(first posted 3/4/2014) This custard colored station wagon has got to be one of my favorite daily drivers in Bloomington. I’ve seen it shamble around my neighborhood and though I can tell it’s got a slant-six under the hood, it’s surprisingly quiet, possessing a certain dignity. This slow, old thing manages shames all the CR-Vs and Outbacks at the farmer’s market; what could be greener and more local than keeping a 34-year-old domestic on the road?
In one of the earlier seasons of Roseanne, the titular character mentions driving a 1970-something Something and an F-body wagon, in this exact color, is what comes to mind whenever I think of that line. The owner of this Aspen seems a much more delicate personality than Ms. Barr (is that her last name these days?), which is reflected in its condition. It’s not that she’s going out of her way to preserve the car, it’s that she generally hasn’t inflicted much damage upon it and, judging by her driveway, never throws anything away. If it weren’t rude to do so, I would post pictures to make that point more clear.
All the stuff inside sitting inside the cargo hold should convince enough people, though. So while the owner isn’t destructive, she’s not exactly clean since it’s obvious is that car hasn’t been washed in some time. It’s likely this is the original paint, as it all matches and is of uniform quality. A nice coat of wax (maybe even a clay bar?) would have most surfaces looking brand new; I’ll volunteer myself to do it.
There’s an old Texas registration sticker on lower left corner of the windshield, and a newer Indiana license plate, but the house it’s parked in front of looks to have been occupied for a long time. My guess is that this belonged to a more Southern relative, as the dealer placard marks Harlingen, Texas (on the Mexican border) as one of the car’s points of sale. And while a good number of F-bodies were around until the early ’90s, the wagons have always been more prevalent in my memory. So they either sold better or were the only ones which managed to make stick around.
Maybe these crooked emblems show just how poor quality control was at the time (having not lived through the ’70s, I’m willing to give those who assembled it the benefit of the doubt). I would love if this car were to last another 34 years to show all the kids in 2048 what basic transportation looked like in 1980, but I’m not too hopeful that will happen. Like so many other cars on CC, it looks as though it were kept in storage and recently taken out, only to be driven on our salty roads and slowly ruined.
As we know, these F-bodies were potent symbols of Chrysler’s worst years (or maybe that would be the Dodge Caliber?), so much so that their names had to be changed once all their bugs were worked out. The sober, rectilinear grille and headlights mark this as a 1980 (as does the one-bbl carb under the hood), with bumpers and fenders shared with the Diplomat and LeBaron. I think the ’76-’79 front end looks better, but this one-year-only style helped ready customers for the Aries and Reliant which replaced the Aspen and Volare in 1981.
The sloppy integration of these bumpers show that this was a hastily done facelift done on the cheap, but poorly hidden screws on the trim notwithstanding, quality was notably improved by the time this car was built, helping explain its continued existence today.
For those interested, the brochure for the 1980 Aspen can be seen here. From what I can tell, this car is equipped with the Custom package, which provided the availability of a 60/40 split front bench with adjustable headrests. With a tilt wheel, this wasn’t the most basic ride, but it seems the left half of a Ford Taurus bench seat was the most readily available means its driver has to sit as close to the wheel as she prefers. I’d have taken a better picture of the interior, but as we see, it’s too cluttered to get a decent view. Even if it were clean in there, the grey velour seat would spoil the effect, so hopefully the original vinyl piece is sitting in a pile somewhere nearby.
Nothing like a factory-inspection sticker to highlight the all-original goodness of a car. Other than this decal, the only other Pentastar logos I could find were etched into the glass. We can readily see the clutter which made getting a decent picture of the interior impossible. Should suspicion ever arise of CCers trying to grab shots of their car’s contents, we could consider ordering business cards with this article’s URL printed on them.
It doesn’t look like there was ever a Pentastar logo on these hubcaps (one of which is sadly missing), but their simple design echoes this car’s thrifty and cautious appeal, as does the generally bland color scheme. By the time this was built, Dodge wasn’t peddling excitement. As always, the Aspen was a near mirror image of its Plymouth sibling, and with slow sales of the R and J bodies, selling basic transportation was once again Chrysler’s best chance for survival. In that sense, this final-year F-body deserves a lot of credit, and I’m sure its owner would agree.
Kind of a shame really , this one looks good for refreshening and Enthusiast saving .
-Nate
Don’t know if her’s was dodge or plymouth but this could be the car owned by my niece several years ago. That includes the clutter. She wiped out a road barricade with it and shortly later was into Suzuki (chev) SUVs.
You are missing out on ambiance by not including clutter pictures.
On the topic of writer business cards, I have three words for you: Yes, yes, and yes!
I bet it still has an intact drilled cardboard headliner. They looked cheap and nasty in the day, but I’d still prefer one to saggy mouse-fur that my M body had. The facelift also solved the number one problem of the F body- the eggcrate grille made out of the cheapest plastic this side of Togliattigrad. Of course the hood release was screwed to it, thus when the grille broke- opening the hood was a real feat, proving the ability of the slant six to run for 50K or more on the oil that was in it before the grille broke.
Funny you should say that, that’s exactly what happened with my Volare’s grill! My roommate in college took out the rest of the grill helping me push it out of a snow bank… Other than the grill, believe it or not, mine ran relatively well for a 15 year old vehicle at the time!
I have an unnatural love for these, for some reason. By 1980, most of the problems were worked out of them, and IIRC, most of the bodies used galvanized steel in the lower panels. Also, there was a 4 speed floor shift available as the manual transmission option, which I believe was a 3 speed plus OD. The column shifted manuals were gone.
When my mother was shopping for an Omni or Horizon in 1980, these things were sitting on showroom floors, forgotten and unloved. By then, they had developed such a bad reputation and Chrysler seemed so hopeless, that there was just no fan base for them. Add in the fact that gas had skyrocketed, and they were now considered ugly, bad cars from a dying company that were gas hogs to boot. The Omni and Horizon had waiting lists, everything else sat forlornly on the lot.
I still want the one I remember from the ChryPly dealer’s showroom: a strippo silver-blue wagon with blue interior, slant 6 and a 4 speed. If I had been out of school and had the money/credit for a new car, I would have bought it right then. These were the best kept secret of any new car in 1980.
Oh yes, the pentastars did not show up on the outsides of the cars until maybe 1981. That was Iacocca’s way of maximizing visual exposure for Chrysler-built cars. Also, I love that “Road-Ready” sticker. That dated back to 1976 or 77. Only Chrysler needed a sticker to brag that its new cars were really ready to be actually driven.
I test-drove one of those 4-speed overdrive Aspens. Clunky. Even a floor-shift three-speed Camaro shifted nicer.
Our ’71 Plymouth and ’66 Dodge both had Pentastars mounted on their right front fenders, aft of the wheel opening.
Actually, the Road Ready sticker is put on by the dealer. Basically, when a car is sold someone at the dealer does a quick once over to make sure the car is ready for the new buyer. My 1981 Chrysler New Yorker Fifth Avenue not only has the Road Ready sticker on the back left window, but also has the glove box sticker with the sales date and the name of who prepped the car. With the wonders of the net, I have been able to track down that very person, as his family owned the dealership. I believe this was a 70s-80s program which was followed up/supplemented with the Crystal Care program in the late 80s. Fun stickers that you can still buy. There were even Road Ready keys.
My 1984 Chrysler Laser had the Road Ready sticker on it. I also received a checklist where the new car prep person supposedly checked the car over and it had the same Road Ready emblem imprinted on it as well.
By 1980, the Aspen/Volare was already considered obsolete when compared to it’s primary competitor, the Fairmont. The Fairmont was a newer design, and more efficient in most ever way. But the Aspen/Volare would have still competed on price. With the wagon version, being the most practical.
My dad shopped for a small domestic wagon in 1978, and the Aspen wagon he considered, was priced at $6,300. The comparably equipped Fairmont wagon at $7,300. And the Malibu wagon at $8,200. This was in Canadian dollars. He looked at the Malibu wagon, as there was no compact wagon offered by GM at the time. So, you can see where the Aspen/Volare would still compete on price, if the least modern of the trio.
It’s odd to see the roof rack, but no tailgate air deflector on this one. As the air deflector seemed to appear on the majority of wagons.
Even though F-Body quality was much better after 1977. The Aspen/Volare were old school, compared to the Fairmont and the new GM X-Cars. The K-Cars couldn’t come too soon.
My ex-wife’s parents had a ’79 Volare sedan in that same color. “Basic” didn’t even begin to describe it. Automatic, manual steering, dealer-installed a/c and radio, tan vinyl park benches front and back, and let’s not forget the fine “craftsmanship” of Hamtramck Dodge Main in its 65th and final year of operation. The one redeeming quality was the somewhat rare “Super Six” 2-barrel version of the mighty 225.
Speaking of Dodge Main, a short run of 1980 F-bodies were the last cars made there. It was closed in January, 1980 as part of Chrysler’s post-bailout restructuring.
They should have kept making the 2BBL Super Six into the 80’s. The 20 Hp drop going from a 1979 Super six to this 90 Hp 1980 wagon must have made for scary slow passing maneuvers.
Glove box sticker
According to Allpar site, there were a number of changes done for 1980, along with the square headlights. Wonder if they were planned to last longer on the market, and Lido pulled the plug? [Obvious]
F bodies were canned to show the US Gov’t “We mean it when we want to make smaller cars”.
I believe the F-bodies were originally planned to carry through 1981, and your description of them being canned early is pretty much right on.
They carried on as the Diplomat and LeBaron for 1981. 1981 was also the last year for the LeBaron and Diplomat wagon which was based on the F Body platform. 1981 was also the last year for the Diplomat and LeBaron Coupe.
I love how the Aspen brochure shows a guy scuba diving on one page. Because that’s relevant. You know, guys who drive Aspens also do cool things like scuba dive.
It was on the coupe’s page, since it was the sporty option. Speaking of which, how many of these do you think were sold with T-tops?
I don’t know, but I think I prefer the look of the 1980 to the previous models. It’s less clownish.
What a good day this has been; two CC’s on cars I have firsthand experience with. Life is good.
Even with my intermittent Pollyanna view of automobiles, the F-bodies did get it right. Way too late. It was like closing the barn door after the cattle have run off.
My grandmother had an ’80 Aspen sedan. Green with green vinyl. She had seven miles of gravel road between her house and the nearest paved road. She drove 45 mph regardless, so the car took a beating every day. I say they got it right at the end because she had zero problems with it, unlike the ’78 Volare my parents had. Yet I know a sample of one is hardly representative.
And where all F-body wagons the same color? https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-1978-dodge-aspen-wagon-defying-expectations-since-the-carter-administration/
The engineering was sound, if dated, on the F-Bodies. I know the front torsion bars would eventually start to rattle quite a bit on bumps. Guessing this was due to worn rubber bushings. Unlike the Dart/Valiant, the Aspen/Volare had transverse torsion bars. But the torsion bars on both the F-Bodies and A-Bodies equally made a lot of noise with age.
I agree, the Aspen/Volare seemed very popular in various earthy shades of beige, tan, copper, gold and brown.
Well, I have seen a Plum Crazy Aspen wagon with a light blue interior and Magnum 500 wheels–otherwise stock.
I am guessing it was originally blue, judging from the interior!
I’ve seen the driver of this vehicle on numerous occasions. He looks like someone who would drive an old Volare wagon.
In Bloomington? I usually see it driven by an older woman.
Yes. Must be a couple. He had a huge beard and very thick glasses. Usually I see this car parked near the library, but I haven’t seen it around since the parking meter installation. My last view of it was in the Kroger East parking lot.
I drove one of these as a cab. Went from 180 thousand to 300 thousand miles with only a change of a thermostat and an alternator. That was a tough car but boring and plain. It earned my respect.
You triggered a memory…I rode in a Aspen/Volare cab in Washington DC in 1989; that was quite the trip.
Likely that same cab was still on the road in 1999. I used to see it regularly in the Federal Triangle area (not far from the Natural History Museum and National Archives). It looked to be in pretty good shape, too, but I never got a ride. I haven’t seen it since then.
We had a 76 Volare wagon
My new 1984 Chrysler Laser had that same “Road Ready” decal placed on the driver’s door window. In the glove box was a form which listed all the items the dealer prep department checked to ensure I received my car in top condition. Too bad the factory didn’t do a more through checking of items when building the car. In retrospect, considering all the problems I had, the Road Ready preparation was pointless…
Mr. Bill
Hamlet, NC
What is it about car companies spending the money to refresh a car that they not only were going to kill off a year later but hat the replacement in the wings waiting to bow in? Chevy did that with the Nova for 1979 when they revised the frond end and added square headlights. In the Nova’s case its replacement car (the Citation) went on sale in April of ’79 and was on car lots along with the Nova.
Why waste the money on a refresh if you are going to kill the car off the same year of the refresh or the year after?
Unless it’s prompted by some kind of last-minute regulatory change, that kind of restyling and engineering work is usually done at least two and a half years before production starts. The stylists and engineers don’t necessarily have any way of knowing how the product is going to do commercially or what sort of decisions will be made higher up about what to cancel and what to keep. I’m sure there are all kinds of styling plans and engineering developments that end up being shelved — it’s sort of the inevitable side effect of having to always predict the future.
Also, these cars were conceived at the tail end of an era when fresh styling every two or three years was expected for American cars. Chrysler had gotten hit and miss about that because of a lack of money, but it was sort of the expectation.
What someone said about the car expected to run through 1981 rings true. Chrysler had kept the old Valiant/Duster/Dart in production during the first year of the Volare/Aspen in 1976. Ford had done the same thing with the Maverick/Granada/Fairmont changeovers. This might explain why so many of the early K cars were high-trim models, if planners had expected the old Volare/Aspen to cater to the Dollar General customers.
GM maybe planned to keep the RWD Nova around longer, but then killed it to help Malibu sales, since they were near same size by 78-79.
And, I agree that the 2 year restyle cycle ended around this time, probably due to earlier than planned cancellations. GM then went to other extreme of hardly changing anything for 7-some years! [Corsica]
What is odd is the Buick and Olds RWD X cars kept the round headlights, and they were supposedly ‘mid-lux’ brands.
“A nice coat of wax (maybe even a clay bar?) would have most surfaces looking brand new; I’ll volunteer myself to do it.”
If you do that it won’t be her’s anymore.
The only way I could stand driving one of these was when equipped with the all the power accessories, HD suspension and the 318 V8. The interior upgrade and insulation package was also a must. Shame that only about 2%of them were equipped that way. This was always one of things I liked better about the GM A/G body cars. Dad too. They came far better equipped, plusher, quieter, better ride quality and the excellent F-41 suspension option was readily available across the line. And more seemed to have a V8 engine too.
For the it’s last year, the 1980 Volare/Aspen were billed as “the only 6-passenger car for under $5,000 MSRP”. Which was a good deal. I believe the car came with auto and power steering standard
It’s hard to fathom how these came to be such lemons when they started life blessed with the legendary slant 6 and bulletproof Torqueflight. I know the fender rust issue must have been a downer, but no worse than the Chevy/GMC pickups of this era.
Pleasant enough looking vehicles for the time, especially the wagon. Were non-drivetrain problems really that bad? And, if they were, why? Seems there was no reason for these to be rushed into production and Chrysler had enough time to perfect the rollout.
From what I have read, Chrysler was in very difficult financial straights in 1974 and 75 with a recession and very poor sales. The F body cars debut was in the fall of 1975, as 1976 models. In a book written in the early 80s by some Business Week authors, it was reported that during one period, virtually everyone in engineering was laid off unless they were working on something directly related to governmental safety or emissions mandates. Unfortunately, that period coincided with the development of these cars. It was like the 1957 models all over again, only where there was enough calendar time to do the job well, Lynn Townsend’s counterproductive instincts wasted a good deal of that time by stopping needed work.
When the Aspen/Volare first came out, several of us from college went to the Chrysler dealer on a Sunday (closed) to take a look. On a sedan, the left front fender has the Aspen badge and the right front fender had the Volare badge. It made me wonder what else was wrong….
The 1976/77 versions of the then new Volare’ and Aspen were to Chrysler what the Vega was to GM and the Pinto to Ford. Major Deadly Sins. These cars were so bad initially that I remember during the 1970’s people actually had signs on there Aspen’s/Volare’s claiming their car was a “Lemon” and to not buy one. Everything from faulty carburetors that caused major stalling and hesitation issues to electrical gremlins to the terrible “Lean Burn” system that caused numerous owner and dealer headaches with the computer mounted to the air cleaner in a hot engine bay to fenders that rotted away in a few Winters. These cars were the carrier to the Chrysler bailout in 1979 and thankfully they improved them quite a bit by this time.
Unfortunately for old-car fans—I used to parrot it stridently—the math doesn’t support that line of argument. Despite what I fervently but baselessly used to believe because I wanted it to be true, newer cars and the processes to make them are so much less dirty and destructive, and recycling is so efficient, that getting a new(er) car and scrapping an old one is better for the environment. That isn’t to advocate a forced push to get oldies off the road, but environmental respect is not a sound argument for keeping an older car.
As for the subject vehicle: I’ve always (see?) scorned these cars for reasons ranging from concrete (inferior engineering and execrable build and materials quality) to subjective (bloated size, ugly design, nauseating ride and handling) to juvenile (They killed my Darts and Valiants!). Whatever-all, Chrysler literally and figuratively went from an A to an aptly-designated F with these cars.
But enough about what I think; have a look ‘n listen to what Regular Car Reviews had to say about a same-colour ’80 Sedan. (Yeah, yeah, they’re full of cheap laffs and they don’t know the difference between vapour lock and percolation, et cetera. But still.)
I watched the review on RCR on YouTube. Had not been aware of that, (thanks for the link) I shall watch a few more on there. I also caught a bit of their Gremlin review. That Volare they tested had quite a defect – a large chunk of the rear lower quarter panel is like, gone! Must have been built that way right? . The steering lash (play) on both the Volare and the Gremlin is quite huge.
I’ve never heard of anyone using an ‘environmental respect’ argument in regards to keeping an old car as opposed to acquiring a late-model vehicle. Interesting. I’d never use an ‘environmental respect’ argument as a reason for keeping Cheapo Falcon; y’all would know I’d be lying if I said that.
Since this write-up is from 2014 I wonder what has since become of the humble 1980 Dodge wagon? I hope it hasn’t gone to Rust City.
This would be the mid-level Custom package. As identified by the beltline protective molding, and the bright rocker panel trim.
When Chrysler introduced the Diplomat and LeBaron wagons based upon the F-Bodies, I felt the Aspen and Volare wagons looked decidedly ‘modest’, compared to their more finished and luxurious appearing siblings.
The dead worst of the various F bodies were the sport packaged Aspen/Volares. While the Demon/Duster with the 340 were legitimate performance cars, the Aspen/Volare with the 360 wheezed to 60 and offered no other handling compensation for their lack of power. They were gratuitously striped and there was a Volare Sport coupe thingy which had louvers covering the rear passenger windows for some reason. They would have been bad enough had they been somewhat gently sported up, in terms of a mild appearance package like the Granada ESS, but these things went full ’70’s enormous decals and louvers with zero increase in performance. The wagons were handsome, functional, roomy, inexpensive, and neither GM nor Ford offered a comparable wagon, especially at the price.
Chrysler always seems to fall into selling yesterday’s bread at today’s markdowns when coming up with an econospecial. I have a C/D featuring a review of an F body from late in its life and it was some sort of pre-America special at $4995 or something similar, and pretty decently equipped. Of course, the FWD X cars left everything technologically so far behind it was ridiculous and even the Omnirizon would have had similar interior room and been far more economical, plus was practical with the hatchback.
The deluxe wood sided wagons were by far the most attractive, although the basic Aspen/Volare is pretty decent except for the urky two door. Simple and decently styled without the faux Mercedes doing too much of the Granada.
I think the F-body with the rear window slats was called the ‘Super Coupe’ or some such nonsense.
It’s hard to figure out why the 360-powered F-body was such a slug when the 360 A-body was a decent performer right up to the bitter end. Was the F that much heavier than the A? I can’t imagine the engine being that much worse of a performer but maybe emissions regulations just kept getting tighter and tighter, sapping performance a bit more each year.
Ha ha, the Aspen in the article here that is pictured reminds me a LOT of the one that I had as a kid when I was growing up. I think that ours was a ’79 or ’80 wagon, and it was the same washed out canary yellow colour that this one has. We’d got it in maybe 1992 or so, and by then, it had some rust (nothing extreme though), a few dents, and a few war wounds.
Ours was a Slant Six as well. The car was reliable, if extremely uncool transportation…..it had a bench seat, and no real amenities (I don’t think it had A/C or anything)–essentially a budget/ poverty special right outta the dealership. There was a time or two when I ducked when maybe some cute girls walked by, or someone that I used to know or used to go to school with or something like that. I was 13 or 14 at the time; right when those formative years can sort of make or break your reputation, ha ha. “Man, I can’t be seen in THIS piece of junk!!”.
It’s interesting to note in the comments here that even when these cars came out, they were already uncool and very dated in looks, engines, engineering, etc. But if I thought that I was embarrassed, I felt even worse for my Dad–it was a reflection of his income and (in)ability to provide. But I look back on those years as “character building” ones–when times were tight, and when we all loaded up in the Aspen wagon as a family.
Another thing–that plastic/ vinyl seat material was COLD in winter, I tell you. And I also remember him replacing the regulator several times; so much so that he had a few spares on hand at any given time. But other than that, considering how old the car was when we got it, it was surprisingly reliable.
Okeh, now I literally, actually cannot even. Take a look at this. Savour the ESL (or machine-generated?) title. Note the, ah, not-quite-apposite image. Then read that round green badge at the bottom. Hit the link; note the price. LOLwut?!
Has anyone ever seen a “Super Coupe” ? It was a very rare option package for these cars, one step above the R/T and Roadrunner. Probably only offered for one or two years.
The Super Coupe is, indeed, rare, with a bit more than a total of 1000 built, with an approximate even split between Volares and Aspens. Unlike the Road Runner and R/T which, by then, had become little more than trim packages, you got a 360/TorqueFlite with a Super Coupe. Of course, the option also cost quite a bit more, too, at $1,416, which still wasn’t cheap, even in 1978 dollars.
CC Effect…
I saw this car once in a while rumbling around Maximillianstraße, the most poshy street (a.k.a. the local equivalent of Rodeo Drive), in Munich but never got a chance to take photos until now.
Pretty decent shape for 40-year-old car.
I couldn’t be more surprised if you showed me a picture on Mars with the wagon in it.
M bodies are virtually the same design, and lasted until 1989. The Chrysler 5th Ave sold well with buyers looking for RWD sedans, and brought profits to help pay off the loans.
Chrysler got the last laugh, all the way to the bank, with these cars.
It’s kind of a stretch, but it could be said that the F/M-body outlasted the final iteration of the legendary A-body, which ‘only’ lasted from 1967-76, versus 1976-1989.
For as rough a start as the F-body had, it sure hung in there for a long time.
My uncle had a 1980 Lebaron version of this wagon loaded to the hilt with options including the mighty powerhouse 120 Hp 318, full power, leather seating and the gaudy woodgrain exterior trim which starting falling off the car after about 3 Winters. I remember that 318 wheezed up to 60 glacially with the A/C on and 4 of us aboard and the car had a vibration going 55 MPH that nobody could seem to cure.
I can’t even begin to imagine this size vehicle with the 90 Hp Slant Six. That must have been the preverbal 18 second to 60 car.