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Would you Drive This? 1976 Dodge Aspen Station Wagon
Posted on 10/23/20 at 11:06 am
Posted on 10/23/20 at 11:06 am
The Subaru Outback thread had me thinking that our next WYDI discussion should be about a classic station wagon:
Meet the 1976 Dodge Aspen.
In the late 1970s, the Dodge Aspen was the mainstream sedan offered by the Chrysler corporation - upmarket from it's sister Plymouth Volaré (which is really rare now), but not as fancy as the Chrysler branded sedans and wagons. At 198" long, it's a little larger than a modern Honda Accord. The Dodge Aspen coupe and sedan are pretty popular, and many good examples can still be found today. A wagon is a very rare find in 2020, but they were pretty popular in the 1970s. You should think of this as an early crossover SUV.
The Dodge Aspen could be had with a 318ci V8 or 360ci V8, but this one has the bulletproof 225 slant 6 - which was featured in Chrysler products until the early 1990s. It's paired up to a sturdy 3 speed torqueflight transmission. It should be good for a 0-60 sprint in about 12-13 seconds in the right conditions - so this model isn't really a performance vehicle.
In 1980, Lee Iacocca had the Dodge Aspen and it's sister cars canceled and replaced with the first Dodge/Plymouth K cars. They called them the Dodge Aries and Plymouth Reliant. They were wildly popular, but quickly became known for their lack of reliability. The K cars contributed to Chrysler's reputation as being inferior to General Motors, Volkswagen, and even Ford.
Perhaps they should have stuck with the Aspen for a while longer. Would you drive this 1977 Dodge Aspen station wagon?
Your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. One of the polished aluminum wheel covers doesn't match the other three.
With the bench seats, it could fit 6 people.
The beating heart of this Aspen wagon is the 225 slant six. What it lacked in performance and fuel economy, it more than made up for in reliability.
The roof rack also helped make station wagons like this very popular for families. This chromed steel rack should bring a tear to the eye of every Subaru Outback owner.
Would you drive this?
Meet the 1976 Dodge Aspen.
In the late 1970s, the Dodge Aspen was the mainstream sedan offered by the Chrysler corporation - upmarket from it's sister Plymouth Volaré (which is really rare now), but not as fancy as the Chrysler branded sedans and wagons. At 198" long, it's a little larger than a modern Honda Accord. The Dodge Aspen coupe and sedan are pretty popular, and many good examples can still be found today. A wagon is a very rare find in 2020, but they were pretty popular in the 1970s. You should think of this as an early crossover SUV.
The Dodge Aspen could be had with a 318ci V8 or 360ci V8, but this one has the bulletproof 225 slant 6 - which was featured in Chrysler products until the early 1990s. It's paired up to a sturdy 3 speed torqueflight transmission. It should be good for a 0-60 sprint in about 12-13 seconds in the right conditions - so this model isn't really a performance vehicle.
In 1980, Lee Iacocca had the Dodge Aspen and it's sister cars canceled and replaced with the first Dodge/Plymouth K cars. They called them the Dodge Aries and Plymouth Reliant. They were wildly popular, but quickly became known for their lack of reliability. The K cars contributed to Chrysler's reputation as being inferior to General Motors, Volkswagen, and even Ford.
Perhaps they should have stuck with the Aspen for a while longer. Would you drive this 1977 Dodge Aspen station wagon?
Your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. One of the polished aluminum wheel covers doesn't match the other three.
With the bench seats, it could fit 6 people.
The beating heart of this Aspen wagon is the 225 slant six. What it lacked in performance and fuel economy, it more than made up for in reliability.
The roof rack also helped make station wagons like this very popular for families. This chromed steel rack should bring a tear to the eye of every Subaru Outback owner.
Would you drive this?
15
Posted on 10/23/20 at 11:07 am to goofball
All the way to Wally World!
Posted on 10/23/20 at 11:07 am to goofball
Posted on 10/23/20 at 11:08 am to goofball
Heck yeah, plenty of space for some 18's in the back
Posted on 10/23/20 at 11:08 am to goofball
i remember my dad having a white, 2 door Aspen in the late 70s/early 80s
thought it was a Chrysler Aspen
thought it was a Chrysler Aspen
Posted on 10/23/20 at 11:11 am to goofball
quote:
Would you drive this?
Then, no. Now, yes.
Posted on 10/23/20 at 11:11 am to tigeraddict
quote:
i remember my dad having a white, 2 door Aspen in the late 70s/early 80s
The 2 door version looked pretty good IMO.
This post was edited on 10/23/20 at 11:12 am
Posted on 10/23/20 at 11:14 am to goofball
We had the Plymouth version of that growing up - The Volare. 
Posted on 10/23/20 at 11:17 am to Y.A. Tittle
quote:
We had the Plymouth version of that growing up - The Volare.
Plymouth Volare - practically the same car, but with different trim.
Posted on 10/23/20 at 11:29 am to goofball
My grandma used to roll with an OG who operated one of these...hand was the silver shark (Ill let you guess the color)
dude had a cb with a repeater (?) so strong, it would light up a flourescent tube in your hand...swear on my kids lifes this happened
dude had a cb with a repeater (?) so strong, it would light up a flourescent tube in your hand...swear on my kids lifes this happened
Posted on 10/23/20 at 11:38 am to goofball
We had a dodge aspen wagon when I was a kid. I remember sliding the a/c controls over to put it into "warp speed." Dad would floor it and I'd fly back into the back seat.
Our was brown with wood paneling.
Our was brown with wood paneling.
Posted on 10/23/20 at 11:45 am to goofball
Just looking at this pic, I can smell that 70's vinyl interior... 
This post was edited on 10/23/20 at 11:48 am
Posted on 10/23/20 at 11:45 am to MSWebfoot
quote:kids today don’t even pretends cars are spaceships anymore smh
We had a dodge aspen wagon when I was a kid. I remember sliding the a/c controls over to put it into "warp speed.
Posted on 10/23/20 at 11:47 am to drexyl
quote:
kids today don’t even pretends cars are spaceships anymore smh
and be sure to ask them what those crank looking things on the door panels are...
Posted on 10/23/20 at 11:49 am to goofball
My mother drove this same car a 74 Ford Country Squire. There were two fold up seats in the back. Where I learned a valuable lesson about spitting out of the back window at speed.
Posted on 10/23/20 at 11:51 am to goofball
Chrysler peaked in the 70's with the Corrrrrrrrrdoba....
and it's "rich Corinthian leather"....
I knew people who use to steal the hood ornaments off of those because of the gold doubloon...
and it's "rich Corinthian leather"....
I knew people who use to steal the hood ornaments off of those because of the gold doubloon...
This post was edited on 10/23/20 at 11:56 am
Posted on 10/23/20 at 11:54 am to goofball
We had that same car in a sedan body, blue. Was not a great car.
Posted on 10/23/20 at 11:54 am to Hangover Haven
quote:
Chrysler peaked in the 70's with the Corrrrrrrrrdoba....
Ah...the "small Chrysler".
Posted on 10/23/20 at 11:55 am to Hangover Haven
I was going to post the same thing. 
Posted on 10/23/20 at 11:58 am to goofball
The "sportiest" variant was the Aspen R/T.
You could order it with a 360 cid engine. (5.9L).
It was so emission-related choked down that it would only generate ~170 HP.
MY 1976 was a year to be shopping for the new 280Z car, not anything domestic if sporty was your goal.
Corvettes of that year had terrible build quality.
Here's a couple images of the SPORTY Aspen.
Datsun 280Z:
'76 Corvette, pretty but....
You could order it with a 360 cid engine. (5.9L).
It was so emission-related choked down that it would only generate ~170 HP.
MY 1976 was a year to be shopping for the new 280Z car, not anything domestic if sporty was your goal.
Corvettes of that year had terrible build quality.
Here's a couple images of the SPORTY Aspen.
Datsun 280Z:
'76 Corvette, pretty but....
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