailing the bar and associated parts, I installed the assembly on the wagon.
Lastly, I found a frame hitch on Craigslist for an F Body –I had never seen one before! I had to buy it! Soon it was mine.
The Hitch was of the receiver type, manufactured by Algonquin Manufacturing in Canada –Presumably from the late 70’s to early 80’s. It was missing a few brackets, which needed to be made. It also had a strange, nonstandard 1 5/8″ receiver tube size! (I am not sure if that is a Canadian size or just plain bizarre). I cut the odd receiver tube off and upsized it to a (now) standard 2″ receiver tube. A little bit of welding with the hot glue gun and it was ready for trailers, one-man canoe loaders, and bike racks.
The antique Craigslist find was ready for hauling now!
After Adding some four-flat trailer wiring to the back of the wagon it was ready to haul.
This tale begins in June of 2019, months before Covid-19 was a thing. That summer we decided to take the Aspen to some shows in Ohio, notably the Mopars at the Junction Show, located on US 322 in Chardon, Ohio. My daughter had an etch-a-sketch at the time and would sometimes draw the car:
The Valiant convertible we are parked next to is an original paint car, pulled out of a barn deal –aka the “barn find”. I have chatted with the owner at a few shows here in PA and in his home in OH. He has a nice piece of history there:
A month later in July of 2019, we went to Summit Motorsports Park for their MoPar show and race:
This was not my daughter’s first time at a drag strip, but she was a bit more excited to see and appreciate things this time around:
Some other like-minded F-body fans brought their cars as well:
On the way home we routed by a few other notable auto / racing-related places.
Dragway 42 had just completed their Millions of dollars track renovation earlier that year:
We also stopped by Summit Racing in Talmadge, OH for a look around and to pick up some parts for other ongoing projects:
That was it for 2019.
During spring and summer 2020, we used the wagon again for some day trips;
This was our Easter Gathering in 2020 –My daughter, wife and myself, having an easter get together at a blustery and somewhat dreary-looking day in April 2020 at Prince Gallitizin State Park;
Glendale Lake.
As summer arrived we often went on short regional trips, and we found a Drive-in! We went to the drive-in for a movie almost every week in the summer of 2020. One week we took the Aspen Wagon:
Our car certainly stood out as the only old beige Mopar in a sea of giant trucks, and aero-sculpted SUVs, CUVs, and minivans, which are not so mini anymore.
We had the only Aspen Wagon there, as one might imagine.
In November 2020 we went for a drive to Cooper’s Rock State Park in West Virginia. The place gets mobbed in the summer and fall with tourists and locals from West Virginia University. It is particularly stunning from late September to October for “Leaf Season”:
My daughter is 6 in this photo and she still can get a good nap in the back of the wagon when it is at speed:
Remember that hitch install I discussed earlier? It was at about this point in time when that project was completed. Now the wagon can tow stuff and haul more stuff.
The “Disco Wagon”, as I call it, is trailer capable with the flat 4 wiring now installed.
Bikes can easily be loaded without fear of scratching the roof or messing up the carpeted cargo area.
Time to go to the bike trail with my daughter. We are lucky to have many rail-to-trail options near my place – the closest being ~5 miles to either terminus of the Westmoreland Heritage Trail.
A nice drive to the Girl Scout meeting.
My daughter loves fishing and going out on the water, so we acquired a canoe (That is a story in itself for another time). At first, we would load it up on the utility trailer which worked okay.
Later I found a contraption made by Reese of tow hitch fame. It is the Reese one-man canoe loader. My daughter was not big enough yet to help me get the canoe on top of the car without damage and usually, when we go out on the water it is just us for some father-daughter time. So the one-man canoe loader is ideal. It bolts on between the hitch drawbar and the hitch ball.
Fortunately, the whole shebang fits in my lowly smallish home garage with about an inch to spare. I could let some air out of those shocks as needed for clearance too!
We set out early on an August morning in 2023 for a River Canoe trip on the Kiskimentas River:
We parked at the takeout near Apollo, PA, and hired an outfitter to take us, our gear, and the canoe up to Saltsburg, PA for the put-in. We had a great trip, and when we came back about an hour after lunch the lot was much fuller than when we arrived. Other rivergoers were admiring the car as we were loading the canoe back on top.
The aspen sure gets the looks when it has a 16′ Canoe on top. It is not quite the right vintage, and for now, I am okay with that.
The only gripe I have about the roof-mounted canoe is that there is no tailgate access with the canoe on the roof rack. It is a concession I will make when hauling around my fiberglass dugout. We canoed in 2023 and 2024 –2023 was a river trip, and in 2024 we traveled to 2 lake paddle sessions.
Next was a trip in October 2023 to Union Bridge, Maryland to the Vintage Restorations Limited Open House. Traveling from our location to Union Bridge, MD, there are many mandatory mountain ridge crossings. We took to the PA / MD Mountains for a rainy, foggy start to that trip. Our first stop was at McDonalds (not my first choice) for a daughter approved, meal, just after sunup.
Arriving at McDonald’s in Kyser’s Ridge, MD, is likely one of the higher elevations on US Route 40 through these parts, there are other ridges on US 40 before arriving in the Cumberland or Potomac Valleys that are a blast to ride or drive in a well sorted Sports Car. More on those ridges and adventures in another write-up.
At this point with the wheezy 318, a 2.45:1 Rear axle ratio, and the 1979 California Emissions package, we took to I68 East at this junction of our trip.
It was wet through Ohiopyle State Park area all the way up to Kyser’s Ridge. We picked up a leaf on the way as it was the middle of Leaf Season ’round these parts.
We arrived at Union Bridge by mid-morning.
I do not have any pictures of the wagon at the show / open house, but we were there. As you can see from a few of the photos below it is quite an eclectic show. The full album is here if you want to see a bit more from the show:
The open house invites you in to see ongoing work and projects:
Here is my daughter posing with one of the working steam engines. The shop owners are into vintage trains of various scales:
Some imported iron:
An OG Bentley next to a Malaise Era Mopar – Yes, that happened.
There was some two-wheeled variety as well!
After the show, we decided to stay the night at my buddy’s house about ~40 minutes away, just over the state line in Waynesboro, PA.
We stopped at the Penn-Mar Antique shop on PA Route 16 before setting up for the night.
Where else can a 9-year-old kid experience a rotary dial phone (remember those?) and buy a snake skeleton, while having some fun with Mom and Dad?
The next day we traveled to Catoctin Mountain Park and Cunningham Falls State Park before heading home and taking Bits of US40 / National Road before hopping back onto I68.
Catoctin Mountain surely has more to offer than what we found there. I used the opportunity to take some “Glamour Shots” of the wagon with the low sun angle and soft light through the forest. A few of my favorites are below.
We then headed onto Cunningham Falls State Park. The 2 areas are practically adjacent to one another on top of some of the mountain ridges in the area, near Camp David, of presential retreat fame.
Since we arrived near midday it was crowded at the falls, so I did not take any pictures of the waterfall proper. (Trust me there are waterfalls at the park!) My daughter likes to get her picture on any big big rock, so here it is! There are lots of big rocks on the easy ~3/4 mile trail to the falls from the parking area.
Some other artsy pictures:
This root growing around the rock was interesting to me:
One last view of the parking area before we left. With Washington D.C. and Baltimore Metro areas about an hour away there are lots of big SUVs and fancy sedans in the lot. The ‘ol Disco Wagon sticks out like a sore thumb.
On our way back to Pennsylvania, we took I70 and I68 for a while, then we routed off to US 40 again to stop at the Town Hill B&B. It is a scenic stop that overlooks the valley to the next ridge when looking east.
Looking west:
Looking east:
From this point traveling east you are generally losing elevation, but heading west you will be gaining elevation in the ridges until approximately Kysers Ridge, MD.
This is the view from Town Hill looking East. I68 Takes a giant bite out of the mountain ridge, which I estimate to be about 10 miles from this photo. Beyond that ridge is the Potomac River Valley.
That wraps it up for this installment.
After we made it home I parked the wagon for winter months, tucking it in under its car cover for a long winter’s nap
Next time, we will tow a cargo trailer made from half a MoPar on a Slant Sixer’s pilgrimage to Michigan, and camp on the shores of Lake Erie on the way back. Thanks for reading!
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In case you missed my previous entries on this Dodge Aspen, you can go back and get caught up if you like:
I too have a ’79 Aspen Wagon. Custom Exterior Package (so it looks like yours from the outside) but the base interior. 225-2v, ps, pdb, a/t, a/c, cruise, luggage rack. It’s been upgraded with 11-7/8″ front disc brakes, heated rear window and wiper (from an ’80) and Chrysler 15″ road wheels from a NYB.
I’m fortunate to live in a town where one of the development engineers for Fbody cars lives. I asked about a rear sway bar and he cautioned against it. The wagons have far more mass behind the rear axle than the sedans do (all that glass) and he felt there was a risk of snap oversteer, so I have no added one to my car.
I also have the drooping rear springs and have all the pieces from a Cbody self levelling rear air ride/shocks to install in the car to deal with that problem.
The receiver in the hitch you bought was there on purpose. It was the hitch builder’s way of limiting how big whatever you chose to tow is. The unibody of the wagons is not meant to haul the same weight as a larger stronger car. Towing your little trailer will be fine, but I would not try anything over 2500lbs. There’s just not enough structure there.
Upgrades coming for my car include buckets, center console/floor shift, tilt column and power windows & locks. I also have SE door panels to install as well. Everything on the car will be a Chrysler part, if either never available from the factory (brakes/tires) or not built into this particular car.
Oh, and it’s Cardinal Red with white vinyl striping.
Just another terrific CC travel log.
A word of warning on your daughter gaining automotive knowledge: it can be a detriment when she begins dating. When we were younger, my sister would listen to me prattle on about cars and she soon discovered that some potential boyfriends (particularly the smarter ones) were put-off by her knowledge of car history and operation being more than they did.
To this day, even as a retiree, she prefers driving a vehicle with a manual transmission, with the last being a Solstice convertible.
Love your essays! PY1 – Jasmine Yellow which is the color of Aspen. Ours was a 1978 which I drove for over 175,000 miles before selling it. In the photo where your daughter is seated in the load area, one might see a small cabinet door build into the panel below the glass. There are two, one on each side. We stored small pillows and blankets in these for our children. Mine has the Super Six as it was called. Woe to the owner who did not read the owner’s manual because for 1978, this engine had a different spark plug than the other years. With the conventional spark plug, mileage dropped to 13 MPG. With the specific spark plug, it returned to 18 MPG.
Wishing you all a BLESSED THANKSGIVING.
Interesting on the Spark Plugs! I never knew that Super sixes had a Different Spark Plug Spec. I will hafta look into that further. Where is Daniel Stern? – He shoudl have the definite D’Answer on this spark plug thing.
Yes, my car has those storage compartments as all F-M Body Mopar wagons did in their plastic interior trimmings. Only the lowest base models did not have lockable storage. just the bins that went into the quarter panel abyss!
Thanks for the kind words Thomas, and thanks for sharing your stories too!
Interesting, especially the vista views. Your mountain heights are certainly different from our PacNW. As a father of two daughters, I get a kick out of watching yours grow up.
You mention the wheezy 318. In the future, if you “enhance” performance, I trust you will do some of the many things possible to add horses to that engine, rather than go the big bloçk route.
Enjoy!
More great vacations, I admire the Disco Wagon’s ability to be reliable on family outings.
And it warms my heart to see a canoe on a car. Your canoe is no classic but will likely avoid the sad fate that mine found:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/dockside-classic/canoe-classic-1963-huron-17/
Those shots of the mountains and such remind me of my years in Maryland when it was our go-to place for hiking. Yes, quite different from the PNW.