I’m fascinated with survivors, the cars that are still tooling along thirty, forty, fifty or more years along pretty much as they were. They usually aren’t perfect, only some are pretty, and yet somehow, through years of use, they haven’t succumbed to tin worm, haven’t been in an accident and have faithfully served their purpose, only asking for some basic upkeep along the way. Restorations are nice, but a car can only be original once. Yet, in the case of this 1977 Dodge Aspen station wagon, not only has the car defied time, it’s defied aging. There’s a lot of you out there that were around when these were on the dealer lots…were they ever this nice?
The story on this Aspen is that it was bought and used as a spare car that went out for camping trips, only covering 64,000 miles between the day it drove off of the lot and now. Every possible fault that the Mopar F-car is known for isn’t here: there’s no fenders half-eaten with rust…no splitting vinyl…no warped dash or discolored plastics…the woodgrain looks great…and the Aspen’s unbelievably fragile grille is intact. Go under hood…the engine compartment looks showroom fresh! Only the brake booster and the radiator seem to betray the “barely driven” look.
With a buy it now price of $7,000, I’m at an impasse: I never thought I’d see the day where an Aspen station wagon warranted that kind of money ever, but this car, which up until last year was a one-owner situation, might actually be worth the money. I certainly haven’t seen one cleaner.
eBay Listing: 1977 Dodge Aspen SE Wagon
I have a secret thing for Aspens, and a bigger secret thing for an Aspen wagon. That’s really sharp, kind of glad I don’t have the coin to do it, and terribly sad I don’t at the same time.
You’ve described my reaction to it about the same. It’s tempting, but I’d rather have $7000.
Gentlemen,
I beg to differ. Just because something is old and/or well-preserved doesn’t mean it has any monetary value. $7K or even $700 for this thing is delusional! It’s still the same piece of garbage it was when the Hamtramck factory puked it out 38 years ago! I know because I was the unfortunate second owner of this Aspen’s Volare twin! If the owner pays ME $7K, I’ll personally drive it to the crusher where it and every Seventies Big Three car belongs!
Ray, don’t hold back, tell us what you really think!
You’re tough, Ray…funny though. You’re right, 20 years ago you’d give $400 for it, maybe.
Why is it every factory fresh mopar survivor is that ungodly shade of “evergreen”??
Hey Ray got a question for you,
You Mad Bro ?
I kinda like it. My grandfather had 79 with slant 6. Ran good interior sucked. Neat to see one preserved so good.
Yeah, I get it, survivors are cool, but let’s temper the excitement, folks. This is a Volare wagon, and better yet, with a green interior. I understand the whole low mileage, great original shape thing, but if I bagged a shit I took thirty years ago, it’d still be just a shit in a bag. Not everything’s cool because it’s in nice shape. Let go of this need to keep showing us low mileage garbage just because it’s low mileage, it’s getting lame.
similar car listed on craigslist in Michigan last summer for around $4500 and didn’t sell
it’s nice older car but its not a super coupe , or a aspen R/T
I get a kick out of people that find ( grandma / grandpa ) cars buy them for peanuts and then try to get double or triple what they paid for them
good luck with sale
I dig it, I’d rock that car all day long if I had the coin for it. maybe lower it a bit, put on some nice 16 or 17 inch rims, and just drive it.
Hang some turbos on it and make some money untill it goes up in smoke…….no one will ever think its fast . You have to dress the part though. Video would be cool..
It seems there are always classic car haters that want to destroy every classic car, including K-car haters. I love my K-cars, and would love a Dodge Aspen. Any person that would consider junking a car like this is an idiot and shouldn’t even own a car.
My parents bought a 1976 Volare wagon new and the thing started rotting out in 5 yrs! Its amazing this car still has any metal left on it!
Nice car though.
Please keep showing us low mile surviors, those that are complaining can choose not to view it and look at a differant article. I have seen some V8 Volare’s and Aspens that were built and fast.
Even if its a YUGO, the fact that it survived in that condition is really something , anyway most will appreciate a survivor like that.