1978 Dodge Aspen

The short-lived Dodge Aspen was in production from 1976 through 1980, and - along with its Plymouth branded counterpart the Volare - was Motor Trend Magazine's 'Car of the Year' for 1976. The Aspen was the successor to the A-body Dart and the Volare took over the duties of the Valiant and Duster, although concurrently sold along with Aspen and Volare during the early part of the 1976 model year until A-body models were discontinued.

For 1978, the Aspen received a new front fascia that was similar to the Volare, with the overall appearance being similar to the 1977 version. Super Coupe, R/T, and R/T Sport Pak option packages were offered, with the Super Coupe arriving later in the season. The Super Coupe (code A67) had a dark brown body with a black finish hood, headlamps, wiper arms, front fender tops, front and rear bumpers, and remote-control racing mirrors. The 8-inch GT wheels were wrapped with GR60x15 Aramid fiber-belted raised white letter radial tires. Additional appearance upgrades included wheel flares, quarter-window louvers, and front and rear spoilers. Mechanical upgrades included a 360 cubic-inch four-barrel V8 and a heavy-duty suspension with rear anti-sway bar.

The R/T trim package (RPO Code A57) added Rallye wheels with FR78x14 GBR BSW tires, R/T decals and grille medallion, rocker panel moldings with black paint below, red grille treatment, multi-color-bodyside, hood and rear tape stripes, a heavy-duty suspension, and dual remote racing mirrors.

The R/T Sport Pak (code A66) came with a front spoiler, rear deck spoiler, full-length tricolor stripe on a white or black body, quarter-window louvers, and wheel flares.

A Sunrise Package was also available, installed on approximately 500 examples.

New exterior colors on the Aspen included Tapestry Red Sunfire metallic, Citron and Cadet Blue metallic, Augusta Green Sunfire metallic, Tapestry Red Sunfire Metallic, Classic Cream, Black, Caramel Tan and Mint Green metallic, and Pewter Gray metallic. Existing carry-over colors included Light Mocha Tan, Eggshell White, Spitfire Orange, and Starlight Blue Sunfire metallic.

Flanked on either side of the grille were square amber parking lamps, each with twin horizontal trim strips, and round headlamps with square bezels.

Body styles were the same as the previous year and included a two-door coupe, four-door sedan, and two-seat wagon. The base engine was the one-barrel Slant Six, although station wagons came standard with a two-barrel Super Six. The three-speed manual shift was standard and a four-speed was optional. The optional TorqueFlite automatic added a new lock-up torque converter. Steering was by a recirculating ball and the suspension used isolated transverse torsion bars and anti-sway bar in the front, with the front using semi-elliptic leaf springs.

The overhead-valve six-cylinder engine had solid valve lifters, a 1-barrel Holley carburetor, four main bearings, and delivered 100 horsepower and 170 lb-ft of torque. The two-barrel version had 110 horsepower and 180 lb-ft of torque. The optional overhead-valve V8 displaced 318 cubic inches and produced 140 horsepower at 4,000 RPM and 245 lb-ft of torque at 1,600 RPM. The 360 CID V8 had 155 horsepower, and the 360 CID V8 with a Carter four-barrel carburetor had 175 horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque.

The Sport Coupe had a base price of $3,750, the sedan listed for $3,870 and the station wagon was $4,200. A total of 64,320 examples of the sedan were produced, along with 48,311 of the sport coupe and 53,788 of the station wagon.

Along with the previously mentioned option packages, a Plethora of additional options was available including belt moldings, space-saving spare tire, AM radio, AM/FM radio, 8 track player, CB, rear speaker, Halo vinyl roof, Landau vinyl roof, Deluxe insulation package, Protection group, automatic speed control, power seat, tinted windshield, power door locks, digital clock, inside hood release, and more.

Production of the Aspen continued through 1980, and for the 1981 model year, it was replaced by the Dodge Aries.

by Dan Vaughan

Introduced in 1976, the Dodge Aspen was a compact car from the Chrysler Corporation's Dodge division. The Aspen's Plymouth-branded counterpart was the Volaré and it was launched as a two-door coupe, a four-door sedan, and a unique station wagon. The Aspen was replaced with the Dodge Dart in 1980, and by the end of their production run, the Aspen and Volaré would be considered intermediate cars. The Aspen was replaced by the smaller front wheel drive K-cars; the Dodge Aries and Plymouth Reliant, and the M-body Dodge Diplomat and Plymouth Gran Fury, which was pretty similar in size, structure and engineering to the F-body Aspen and Volaré.

Both the Aspen and the Plymouth Volaré were introduced in the fall of 1975 as 1976 models and were named Motor Trend's 'Car of the Year' for 1976. The Ddoge Aspen's name was derived from Aspen, Colorado. These models were the successors to the A-body Plymouth Valiant, Dodge Dart and the Duster. For part of the 1976 model year, these models were sold alongside the Aspen and Volaré before being discontinued. Unfortunately due to the rush in production and quality control issues, the first two model years were filled with problems, most notable front fender rust as well as several manufacturer recalls for other issues. Despite all of these issues, the Aspen/Volare twins did sell very well for their entire run and proved to be quite reliable vehicles.

The Aspen was designed to be more luxurious than the A-body models, at least in the most expensive models. The new cars continued the A-body pattern of various wheelbases for coupes versus the sedans and wagons, and the Aspen 2-door had a 108.7 inch wheelbase while sedans and wagons received a 112.7 inch wheelbase. The Aspen would share the same engines and three-box body style with its predecessor the Dart, but not much else.

Some dubbed the Aspen 'the family car of the future' and it came in three trim levels; base, custom and SE. Only on the coupe was the performance R/T package that featured a 318 cu in V8 standard or an optional 360 cu in V8 with either a 2- or 4- barrel carburetor. Standard across the line was the 225 cu in Slant Six, and it was available in most states with a choice of 1- or 2- barrel carburetion.

For 1977 not too many changes were made on the Aspen with the exception of a new T-top being added to the coupe's option list this year. A 'Super Pak' option was the R/T package that came with front and rear spoilers, louvered rear windows and wheel opening flares. This option also included a new stripe kit which was called a 'Super R/T'. For this year, the Volaré was Canada's top selling car. For 1977 the total production of the Aspen was 266,012 units.

For 1978 the Aspen underwent numerous changes as the three trim lines were consolidated into one. Both the Special Edition and the Custom lines were still available, but were reduced to just option packages. This year the Aspen also received a new front fascia which was similar to the Volaré. In the meantime the Volare's grille was restyled with an eggcrate pattern. This year Dodge introduced new performance packages; the Super Coup and Kit Car which both used the same performance exterior add-ons as the 'Super Pak' which was now renamed the 'Sport Pak', but it came in different colors and features different options.

The Aspen Super Coupe came with GR60x15 Goodyear GT radial tires that were mounted on 15x8 wheels. The Super Cope also featured a matte black finish on the hood and came in only one color; Sable Tan Sunfire Metallic and had a heavy-duty suspension with rear sway bar. Only 531 models were ever produced, and a few special colors stripes; in orange, yellow and red, separated the body color from the matte black colors.

In honor of Richard Petty; NASCAR legend, the Kit Car was created to look as much like a race car as possible. The Kit Car didn't have any hubcaps and the wheel opening flares had a bolted on look and even the windshield had metal tie downs just like the race cars. The Car did come standard with an automatic transmission, unlike typical race cars. A decal kit with large door mountable '43' decals was a special addition and 360 decals for the hood which were shipped in the trunk and were to be installed by the owner or the dealer, (though most people left them in the trunk). The Kit Car came in only one color; a special two-tone red, and would end up being one of the rarest Aspens ever built with only 145 units ever produced.

During its second year of production, not many changes were made to the Dodge Aspen for 1979 except for the replacement of the amber rear turn signals with the red ones once again. The '78 option packages continued this year except for the Super Coupe and Kit Car. Also added this year was an all new 85 mph speedometer, a diagnostic connector for the engine and new colors. Also new this year was a station wagon available as a 'Sport Wagon' with special stripes, wheel arch flares and a front airdam. For 1979 a total of 121,354 Dodge Aspens were sold.

The final year of production for the Aspen was 1980 and during this year the Aspen received a new front end with rectangular headlamps which shared the hood, front bumper and fenders with the Dodge Diplomat. This year did feature Special Edition and Premier Packages, but the Special Edition package was only available on the sedan and coupe. Only 285 Aspens received the R/T package before the Aspen name as well as the R/T badge would be discontinued. For this year a total of 67,318 Aspens were produced this year. The Aspen was replaced with the Dodge Aries for the 1981 model year. By the end of their production run, both the Aspen and the Volare were considered intermediate cars. In 2007 the Aspen name was revived for the Chrysler Aspen sport utility vehicle.

by Jessican Donaldson