What's this car that I saw at the junkyard today?

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GUMM B

GUMM B

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2025
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Location
Lakeport, CA 95453
Manufactured March, 1979

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As a point of interest;
Many years ago (probably over 20), I ran into a '75 Duster, in Winnipeg Manitoba, Canada; that had the L-bars and no T-bar sockets, which indicated to me that it was an F-body....... but; to my untrained eye, it looked pretty much like a 73/74 Duster.
and the VINs said '75, and were matching..

The pictured F-body almost looks good enough to "restore".
 
They did make an F body Volare "Duster"!

I almost bought one.

1980, LOADED- blue with blue velour buckets, T tops, tuff wheel, rally wheels, AC...

...and in mint condition...

...but it was a 225 (although I believe it was a "Super Six"), so I passed.
 
JDMopar said:
Go back and get the brakes off of it, including the proportioning valve. Get everything between the ball joints. I'm not sure if the upper control arms will work on an A body?
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no dice on the arms of containment. everything else ports right on over.

some of those had serious HD options, so look at the fan and for a power steering cooler.
 
You're looking at $350-400 bucks for those disc brakes and spindles, and $50-100 if it has remote trunk release, and $100-150 for the rear axle, and that's not even looking at the powertrain. That near side quarter looks straight, I'm sure some F-body owner would pay coin if it's not a bondo bastard.
 
Back in the very early 80s I came out of work one day and sitting there was a f body RT that had just gotten out of the paint shop he had blended all of the louvers and flares body color cherry red with new appliance five spokes it was a 4-speed car with a t-top it was actually a badass looking little hot rod.
 
I would have started buying these to fix and sell if CALIFORNIA didn't have these BS emission laws.
ALL cars after 1976 had catalytic converters. To get annual registration renewal, you have to remain compliant.
 
Kern Dog said:
Is that a real question?
Come on, man...how could a Mopar guy not know how to identify a Mopar? This F body is only a few years from the car in your avatar.
The Dodge Aspen and Plymouth Volare were essentially identical. They were the first Mopars with the infamous transverse mounted torsion bars. These were (up to that time) the most recalled models that CryCo ever built. They were often called Rolling TSBs
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If his age on his profile is correct hes 33, born in 91 or 92

For him to have seen one of these on the road, and be able to remember it, that F body would have had to have been a quarter of a century old

I can see how he doesn't know it, go ask a random 20 year old what a K car is
 

diymirage said:
I can see how he doesn't know it, go ask a random 20 year old what a K car is
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There was an older couple, in the town I live in, that had a nearly new 87-88 Aries.
They literally only ever took that car to the grocery and the doctors office. That car was parked and kept in the garage. I bet there wasn't 25K on that thing.
She passed away about 10 years ago, and you would occasionally see him out in it.
I heard the old fella passed away and, I didn't see the car anymore.
About two summers ago, the car turned back up with what looked like two crackheads driving it. Someone told me it was the old couples great grandson and his girlfriend.
From the time they started driving that car from the time I last saw it, it went from a damn nice car to what you'd expect a 30 year old K car to look like.
 
gunbunny said:
There was an older couple, in the town I live in, that had a nearly new 87-88 Aries.
They literally only ever took that car to the grocery and the doctors office. That car was parked and kept in the garage. I bet there wasn't 25K on that thing.
She passed away about 10 years ago, and you would occasionally see him out in it.
I heard the old fella passed away and, I didn't see the car anymore.
About two summers ago, the car turned back up with what looked like two crackheads driving it. Someone told me it was the old couples great grandson and his girlfriend.
From the time they started driving that car from the time I last saw it, it went from a damn nice car to what you'd expect a 30 year old K car to look like.
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man thats a shame
but to most people, they are just cars

it was the same with our A bodies in the 80s
 
diymirage said:
If his age on his profile is correct hes 33, born in 91 or 92

For him to have seen one of these on the road, and be able to remember it, that F body would have had to have been a quarter of a century old

I can see how he doesn't know it, go ask a random 20 year old what a K car is
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Thank you
 
diymirage said:
man thats a shame
but to most people, they are just cars

it was the same with our A bodies in the 80s
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It was a sad thing to see.
Someone had told me that was the couples "retirement" car. The last new car they ever intended to own. That old guy would keep it looking and running nice.
Shame others just come a treat other peoples things badly.
Told my wife I'm thinking of selling one of our cars. My son would be take care of it, but not like I have. I'd rather sell to someone who would appreciate the car for what it is.
 
gunbunny said:
It was a sad thing to see.
Someone had told me that was the couples "retirement" car. The last new car they ever intended to own. That old guy would keep it looking and running nice.
Shame others just come a treat other peoples things badly.
Told my wife I'm thinking of selling one of our cars. My son would be take care of it, but not like I have. I'd rather sell to someone who would appreciate the car for what it is.
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Funny this subject should come up, as my wife and I are revisiting our Will and estate plans right now. I have a “better than new” 1956 Rockola jukebox that I put “stupid money” into restoring (I have an emotional attachment with it), and we’re in the middle of wording things so that it DOESN’T fall into the wrong hands (certain members of the family) when I pass.

Since the “internet is forever “, ‘nuff said about this, I guess.
 
memike said:
Thank you
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no problem, we all get a little trigger happy from time to time, its easy to forget we were born with all the knowledge we have now


gunbunny said:
It was a sad thing to see.
Someone had told me that was the couples "retirement" car. The last new car they ever intended to own. That old guy would keep it looking and running nice.
Shame others just come a treat other peoples things badly.
Told my wife I'm thinking of selling one of our cars. My son would be take care of it, but not like I have. I'd rather sell to someone who would appreciate the car for what it is.
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that is a heartbreak to see
i have heard of retirement cars, but i personally never owned one less then 5 years old
even then, a day will come that i will buy my last "new" car, so i get it

but, you got to keep in mind, what is emotional attachment to one, may just be a means to an end to the other
 
diymirage said:
If his age on his profile is correct hes 33, born in 91 or 92

For him to have seen one of these on the road, and be able to remember it, that F body would have had to have been a quarter of a century old

I can see how he doesn't know it, go ask a random 20 year old what a K car is
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That is an excellent point that did not occur to me at all.
I'm 59 and even I don't remember seeing very many of them on the road. When I did, they didn't invoke any interest or passion to own them until the A body cars started thinning out.
 
1MeanA said:
I had one like that in '82 but had to sell when I went to college....'77 360 if I remember correctly. I saw a restored one last summer that a young lady was driving. It was awesome.
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I owned this car when my wife and I were first dating. She needed a car so I gave it to her. She loved that car and the attention it brought to her. She’s the one on the left with the big hair!

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