78 Dodge Aspen

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Call me weird, but I always kind of liked the Aspen R/T and the Plymouth Road Runner version. Not saying they were great cars, just something completely different.

I test drove an orange Volare "Road Runner" back in the 80's. Man that thing was beat!! It had a small block and a manual trans. Can't remember if it was a 3spd or 4spd,.... Just that the clutch was so shot you could hardly accelerate from a stop.
 
It looked like this (Though not NEAR as nice) but had Keystone Klassics on it! :)

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There is a factory 318 4 speed car on ebay right now.

Oddly it looks like an SE. $1200 starting and no bids.

I used to pass an immaculate Volare Roadrunner in that iconic Spitfire orange with ground effects back in the 80's. I later learned it belonged to a classmate's parents. only saw him drive it once.
 
I used to know a guy who bought an Aspen R/T new. Had a 318 (2 bbl), 3 spd w/ OD 4th. He wanted a 360, but they only came with an auto. No PB or PS, or any options. Too bad it wasn't 1970, he coulda ordered a REAL car. ;-)
He used to hate it when my beater 69 impala w/ glide and 350 4 bbl whooped up on him.
 
Worked for Dodge Dealer back when these were new. I even owned a new 76 Aspen SE. 318 auto,good car other than the rusted out within a year or two (back east). About 10 years ago I bought a nice Volare' wagon at Carlisle and drove it back to Nevada. Liked that one too.God knows I don't need another car but I look for those often because the can do everything a pre76 A body can do for way less money.
 
YY1 said:
There is a factory 318 4 speed car on ebay right now.

Oddly it looks like an SE. $1200 starting and no bids.

I used to pass an immaculate Volare Roadrunner in that iconic Spitfire orange with ground effects back in the 80's. I later learned it belonged to a classmate's parents. only saw him drive it once.
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I had a 1978 Volare Premier, triple red, like the pixs below.

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Used it for work as a field engineer in upstate NY and the body rusted out. Loved that car with its 318, overdrive 4 speed (A833) and 8 1/4 3.23 Sure Grip. I had bigger rubber with steelies, hub caps and trim rings on mine. Would get 23+ MPG all day long on the highway and still scare a lot of cooler cars at the stoplight. I made some tweaks to the Lean Burn and it ran great for me. Sorry when that one had to go. :(
 
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Bought a 78 Aspen in 1982. I liked it. Took me to Cali and then to Charleston.
 
I don't think overdrive.

Lockup- yes.

Odd to have SG (and 3.21) in a 4 door.
 
Funny, when I saw the title, I said, I just saw one of those yesterday on BAT. I came on here to post a link to it, & Lo and Behold
I dated a girl that had an Aspen R/T, 360 auto. way better than my car, I liked it when I could drive it to school & she would drop me off. I had a beat Granada 6 cyl, but w/a 4 spd, buckets & magnum wheels-the Gearhead Grenada.
 
I had a 76 Volare Roadrunner with the 318 and 4 speed overdrive. It had 2.92 gears I think, which with the overdrive made it around 2.2 final drive. It was a dog. There was no right gear to pass with on the highway. I often thought if you swapped in some 3.55's it would be much more driveable.
SpeedThrills said:
I used to know a guy who bought an Aspen R/T new. Had a 318 (2 bbl), 3 spd w/ OD 4th. He wanted a 360, but they only came with an auto. No PB or PS, or any options. Too bad it wasn't 1970, he coulda ordered a REAL car. ;-)
He used to hate it when my beater 69 impala w/ glide and 350 4 bbl whooped up on him.
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I used to have a Super Coupe, but far less complete than that one. Previous owner pulled most everything SC off it and mudded over the holes in the quarters to bolt the flairs on. Thing rusted bad because they didn't bother to do even do anything with the holes on the inside of the quarters. Even had a 318 in it when I bought it. Someone gutted it and put it back on the road with whatever they had.

Loved that car, regret selling it. Hard not to bid on this one. No need of it, but sure brings back memories.
 
YY1 said:
I don't think overdrive.

Lockup- yes.

Odd to have SG (and 3.21) in a 4 door.
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Sheesh, I do know what I had! 4 speed as in an A833 standard w/overdrive. Axle wasn't odd, it was special ordered by dealer in spite of what chart below says..... We towed a sizeable pop-up camper all up and down the east coast (Prince Edward Island to Florida) with that car, hence wanting the 3.21 SG axle.

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I just assumed it was an auto in a 4 door.

You had a 4 door with an 833 OD and a SG 3.21 axle?

That's gotta be SUPER rare.
 
I had friend in the 70s that bought a new Aspen with Ttops , Buckets, floor shift console , horizontal 1/4 widow louvres, 318 car. It was W1 with maroon stripes.... Never seen another like it since.
 
Mr. Sinister said:
Thats a Kit Car do you own that?
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No a friend own's it. It was used on asphalt tracks and he bought it to add to his Kit Car collection. You may have seen his display in the Mopar tent at the Nats a couple years ago. He has the only un-assembled kit car kit known to exist.
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